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I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.--Philippians 4:13
all pix are taken from John Bell's Christian Art
Do not hasten in your spirit to be angry, for anger rests
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God ...
Before you speak, it is necessary for you to listen,
What if...?
Anyone who loves learning accepts correction,
As I was walking down life's highway many years ago
God gives the fruit, but he doesn't peel it
Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
A young man who had been raised as an atheist was training to be an
There once was a man named George, a pastor in a small
town. One Easter Sunday
Let your light so shine before men,
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know
We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed;
we are perplexed, but not
SIGNS SEEN ON CHURCH PROPERTY:
Today, many 'Christians' are like roosters. Strutting around with full spiritual
Jesus and Satan were having an ongoing argument about who was better on the computer.
Gallery -www.jrbell.com-
in the bosom of fools. Ecclesiastes 7:9
and then wonder why the world's going to h*ll.
Funny how we believe what the newspapers
say, but question what the Bible says.
Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided
they do not have to believe, think, say, or do
anything the Bible says.
Or is it scary?
Funny how someone can say "I believe in God"
but still follow Satan (who, by the way,
also "believes" in God).
Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through
e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you
start sending messages regarding the Lord, people
think twice about sharing.
Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene
pass freely through cyberspace, but the public
discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school
and workplace.
Funny, isn't it?
Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ
on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest
of the week.
Are you laughing?
Funny how I can be more worried about what other
people think of me than what God thinks of me.
Are you thinking?
for God speaks in the silence of the heart.
God couldn't take the time
to Bless us today
because we could not take the time
to thank Him yesterday
What if...?
God decided to
stop leading us tomorrow
Because we didn't
follow Him today...
What if...?
God didn't walk with us today
because we failed to
recognize it as His day...
What if...?
We never saw another flower bloom
because we grumbled
when God sent the rain...
What if...?
God stopped loving and
caring for us because
we failed to love and care for others...
What if...?
God took away the Bible
tomorrow, because
we would not read it today
What If...?
God took away his message
because we failed to listen
to His messenger...
What if...?
God didn't send
His only begotten Son because
wanted us to be
prepared to pay the price of sin...
What if...?
The door to the church
was closed because
we did not open the door of our hearts...
What if...?
God would not hear us today because
we would not listen
to Him yesterday...
What if...?
God answered our prayers
the way we answer
His call to service
What if...?
God met our needs
the way we give
Him our lives...
but a person who hates being corrected is stupid.
--Proverbs 12:1
I came upon a sign that read Heavens Grocery Store.
When I got a little closer the doors swung open wide
And when I came to myself I was standing inside.
I saw a host of angels. They were standing everywhere
One handed me a basket and said, "My child shop with care."
Everything a human needed was in that grocery store
And what you could not carry you could come back for more.
First I got some Patience. Love was in that same row.
Further down was Understanding, you need that everywhere you go.
I got a box or two of Wisdom and Faith a bag or two.
And Charity of course I would need some of that too.
I couldn't miss the Holy Ghost It was all over the place.
And then some Strength and Courage to help me run this race.
My basket was getting full but I remembered I needed Grace,
And then I chose Salvation for Salvation was for free
I tried to get enough of that to do for you and me.
Then I started to the counter to pay my grocery bill,
For I thought I had everything to do the Masters will.
As I went up the aisle I saw Prayer and put that in,
For I knew when I stepped outside I would run into sin.
Peace and Joy were plentiful, the last things on the shelf.
Song and Praise were hanging near, so I just helped myself.
Then I said to the angel "Now how much do I owe?"
He smiled and said, "Just take them everywhere you go."
Again I asked, "Really now, How much do I owe?"
