A Time to LAUGH!

We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.

- Will Rogers

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Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Lillian, you should have remained a virgin..'

- Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)

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I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalogue: - 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.'

- Eleanor Roosevelt

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Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement..

- Mark Twain

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The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending; and to have the two as close together as possible

- George Burns

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Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.

- Victor Borge

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Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.

- Mark Twain

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By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.

- Socrates

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I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.

- Groucho Marx

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My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she stops to breathe.

- Jimmy Durante

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I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back.

- Zsa Zsa Gabor

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Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.

- Alex Levine

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My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.

- Rodney Dangerfield

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Money can't buy you happiness .... But it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.

- Spike Milligan

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Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP .

- Joe Namath

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I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap.

- Bob Hope

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I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it..

- W. C. Fields

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Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will avoid you.

- Winston Churchill

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Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty .. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out..

- Phyllis Diller

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By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.

- Billy Crystal

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And the cardiologist's diet: - If it tastes good spit it out.

May your troubles be less, may your blessings be more, and
may nothing but happiness come through your door.

Fear of Fire by ICR

Fear of Fire

May 22, 2011

"And others save with fear; pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh." (Jude 23)

This exhortation refers both to attempting to "save" unbelievers by warning them of hell and to warning believers against the influence of apostates.

The ultimate hell (Greek gehenna) is not the same as the present hell (Greek hades), although eventually all those lost souls now in the latter will eventually be "cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:15). Both are fearsome places of real fire. The inhabitants of Sodom, for example, have been "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire" (Jude 7) for thousands of years, though not yet in that ultimate hell. Also the rich man mentioned by Jesus was in Hades and yet was being "tormented in this flame" (Luke 16:23-24).

Both "hells" have literal fires, but it is hard to understand how material fires could torment non-material souls. There is a clue in James 3:6, which calls an unbridled human tongue "a fire, a world of iniquity: . . . set on fire of hell." Since the tongue is not literally on fire, but can be extremely destructive in human relationships, the implication is that hell itself is a "world of iniquity."

This aspect of hell makes it even more fearsome than literal fires could ever be. The existence there of billions of unredeemed souls, eternally separated from the holiness and love of God, where all who are "unjust" and "filthy" will continue forever to increase in their unrighteous and filthiness (Revelation 22:11), and in the constant presence also of the devil and his angels, is unspeakably appalling. Yet that was their choice when they rejected or ignored the infinite love of Christ.

No wonder that Jude urges us to warn them of such awful fire and seek to save them with fear if they won't respond to the compassionate love of Christ. HMM

Does God think your life STINKS?

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Eph 5:1

Several of us sat around one night discussing the greatest achievements and inventions of the 20th century. Some suggested the airplane, others the automobile, still others penicillin. One elderly gentleman piped up and shouted "DEODORANT!" We all laughed but agreed he had a point. No one likes to be close to someone who stinks.

I thought of Ephesians 5:1 - Does God consider my life today a fragrant offering or does my spiritual life stink? During my daily hygiene routine I bathe and then put on deodorant to prevent an unwanted odor from creeping out of my armpits. Spiritually I must also 'wash' my sins away through confession and repentance and then apply the Holy Spirit to my desires, activities and relationships to prevent my abrasive, selfish nature to creep out through my attitudes, words and actions. By dieing to self the Holy Spirit produces unconditional love and a life God recognizes as a fragrant offering.

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship." Rom 12:1

Pray that God will reveal to you places where your life may 'stink' and the insight and strength to make changes so that your life may become a fragrant offering.

The Pearly Gates

The gates of the New Jerusalem
from Reveling Through Revelation pp. 101-102 by J. Vernon McGee

The names of the 12 tribes may be inscribed on the 12 gates, but the important feature is the material of construction. Each is a perfect pearl. This is the one jewel that sets forth the Church.

See Matt 13:45-46 The earl of great price.

The Church is the pearl of great price. The comparison of the formation of the Church to the formation of a pearl is striking and suggestive. The pearl is different from all other precious gems, for instead of coming from the earth, the pearl comes from the sea. Other stones are mined from the earth, found in rock and ore. They are taken out, cut, polished to reveal their beauty. But the pearl comes out of the sea, and it comes out of a living organism. A little grain of sand or some other particle begins to cut into the side of a living organism. To protect itself, the organism sends out a fluid to coat the object. Layer upon layer coats it until a beautiful pearl is formed.

The New Jerusalem is the home of the Church, and the gates of pearl are there to remind us throughout eternity that we were a little grain of sharp, dirty sand that was a hurt in the side of Christ. We were not attractive: we were in rebellion against God, walking according to the course of this world. But Christ took that ugly thing -- that was you -- and covered it with His righteousness. You and I are covered with Him. The beauty is not in the grain of sand, but in what the organism puts around it. God sees us in Christ, and He is lovely. The pearl was lightly esteemed by Israel, but was precious to the Gentiles. We have no value in ourselves, yet we are the pearl of great price. The price that is put upon a thing gives it its value. The price that He paid gives us value. Christ gave His life to get us, and to Him we are precious.