Brother John I thank you for the kind words and want you to know that my feelings are mutual. You are a very good friend that has always had words of incouragement for others.

Brother I also thank you for your trust in me with the Fifth Day. I realise that you may not be up to keeping it up but I cannot accept the keys from you completely. That door will always remain open to you, if and when you are able to do anything there please do so.

The problem here is that so many are brainwashed into thinking that the Republican Democratic party is somehow the political party you should align yourself with for Christian values.  Too many are afraid to think for themselves, or believe thinking for themselves may lead them down the wrong path.  Recent Historical events clearly show a corrupt Republican Democratic party, void of morals in their politics, that still has the unjustified and unwavering loyalty of too many Christians.  People want to believe there is a light side political party and a dark side political party, while the truth is split between each party and often held by neither or sometimes both.  So you have a bunch of lunatics dancing around like monkeys cheerleading when they hear words like liberal and conservative, Republican and Democrat, without having any interest in learning the facts and becoming educated.

 "Let the Children Come"

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16 (NIV)

How did you get to church this morning? I imagine that most of you came with your parents. Perhaps others came with grandparents. Some children may have come with aunts, uncles, cousins, or an older brother or sister. Maybe some of you had a Sunday School teacher or a friend who brought you to church. One thing I am pretty sure of -- unless you live close enough to walk to church, someone had to bring you here. I don't think any of you are old enough drive your own car are you? I didn't think so!

I think it is great that someone cared enough about you to bring you to church today. That tells me that they wanted to make sure that you would learn about Jesus and his love for you. Because you are here today, it is possible that Jesus might touch your heart and change your life.

One day, Jesus was teaching his disciples and a large crowd of other people were following him to hear what he was teaching. He was teaching about marriage and divorce and how God wanted them to have happy homes.

As Jesus was teaching, people started to bring their children to him so that he could touch them. The disciples didn't like these children interupting Jesus and his. They told the people to get the children away. When Jesus saw what they were doing, he was very upset. "Let the children come to me, and do not stop them," Jesus said. "The kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these little ones." Then Jesus took the children in his arms and blessed them.

Let us hope that we will always remember that Jesus loved the children and took them into his loving arms. We are thankful for each of you who are here today and thankful that someone loved you enough to bring you.

Dear Father, we love the children just as Jesus loved them and we are thankful that these children have someone who loves them enough to bring them to Jesus. Amen.

When Your Load Is Heavy

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11: 28 [NIV]

How strong are you? Do you think you are pretty strong? How many of you think you could pick up this brick? How about a dumbbell like this one? Well, you must be pretty strong then. How many of you think you could pick up a car? Oh, you don't think you could pick up a car? Well, I think you could if you had some help. Here is something that would help you. It is an automobile jack. If you put this jack underneath the car and pump the handle, you can easily lift a car that weighs over 3,000 pounds! Yes, with the help of a jack, you can lift a car, but you couldn't do it alone, could you?

Some of you have some pretty heavy burdens to carry in life. Perhaps you have a physical handicap that makes your life difficult. Or, perhaps your father has lost his job and your family is having financial difficulties. Maybe someone in your family has cancer or some other serious illness and you are worried about them. You may be having a hard time making passing grades in school. I don't know what the burdens are that you have in your life, but I do know that there are some that you just can't handle by yourself. Well, guess what? You don't have to!

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest." There is no reason for you to struggle with burdens that are too heavy for you. If you will turn to Jesus and trust in him, he will help you.

Does that mean that if we will ask him, Jesus will take all of our troubles away? No. In fact, we may need some of those struggles to help us to grow and become stronger. We may need those burdens to help us to learn to trust in Jesus. But when the load is too heavy, he will help us to carry it. And there is no burden that is too heavy for Jesus.

Dear Jesus, we are thankful that when we struggle under the load of life's burdens, you are there to help us carry the load. Amen.