"My child" he said, "God paid your bill a long, long time ago."
of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
Olympic diver. The only religious influence in his life came from his
outspoken Christian friend. The young diver never really paid much
attention to his friend's sermons, but he heard them often. One night
the diver went to the indoor pool at the college he attended. The
lights were all off, but as the pool had big skylights and the moon
was bright, there was plenty of light to practice by. The young man
climbed up to the highest diving board and as he turned his back to
the pool on the edge of the board and extended his arms out, he
saw his shadow on the wall. The shadow of his body in the shape
of a cross. Instead of diving, he knelt down and asked God to come
into his life. As the young man stood, a maintenance man walked
in and turned the lights on. The pool had been drained for repairs.
morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old bird cage, and set it
by the pulpit. Several eyebrows were raised and Pastor Thomas began to speak.
"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward
me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild birds,
shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, "What you got there son?"
"Just some old birds," came, the reply. "What are you gonna do with them?" I asked.
"Take 'em home and have fun wIth 'em," he answered. I'm gonna tease 'em and pull
out their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time." "But you'll
get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?" "Oh, I got some
cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take 'em to them." The pastor
was silent for a moment. "How much do you want or those birds, son?" "Huh??!!!
Why, you don't want them birds, mister. They're just plain old field birds.
They don't sing-they ain't even pretty!" "How much?" the pastor asked again.
The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?" The pastor
reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in the boy's
hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor picked up the cage and gently
carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree and a grassy spot.
Setting the cage down, he opened the door, and by softly tapping the bars
persuaded the birds out, setting them free. Well, that
explained the empty bird
cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to tell this story. One day Satan and
Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the Garden of Eden, and he
was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just caught the world full of people down
there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!" "What are
you going to do with them?" Jesus asked. Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun!
I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other, how to hate and abuse each
other, how to drink and smoke and curse. I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and
bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!" "And what will you do when
you get done with them?" Jesus asked. "Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.
"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked. "Oh, you don't want those people.
They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you,
curse you and kill you! You don't want those people!!" "How much?" He asked again.
Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your tears, and all your blood." Jesus said,
"DONE!" Then He paid the price. The pastor picked up the cage he opened the door
and he walked from the pulpit.
that they may see your good works,
and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Matt. 5:16
that suffering produces perserverance; and perserverance, character;
and character, hope. -Romans 5:3-4 [andrew's favorite verse]
in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--always
carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus
also may be manifested in our body. -2corinthians 4:8-10 [my favorite verse]
"No God--No Peace. Know God--Know Peace."
"Free Trip to heaven. Details Inside!"
"Try our Sundays. They are better than Baskin-Robbins."
"Searching for a new look? Have your faith lifted here!"
An ad for a Church has a picture of two hands holding stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments are inscribed and a headline that reads, "For fast, fast, fast relief, take two tablets."
"Have trouble sleeping? We have sermons--come hear one!"
"People are like tea bags -- you have to put them in
hot water before you know how strong they are."
"God so loved the world that He did not send a committee."
"Sign broken. Message inside this Sunday."
"How will you spend eternity--Smoking or Non-smoking?"
"Come work for the Lord. The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low.
But the retirement benefits are out of this world."
"If you're headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns."
"This is a ch_ _ ch. What is missing?" ---------> (U R)
regalia and bibles in hand, these 'rooster' Christians outlandishly show their
'beliefs' in any way they can. The true believers are like ducks, the ugly greyish
birds that stand quietly in the background. But when the rain comes, signifying
the portents of evil, the roosters run back into their little houses made for them,
while the ducks will bravely stand in the outpour. The ducks will not only stand
steadfast, but enjoy the rain, just like all good believers should. [tHaNx TuHsOoYi 4 tHiS]
They had been going at it for days, and God was tired of hearing all of the bickering. Finally God
said, "Cool it! I am going to set up a test that will run two hours, and I will judge who does the better job."
So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They did
spreadsheets. They wrote reports. They sent faxes. They sent emails. They sent out emails with
attachments. They downloaded. They did some genealogy reports. They made cards. They did
every known job. But 10 minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the
sky, thunder clapped, the rain poured, and, of course, the electricity went off.
Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just
sighed. The electricity finally flickered back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started
searching frantically and screamed, "It's gone! It's all gone! I lost everything when the power went off!"
Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of diligent work.
Satan observed this and became irate. "Wait! He cheated! How did he do it?"
God shrugged and said, "Jesus saves."