The Word Podcast: Stories

Librarian Fired for Blowing Whistle

Fri, 09 May 2008 06:17:06 GMT

A librarian named Brenda saw a man at her local library viewing child porn on the public library computers. She blew the whistle and called police. The police caught him in the act and arrested him. They then searched his house and they found more child porn.

Hours after she reported the man to the police her boss reprimanded her for invading the man’s privacy. And then two days later without warning she was fired.

How could the library officials think this way? How could they punish her for doing what was right? How could their reasoning be so messed up and flawed that they could justify viewing child porn on public library computers?

The Bible has the answer.

Rom 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

They do not want to retain God in their knowledge. The Bible is clear. When you do not want to even acknowledge that God exists, when you do not even want Him to cross your mind, then God gives you up to a reprobate mind.

Your mind is no longer able to reason correctly. Only a reprobate mind can support child porn in any way shape or form.

Saved means Saved

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 21:04:53 GMT

The word saved means saved.

If a ship sinks a thousand miles from land there is no way that the people can swim to shore. They cannot make it to safety alone. But there is a ship nearby that comes to their rescue and picks them up out of the water. But we do not feel that it has saved the passengers if they are drowned before they arrive home safely.

We only consider them saved if the boat actually finishes bringing them to land. It is the same way with salvation. We are adrift on a sea of sin with no way to make it to safety on our own. Christ comes and picks us up. But it would not be salvation if He later on drops us back in the sea to perish. For Him to save us, He must take us all the way.

Phi 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ:

You can be assured that when Christ picks you up and saves you that He will take you all the way to heaven. He will never drop you. Saved means Saved. You cannot loose your salvation.

He has stood before the world

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 02:52:05 GMT

He has stood before the world, proclaiming something which he called the gospel. He has been a noted preacher; the multitude have been hanging on his lips; they have listened to his words; before his eloquence a nation stood amazed, and thousands trembled at his voice. But his preaching is over; the time when he can mount the pulpit is gone; another standing-place awaits him, another congregation, and he must hear another and a better preacher than himself. There he lies. He has been unfaithful to his charge. He preached philosophy to charm his people, instead of preaching truth and aiming at their hearts. And, as he pants upon his bed, that worst and most accursed of men – for surely none can be worse than he – there come up one, a soul from the pit, and looking him in the face, says, “I came to thee once, trembling on account of sin; I asked thee the road to heaven, and thou didst say, ‘Do such and such good works, ‘ and I did them, and am damned. Thou dist tell me an untruth; thou didst not declare plainly the word of God.”

He vanishes only to be followed by another; he has been an irreligious character, and as he see the minister upon his deathbed, he says, “Ah! And art thou here? Once I strolled into thy house of prayer, but thou hadst such a sermon that I could not understand. I listened; I wanted to hear something from thy lips, some truth that might burn my soul and make me repent; but I knew not what thou sadist; and here I am.” The ghost stamps his foot, and the man quivers like an aspen leaf, because he knows it is all true. Then the whole congregation arise before him as he lies upon his bed; he looks upon the motley group; he beholds the snowy heads of the old, and the glittering eyes of the young; and lying there upon his pillow, he pictures all the sins of his past life, and he hears it said, “Go thou! Unfaithful to thy charge; thou didst not divest thyself of the love of pomp and dignity; thou didst not speak ‘As though thou ne’er might’st speak again, A dying man to dying men.’

Oh! It may be something for that minister to leave his charge, somewhat for him to die; but worst of all, the sting of death will be his sin: to hear his parish come howling after him to hell; to see his congregation following behind him in one mingled herd, he having led them astray, having been a false prophet instead of a true one, speaking peace, peace, where there was no peace, deluding them with lies, charming them with music, when he ought rather to have told them in rough and rugged accents the Word of God. Verily, it is true, it is true! The sting of death to such a man shall be his great, his enormous, his heinous sin of having deluded others.

