January 7, 2003 V2N5
Happy New Year to all of you and may you be drawn to a closer walk with God this upcoming year! Following is a great article...
Barbershop
The Bible says to have an answer for why you believe when others ask you. This is a good example of an answer to one of the most common reasons sinners give for ignoring God and His goodness.
A man went to a barber shop to have his hair and his beard cut as always. He started to have a good conversation with the barber who attended him. They talked about so many things and various subjects. Suddenly, they touched the subject of God. The barber said: "Look man, I don't believe that God exists as you say."
"Why do you say that?" asked the client. "Well, it's so easy, you just have to go out in the street to realize that God doesn't exist. Oh, tell me, if God existed, would there be so many sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there would be no suffering, nor pain. I can't think of loving a God who permits all of these things."
The client stopped for a moment, thinking, but he didn't want to respond so as to cause an argument. The barber finished his job and the client went out of the shop. Just after he left the barber shop he saw a man in the street with a long hair and a beard (it seems that it had been a long time since he had his cut and he looked so untidy). Then the client again entered the barber shop and he said to the barber, "You know what? Barbers do not exist."
"How can you say they don't exist?" asked the barber. "Well, I'm here and I'm a barber."
"No!" the client exclaimed. "They don't exist because if they did there would be no people with long hair and beards like that man who walks in the street."
"Ah, barbers do exist, what happens is that people do not come to me." "Exactly!" affirmed the client. "That's the point. God does exist, what happens is people don't go to Him and do not look for Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
--submitted by Cheri Cross
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It's Nothing But Grace
Nothing can be added, nothing to subtract,
Grace has nothing to do with us
And this is just a fact.
It's nothing that you bought,
And nothing that is taught.
It's nothing that you can lend,
And nothing that you can spend.
It's nothing that grows old,
It is nothing that you hold.
It is there when you feel it,
It is there when you don't,
It is there when you accept it
And there when you won't.
It is nothing that you can earn,
And nothing that you learn.
It is nothing that you choose,
And nothing that you can loose.
It is there in the morning,
It is there late at night,
It is there when you are on top of the world
Or in your greatest fight.
It's nothing about the clothes we wear
Or the things that we do without,
It has nothing to do with our appearance,
That's not what grace is all about.
Grace can be summed up as great riches
At Christ's expense,
And to the human part of his people,
It just doesn't seem to make sense.
Unmerited favor full of riches and beauty untold,
And we may never understand it until
We get to heaven and walk on streets of gold.
It is nothing that you bring with you,
When you kneel at the cross and pray,
But once you accept the Lord Jesus Christ,
Grace will never go away.
-Unknown--submitted by Deborah Epp
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Prayer & Praise
Just a request that God will continue to bless R4A more abundantly this upcoming year and that all of us would be drawn into a closer walk with Him.
Editor
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Word Study
By AprilRose Pilgrim
Four different versions of the word Angel are used in the Bible. Put together, this word is used 292 times. The variations and number of times used as follows:
Angel 196
Angels 93
Angel's 2
Angels' 1
Below are the meanings of this word and it's variants, found under 6 different headings in the Strong's Bible Concordance.
Old Testament:
# 1. angel, bull, chiefest, mighty, stout( hearted), strong( hearted), valient.
# 2 . to dispatch as a deputy, a messenger( specifically of God), an angel ( also a prophet, priest, or teacher) ambassador, angel, king, messenger.
# 3. An Angel ( Daniel 3: 28
# 4. change, repitition X angel ( Psalms 68:17
New Testament:
# 5. messenger, to bring tidings.
# 6. equal unto the angels ( Luke 20: 36
Webster's Dictionary gives a different meaning altogether.
Angels:
( archaic meaning; literally, messenger), a spiritual being superior to man in power and intelligence, one in the lowest rank in the Dionysian hierarchy: pl, and order of angels, and attendant spirit or guardian: a white-robed figure human form in fine art: person believed to resemble and angel. Christian science; a messenger originating from God in His aspects of Truth and Love. See Messenger, Harbinger.
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One Liners
Don't put a question mark where God put a period.
Forbidden fruits create many jams.
God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.
God grades on the cross, not the curve.
~submitted by April Pilgrim
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Point2Ponder
Something to Think about
Recently my best friend has changed his way of thought and behavior towards me, and I have essentially lost him as my closest friend. After I had realized this, I did a lot of thinking. Previously I had not given much thought to hood. I was content for the most part to just have fun with my friends and perform my basic jobs for the household. But after losing a best friend, I decided that friends in general are not as important as they seem. But do not take that out of context! Friends, and in particular best friends, are one of the most enjoyable blessings you can have. If you have a best friend, put all your effort into maintaining that friendship.
But you should not depend on them for interest in doing things. Being now decided on this, I had to decide in some measure what I am now going to be. I just turned 15, and I do not have too many years in front of me before I have to live in the world. So I cannot just be content to do only what needs to be done, I must actively decide what my purpose now is , and, afterwards form a plan. This, then is the conclusion that I have come to; That I must strive to learn those things which will help me to become an who will function well with whatever God has planned for him. Now after this you must form a plan, a course of action to achieve your purpose, take stock of any special talents or gifts that God has given you. There are people at our church who have the gift of encouragement. They are tremendously uplifting to be around. Your talent could be discernment. Look and see if God is giving you any special encouragement in one of these areas and then take steps to develop it. In my case this involves guitar and learning to work with people. I hope this is useful to you.
~ submitted by David Campbell
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Selected Sayings
1. I believe friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.
2. If God is your co-pilot, change seats!
3. Worship is the act of rising to a personal, experimental consciousness of the real presence of God which floods the soul with joy and bathes the whole inward spirit with refreshing streams of life. ~R. M. Jones
4. Every man's work, whether it be literature or music or pictures or anything else, is always a portrait of himself. ~Samuel Butler
5. Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.
6. Men are what their mothers made them. ~Emerson
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Smiley
New Year's Resolutions for Internet Junkies
1. I will try to figure out why I *really* need 7 e-mail addresses.
2. I will stop sending e-mail to my wife.
3. I resolve to work with neglected children—my own.
4. I will answer my snail mail with the same enthusiasm with which I answer my e-mail.
5. I resolve to back up my 10GB hard drive daily...well, once a week...okay, monthly then...or maybe...
6. I will spend less than one hour a day on the Internet.
7. When I hear "Where do you want to go today?" I won't reply "MS Tech Support."
8. I will read the manual.
9. I will think of a password other than "password."
10. I will stop checking my e-mail at 3:00 in the morning.
Thanks to all of you who read and contributed to this issue! If you have anything that might be of interest to R4A, please email it to ready4anything_2003@yahoo.com. Right now I especially need more participation in the Verse of the Week section. And anything else you have, I'd like to see.
The website is at www.oocities.org/ready4anything_2003. If you have thoughts or comments on how it can be improved, let me know.
The R4A Volume 1 CD is now ready. It has the original first 26 issues and seperate sections for articles, poems, etc..They are $4.00 a piece, included shipping and handling. A handy, inspiring resource. Please make checks out to Jamie Scharf and mail to: 37953 Rio Vista Rd, Springville, CA 93265.
God bless your day, and have a great 2004!
Staff: Editor in Chief: Jesus Christ
Assistant editors: Jamie Scharf & April Pilgrim
Website Coodinator: Joshua Champagne
Columninst: April Pilgrim
Contributers: David Campbell
April Pilgrim
Cheri Cross
Deborah Epp