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Reaching the end of a job interview, the human resources person asked a young engineer fresh out of MIT what kind of a salary he was looking for.
"In the neighborhood of $140,000 a year, depending on the benefits package."
"Well, what would you say to a package of 5-weeks vacation, 14 paid holidays, full medical & dental, company matching retirement fund to 50% of salary, & a company car leased every 2 years...say, a red Corvette?"
"Wow! Are you kidding?"
"Yeah, but you started it."
A servant’s heart is sorely lacking in our society today.
God’s people should have a servant’s heart.
David Yarbrough
a) The kingdom of God is not a physical place, but it’s a spiritual realm. The kingdom of God is the place where God rules. If God rules your heart, then that’s were you find the kingdom of God, in your heart.
The Masai tribe in West Africa have an unusual way of saying "thank you." Translators tell us that when the Masai express thanks, they bow, put their forehead on the ground and say, "My head is in the dirt." When members of another African tribe want to express thanks, they sit for a long time in front of the hut of the person who did the favor and literally say, "I sit on the ground before you." Those Africans understand well what Thanksgiving is and why it is different for us: at its core, thanksgiving is an act of humility." Joel Gregory
Bill Hybels tells about an interesting experience after a baptism service in their church. He writes: “I bumped into a woman in the stairwell who was crying. I thought this was a little odd, since the service was so joyful. I asked her if she was all right. She said, ‘No, I’m struggling.’ She said, ‘My mom was baptized today. I prayed for her every day for almost 20 years. The reason I’m crying is because I came this close to giving up on her. At the 5-year mark I said, “Who needs this? God isn’t listening.” At the 10-year mark I said, “Why am I wasting my breath?” At the 15-year mark I said, “This is absurd.” At the 19-year mark I said, “I’m just a fool.” But I just kept trying, kept praying. Even with weak faith I kept praying. Then she gave here life to Christ, and she was baptized today. I will never doubt the power of prayer again.”
Sometimes when we pray and pray we feel like we are experiencing the law of diminished returns — so we stop praying. We correspon...
The Monday after Thanksgiving, this year, still very much in November, I met a group of preachers, as is my habit most Mondays for lunch. I was the first to arrive and while I was waiting, I noticed the music playing on the sound system. Song after song of Christmas music was coming out. If only we could say that it was simply a few days of extra Christmas music because Thanksgiving fell so early. Truly, that is not the case. I try very hard to pay attention to things around me. I never know when something that I might see would make a good sermon illustration at some point in the future. One of the things that I noticed this year was, I saw my first Christmas push in mid-August when Hobby Lobby was making room for Christmas decorations, and I am not talking about decorations that people would buy parts of to make. I am talking about decorations to put on your tree. That was in mid-August, four and a half months before Christmas.
Santa Claus was actually in many malls two full weeks before Thanksgiving this year. Perhaps that has happened before, but I can’t remember when.
Gene Gregory
This past week, Gladys, Drew & I had the opportunity to return and visit Locke Station, Mississippi, the place I last pastored before we came here. It was just over 4 years ago that we felt the Lord lead us to move here and start this church. A lot has happened a lot has changed in those 4 years. For one thing, Gladys has grown older. She has also grown more patient, more forgiving and more beautiful. If you repeat the first part of my statement to her, please remember the last as well.
During that time, Drew has grown up. He was an 18-month-old toddler then. He has now started kindergarten.
I have grown. My waist has grown thicker and my hair has grown thinner. I didn’t realize how long my barber had allowed my thinning hair to grow until a few weeks ago when Ellen said, “Brother Gene, you need to comb your hair. It looks like you have a dead spider on your forehead.”
Over time, if things are healthy, they grow.
“The Other Side of The Road!” Luke 17: 1-4 Key verse(s): 3:“So watch yourselves. ‘If you brother sin, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.’”
There but by the grace of god go I! From youth on I was taught the valuable resource of this adage. Along with “Don’t pout or your face will stay that way!” and “When in doubt, punt!”, it is one of those select little phrases that are easy to remember because they imply so much and, with little effort, give so much relief. When something bad happened to someone or someone I knew faltered and fell flat on his face, I was always reminded not to be critical since that could be me sitting there in all that mess. I have always felt that this probably had been on the lips of the priest as he passed by the sight of that poor man beaten at the side of the road. He looked, saw the awful mess and then muttered, “Better pass by. By the grace of God that could have been me.” What a convenient catch all this simply little nine word phrase is. It is so universal in application and certainly far reaching in its ability to bring comfort in almost any sad and dangerous situation.