From thoughts on the Last Battle – sermon by Charles Spurgeon

Don't Quit

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:01:55 GMT

The least promising lad in a lady's class was a raggedly dressed boy named Bob. The superintendent secured a suit of new clothes for him. After three Sundays, Bob was missing. The teacher visited him and discovered that his new clothes were torn and dirty. The superintendent gave him a second new suit, and Bob returned to Sunday school. After attending twice, his place was empty again. Once more the teacher learned that the second suit had gone the same way as the first. Utterly discouraged, she told the superintendent that she must give him up. Please do not do that, urged the superintendent. I'll give him a third suit if he will promise to attend regularly. Bob did promise, and he did attend regularly. He became an earnest Christian, joined the church, was a teacher and studied for the ministry. He became Dr. Robert Morrison, honored missionary to China, who translated the Bible into the Chinese language and opened the gate to teeming millions in that country.

God's trials have a purpose

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 03:30:11 GMT

One time my wife’s right side of her face swelled up. The doctors had no idea of why. They did a cat scan and did not see anything wrong with her face, but they did see a small lump in her thyroid. So they scheduled an ultrasound and a nuclear thyroid scan. By the time that they got to these tests her face swelling went totally away and never came back. The thyroid tests showed that she had a tumor on the surface of her thyroid that was 1.5cm. They scheduled surgery for 5 weeks later, saying that it will be a small incision and that they will just scoop it off the top of the thyroid. When they operated they found that the tumor had grown to 2.5cm, and that it had grown into the middle of the thyroid. The doctor then had to make a much bigger incision and remove that lobe of the thyroid. He was amazed at how fast it was growing. It turned out to be what is called a complex type of tumor. It has both hard and liquid sections in it. The doctor said that 70 percent of the time when they take this type of tumor out that it is cancer. In Tina’s case it was not cancer. But the rapid growth rate of this tumor makes you wonder what would have happened if her face had not mysteriously swollen up. I like to think that it was God’s way of making sure that the tumor was detected in time.

When God sends something unpleasant your way, we need to just have faith. We need to remember that God is all knowing as well as a loving father. We need to remember that God knows what He is doing. He has a reason and we do not have to understand why.

We are to have faith and trust it to our Savior.

Mr. Moody witnesses to man who waits too long.

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 06:30:41 GMT

There was a man in Chicago who twice determined to give his heart to God but never had the courage to acknowledge Christ before his ungodly companions. When recovering from a long sickness, he still refused to come out boldly on the side of Christ, saying, “Not yet; I have got a fresh lease on life. I can’t be a Christian in Chicago. I am going to take a farm in Michigan; then I will profess Christ.”

I asked him, “How dare you take that risk?” He said, “I will risk it; don’t your trouble yourself any more about my soul, Mr. Moody. I have made up my mind.”

I have never left a man with a sadder heart in my life. The very next week he was stricken down with the same disease. His wife sent for me and said, “He doesn’t want to see you, but I can’t bear that he should die in such an awful state of mind. He says, “My damnation is sealed and I shall be in Hell in a week.”

I tried to talk and pray with him but it was no use. He said his heart was as hard as a stone. “Pray for my wife and my children but don’t waste your time praying for me.”

His last words were, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and I am not saved”; and then the angels bore him away to judgment. – D.L. Moody

Mr. Moody witnessed to him until the end, but he waited too long and went to eternity without Jesus.

What about you? Are you putting off getting born again?

Don't wait any longer! Don't take the chance that your heart will become hard.

Call upon Jesus right now, tell Him that you are a sinner, and ask Him to save you, and you have His promise that He will.

Masked men at home

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 02:34:33 GMT

Try to visualize this scene.

A man leaves home jogging.

He jogs and then turns left

Jogs some more and then turns left

Jogs some more and then turns left and heads back home.

When he gets there, there are two masked men waiting for him.

Who are the men and why is the man jogging? Have you visualized the scene?

I dare say that most of you are thinking the masked men are robbers but they are not robbers.

The human mind likes to jump to conclusions and without thinking much about it.

So what is really happening in our scene? And who are the masked men?