He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough." Matthew 13:31-33 (NIV)

Today I brought with me two things that may not be familiar to some of you. The first thing I want to show you are these mustard seeds. See how tiny these mustard seeds are? They are the smallest seeds I have ever seen. The other thing I have brought today is some yeast. Yeast comes in very small packets. Both of these things are very small, yet, in our Bible lesson today, the mustard seed and yeast are used by Jesus to describe what the kingdom of heaven is like

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." What can we learn from the mustard seed? Well, I think we can learn that we are never too small to be important in God's eyes. You and I may be small, but we can help to grow the kingdom of God.

Look at this small packet of yeast. Do you know what happens when you take this small amount of yeast and mix it with water and flour and a little salt and sugar? It grows all through that mixture and gives us big loaves of bread. Large, soft, fluffy, delicious loaves of bread. The flour and water and sugar and salt just can't do it alone. The yeast has an affect on everything - just from a tiny piece of it. Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." That is what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us, as part of his kingdom, to change the world around us and make it better.

We may be small, but like the mustard seed and the yeast, we are important in the kingdom of heaven.

Father, help us to remember that size is not important in your kingdom. You can use even the smallest one of us to grow the kingdom. Amen.

  Silence

By: Beth Hays
Beth@tddm.org


And I tell you this, that you must give an account on judgment day of every idle word you speak. Matthew 12:36

I have learned many valuable lessons this past summer as a Christian camp counselor. There is just something about being surrounded by God’s creation and in an unconditionally loving environment that breaks down defensive walls. When those walls are down we open ourselves up more…or at least I do. So, amidst the stress of having many kids in my care 23 hours a day, 6 days a week, I was taught incredible things.

One of the things I have come to cherish is silence. This shocks even me because I love to talk and be sociable. I love to be in conversation and silence used to scare me. My mom has always joked that I came out of the womb talking because I started so early. But, I have learned the value of being quiet.

It was not until I learned this lesson that this verse became real to me. God isn’t just talking about keeping your talk clean (though I know he wants that too), but He wants you to only talk when necessary so you can enjoy the beauty in silence. When you talk unnecessarily, you are ruining someone else’s (and your own) chance at a beautiful moment of silence.

God doesn’t mess around with this stuff either. He is serious. Each of us are going to have to account for all the times we spoke when we didn’t need to or to just to talk. We will have to fess up to all of our meaningless conversations. I know I will have a lot of fessing up to do. But, now that I have experienced how precious quietness can be, I have decided to be more aware and in control of when I speak, and when I chose not to. I suggest you consider doing the same. You may find your life becoming more beautiful with each added moment of stillness.

  How To Shine

By: Matt Crawford
Matt@tddm.org


"If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as noonday." (Isaiah 58:10)

So often we forget the things which should be the fruit of our salvation. Things that go beyond our prayer time, our Bible study, our "ministry" as we know it –things that work repentance and humility in our hearts for God in a way that no other "religious" practice could come close to. We forget the basic concepts of easing the yoke for others, helping the poor, and going out of our way–sacrificing–to comfort the afflicted.

Even before Christ began his public ministry, John the Baptist preached repentance to the people to prepare their hearts for the Lord who was to come. When they asked him what they should do, his first reply was "let him who has two coats give to he who has none." And the Bible makes it clear that John's only purpose was to fill in the valleys, to level the hills, and to make straight the path of the Lord. The hearts of the people needed to be set in repentance, producing fruit accordingly, so that they would be ready to accept Christ's words in their hearts when He arrived.

So often is a "life-enhancing" gospel of personal fulfillment, joy, and love preached, we set aside and forget the righteous and pleasing deeds God requires. "Share your bread with the hungry," "bring to your house the poor who are cast out," "when you see the naked, cover him." (Isaiah 58).  Yet if John the Baptist, who was full of the Spirit from birth, was suppose to ready the people's hearts for Christ by calling them to such deeds, do we who profess Christ ignore the heart of God while claiming to be His children?

Like all God's pleas or requirements, the call to "extend your soul to the hungry" is meant to bring us goodness, not to deprive us of it. For the scripture goes on to say that our light shall dawn in the darkness, and even our darkness shall be as the noonday. The work that such actions will wrought in our heart is so profound that even in our bad moments, at our dark times, we will shine like the sun at it's brightest of the day.

