Forwarded Messages

The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. PSALM 119:130 Sharing this video forwarded by a friend... thank you Nick. #WorthWatching #WorthForwarding #ForwardedMessages

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...

 TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. 

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 ...

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 a story that tells of a woman who volunteered with the school  district in a large city. Specifically, she was helping tutor children  who were forced to miss school due to illness. One day she was given a  name and a hospital room number, with this written instruction from the  teacher: “We’re studying nouns and adverbs in his class now, and I’d be  grateful if you could help him understand them so he doesn't fall too  far behind.” When the woman arrived at the hospital room, she found a young boy who  had been badly burned that was lying in great pain in the bed.  Overwhelmed by the sight of this boy, all she could do was blurt out,  “I’ve been sent by your school to help you with nouns and adverbs.”  After working with the child for a time, she left feeling foolish. What  good were grammar lessons to a boy in his condition?

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.

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.'

I admit it. I love the office shredder. It might be because I am  mesmerized by loud machines that destroy things. But I am also  fascinated by the process. After a document is run through, there is no  way to reconstruct it, no way to put it together again, and no way to  know what was originally there. We use it to destroy sensitive  documents, addresses, and any material we do not want seen. I also use it for something else. I use it to destroy my mistakes. If I  print the wrong form, misspell a name, or use the wrong name -- a quick  trip to the shredder and it is as if it never happened. It is gone  forever.

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.

He met her at a party. She was so outstanding, many guys chasing after her, while he was so normal, nobody paid attention to him. At the end of the party, he invited her to have coffee with him, she was surprised but due to being polite, she promised. They sat in a nice coffee shop, he was too nervous to say anything, she felt uncomfortable, and she thought to herself, "Please, let me go home..." Suddenly he asked the waiter, "Would you please give me some salt? I'd like to put it in my coffee." Everybody stared at him, so strange! His face turned red but still, he put the salt in his coffee and drank it. She asked him curiously, "Why you have this hobby?" He replied, "When I was a little boy, I lived near the sea, I liked playing in the sea, I could feel the taste of the sea, just like the taste of the salty coffee. Now every time I have the salty coffee, I always think of my childhood, think of my hometown, I miss my hometown so much, I miss m...

Perhaps the most challenging distinctive of Christianity is that our  God wants us to love him. While world religions talk of studying about  their gods, following teachings, keeping rules and living solemn,  self-sacrificing lives, becoming more self-aware, our God asks for  something more. He sent his son to show us how to love because that's what he wants. He wants us to love him, to love him with all our heart  and mind and soul. Love is longing for the presence of your loved one; you think about  that person throughout the day. Much more than words, this relationship  is a new way to live life. Jesus' disciples learned it through  experience. Toward the end of his life, John could speak of nothing  else, "... let's not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions" (1 John 3:18 NLT) . Love demands relationship. You can memorize stacks of facts and know a  lot about someone, you could even deve...

By Tim Archer They were fishermen, men who worked the Lake of Galilee in northern  Israel. The lake was full of fish, and a man could make a good living  working there, especially if he knew what he was doing. Simon and  Andrew, brothers born into a family of fishermen, knew their trade. It  might not make them rich, but they would never go hungry. It was a  safe, secure way of life. The account of what happened is fairly brief: "As Jesus walked beside  the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net  into the lake, for they were fishermen. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said,  'and I will make you fishers of men.' At once they left their nets and  followed him" (Mark 1:16-18). We do need to understand that this wasn't the first time Andrew and his  brother had seen Jesus; they had spent a day with him once, listening  to his teachings. (John 1:35-42). Still, I can't help but be amazed at  what happens when...

I walked into the grocery store not particularly interested in buying groceries. I wasn't hungry. The pain of losing my husband of 57 years was still too raw. And this grocery store held so many sweet memories. He often came with me and almost every time he'd pretend to go off and look for something special. I knew what he was up to. I'd always spot him walking down the aisle with the three yellow roses in his hands. He knew I loved yellow roses. With a heart filled with grief, I only wanted to buy my few items and leave, but even grocery shopping was different since he had passed on. Shopping for one took time, a little more thought than it had for two. Standing by the meat, I searched for the perfect small steak and remembered how he had loved his steak. Suddenly a woman came beside me. She was blonde, slim and lovely in a soft green pantsuit. I watched as she picked up a large package of T-bones, dropped them in her basket.. Hesitated, and then put them back. S...

Maybe it is time for some of us Christians to apologize. In our desire to have others become Christians, we may have been less than honest with our non-Christian friends. We have talked in terms of "converting," "being saved," "joining with us," and other religious sounding words. In truth, becoming a Christian can be explained by a much simpler term: it is an invitation to die.   Becoming a Christian requires you to die. Jesus came to this world because God wanted you to live with him forever. He offers eternal life. The perfect God wants the imperfect man to live with Him forever. He made that possible by letting Jesus die for all the things we did that were unlike God. Jesus came here to die for you, so you could live.

Some people would rather endure an enema than love an enemy... Is there any tougher commandment than the one that instructs us to love our enemies? Not tolerate them or simply do kind things for them. Love them. Those obnoxious, cruel, hateful people. The boss who treats you unfairly. The co-worker who pretends to be your friend, then back - stabs you. The unhappy customer who unfairly criticizes you to your superiors. The technical support person who is consistently rude. Or that certain someone who is simply annoying.