March 31, 2004 V2N11
Hi, everyone! Just a hint...I wouldn't mind getting some feedback from the silent 99% of you guys out there. Even just a note saying what you like about R4A and what you'd like to see changed...Following is a thoughtful little article...
The Carpenter's Tools
The carpenter's tools held a conference. Brother Hammer was in the chair. The meeting informed him that he must leave becasue he was too noisy. But he said, "If I am to leave this carpenter's shop, Brother Gimlet must go too; he is so insignificant and makes very little impression."
Little Brother Gimlet arose and said, "All right, but Brother Screw must go also; you have to turn him round and round and round to get him to go anywhere."
Brother Screw then said: "If you wish I will go, but Brother Plane must leave also; all his work is on the surface--there is no depth to it."
To this Brother Plane replied, "Well, Brother Rule will have to withdraw if I do for he is always measuring other folks as if he were the only one who is right."
Brother Rule then complained against Brother Sandpaper and said, "He is rougher than he ought to be and rubs people the wrong way."
In the midst of this discussion the Carpenter of Nazereth walked in. He had come to perform His day's work. He put on His apron and went to the bench to make a pulpit. He employed the screw, the gimlet, the sandpaper, the saw, the hammer, the plane and all the other tools.
After the day's work was over and the pulpit was finished, Brother Saw arose and said, "Brethern, I perceive that all of us are laborers together with God." There was not an accusation against any one of these tools that was not absolutely true, yet the Carpenter used every one.
There was not a place where one could have been used instead of another. How careful we should be to guard against finding fault with any of God's tools.
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Will I Stand?
In the day of test and temptation,
When passion and pride seem the plan,
In the day of sin and salvation,
Will I stand, will I stand, will I stand?
In the time of destruction and desire,
Designed for the weakness of man,
When hell and hope are for hire,
Will I stand, will I stand, will I stand?
When faith and fidelity falter,
And morality fails--it can;
When nothing's between me and my altar,
Will I stand, will I stand, will I stand?
In the day of the loving and lusting,
When only God's holding my hand,
In the time of the test and my trusting,
Oh God! Will I be able to stand?
~Jamie Scharf
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Word Study
By April Pilgrim
Hosanna:
Used only 6 times in the Bible, all in the New Testament.
Definition:
From Websters Dictionary:
pray: save: used as a cry of acclamation and adoration
From Strong's Bible Concordance;
( Oh save!) an exclamation of adoration.
Matthew 21:9, 15
Mark 11:9,10
John 12:13
If anyone is interested in taking over the Word Study please let Jamie know, as I will be unable to continue to do it. God Bless!
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Church Signs
13. "It is unlikely there'll be a reduction in the wages of sin."
14. "Do not wait for the hearse to take you to church."
15. "If you're headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns."
16. "If you don't like the way you were born, try being born again."
~submitted by April Pilgrim
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Point2Ponder
The next time you hear a politician use the word "billion" casually, think about whether you want that politician spending your tax money.
A billion is a difficult number to comprehend, but one advertising agency did a good job of putting that figure into perspective in one of its releases:
A billion seconds ago, it was 1959.
A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive.
A billion hours ago, our ancestors were living in the Stone Age.
A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes, at the rate Washington spends it.
And eternity is a lot longer than a billion!
~submitted by April Pilgrim
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Selected Sayings
1. The men who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those who try to do nothing and succeed.
2. The less men think, the more they talk. ~Montesquieu
3. He who receives a good turn could never forget it; he who does one should never remember it. ~Charron
4. Reform must come from within, not from without. You cannot legistate for virtue. ~James Cardinal Gibbons
smiley
To make it possible for everyone to attend church this Sunday, we are going to have a special "No Excuse Sunday":
Cots will be placed in the foyer for those who say, "Sunday is my only day to sleep in."
There will be a special section with lounge chairs for those who feel that our pews are too hard.
Eye drops will be available for those with tired eyes from watching TV late Saturday night.
We will have steel helmets for those who say, "The roof would cave in if I ever came to church."
Blankets will be furnished for those who think the church is too cold, and fans for those who say it is too hot.
Scorecards will be available for those who wish to list the hypocrites present.
Relatives and friends will be in attendance for those who can't go to church and cook dinner, too.
We will distribute "Stamp Out Stewardship" buttons for those that feel the church is always asking for money.
One section will be devoted to trees and grass for those who like to seek God in nature.
Doctors and nurses will be in attendance for those who plan to be sick on Sunday.
The sanctuary will be decorated with both Christmas poinsettias and Easter lilies for those who never have seen the church without them.
We will provide hearing aids for those who can't hear the preacher and cotton wool for those who think he's too loud!
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. I would appreciate more reader participation than I've been getting. Anyone?
The website is at www.oocities.org/ready4anything_2003. Thanks to Josh Champagne for updating it!
God bless your day!
Staff: Editor in Chief: Jesus Christ
Assistant editors: Jamie Scharf & April Pilgrim
Website Coodinator: Joshua Champagne
Columninst: April Pilgrim
Contributers: Jamie Scharf
April Pilgrim