Ecclesiastes 12:10

    William Cowper didn’t see any reason to live.   He decided that he’d jump off the bridge over the Thames. So, he called a cab to take him there.   But that night in 1763, a thick fog enveloped London. It was so thick the cab driver couldn’t find the bridge and couldn’t even find the way to take William home. In frustration, he ordered the driver to stop and get out to get his bearings. He walked up to the nearest house to read the number and it was William's house. Gone now were William’s thoughts of suicide and instead a new idea came into his head. So, he went in and wrote these words: God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.  You fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head.     I sometimes wish we could see all the ways God watches over us when need it. There are...

    I always hated buying gifts for my Mom. If I got her something like a new set of pans, it was like saying “Here’s something you can use to go make me something to eat”. A gift for her was seemingly a gift for me.   There are however gifts you give that benefit you more than the receiver. For example, forgiveness. When you give it, you are giving it to yourself as much as you are giving it to them. Jesus said that when we forgive others it means God is forgiving us our wrongs (Matthew 6:14-15).  I once read: “ Heaven is where everyone's forgiven. Hell is where nobody's forgiven.  So, when we forgive we pull heaven down into our lives.  When we withhold forgiveness, we pull hell up into our lives ” Give yourself something nice today, Forgive.

 The chances of that happening are one in a million.  That’s our way of saying that it will never happen.  Yet…  J. E. Littlewood, a mathematician at Cambridge University, made an interesting statement in his 1986 book, "Littlewood's Miscellany." He said the average person is alert for about eight hours every day, and something happens to the average person about once a second. At this rate, you will experience 1 million events every thirty-five days . This means when you say the chances of something happening are one in a million, it also means about once a month .  Maybe things are more likely than we think.  What are the changes they will want to study the Bible with us? What are the chances they come if invited to church? What are the chances this will make a difference?   In Colossians 4:3-5, Paul asks the church to pray for doors to be opened to spread the Gospel even while he is in prison. Why what are the chances? But Paul knew they w...

  We often use part of our body to emphasize certain actions.   Put your back into it!   Use your head!   Open your ears!  It is a way that we illustrate the need for more focus and effort.  In Romans 10:10, Paul does something similar. Here he writes, “ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation .  You can just believe in a lackluster way; you must do it from the heart. You can just think that Jesus is Lord, you must utter the words.  That is why true faith isn’t just something you settle into; you have to mean it. A faith that is basic won’t save you.  We hear the Bible speak of people who believed in Jesus but were not confessing Him(John 12:42). People who knew the truth but didn’t want to change (Mark 10:22). Some say they believe in him yet don’t accept baptism(Mark 16:16).  Is this really faith? A least it’s not the faith t...

   When you read Joel 2:30-31, (" I will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, Blood, fire and columns of smoke. "The sun will be turned into darkness And the moon into blood Before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes .) you might be wondering what he is talking about.   A fireworks display? A great battle of a war? The end of the world?   But Peter tells us what he is speaking of in Acts 2. These visuals describe the Gospel.   Now, we might not see it that way,y but he is exactly right.   What is more spectacular than the Gospel? What defeats the biggest enemy of man? What changes the entire world? What completes the work of the Lord more than the story of Jesus' life, death and resurrection?   I am sure that in the coming days, you will probably see a fireworks display. I bet that for many of us it kind of becomes old hat. Yet imagine what that would appear to be to a person that has never seen it before. It would be shocking...

   Vesta Stoudt was working as a factory worker during World War Two packing ammunition boxes. She knew that there was a problem.   The ammunition boxes were difficult to open. Now in a firefight, you don’t want to struggle to open the box, but you also don’t want a box that lets live ammo spill out in transport.  So she came up with a solution. She told her bosses. They shot her down without much consideration. She tried again. No result. So, she took it up the chain of command. Way, way up the chain of command.  On February 10, 1943, she wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt explaining the problem and offering a solution. Luckily for us he listened.   Because her idea didn’t just help win the war, it became one of the most useful things in the world. Her idea was a strong cloth tape with an adhesive to close the seams. The idea would become duct tape, quite possibly the most useful ‘fix it all’ in the world.   Proverbs 19:20 sa...