God Story # 3

This next God Story is more along the lines of divine intervention once more. God is extremely powerful, and these stories are a testament to that fact. God and His angels protect people from becoming hurt or injured in many instances, and in many cases the methods that He uses are unexplainable in any other way!


Mother’s Prayer

Mrs. Goodyear looked at the clock for the twentieth time that evening. "Eleven-thirty, and such a stormy night, too! Where can the boy be? I hope he is not in trouble. He is getting so difficult and wayward."

Very worried, she knelt beside the kitchen table, and with her hands clasped on her Bible, prayed that God would protect her dear Tom, bring him home safely, and turn his heart to the Lord.

At last, well past midnight, there were sounds in the yard. Evidently Tom had returned and was putting his bicycle away.

A few minutes later the boy entered, looking very pale and weary.

“Hello, Mother," he said. “Still up? I think I'll go straight to bed. A bit tired tonight"

"You're very late," said Mother. "Has anything happened?"

"I'll tell you all about it in the morning," he said, and with that he went upstairs to bed.

Mother, worried and anxious, followed. "Tom,” she said, “what has happened?”

"Well," said Tom, "Will and I had a strange experience about an hour ago. We were cycling home through the storm, when we felt ourselves moving rapidly downhill. It was pitch dark, and since we had no lights on our bikes it was almost impossible to see where we were going.

Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back. I thought it must be Will, and called to him. He called back to me that he had just felt a hand on his shoulder, and thought it was mine.
So we both stopped and got off our bikes, wondering what it all meant. Will said that he thought he would walk to the bottom of the hill, and I agreed to go with him. When we got there, we found a rock slide right across the roadway. If we had run into it, we would most likely have been killed."

“Thank God," murmured Mother, stroking Tom's hair. "I am so thankful that He cared for you."

"But, Mother, how could God have had anything to do with it?"

"Tom, when was it you said you felt that hand on your shoulder?"

"I should say about an hour ago. I suppose it must have been about half past eleven."

"I was praying for you then," said Mother. "That's why I am sure God had something to do with it. He sent His angel to protect you tonight, Tom."

"Do you think so?" asked Tom.

"I'm sure He did," said Mother, "because He wants you to give your heart to Him. I hope you will someday."

So saying, Mother kissed him good night and tiptoed out of the room. When she had gone, Tom lay thinking for a little while. Somehow he still felt that hand on his shoulder. Was Mother right after all? If so, was he not a most ungrateful boy? At least, should he not say Thank You to God for looking after him? He thought he should. By and by he got out of bed and knelt in prayer-for the first time in many months.

Mother, listening, heard the movement, guessed what it meant, and felt so happy.

That was the turning point in Tom's life. Beside his bed he gave his heart to God. From that hour he was a different boy.

Time for another Joke

***the original Patch Adams***

This joke will also address the atheism/theism debate that I blogged about a few posts ago, and here it is:



One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. They picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him. The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."
God listened patiently to the man and after the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well! How about this? Let's have a man-making contest."
The man replied, "Okay, great!"
But God added, "Now we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."
The scientist said, "Sure, no problem." He bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.
God just looked at him and said, "No, no, no. Go get your own dirt!"

Still looking for discernment...

*****Read on and I will explain the Dr. Pepper bottle here in just a little bit*****

When I started this blog, I purposefully decided that I would not include too much about myself in here because I believe that the purpose of this blog beyond all the mishmash of jokes, stories, song lyrics, funny pictures, and other things was to glorify God and to help people. However, I would like to say that I am still looking for discernment on why I feel the need to eventually become a pastor. (see the calling or catharsis post much earlier for more on this) If you have come across this blog and come from an evangelical Christian perspective, and have went through this process or know someone who has went through this process, I would greatly appreciate your prayers for this time in my life. I had a very interesting conversation with my current pastor tonight. We discussed a lot of things, but we mostly discussed we were at right now and how close I could have came this year to having a failed marriage, destroying myself, and/or generally ruining my life. If you have read the earlier introductory post on this you would know that I have had a year so difficult that would peel paint off of the walls. Here is basically what is on my heart right now: I have had an EXTREMELY difficult past 2-3 years...I have been through depression, car accidents, panic attacks, alcoholism, bitterness, rejection from all kinds of people in my previous career, and many other potentially fatal and poisonous things to the spirit of serving the Lord Jesus Christ. In other words, yes, I have been through the ringer. That being said, I still believe in my eventual call to be a pastor. This is a conviction I have that is not going to go away. I believe that I can, at some point, be of assistance to people that have had these struggles because of my life experiences. However, there was some very important things that my pastor told me that I think would be beneficial to me not just as a future pastor, but as a person and as a husband. I think that the best thing that I can do at this moment is to continue to serve Him and like the Dr. Pepper can at the top of this post, to "let it settle". In other words, this very painful year has shook my can up, and I need to not open it right away. I do think that I have a lot to be thankful for. April has been a wonderful, wonderful partner to me and has stuck with through a lot of things blowing up in my face. I think that I will focus on being a good husband and will play it by ear with all of the other things. I do know that as a part of my dicernment process I will be a non-degree seeking student at one of these online Bible Colleges, but the most important thing right now is taking care of the little things and remembering that "he who has began in good work in you will continue it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Paraphrase of Phillippians 1:6) When and if the day comes that I will be a pastor leading a church somewhere, I can be confident that God will have molded me into an individual worthy of this awesome responsibility and calling. For now, however, the best thing to do is to look after the little things. If you come across this blog, I would appreciate your prayers for me in this area.