The man is a baseball player who hit a home run. He leaves home jogging when he gets to first he turns left and goes to 2^nd base turns left and jogs to third, turns left again and jogs home where the two masked men (the catcher and the umpire) are waiting for him.

This is a good illustration of why we need to be CLEAR as teachers of the Word of God. We might know exactly what we are saying, but what about the people that are listening. Are we making it perfectly clear what we are talking about? Are we making it easy for them to visualize the same thing that we are talking about? Or are we talking about home plate and they are thinking about a house?

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Thanks Bryan

His name was Jim

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 05:01:21 GMT

Don’t be too sure of first impressions.

One spring, before the Civil War, a boy in search of work came to Farmer Taylor’s prosperous Ohio farm. The farmer knew nothing much about the boy except that his name was Jim, but he gave him a job. Jim spent the summer cutting stove wood, bringing in the cows and making himself generally useful. He ate in the kitchen and slept in the haymow. Before the summer was over, Jim had fallen in love with Taylor’s daughter. When the farmer refused to let him marry her – telling him bluntly that he had no money, no name and very poor prospects – Jim put his belongings in his old carpetbag and disappeared.

Thirty-five years passed before Taylor one day pulled down his barn to make way for a new one. On one of the rafters above the haymow, he discovered that Jim had carved his full name – James A. Garfield. He was at that time President of the USA.

God had prepared the answer before he had asked

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:14:40 GMT

God had prepared the answer before he had asked

A man was trying to prepare himself for Christian service and his funds ran out. It looked liked he would have to leave school. He then earnestly asked the Lord to come to his aid if it was His will for him to go on with college. The next day he got a letter containing a check that was large enough to take care of his needs. He was happy that his prayer had been answered.

But Satan whispered to him to look at the date of the letter and he would see that it was not an answer to his prayer because it had been written before he had prayed. This dampened his joy until he remembered that the Lord had said, “Before they call, I will answer.” Then he realized that God had known his need and had prepared the answer even before he had called upon Him.

It is hard to help people

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:13:52 GMT

A missionary that went to India saw problems arise in the most unexpected areas, such as the distribution of milk powder. Their missionary hospital regularly received large barrels of milk powder from the United States under a program called Milk for the Millions. What a great idea providing milk powder for the many poor and hungry people around the world. But if they gave packets of milk powder to people, they would run to the coffee shops and sell them. They tried mixing the powdered milk with water and having the people drink it before leaving. They didn't like the taste and stopped coming, even though they were hungry. They tried giving glasses of milk to the locals that worked in the hospital, but they refused to drink it without gruel. So they cooked gruel for them to eat with the milk. Then they discovered them eating the gruel without the milk. So they stopped doing that.
They were busy giving help that wasn't help.
Then there were the dried beans. The American government gave them large bags of dried beans. It turned out that even after soaking the beans all night, the average village family could not afford the fuel (usually cow dung chips) to cook the beans. They finally took the beans to the mill and had them ground into powder so that the people would have bean powder to cook with their curry.
They missionary said "I thought how often it is really hard to help people!"

We need to make sure that we are not busy giving help that really isn't help.

The number one thing that we can do is tell people how to be saved. That is the greatest help there is.

A help that will last for all eternity.

Please visit my other website http://www.thewordteaches.com

Love conquered him

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:52:32 GMT

A man had a large Sunday school and he would not turn a boy out on account of bad conduct. He considered that those boys did not have the advantages of a good bringing up and for that very reason they should not be thrown out.

Then he had a boy come along that tested his belief. He would put this boy under one teacher after another and nothing could be done with him. Finally, after several teachers, he decided to expel him from the school. He was going to do it publicly as an example to all the other boys. But there was a lady teacher who came to the superintendent and said, “I wish you would let me have that boy.” The man said, “But he is such a bad boy; he uses such vulgar language. All those men can’t do anything with him, and I think, I am sure you can’t.” The lady responded, “ I am not doing much for Christ, and it may be that I can win him.” She was a lady of refined society, and the man thought, “Surely, she won’t be willing to have patience with that boy.” Well the man went ahead and gave her that boy.

