Forwarded Messages

This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. Please, LORD, please save us. Please, LORD, please give us success ( Psalm 118:24-25 NLT). The really good coaches are smart cookies. Forget the "dumb jock" jokes, and pay attention to their ability to motivate — and focus on what matters. One of several nicknames carried by the late UCLA basketball coach John Wooden was The Wizard of Westwood. During his eventful career, he mentored — not just coached — dozens of men who went on to success both in the NBA and in a variety of careers outside athletics. Along the way, his teams won a record ten national titles and set a record 88-game collegiate winning streak. He died in 2010 but remains one of the most respected figures in all of sports. Wooden was a reflective man whose speeches, books, and occasional interviews scattered gems of practical wisdom. A Christian who read his Bible daily, many of those tidbits mirror the teachings of the Master Tea...

If you're going to spend over $650,000 building a new house, there's one important thing to do before you begin: make sure you are building in the right place. That's the lesson a Missouri couple learned the hard way. While building a luxury home in a beachfront development in Florida, they accidentally constructed on the lot next to the one they owned; they built on land belonging to someone else. The initial survey of the property was wrong, leading to the misplaced construction. Hopefully an acceptable agreement can be reached with the neighbors on whose land the house was built. You may also have heard the news about the Rhode Island developer that mistakenly built a $1.8 million house on public park land. Again, the survey was wrong. The error came to light when prospective buyers had their own survey done of the property. In that case, no settlement could be reached, and the Rhode Island Supreme Court ordered the house removed from public land. Jesus talked a...

"Choose this day..." Joshua, the leader of God's people, was addressing his countrymen. They had conquered the land that God had promised to give them and were ready to settle in their new homes. Now Joshua calls on them to make a choice. "Choose this day whom you will serve..." This was about loyalty. This was about allegiance. Joshua spoke to them about getting rid of the idols that their parents had served and dedicating themselves to the Lord. If that seemed unacceptable, they needed to choose who they would serve: the old idols or possibly the new idols they had found in the land where they were living. "Choose this day whom you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD " (Joshua 24:15). Joshua had already made his choice. He and his family would serve God. To a man, Joshua's people cried out that they wanted to do the same, that they wanted to serve God. Surely that made Joshua happy, right? He had given such a persua...

She was nobody. A nameless woman in a sea of people.  A woman with a secret: she had a gynecological problem that caused her to bleed continually. Under Jewish law, anyone that touched her would be ceremonially unclean. So she hid in the crowd, seeking anonymity and isolation. Jesus was with Jairus, an important man in the community, a ruler of the synagogue. They were on an urgent mission to save Jairus' daughter, who was gravely ill. The woman wanted to be healed as well. She had heard of Jesus and the miracles he had done. She knew that no holy man would touch her on purpose... they wouldn't want to defile themselves in that way. She would have to find a way to be healed in secret. The gospel of Mark tells the story: When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from ...

It was the music pumping through the speakers at the optometrist's that made me see you clear for who you are. The lyrics kept thrumming loud when I was standing there with my thick glasses, waiting for the receptionist. Waiting there with the Mennonite woman in her netted white bonnet and purple flowers falling down the cotton front of her cape dress. And Robin Thicke just keeps crooning it on some radio station like he's Marvin Gaye, like he knows the wants of women. And I'm sitting beside a Mennonite woman, us both bespectacled and motherly rounded, and I shift awkward in my chair when the song hits it grinding refrain, and there are men like you who know a woman wants a love that respects. There are men who wear old Wranglers and drive rusting mini-vans to pick up the kids after piano lessons. And pick up broccoli because it's on sale this week. And who stop those matronly vans to pick a bunch of the wild Black-eyed Susans growing in the...

I thought I would start my speech by addressing you as the “new” family of my daughter. But I think it would be inappropriate because now that she is married, you are “the family” for her. Believe me; I don’t have a problem with that. I, in fact, want my daughter to have “you” as her priority now. It’s time for us to take a backseat in her life. We would happily accept it but would surely request one thing- please keep her happy! I am more than sure that you will keep her very happy. She will perhaps be happier than what she used to be here. But like all fathers, I obsess over my daughter’s happiness which is making me say this over and over again- please keep her happy! She never was and will never be a burden for me. She is in fact the reason why I breathe and smile. I am getting her married because this is what the law of nature demands. I am helpless in the face of our culture and therefore sending her to your home. She was the happiness of my home and will now light up ...

One of our dogs is a tattletale. She is small, cute, and has a very loud excitable bark when something sets her off. And nothing sets her off like when our Golden Retriever does something he should not. If he sticks his nose in the trash, she gets about six inches from his face and starts barking as loud as she can. If he puts one paw on the couch, same thing. If he does anything he is not supposed to do, then she lets him, us, and everyone in earshot know about it. You have known people like that. They want to be sure everyone knows about every mistake you have ever made. It is as if their greatest joy in life is to see someone get in trouble. Tattletales want to get people in trouble, see people "get what is coming to them," and make sure everyone knows about it. You see them among children on the playground, and among employees in the workplace. There is even a tattletale who wants to be sure God gives you what you deserve for all the wrong choices in your life. A...

1. Today, my sister and I were in a bad car accident. My sister is Mrs. Popular at school – she knows everyone. I’m a bit of an introvert – I hang-out with the same 2 girls all the time. My sister immediately posted a comment on Facebook about our accident. And while all her friends were commenting, my 2 friends showed up independently at the scene of the accident before the paramedics arrived. 2. Today, my fiancé returned home from his last tour of duty overseas. Yesterday he was just my boyfriend, or so I thought. Almost a year ago, he mailed me a package. He told me I wasn't allowed to open it until he got home in two weeks. But then his tour got extended for another 11 months. Today, when he got home, he told me to open the package, and just as I pulled the ring out of the box, he got down on one knee. 3. Today, my 12-year-old son, Sean, and I stopped by the nursing home together for the first time in several months. Usually I come alone see my mother who’s sufferin...