Quote of the Week #4

*****proof that God has a sense of humor!*****



My fourth quote will address the evolutionism/creationism debate. Yes, I am a Creationist, because when you take God out of the equation things can get rather rocky rather fast. The reason? Well, when you look at the societal ethics that we have that regulate our world and hold it into place, such as what is against the law and what is not, what is considered a felony (Murder) and what is considered a misdemeanor (DUI, etc.), and other areas of jurisprudence, the whole system of right and wrong would be difficult to explain and to justify if God did not exist. Who is to say that it is not acceptable practice for one to murder another if God did not exist. We all might as well live fast and die young if God was make-believe! The quote is this: All the ills from which America suffers can be traced to the teaching of Evolution by American politician William Jennings Bryan

New joke for y'all....

Not sure how theologically correct this is, but it gave me a laugh so I'll post it anyway...

A dedicated Christian man, who had reached the age of 105, suddenly stopped going to church.
Alarmed by the old fellow's absence after so many years of faithful attendance, the Pastor went to see him. He found him in excellent health, so the Preacher asked, "How come after all these years we don't see you at services anymore?"
The old man lowered his voice. "I'll tell you, Pastor," he whispered. "When I got to be 90, I expected God to take me any day. But then I got to be 95, then 100, then 105. So, I figured that God is very busy and must've forgotten about me, and I don't want to remind Him!"

Religious people less anxious....

I recently read a really interesting article at http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,506004,00.html that touched on how people who are Christians or even otherwise religious have less anxiety in their lives. The study, which was conducted by Professor Michael Inzlicht of Toronto University, involved hooking people up to electrodes to measure their brain activity. The study indicated that these who even just professed a belief in God had different reactions to a potentially stressful activity than those who did not profess a belief in God. Pretty interesting study!

God Story #2

For the second God story I am going to focus on an what can happen when the power of God gets ahold of an individual who is not living life right. An individual named Richard Schlotter, who is now an Assembly of God pastor in Iowa, is an example of how powerful God is when an individual yields to Him. Although this man has been in the ministry for the past three years (2 as a youth pastor and 1 as a senior pastor) he lived a life of drug addiction and incarceration before becoming the Man of God he is today.

"I knew my life had to change."

When Schlotter was 23, he found himself in the county jail facing a drug manufacturing charge, facing the possibility of ten years in prison for the offense. To make matters worse, his wife was planning on divorcing him. The ministry team from the very church that he pastors today came to his cell and told him about the Gospel. Richard Schlotter cried out to God to forgive him of his sins. He became a new person that day and decided to change his lifestyle and become a better husband to his wife Kelly if given the chance.

"I didn't deserve my wife because of the bad choices I had made"

Mr. Schlotter began fervently praying that his wife's heart would be softened toward him. He knew that it would be a long, difficult road ahead of him because of how he had treated her. The guilt he felt was particularly strong for an incident where he was in a drug-induced state and threatened to kill his wife and two children and held them hostage. After three months however, his prayers were answered and his wife sent him a letter saying she wanted to visit. God helped to restore the relationship when she visited and later his wife and two boys became believers as well. After serving 18 months of his sentence, he began a Sunday School class for former inmates such as himself which eventually grew to 50 members. He would later become the youth pastor and then senior pastor at the very church that visited him when he was an unbeliever.