He behaved well for a few Sundays and then on Sunday he behaved badly. The lady corrected him and the boy then spat in her face. She quietly took her handkerchief and wiped her face. The lady said, “I wish you would go home with me. I want to talk with you.” “Well, I won’t. I won’t be seen on the street with you, and what’s more, I won’t ever come to this Sunday school any more.” The lady then said, “Well if you won’t walk home with me, let me walk home with you.” “No” the boy said. This boy was not going to come to that old dirty Sunday school anymore.

The lady knew that if she was going to reach that boy it must be now. She then decided to appeal to his curiosity. She said, “If you will come to my house, next Tuesday morning, I shan’t be there; but if you will go there and ring the front door bell, and tell the servant there is a little bundle on the bureau for you, she will give it to you.” The little boy said that he would not come. The boy thought it over and over. He wanted to know what was in that bundle. So Tuesday morning he went to the house and as promised the bundle was handed to him. Inside there was a little vest in it, and a little necktie that she had made with her own hands, and a kind note stating that ever since he had been in her class she had been praying for him every morning and every evening, and she told him how she loved him and cared for him.

Early Wednesday morning he came to the house. The lady came down and found the boy weeping on the sofa. She said, “ What is the trouble?” The boy responded, “ O teacher, I have had no peace since I got that not from you.” The lady got down and prayed with the little boy. Later the superintendent said, “There is not a better boy in the school. Love conquered him.”

Hard to help people

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 01:03:36 GMT

We can spend alot of effort trying to help people without really helping. We can spend a lot of time and money on social programs and not really help much. To really help people, we need to spend our efforts getting them saved.

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Thanks

Helper of the Fatherless

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 04:00:10 GMT

Sundar looked at his father incredulously. "He's not dead, " he said deliberately. "I won't believe he's dead. He's only sleeping! But she, Priscilla, his wife for thirty years, had known instinctively that the cord of life was broken. Her beloved had passed the unknown frontier to the world beyond

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Priscilla rose to her feet and, walking slowly across the wooden floor, opened it. She was confronted by a Chinese gentleman. "I was wondering," he said, "whether perhaps, in view of your husband's death you were considering selling your plot of land. I would pay cash of course. Perhaps in the circumstances this might prove of help to you. The figure I have in mind is round about fifteen hundred dollars, although seeing you are a widow I would be prepared to go to two thousand if necessary." "Two thousand dollars." The words began to sink into Priscilla's mind. What a help this would be, especially now that her husband's pension was not to be paid to her. Two thousand dollars in her hand now! Without doubt it could solve a lot-but Priscilla hesitated. Some intuitive sense restrained her. It was as if someone was telling her, "Don't agree to it! You are not to agree to it." Looking at the stranger she said, "I'll think about it."

There was no one to guard or guide her; no one to take the decisions now; no one in whom to confide; no one with whom to take counsel. How precarious the lot of a widow cast out into a heathen world. She I looked at their little home. It was hard to believe that even this must be dismantled now, and what of the little ones? The older children could fend for themselves but the smaller children needed her and once her meager capital was spent what could she give them to eat? She was no longer a young woman. What work could she find that would solve her problems? Gradually, but relentlessly, the burden mounted. If she could have cried she would have done so but her heart was too tense even for tears.

It was during one of these moments of grief and fear that the beloved Karen Christian called again. She was like a ray of sunshine coming into the gloom and Priscilla wondered at her love for her. Today she brought a text, beautifully drawn and tastefully framed. Together they hung it up on the wall. Priscilla looked at the words. She had never read them before. "Thou art the Helper of the fatherless," it ran. "You must pray," said the Karen lady. "You must pray. There is nothing you can do about it all now. It is no good sitting sad brooding over everything; and if you just sit and mope you will get nowhere." It sounded so matter of fact, almost brusque, but there was kindliness behind the firmness of those words. Of course it was true. She must face it. Life must go on but what her dear friend was saying was simply this, "You need not face it alone. There is a Helper."
In her deep distress, at her wits end and without resources, she had decided to give the Christians' God His chance. If He cared then let Him be pleased to show His care. That is how she felt. Her attitude had hardly been faith and yet it was not exactly unbelief. If He would prove Himself to her, then she would trust herself to Him, so she had begun to pray. In a way it was all on a rather low level of spiritual experience. She was perhaps rather like Jacob or even Hannah, both of whom said "If Thou wilt. ... I will," but when God sees that we are going to take Him at His Word, He is always ready to take us at our word.