When I was a young man and just out of college I hung out with a bunch of friends who, like myself, enjoyed a great Friday night out. Since a number of us worked together at the same supermarket stocking groceries, we often got together after work for a beer and just shooting the breeze. All of us had hopped-up cars and girl stories to relate. And, for the most part, we all led pretty similar lives, entertaining similar habits, likes and dislikes. One of the guys in the group (we just called him Craze) however, had a tendency that none of us really shared. He liked to get smashed, really smashed on hard liquor. Friday nights for him was the time when he really let loose. A beer or two wasn’t good enough for him. He needed to really get loaded. It wasn’t unusual for one of my friends on a Friday night to invite us over to his house for a six pack and then we would hang around for a while. Larry would show up too. He’d start out with a beer and then disappear into the back seat of his car scrounging around through the pile of junk he kept there looking for that fifth of whiskey he always kept there. Shots and beer were his specialty. The problem was, Craze didn’t know when to stop. Usually he’d get pretty tanked and fall asleep. He wasn’t much of a menace or a bother, so we pretty much left him alone. Then one night Craze fell asleep at the wheel of his Mustang and wrapped himself around a tree. He survived, barely, --the Mustang didn’t. If one of us had been critical of his habit of drinking too much, Craze might not be walking with a limp today and someone might still be enjoying that classic car today.
Casting the first stone? Sure! All of us drank some, so we each felt “unqualified” to comment on someone else’s bad habits. We chose to walk on the other side of the road because, because “there by” it might have been us. Jesus, however, teaches us something very different. He told His disciples that it was right to “rebuke” a brother when they sinned as long as we forgave that sin. Therein lies the key to walking on the right side of the road. When we see someone buried in sin and headed the wrong way, it’s okay for us to apply valid criticism just as long as we check our own hearts before we speak. Are we sinners too? You bet! Could we be in that same terrible predicament some day? No doubt about it! Being critical is fine as long as we don’t go into it with an attitude. Simply, out of love and the willingness to forgive that sin, apply the criticism and then let the Holy Spirit do the rest. “There but by the grace of God go I?” Probably! That’s why it’s probably better to stop and help. Someday that could be us.
MODEST GRATITUDE
In a sense, gratitude is an expression of modesty. In Hebrew, the word for gratitude - hoda’ah - is the same as the word for confession. To offer thanks is to confess dependence, to acknowledgment that others have the power to benefit you, to admit that your life is better because of their efforts. That frame of mind is indispensable to civilized society.
SOURCE: "The Power ...
A few years ago the Special Olympics were being held in Seattle, Washington. Nine physically or mentally challenged runners lined up at the starting line for the 100 meter run. At the sound of the gun, all the runners began to run as fast as they could. That is all, “except for one boy who stumbled, out of the starting blocks.” He fell down and began to cry. The other eight runners heard the boy crying and immediately stopped running and turned around to see what was wrong.
Then everyone in the crowd was stunned to see all 8 of them walk back to the place where the boy was lying on the ground and help him back to his feet. One girl with Down syndrome kissed him and said, “That will make it better.” Then all nine of them linked arms and walked together to the finish line.
Everyone in the stadium stood up and began to cheer. They gave them a standing ovation that lasted 10 minutes.
The University of Texas and Texas A&M are arch-rivals. (like UK and U of L) Every year for many years before their annual football game, Texas A&M had a pep rally which included a huge bonfire. You may recall that a few years ago, the bon fire collapsed a number of Texas A&M students were actually killed as a result. As a sign of their support and shared grief at this tragic loss of life, a number of University of Texas students attended the memorial service at Texas A&M.
One of them was Eric Opiela, who was serving at the time as the Vice-President of the University of Texas Student Body. Eric wrote an article for the school newspaper about memorial service he attended at Texas A & M. This is what he said.
“I had the great privilege of attending the memorial service at A&M tonight and was deeply moved by the events I experienced. The A&M student body is truly one of the greatest treasures of our State. As part of the University of Texas delegation, we sat on the floor of Reed Arena, and immediately following the end of the service, I heard this rustling sound behind me. I looked over my shoulder and saw 20,000 students spontaneously putting their arms around their neighbor’s shou...
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