Our church is the perfect church – for those who aren’t.
Church is a gift from God. Assembly required.
Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.
The church has many critics, but not rivals.
What would your church be like if every member were just like you?
The task ahead of us in church is never as great as great as the power behind us.
Unfortunately some church members have minds like concrete – roughly mixed up and permanently set.
We’re too blessed in our church to be depressed.
Church is one place where you can pray up in advance.
Home improvement: take your family to church.
Church is the place to count your blessings, not your problems.
In church it’s not what you know, but who you know that counts.
Our church has a prophet-sharing plan.
Church is where we should raise spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.
Our church is prayer-conditioned and soular powered by the Son.
Running low on faith? Stop into church for a fill-up.
The church: band of the free, home of the saved.
A church alive is worth the drive.
We all work for the same employer in church.
Children brought up in the church are seldom brought up in court.
Church: Guests welcome. Members expected.
CH??CH – What’s missing?
Come to church. Try Jesus. If you don’t like him, the devil will always take you back.
The church is a hospital for sinners, not a rest home for saints.
The best way to have the last word in any church dispute is to apologize.
Sometimes in church we can hardly live with each other, but we certainly can’t live without each other.
Our church isn’t the Dairy Queen, but our Sundays are great!

The following story is an old Irish proverb, hopefully we will all learn from the lesson it imparts.

A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long white beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them.

She said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat."

"Is the man of the house home?" they asked.

"No", she said. "He's out."

"Then we cannot come in," they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had happened. "Go tell them I am home and invite them in!" The woman went out and invited the men in.

"We do not go into a house together," they replied.

"Why is that?" she wanted to know.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing to one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success, and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said. Her husband was overjoyed. "How nice!!" he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?" Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the house. She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

"Let us heed our daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his wife. "Go out and invite Love to be our guest."

The woman went out and asked the three old men, "Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest."

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success:

"I only invited Love, Why are you coming in?" The three old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success, the other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love, wherever he goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also Wealth and Success!"

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!

Psalm 46:10 – "Be still and know that I am God."

I have found that a major problem with me is the constant interruptions that occur in my life. As I grow older, and I am growing older quicker than I used to, it becomes harder for me to concentrate on more than one or two things at a time. It has become more difficult for me to resist being distracted from anything on which I should be concentrating. This means I must apply myself in greater measure in order to hear what God is saying to me. I am quite sure there are others who find themselves in the same condition.
Have you ever wondered why a pigeon walks so funny? A pigeon walks the way it does so it can see where it’s going. Since it is unable to adjust its focus as it moves, the pigeon has to bring its head to a complete stop between steps in order to refocus. This is the way it walks: head forward, stop; head back, stop. That’s how it moves.
In our spiritual walk with the Lord we may have the same problem as the pigeon. We too, often need to stop between steps in order to refocus on where we are in relation to the world and the will of God. God is not silent, has never been silent. It is the nature of God to talk to us. But – we must be attuned to him in order to hear him. In order for me to be able to hear Him, I need to concentrate fully on Him first. Our world of today offers many distractions and so-called time saving devices – cell phones, cable TV, ipods, spam, telemarketing to name but a very few – which intrude upon our quiet time. In this busy world of today with its myriad of distractions I need to incorporate into my walk with God, a pattern of “stops” which enable me to see and hear more clearly before moving on. This just might be a good thing for all of to adopt into our modern life style, the practice of stopping to ‘smell the roses’ to relieve the pressures that build up in our day-to-day routine. If we stop to listen, we just may be able to hear what God wants to say to us.