The first real inkling that God was with her had been the receiving of a grant from the Government of some nine thousand dollars in view of her husband's service. This was substantial and gave her time to give proper consideration to her plot of land. Eventually she made proper application under the Land Regulations to sell the land. Then the house in the Jesselton area became available and she decided to go a step farther in this question of trusting God. If her large family were to be re-housed then this was undoubtedly the house for them but the sizeable figure of fifteen thousand dollars was the lowest price the owner would consider. She determined therefore to gather her family around her and to make a covenant with God. Thus they prayed together, saying in utter simplicity something like this. "Dear God, if you will give us five thousand dollars for the land in Sandakan then we will truly believe you and we will all become Christians." In view of the original offer of only two thousand dollars this was a large petition. Five thousand dollars was the minimum amount needed for the Jessclton house. If God was for them, then He could do the impossible thing.

Having settled the matter in her heart she now went resolutely about her business. The full sum of fifteen thousand must be paid by April 30th or the offer would be withdrawn. Could God meet such requirements? It was hard to believe-but the text said. He was a Helper to the fatherless, and does not the Christian's God mean what He says? The next indication that God was moving on their behalf came when a letter from the authorities arrived, saying that the sale of the land had been authorized and the necessary documents could be obtained from the local court. Joyfully, Priscilla made her way to the appropriate office in Jesselton to obtain the papers. Tomorrow would be almost the last day that the documents would avail her. The dateline for settlement of the house purchase was dangerously near. That afternoon the papers were completed, and duly signed, and now she was legally entitled to negotiate the sale of the plot and complete the transaction whenever she wished. Almost immediately she wired her son Sundar, in Sandakan. Within a matter of hours a telegram came back. "Offered 2000 dollars." Her heart fell a little. Still only two thousand. Was she really asking the impossible? Almost before she had time to repudiate this first offer, another telegram arrived. "Offered $ 2800" She held her ground and wired back a refusal. This was no longer a matter of dollars nor even of a home for her children. This was a question as to whether God existed or not. Whether Christ was real or not. Whether prayer to the Living God was mockery or not. She would take not a dollar under five thousand. As she stiffened in her determination and faith, another telegram arrived. There had been a big leap forward. "Offered $4000." She was amazed. The original offer had now been doubled, but she felt absolutely under bond not to accept it. It would have seemed extraordinary to anyone else. Was she right to gamble her family and faith like this? But she had made a covenant with God. After a pause, a more or less final figure of four thousand eight hundred was put forward. An excellent price. Surely no one could expect more for the Particular piece of land in question. Was it not the right, and indeed the very best thing, to accept this offer immediately? It was only two hundred dollars short, anyway, of her ideal price, her covenant price. Was it not enough? Priscilla did not think. She was determined now to go all the way with God. Quietly she awaited the final development. Would one more telegram come? It did. She was not to be disappointed. She held the envelope in her hand a moment. Strange that a figure, a mere price should be the last factor in her total surrender to Jesus Christ. She opened it and saw just what she had expected to see. Offered $5000", the message ran. It was enough. From that moment she believed, from that moment she belonged to Him, to God, to Christ who long ago had paid the other price, the price of sin. O Matchless God, Helper of the Fatherless, and Saviour of all who dare to trust Him!

On the morning of the baptism Priscilla arrived at the believers meeting hall dressed in a flowing white sari. For her this was a stupendous moment. As a child she had been brought up in an idolatrous Hindu home. But today she was to go down into the waters of baptism publicly confessing her faith in Christ.