1. Today, I watched in horror through the kitchen window as my 2-year-old slipped and fell head first into the pool. But before I could get to her, our Labrador Retriever, Rex, jumped in after her, grabbed her by her shirt collar and pulled her to the shallow steps where she could stand. 2. Today, my older brother has donated bone marrow 16 times to help treat my cancer. He communicates directly with my doctor and does it without me even asking or knowing when he has an appointment. And today my doctor informed me that the treatment appears to be working. “Cancer cells have been drastically reduced in the last few months.” 3. Today, I was driving home with my grandfather when he suddenly made a u-turn and said, “I forgot to get your grandmother a bouquet of flowers. I’ll pick up one from the florist at the corner down here. It’ll only take a second.” “What’s so special about today that you have to buy her flowers?” I asked. “There’s nothing specifically special about tod...

As we celebrate love this month, here are some tiny love stories that made us smile, I hope this works for you too... love love love.  1. Today, my 75-year-old grandpa who has been blind from cataracts for almost 15 years said to me, “Your grandma is just the most beautiful thing, isn’t she?” I paused for a second and said, “Yes she is. I bet you miss seeing that beauty on a daily basis.” “Sweety,” my grandpa said, “I still see her beauty every day. In fact, I see it more now than I used to when we were young.”

There's an amazing story about Jesus and a man named Jairus who was a  religious leader, one of the rulers of the Jewish synagogue. At that  time, that would have made him unlikely to go see someone like Jesus. But Jairus went. He went because his daughter was very sick. He went because he was  desperate. He went because he considered Jesus to be his only hope.  Jairus was able to convince Jesus to come to his house. But while they were on the way, someone came with terrible news: Jairus' daughter was  dead. All hope was now gone. Or so Jairus must have thought. But Jesus thought otherwise. He said to the grieving father: "Don't be  afraid; just believe, and she will be healed" (Luke 8:50).  When they arrived at Jairus' house, people were standing outside,  crying. Jesus told them: "She is not dead but asleep." They laughed at  him, because everyone knew she was dead. Except Jesus. That is, he knew she was dead. But he also knew that ...

I recently read a little story about a little girl that touched my  heart. It seems that this little girl was late coming home for supper  one evening. When she got home her parents were understandably upset.  He questioned her about why she had been so late, after all they had  worried about her! The little girl said, "I stopped to help Marcie, she had a wreck on her  bicycle and it was broken." Her father said, "But you don't know  anything about fixing bicycles!" To which the little girls replied, "I  know, but I stopped to help her cry."

There was an old country doctor who would take his dog along with him  when visiting patients. The dog would remain outside while the doctor  went in for the house call. On one occasion, the physician went to the home of a man with a  terminal disease who didn't seem to have much time to live. The man  confessed to the doctor his fears about death and said, "What's it like  when you die?" The doctor thought for a moment, then got up and opened the front door.  His loyal canine friend, who had been waiting patiently on the porch,  gleefully bounded in to join his master.

By Tom Norvell A friend of mine calls them dry times. Dry times are those times in  your life, more specifically in your spiritual life, when there seems  to be a void. A time when all the things you typically do to nourish  your soul seem to have stopped working. Some of you understand the dry  times very well. You have lived through them. You may be  going through  one right now. Maybe you have recently come out of such a time. Here  are a few examples of how a dry time may express itself. You are going through life pretty much like you always have, but one  day things seem different. The sky is not as blue. The breeze is not as  cool. The sunshine is not as bright. The snowfall is not as white.  Rainbows don't provide much of a thrill. And very few things seem to  give your heart much of a thrill. You are doing the same things you have always done. Except now you are  enjoying it less. Very few things seem to excite y...

One day a man saw an old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.'

A farmer's daughter duty was to carry fresh milk to customers in various villages had, one of whom was a priest. To reach his house, the milkmaid had to cross a good-sized stream. People crossed it by a sort of ferry raft, for a small fee. One day the priest, who performed worship daily with the offering to God of fresh milk, finding it arrived very late, scolded the poor woman. "What can I do?" she said, "I start out early from my house, but I have to wait a long time for the boatman to come."

There's an old story about an elderly woman who was told by her  physician that she probably wouldn't live much longer. Soon thereafter,  she called in her family to discuss her funeral arrangements. They  talked about how the service would be, where she would be buried, what  kind of casket would be used, etc. As the conversation was winding  down, the woman remarked, "There's one thing that's very important: I  want to be buried with a fork in my right hand."

"Suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not  light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds  it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors  together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin. In  the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the  angels of God over one sinner who repents" (Luke 15:8-10 NIV).

"I speak without exaggeration," Thomas Edison once said, "when I say that I have constructed three thousand different theories in connection with electric light, each one of them reasonable and apparently likely to be true. Yet in two cases only did my experiments prove the truth of my theory." That means Edison developed 2,998 failed theories along with his two successful experiments! The entire story of the light bulb is a long, tedious tale of repeated trial and failure. Yet, through it all, Edison was watching attentively -- and learning.

A veteran pastor began a custom during his Sunday service - a custom he continued for twelve years. Before dismissing the children for Junior church, he invited them all to the front of the sanctuary to march past his pulpit on their way to the special kid oriented service. As the kids walked past him, the pastor made a point to smile at each one. In return, all of them smiled at him. "It was one of the high points of the service," he once said.