While this isn't necessarily an example like the last entry, this is still important because it demonstrates what God can do when a life is yielded to Him, as Mr. Schlotter did. There is a 4 Him song that touches on the issue a lot better than I can:

Lay it all on the Line

So don't go wastin' your time
Holding on to your life
There are treasures that I have possessed
Meant the world to me

But they never filled the emptiness
I needed something more than these
In the middle of my wilderness
God reached down to me
When I let go to His tenderness
I found this life was more than I ever dreamed

CHORUS

So don't go wastin' your time
Holding on to your life
Just lay it all on the line
Gotta make up your mind
There can be no more compromise
Just lay it all on the line

It's a matter of surrendering
Every hidden fear
And by letting go of everything
Jesus will meet you there

In the heart of every one of us
There's a call to faith
Even though we'll never measure up
That's why the Savior, that's why the Savior came

Gone are the days of holding on
This is the time to surrender
Now is the moment you've got to let it go
Just let it go (repeat)

Don't go wastin' your time
Gotta make up your mind
There can be no more compromise
Just lay it all on the line


You see, I am also a lot like Pastor Schlotter and this has a lot to do with my motivations for starting this blog. Just like him, God met me in my wilderness as well and when I finally did relinquish what I was holding on to, God did meet me there!

*For more information on Pastor Schlotter and his family go to: http://www.fpagoi.org/?TargetPage=541345FF-993D-4829-B134-C8FB1C9FB169

Quote of the Week #3

The third quote of the week is a paraphrase of a Bible verse and is also something that I am still learning how to do myself. I went to a church service not too long ago and the message was about being thankful, and was based on 1 Thessalonians 5:18: "In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus that you do this." (KJV) The speaker mentioned a litany of things that we all take for granted, but that we are not thankful for. He said, "how about your nose? Are you thankful for your nose? Or your eyebrows? How about the belt that you have that holds up your pants? Or how about your pants? Anyhow, after about the 20th thing that he rattled off I began to get the idea...so this week's quote is simply Thank You God. Because if we think about it, whether we are Baptist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Catholic or whatever we all have a lot of good things to be thankful for.

This Picture is just too funny.....

I just had to post this...it made me crack up. Enjoy!




I'm going to have to come out as a Duran Duran fan also I guess!

God Story #1

I'm thinking about adding another segment on here that I thought would be pretty neat. Even though I really only got one reader so far (I appreciate you, abstractscientist) it's my goal that anyone who comes across the blog will either be encouraged, get a little chuckle, or get some inspiration of some sort; at the same time I also desire to glorify God. So, that being said, these stories are just examples of people who have been affected in some positive way by this higher power we call God. Miracles or Divine Intervention by another term. Here's the first one:

God is raising up a new kind of workplace believer who is experiencing the power of God in their daily work life. My friend, Emeka Nywankpa, was a barrister (lawyer) in Nigeria. Emeka spoke at a conference a few years ago on the subject of how the spiritual impacts the physical.

Emeka shared a story about arguing an important Supreme Court case in his country. There were five points to argue in the case. The morning the trial began, he prayed with his wife and junior lawyers in his chambers. During his prayer time, he sensed that the Holy Spirit was telling him, "Do not argue points one through four. Only argue point five." Imagine making such a change just before you are to argue a case before the Supreme Court!

In the courtroom, Emeka announced that he wished to drop points one through four and only wished to argue point five. The judge was shocked, but gave him permission to proceed. He argued point five and sat down. The other attorney got up, and then for twelve minutes stumbled around trying to defend his position, unable to get a coherent word out.

Finally, he approached the bench and said, "Your Lordship, it is unfortunate that my learned friend has dropped the first four points. I wish to yield the case." The other attorney had only prepared for the first four points. Emeka won the case. God had given him a strategy to win his case supernaturally. It made no sense to him, but he obeyed and God gave him victory in a very unusual way.

Another funny Christian joke....

Jack was in front of me coming out of church one day, and the preacher was standing at the door as he always is to shake hands.

The preacher grabbed Jack by the hand and pulled him aside. The pastor said to him, "You need to join the Army of the Lord!"Jack replied, "I'm already in the Army of the Lord, Pastor."

Pastor questioned, "How come I almost never see you except at Christmas and Easter?"

Jack whispered back, "I'm in the secret service."

Chargoggagoggmanchaugg- agoggchaubunagungamaugg

Jibberish you say? Not necessarily. This is the name of a lake in Massachusetts that according to some is misspelled (!) Apparently (or not so apparently, as it looks from the name of the lake), the name had an "o" at letter 20 where a "u" should have been, and an "h" at letter 38 where an "n" should go. Boy, I'm glad they cleared this up!