“And I will be a Father to you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” 2 Cor. 6:18
Earthly Fathers, no matter how attentive they are to their children, will at times fail them. They are not perfect and their flesh will get in the way of parenting at times, it’s just a fact of life. I was blessed to have had a wonderful earthly father, but I have friends that were not so blessed. Their fathers abused them, belittled them and even abandoned them. No matter what kind of earthly father we have had on this earth, we are all blessed to have a Heavenly Father who loves us with an everlasting love.
Our Heavenly Father will never fail us, like our earthly fathers may have. Many people unwittingly transfer their earthly father’s expectations and actions onto their God. Because their father expected them to fail, they think the Lord is waiting for them to mess up. I have a friend whose abandonment by her father made her feel so unworthy of love that in the deep dark recesses of her mind she expects that one day she will do something so horrible that God will abandon her as well. Paul, in using the analogy of adoption, speaks to the fears of my friend. Roman law stated that a parent could disown their biological children, but not adopted children. Once adopted, they were yours forever. What a beautiful picture of our relationship with our Heavenly Father! He gave us through His Word yet another assurance that He will never leave us or forsake us. Paul tells us in Ephesians 1:5 that God’s desire was to adopt us as sons and daughters before we were even born. His plan was in place from the very moment that Adam and Eve sinned in the garden.
God loves us without conditions, a concept that is so difficult for the human mind to fathom. 1 John 4:10 tells us that He loved us while we were yet sinners. He loved us enough to send His Beloved Son to die to redeem us. He gave up His most prized possession that we might be His.
Just as the father in the story of the prodigal son longed for his sons to come home, our Heavenly Father longs for us. Note I said sons: reread the story of the prodigal son. Note that the father never stopped looking for his prodigal son to return home and ran to meet him when he was a far way off, but he also went out to his elder son who was sulking and begged him to come home as well.
God longs for all His children to dwell with Him. Take a moment to let that reality sink in! The God of the Universe longs for you! He doesn’t just wish you would spend time with Him, He hungers for your presence. We didn’t choose to become His children, He chose us. His love for us is so intense that He will leave no stone unturned to see that we will come home to Him.Whether that means letting us go off to a far country and wreck our lives in order to realize how wonderful a life with Him is, or inviting the dutiful son to move beyond duty to communion. No matter how long it takes, the Father will never give up until all His children are home with Him.
It boggles my mind to realize that He chose me to be His daughter: that He would go to all that effort because He wants me at His side. What grace that is! What an awesome Father I have! What assurance this gives me to know I have a father in my corner like that. It removes all fear of the future; for no matter what comes into my path, whatever trial presents itself, whenever a misfortune comes my way, I know that my Father will be there to see me through. He has all the power of the Universe at His disposal and He will do whatever it takes to bring me home. There is no greater reassurance for me than this: to know that my Father is in control of my life and He will not rest until I am home with Him forever. Hallelujah, what a Father!
Beloved Father, thank You for choosing me to be Your daughter. You have showered me with Your grace and I am truly grateful. Help me to rest in the assurance of Your love. Help me to remember that nothing can harm me because You are in control of my life. Thank You, Father, for all You do for me, but most of all for loving me. Your love has changed me and I am eternally grateful to have a Father such as you. I love you with all my heart and I pray that I might live worthy of the title daughter. Amen

Rhoda Tells the Truth
Acts 12

Have you ever told the truth and people thought you were crazy? Rhoda told the truth and people thought she was crazy. What else do we know about Rhoda? Well, we know she was at a prayer meeting at the home of Mary, the mother of John. We know she was at the gate, late at night, apparently on watch. We know someone was knocking on the gate and Rhoda came to see who it was.

Rhoda said, “Who is it?”

And Peter said, “It’s me.”

Now, let me give you some details up to this point. Peter had been thrown in jail for being a Christian, after James was killed with a sword. Peter was put in prison under the guard of 16 soldiers, plus he was chained between 2 of them, while keepers stood at the door. Escape seemed to be impossible.

Meanwhile, at Mary’s house, it says prayer was made without ceasing for Peter. And you know what? They were answered! An angel of the Lord came to Peter while he slept and told him to wake up for his deliverance had come. The chains fell off Peter’s hands, he put on his shoes and a cloak and followed that angel right out of prison.

Now, after following the angel for awhile, Peter had to pinch himself to see if this was real or a vivid dream. It was real!

They got to the entrance of the city, and the iron gate opened by itself. Once in the city, the angel departed, and Peter thought, “Wow, the angel delivered me into the city! I’m going to Mary’s house where everyone probably is.”

Upon arriving, Peter knocked at the gate of Mary’s house. When Rhoda heard Peter’s voice, she got so excited she ran inside to tell the others and forgot to open the gate! Now remember, they’ve been praying continually for Peter’s release. Rhoda tells them Peter is released and is at the gate. They tell her she’s crazy.

This story drips with realism. How many times do we pray for something from the front of our brain, but in the back of our brain, our common sense says no way? Well, our common sense has to be educated in the ways of the Lord.

Rhoda continued to insist Peter was at the gate, and Rhoda was telling the truth. Let this be a lesson to all of us.

Rhoda received from her brethren doubt and ridicule for what she told them, but Rhoda stuck with it and didn’t back down! What they had prayed for was at the gate. All they had to do was go and open it.

And so it is with us. Someone we have prayed for is knocking at our door. Somebody is ringing the bell. Let’s open the door and let him in.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in.” Rev. 3:20