When the moment came there was something moving about this Christian Indian lady. She had been through much but she knew with all her heart that she believed in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Stately and serene she descended into the water. The Missionary questioned her "Do you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your own personal Saviour?" "I do", she said. And following her one by one into the water came her three older daughters, Junia, Lois and Lydia. They were not afraid of their family covenant. God had kept His Word and should they not keep theirs?

Eagle on the Niagara River

Wed, 29 Nov 2006 23:37:35 GMT

Imagine a cold winter day in new England. The kind of day where the entire sky was heavy laden with gray clouds. And it was COLD. So cold that the air was almost frozen. So cold that it hurt to breathe. And imagine a block of ice floating on the Niagara River. And frozen on this block of ice is a dead animal. An Eagle spies the meal on the ice and swoops down and lands on the ice and starts to eat his meal. The eagle starts to hear the falls in the distance but he thinks nothing of it for he has done this many times before. there is no need to interrupt his meal for when the ice gets close to the falls he will just lift himself with his mighty wings and fly. So he waits and enjoys himself. The falls get closer and closer. Now the air is filled with the rising moisture of the falls and the noise is deafening. The eagle tries to fly but while he was waiting and enjoying eating his dead carcass his feet has gotten frozen in the ice. He strains with every fiber of his being, but to no avail and he plummets over the falls to his death. People are a lot like that eagle. They know that death is approaching. That they should fly to the salvation of the Lord Jesus. But they think that they have time. They say no need to hurry. I want to enjoy myself. But often the end comes before they are ready. And when they finally try to fly they have become so imbedded in their sin that they can not escape.

http://www.thewordteaches.com/howtobesaved.htm

God created with his left hand?

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 18:44:21 GMT

A grandma had her granddaughter spend the night and they had to get up early in the morning to run an errand. They lived in new England. And it was a beautiful crisp fall morning. There was a light frost. And the early morning sun was sparkling off the leaves of yellow, red, orange and gold. The grandmother was awe struck with the scene. She then witnessed to her granddaughter about the magnificence and power of God. And told her how God had created the beauty that was before them. When she was done the grand daughter said. And what is even more amazing grandma is that he did it all with his left hand. The grandma was taken aback. What do you mean by that she asked? The grand daughter said he had to use his left hand because in Sunday school last week we learned that Jesus is sitting on the right hand of God.

When working with people (especially children) don't assume that they understand your terminology.

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Prophecy proves inspiration.

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 21:23:42 GMT

What if I predicted that a cat would walk accross the street in front of the church? You would say that's it. That is not much of a prediction, of course a cat will walk accross the street sooner or later. But what if I predict the following:

1 A cat will walk accross the street in front of the church.

2 He will travel from the west side to the east side of the street.

3 The cat will be black with a white stripe down its nose

4 The cat's front paw will be white.

5 It will be wearing a red collar

6 The collar will have a bell on it.

7 The bell will not ring

8 The cat will stop half way accross the street.

9 And then he will lick his paw before he continues to cross the street

10 It will happen next Tuesday

11 At 2:00 in the afternoon

12 The Cat will meow as he finishes crossing the street.

Now what are the chances that I would be right? It is statistically impossible that I would be right. And that was only 12 details. Now look at the Bible. The old testament has over 300 predictions about the first coming of Christ. And every one of them came true. Because predicting that many details in advance is impossible for man, the details must have been given by God.

2 Peter 1:21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

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Thanks

Dark Threads with the Silver and the Gold

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 22:06:43 GMT

There was a child playing on the kiitchen floor while his mom was embrodering. The child asked the mother what she was doing. the mother replied that she was making a beautiful picture. the child looked up from the floor to see the underside of the picture and all that he saw was the knots and the threads cris crossing everywhere. He said mom I just don't understand, it just looks like a big mess to me. The mom said to the child. when I am done I will bring you up here and then you will see what a beautiful picture that i have made.

