Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Just Checking In.....

Just Checking in...

A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day, Decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray.

Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle, and the minister frowned as he saw the man hadn't shaved in a while. His shirt was kind a shabby and his coat was worn and frayed, the man knelt, he bowed his head,then rose and walked away.

In the days that followed, each noon time came this chap, each time he knelt just for a moment, a lunch pail in his lap.

Well, the minister's suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear, He decided to stop the man and ask him, “What are you doing here?"

The old man said he worked down the road and lunch was half an hour. Lunchtime was his prayer time,for finding strength and power." I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the Lord, this is kind a what I say:

"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY,BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY."

The minister feeling foolish, told Jim that was fine. He told the man he was welcome to come and pray just anytime.Time to go, Jim smiled, said "Thanks." He hurried to the door.

The minister knelt at the altar; he'd never done it before. His cold heart melted, warmed with love,and met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim's prayer:

"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHERS FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY."

Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn't come. As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry some. At the factory, he asked about him, learning he was ill. The hospital staff was worried, But he'd given them a thrill.

The week that Jim was with them, Brought changes in the ward. His smiles, a joy contagious. Changed people, were his reward. The head nurse couldn't understand why Jim was so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came,Not a visitor he had. The minister stayed by his bed, He voiced the nurse's concern: No friends came to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn.

Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and with a winsome smile; "the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, that in here all the while everyday at noon He's here,a dear friend of mine, you see, He sits right down, takes my hand, Leans over and says to me:

"I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN. ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, I THINK ABOUT YOU EACH DAY, AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS CHECKING IN TODAY."

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Quotes and Notes

"No failure is final. God is the God of an infinite number of chances." - David Roper"The Christian faith has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried." - G. K. Chesterton

"Sins do not come in pink, purple, green, or yellow. They are all black in the eyes of God. But the color of gratefulness is expressed in worship. Our songs, our praises, and our prayers paint a glorious picture of worship in which our Lord delights." - Ginger Plowman

"When you're small, they'll dismiss you; when you're growing, they'll criticize you; and when you're large, they'll resent you. So ignore 'them' and get on with whatever God has told you to do!" - Rick Warren

"I believe it is important today to position the church as a family, rather than as an institution. Since the 1960s, Americans have become increasingly anti-institutional. They use the phrase 'organized religion' with contempt. On the other hand, people are longing for a sense of family and community." - Rick Warren

Monday, November 06, 2006

Potholes!

After a hardy rainstorm filled all the potholes in the streets and alleys, a young mother watched her two little boys playing in the puddles through her kitchen window. The older of the two, a five year old lad, grabbed his sibling by the back of his head and shoved his face into one of the water holes. As the boy recovered and stood laughing and dripping, the mother was running towards them in a panic.

"Why on earth did you do that to your little brother?!" she says as she shook the older boy's shoulders in anger combined with relief.

"We were just playing 'church' mommy," he said. "And I was just baptizing him.....'in the name of the Father, the Son and in the hole-he-goes.' "