Numbers which hurt

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Statistics

In 2012, an average of 46.6 million Americans received food stamps each month—the most ever.

Homeless rates tripled in 182 American cities over one eight-year period.

Almost half the world—over three billion people—lives on less than $2.50 a day.

The number of people living in extreme poverty–$1.25 a day in 2005 prices—was cut 50 percent between 1990 and 2010, but some 1 billion people will still live in extreme poverty in 2015.

About 1.4 million children die each year from unsafe drinking water and inadequate sanitation.
–Sources: U. S. Census Bureau, Weekly Standard, National Coalition for the Homeless, Washington Post, World Bank, UNICEF. Printed in –“Facts and Trends,” March/April 2015, p. 29. http://www.factsandtrends.net

Don’t stop praying!

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prayer

I was on a red eye flight with a little girl overwhelmed with the experience of her first flight. She asked her mom, “Why are we just sitting in the air?” Of course, we were not. It seemed that way to the girl. But there was someone in the cockpit speeding us to our destination. Prayer is the same way. It may seem nothing is happening. But God is at work. Don’t stop praying!
–H. B. Charles

Loving God is the most important thing

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Christian life, Preaching

In “Facts and Trends,” Mark Dance recently gave six practical ideas which have helped him stay fresh with God between Sundays:

1. Make Jesus the first appointment of your day.
2. Regularly change your routine.
3. Read Scripture you’re not teaching.
4. Read books you’re not teaching.
5. Join a small group you are not leading.
6. Write down your thoughts and prayers.

Dance writes, “There will never be a more important thing for us to do than to love God.”
–“Facts and Trends,” March/April 2015, p. 17. http://www.factsandtrends.net

Stay handy to God

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Service

A man and his grandson were in the woodshop. “Tommy, said the grandfather, “I need you to hand me a tool.” “Where is the tool?” young Tommy asked. It’s up there to your left a little bit. No—no—just…a little higher,” he instructed.

Finally, he said, “Never mind, I did it with this screwdriver.”

When Tommy turned around, his granddad was at the other end of the workbench. “Tommy, I didn’t use this screwdriver because it was the best tool for the job,” he said. “I used this screwdriver because it was close to my hand. I want you to remember this: it’s the handy tool that gets used the most.”

Then he put the screwdriver down and said, “There are a lot of folks out there with the ability to do great things for God, but God will end up using some old, common man who is willing to stay close to Him. It’s the handy tool that gets used the most. Your job is to stay handy to God, to stay close to His hand.”
–adapted from “Reflections of Faith” from GuideStone Magazine,  Issue 13, 2014, p. 12

Still being a witness

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Adversity, Aging, Testimony, Witnessing

J. T. Elliff retired from the active ministry in 1965, but he continued to preach whenever he was able. When he was about to turn 93, Jr. T. walked the sidewalks of his neighborhood as far as he was able, inviting people to a barbeque. After the meal, he stood  to make an announcement:

“Folks, I have an announcement: I’ll be turning 93 in a few days (which was met with applause and cheering). And…I’m going to die (which quickly brought the celebration to an awkward pause). I don’t know when I’m going to die, but you’re going to die too. (At this point, he shared his testimony). Now, here’s the offer: at 93, I don’t do a lot of traveling. But if you want to know how you can go to Heaven when you die, will you just stop by to see me?”

And, sure enough, members of different households came by to talk. J. T. Elliff, now 97, is still eager to speak to others about Christ.
–adapted from “Reflections of Faith” from GuideStone Magazine,  Issue 13, 2014, pp. 12-13

No graven images

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Ten Commandments, Worship

The first of the Ten Commandments tells us who we are to worship, and the second tells us how we are to worship God—with “no images” (Exodus 20:4).

When Israel made the golden calf while Moses was on Mt. Sinai, they were not attempting to worship a false God but attempting to worship the one true God in the wrong way—with an image. God is spirit, meaning He has no physical form, and any attempt to give Him form only distorts Him. No image of God can be created that captures His fullness.

We may not be guilty of graving images onto stone or fashioning them out of gold, but we are guilty of graving images onto our minds. We make God into who we want Him to be and worship this false image. So the reason you don’t see anything wrong with gossip, gambling or watching inappropriate movies, is because you have fashioned a god that has no problem with it.

You find it easy to skip church, Bible reading and prayer because you have fashioned a god that is not upset with you for this. You do not see the need to tithe regularly, support missions or help the poor because you have fashioned a god who does not require this of you.

But God sent Jesus, the “image of the invisible God” (Colossians 1:15), to rescue us from our sin and false images, and to show us who God is and what He requires of us. Repent and follow Christ.
–Jason Jones, pastor of Madden Baptist Church, Leake County, Mississippi

Arrogance

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Arrogance

A flight had been cancelled, and passengers were mobbing the reservation counter. The airline employees were doing their very best to rebook the passengers as quickly as possible. One impatient passenger shoved his way to the front of the line and shouted, “You have to get me on this plane.” The reservationist remained calm.

So the passenger became incensed and insulting. “Do you know who you’re talking to? Do you know who I am?” The airline employee reached for the microphone  and announced over the intercom: “We have a passenger who doesn’t know who he is. Will someone who knows this passenger please come identify him?” The other passengers erupted into applause.

An expectant faith

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Faith, Rocky Henriques

An expectant faith keeps on looking at what God is doing, in spite of the circumstances, and sometimes because of the circumstances. An expectant faith keeps an eye on God because of the belief that He is actively involved in the lives of mankind, and that He is working great wonders.
–Rocky Henriques, http://www.timothyreport.com

Be careful about making predictions

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Prophecy, Second Coming

While the demise of the pencil has been predicted whenever any new communications device has become popular, it seems to have an incredible staying power. The eraser-tipped pencil invented by Hyman Lipman of Philadelphia received a patent in 1858. In the United States about two billion pencils are used every year, requiring 82,000 trees. On the floor of the New York Stock Exchange alone, more than one million pencils are used every twelve months.

World-wide, the number comes to 14 billion annually, enough to circle Earth 60 times. The average pencil can draw a line 35 miles long.

If we cannot accurately predict the demise of the pencil, how much less will we be able to predict when Jesus will return!

–Rocky Henriques, http://www.timothyreport.com

Pride, Humility

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Humility, Pride

Phillips Brooks, known through the English-speaking world in the 19th century as “a prince of preachers,” and who wrote the Christmas carol, “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” once said, “The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will show you what the real smallness of your greatness is.”