(we do not see what God sees, It might just look like a mess to us, but someday God will bring us up to heaven and then we will see what a beautiful picture he has made of our life. Only then will we see the need for the dark threads of our life that are interwoven with the silver and the gold.)

We need to keep in mind that God in on the throne and He knows what He is doing even when it looks like a mess to us.

A man, his son, and a donkey

Thu, 19 Oct 2006 17:26:26 GMT

There was a man and a son who had to go to town but they had only one Donkey. They started out with the Man riding the Donkey and the son walking. As they passed by some people they heard the people say " What a uncaring father to make the son walk" So they traded places and the man walked with the son riding. As they passed some more people the people said "What a lazy son to make his father walk. So they both got on the donkey and people started yelling animal abuse. So they continued to town both on foot and they led the donkey. And the people who saw this said "What foolishness to have a donkey and not use it".

Quit trying to make everyone happy because it is simply impossible.

Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the LORD shall be safe. Fearing man will just bring you trouble. Instead of worring what man thinks, you need to put your attention to what God thinks.

Check out my podcast at http://www.thewordpodcast.com

And my new web site at http://www.thewordteaches.com

Commander Gilmore

Fri, 06 Oct 2006 17:32:04 GMT

In world war two, there was a commander of a submarine named Commander Gilmore. This country was fighting for our freedom. If we lost we would have lost our freedom and been nothing more than slaves. His boat was in a fierce battle. He had sunk 3 japanese destroyers. They were all out of Torpedos. There was no time to get more. The battle was raging. He gave the order and his Sub rammed another destroyer. The destroyer was mortally wounded. It was going down to its doom. The commander raced forward to check the damage. And he got wounded. His first mate was coming to help him. but the commander told him NO. CLOSE THAT HATCH AND DIVE NOW. For you see the destroyers guns were turning to fire on the sub before the destroyer sank. There was only moments before the guns could fire. The first mate objected but I can get you in a moment. The commander said that is a direct order CLOSE THAT HATCH AND DIVE. He knew full well what that order meant for him. It meant a watery grave. He gave his life so that all of his crew could be saved.
That's what Jesus did for you. He gave his life that we could be saved. Satan is our destroyer. And he is training his guns on you. And it could be only moments before he fires. But I got great news. Jesus did not stay dead. In three days he rose again and acended into heaven. And we too can have a home in heaven if we will but believe.

Church too long?

Thu, 10 Aug 2006 19:22:25 GMT

In 1989 some missionaries went to a Yanadi tribal village. As they neared the area they glimpsed a tiny-whitewashed thatched hut shimmering through the heat. That hut was the new church building that was going to be dedicated that night. The villagers greeted them with happy smiles. And more people were gathering from nearby villages gradually throughout the evening. One lady walked for 7 miles just to go to church that night. The dry piece of paper strung across the doorway was cut and the new little mud and thatched roof church was opened for the glory of God. They not only had no air conditioning, and no padded seats. They did not even have a lantern. No light at all except the embers of the cooking fire. But they had a beautiful service of prayer and singing, and the Pastor preached on the theme we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. They had church in the pitch dark. After the preaching the missionaries drove away back to their mission but the believers of that church continued a night long vigil of praise, testimony, and prayer to the only true God, a God of holiness and majesty, a God who was present with that little band of believers sitting under the canopy of stars in a little village in South India.

They had church in the dark until dawn. And we complain if the pastor goes over 10 min.

What kind of heart do we need today?

Fri, 07 Jul 2006 23:14:02 GMT

I recently read about a man who had the soul winner’s heart. His name was Peter Cartwright. He was a Backwoods Evangelist in the 1800's. They called men like him Circuit riding preachers. He went from fort to fort, camp to camp, house to house with or without road or path. He walked on dirt floors for carpets. Slept on the ground and all he had for a pillow was his saddle bags. He got one suit clothes per year. He had to crossed creeks and large rivers without bridges or ferries. A treat to this man was finding a dug out to cross a river in so he would not get wet. Imagine having to keep his library dry during all those crossings. Yep he took his library with him, which consisted basically of his bible and a hymnal. And he traveled this way for 53 years. He preached over 14,000 sermons and saw 10,000 join his denomination. He had the soul winner’s heart.