  A Fisher of Men

By: Adam R. Rinehart
Adam@tddm.org


"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." (Matthew 4:19)

I am sitting here in my office, thinking about all of the snow coming our way, and all of the work that I have to do before it gets here.  In times like these my daydreaming mind always wanders to something pleasant. Like, a quiet lake with just me and the elements, and seeing how many worms I can drown. There are times that I just wish that I could put a sign out on the church entrance that says, "Gone Fishing!  If you need me, call my cell."

Do you enjoy fishing? Have you ever caught a fish? Fishing is a great sport, and if you have ever been fishing, you know that there is such a wonderful excitement when you actually catch a fish. One of the things that makes fishing such a great sport is that it doesn't matter if you are young or old, or if you are a girl or a boy –you can still catch a fish. What does it take to be good at catching fish?

First of all, you need to be properly equipped. You can't just get piece of string, put a hook on it, and tie it on the end of a stick and expect to catch very many fish, can you? No! If you are serious about fishing, you will make sure that you have all the right equipment. You will want a nice rod and reel.  The next thing you need to know is that you can't sit around talking with your friends about fishing or reading fishing magazines and expect to catch any fish. You have to go where the fish are to catch them! You want to be where the fish are.  Finally, if you want to be good at fishing, you must learn patience. Sometimes the fish just aren't biting. I guess that is the main reason I was never very good at fishing. I thought that you should catch a fish the minute your hook hit the water.

One day, Jesus was walking along the seashore when he saw two brothers named Peter and Andrew. Jesus knew that they made their living by fishing, so he called out to them, "Follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!" Do you know what they did? They laid down their fishing nets and followed Jesus.

Jesus wants you and me to fish for people too. That means that he wants us to tell others about what he has done for, us and what he wants to do for them. When is the last time that you "went fishing”? Maybe you need to be like me, and put everything else aside and literally go fishing.  Maybe you could fish at the mall, or the pizza parlor.  Wherever you know that there are some fish, go, find them!  Now is the time!  May God's Grace Abound in You

Chairs?  

The floor will do for me as long as someone is willing to help me back up.  

Just scoot!  Why would you want to back up anyway?  

That is a humble position. Hmm ....  I wonder if that is the reason my legs don't work right.

Hey PR.................just agree with me for a change.  Forget about that floor nonsense and just pull up a chair.  OK?  OK!  There now, it's settled.  Whew..............you know, you can be a trouble maker.

 

I love having fun.  

Chairs?  

The floor will do for me as long as someone is willing to help me back up.  

Just scoot!  Why would you want to back up anyway?  

That is a humble position. Hmm ....  I wonder if that is the reason my legs don't work right.

Hi GKB,

Welcome to the forum.

Many people struggle with this concept. The scripture tells us clearly that they are three. Jesus tells us this Himself in Mat 28:19. Yet we also know that they are one as we see in many different verses (1John 5:7 for one) for there is one and only one God. We also see that Jesus is God come to us in the flesh (John 1).

We know that God does not lie so we know by faith that these things are true.

Now you know it grieves me tremendously .......    


I love this new computer I have, too. The only thing that slows me down now is Christian Unites server.

 

Chairs?  

The floor will do for me as long as someone is willing to help me back up.  

That is a lot of computers to set up. I also pray that they will glorify God.

My prayers go with you also Brother in your surgery tomorrow.

I will pray for you  . I wake up in the middle of the night and I automatically start praying usually I start praying for my husband first and for some reason the other night God led me to pray for my friends at this forum. I felt so much better I just drifted of to sleep again.
My grandson is doing so much better, my daughter took my advice and she and her husband pray with him at bedtime and she pleads the Blood over her family daily. They also moved into a new house, I went to visit them on Saturday, and my grandson looks wonderful. Thank you for asking.

That is great news Sister. I still have all of you on prayer list.