scripture
Matthew 25:21
"His master replied, 'Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'
quote
Searching for true happiness in the context of a godless life is like looking for a needle in a haystack that doesn't have any.
W. T. Purkiser
An atheist became incensed over the preparation of Easter and Passover holidays.
He decided to contact his lawyer about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays while atheists had no holiday to celebrate.
The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the long passionate presentation by the lawyer, the Judge banged his gavel and declared, “Case dismissed.”
The lawyer immediately stood and objected to the ruling and said, “Your Honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances. Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah...yet my client and all other atheists have no such holiday!”
The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said, “Obviously your client is too confused to even know about, much less celebrate his own atheists' holiday.”
The lawyer pompously said, “Your Honor, we are unaware of any such holiday for atheists Just when might that holiday be, your Honor?”
The judge said, “Well it comes every year on exactly the same date---April 1st. Since our calendar sets April 1st as 'April Fools Day,' consider what Psalm 14:1 states, 'The fool says in his heart, there is no God.' Thus, in my opinion, if your client says there is no God, then by scripture, he is a fool, and April 1st is his holiday. Now have a good day and get out of my courtroom.”
scripture
1 Corinthians 15: 50-57
I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
quote
Those who make the worst use of their time are the first to complain of its brevity.
Jean de la Bruyere
scripture
Psalm 19:8
The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the LORD are radiant, giving light to the eyes.
quote
All a believer's present happiness, and all his future happiness springs from the eternal purposes of God.
Thomas Brooks
scripture
Acts 2:44-47
All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
quote
Order your soul; reduce your wants; live in charity; associate in Christian community; obey the laws; trust in Providence.
Augustine
thoughts
Look at the way that the early church lived. Should not we also live in a like manner? In our society dependency on others is seen as weakness while independence is seen as strength. We are taught our whole life to stand on our own two feet, and to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps. Help is seen as a hand out, that one could not do it on their own.
The Bible teaches and we see here in the above verse that interdependence is part of being a Christian. How do we reverse this independent state and pursue community? How do we foster interdependence in our lives? Community is a gift and we are missing out.
God in heaven
holds
each person by
a string.
When you sin, you cut
the string.
Then God ties
it up again,
making a knot –
and thereby bringing
you
a little closer to Him.
Again
and
again
your sins cut the
string –
and with each
further knot God
keeps drawing you
closer and
closer
and closer.
From “What’s so amazing about grace?” by Phillip Yansey
scripture
1 Timothy 6:17-18
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
quote
Ever seen the bumper sticker that reads God Bless America? Hasn’t God already blessed us?
Rob Bell, NOOMA video “Rich”
illustration
Imagine with me a bottomless pitcher full of punch. Beside it sits a large glass bowl with a tall glass in the middle of it. I take the bottomless pitcher of punch and begin to pour it into the tall glass. When it reaches the top of the tall glass I don’t stop pouring. I continue pouring until it runs over the top rim and begins to fill the large glass bowl.
The pitcher of punch symbolizes the limitless blessings of God. The tall glass symbolizes our lives and the large bowl symbolizes others lives around us. In our minds we think that the blessings of God are ours. We have this idea that as God showers down blessings that we are running around with an upside down umbrella trying to catch it. But God says that He wants to fill our cup and to make it overflow. We cannot contain all the blessings that He gives and they are not to be contained. He blesses us to the point that it overflows because He wants us to use those blessings to bless others.
scripture
Proverbs 13:3
He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.
quote
If a man cannot be a Christian where he is, he cannot be a Christian anywhere.
Henry Ward Beecher
scripture
1 Peter 2:1
Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
thoughts
Today in college hour Rod Reed spoke about verses 1-12. In particular with this verse, he pointed out that the things which Peter tells use to rid ourselves of are not sins against us as individuals but sins against others. It’s these things that divide and destroy community.
scripture
Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
thought
I’ve heard it said that Jewish law stated you had to forgive someone three times. Here Peter sounded really righteous saying seven times. Jesus deflates that ego and wrong thinking by saying seventy times seven. Does this mean that we only have to forgive 490 times then after that we don’t have to? No. Jesus said this to say that forgiveness is required and expected. The greatest demonstration of our faith is our obedience to forgive. The greatest hypocrisy of our faith is to choose not to.