He preached on the fact of sin; the lost ness of sinners; the living loving Lord Jesus who saves; the shed blood that delivers from sin; a Heaven to win and a hot hell to shun. And he was bold. One time he was unable to reach a Christian home that he was to spend the night in and had to stay in town. In a hotel where a wicked drinking, dancing party was being held. He asked for permission to preach but had been refused. Later, a young lady asked him for a dance. Sensing an opportunity to preach he went out on the floor. Then he exclaimed that he never undertook any matter of importance without first asking the blessing of God upon it. And grasping her had he cried out, Let us all kneel on the floor and pray. And he did with all his power. The Girl tried to break his grasp, The fiddler fled to the kitchen. Then he arose, preached, led in some hymns, and the meeting continued nearly all night. The young lady was converted, People were crying out to God for mercy, and a revival broke out in those mountains. He had the soul winner’s heart. A heart of compassion of lost souls, A heart that was bold, A heart that put soul winning over his own comfort. That is the kind of heart that we need today.

Bryan

Reuben Gets His Pardon

Sat, 24 Jun 2006 21:36:07 GMT

Mr. Moody was in Ohio many years ago, and was invited to preach in the state prison. 1100 convicts were brought into the chapel, and all sat in front of him. After he had got through the preaching, the chaplain said to him: “Mr. Moody, I want to tell you of a scene which occurred in this room. A few years ago, our commissioners went to the governor of the state, and got him to promise that he would pardon 5 men for good behavior. The governor consented, with this understanding – that the record was to be kept secret, and that at the end of six months the five men highest on the roll should receive a pardon, regardless of who or what they were. At the end of 6 months the prisoners were all brought into the chapel; the commissioners came up, and the president stood up on the platform, and putting his hand in his pocket, brought out some papers, and said, ‘I hold in my hand pardons for 5 men.’” The chaplain told Moody that he never witnessed anything on earth like it. Every man was as still as death; many were deadly pale, and the suspense was awful; it seemed as if every heart had ceased to beat. The commissioner went on to tell them how they had got the pardon; but the chaplain interrupted him. “Before you make your speech, read out the names. This suspense is awful,” So he read out the first name, “Reuben Johnson will come and get his pardon”; and he held it out, but none came forward. He said to the governor, ‘Are all the prisoners here?” The governor told him they were all there. Then he said again, “Reuben Johnson will come and get his pardon. It is signed and sealed by the governor. He is a free man.” Not one moved. The chaplain told Moody that he looked right down where Reuben was; he was well known; he had been nineteen years at the prison, and many were looking round to see him spring to his feet. But he himself was looking round to see the fortunate man who had got his pardon. Finally the chaplain caught his eye and said, “Reuben, you are the man.” Rueben turned round and looked behind him to see where Reuben was. The chaplain said the second time, “Reuben, you are the man”; and the second time he looked round, thinking it must be some other Reuben. So often we do not believe the gospel is for us. We think it is too good, and pass it over our shoulders to the next person. But you are the person.

The Chaplain could see where Reuben was, and he had to say 3 times, “Reuben, come and get your pardon.” At last the truth began to steal over the old man; he got up and came along down the hall, trembling from head to foot, and when he got the pardon he looked at it, and went back to his seat, and buried his face in his hands, and wept. When the prisoners got into the ranks to go back to the cells, Reuben go into the ranks too, and the chaplain had to call to him, “Reuben, get out of the ranks; you are a free man, you are no longer a prisoner.” And Reuben stepped out of the ranks. He was free!

Reuben’s pardon was for good character and good behavior. But God gives out pardons for those of us who have not got any character, who have been very, very bad. He offers a pardon to every sinner on earth if he will take it. I do not care who he is or what he is like. He may be the greatest libertine that ever walked the streets, or the greatest drunkard who ever lived, or a thief, or a vagabond; but I come tonight with glad tidings – the glorious gospel is for every creature, it is for you.