Here's the link:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30312971/?GT1=43001

She still said yes

As we have now passed the 10th anniversary of the terrible massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, we need to remember the story of Cassie Bernall. Even though there is now doubt whether she actually was questioned by the gunman as to her belief in the existence of God, she still said yes by her choices in life.* She is an example of how people can change when the power of God is behind it. Did she actually say yes verbally? Probably not. But the most important thing is that she very easily could have started down the path that those two young men started down had she not accepted Him.







*There is evidence to indicate that this exchange actually occurred between the gunman and a girl named Valeen Schnurr, who survived the massacre.

Quote of the Week #2

Yes, yes I know that a week has not went by yet but I will probably have more QotW's than weeks on this blog...here's my next one, and this lesson is one that I have had to learn the hard way: 90% of your life is how you react to the other 10%, or the events in your life. This means that you choose how to deal with different situations that are frustrating to you. No one is holding a gun to your head and telling you to abuse drugs or alcohol, be verbally abusive, be in a bad mood, or beat yourself up and have poor self esteem...yes, being positive is a learned behavior, but it is also a CHOICE. Stay positive, and don't do anything to harm yourself or others. Talk to someone about it and get it off your chest.


There is a new song out by Country Music Artist Darryl Worley that I really like and here are the lyrics:

Got a call last night from an old friends wife, said, I hate to bother you
But Johnny Ray fell off the wagon, hed been gone all afternoon
Well, I know my buddy, so I drove to Scullys and found him at the bar
Said, Hey Man, whats goin on, He said, I dont know where to start
Sarah's old car startin to fall apart and the washer quit last week
We had to put Mama in the nursing home and the baby's cuttin teeth

Sounds Like Life To Me
I didnt get much work this week and I got bills to pay
I said, I know this aint what you wanna hear but its what Im gonna say
Sounds like life to me, it aint no fantasy
It just a common case of everyday reality
Man, I know its tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk youre caught up in some tragedy
It sounds like life to me

Well, his face turned red and he shook his head
He said, you dont understand, three kids and a wife depend on me
And Im just one man, top it off we just found out that Sarahs two months late
I said, Hey, bartender, set us up a round, we gotta celebrate
Sounds like life to me, aint no destiny
Yeah, the only thing for certain is uncertainty
You gotta hold on tight, just enjoy the ride
Get used to all this unpredictability, sounds like life
Man, I know its tough but you gotta suck it up
To hear you talk youre caught up in some tragedy
Sounds like life to me (sounds like life to me)
Sounds like life

Bad Bible Jokes

Some more levity would be good right now...

Q: What was the secret of Delilah getting into Samson’s house?
A: She picked his locks.

Q: Why didn’t Pharaoh let the Israelites go into the wilderness after the first six plagues?
A: He was in de Nile.

Q: Why did Samson try to avoid arguing with Delilah?
A: He didn’t want to split hairs.

Quote of the Week #1

I've been thinking about getting about a "quote of the week" section started on this blog. I'm not really sure about it, but just like everything else here goes nothing. The first quote of the week is people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. That is precisely the reason why those in Christian ministry SHOULD, in my humble opinion, take care of the physical, material, and social needs of people first (when possible, of course) and then these people will be more likely to receptive to you tending to their spiritual needs.

"He must have been living in his own private hell for years."

William Sinkford, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association, when asked whether he thought Jim Adkisson would go to hell. Adkisson shot and killed two people during Sunday services at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church in Knoxville, Tennessee on July 27, 2008. *Originally appeared in Signs magazine, November 2008.

The Name of the Game...

The Name of the Game right now (at least for me, after the year that I have had) is encouragement. Encouraging other people and being there for them can not only be a catharsis, but it is also biblical: 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NIV): Therefore encourage one another and build one another up." So this week, this month, whatever, why don't we all go out of our way to help one another and encourage them? Even just giving someone an ear to listen can be helpful!

Interesting Yahoo Question

I thought that this Yahoo Answers question was quite interesting...my response is below. I've had friends kill themselves over things like this and really hope this woman can accept the situation in a good manner...here's the link: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090411141239AAoFxeL&cp=2



Son brought home a BOY from college . . . what should I do?




I'm assuming that your son is GAY. The best thing that you can do is accept the situation for what it is, even if it is not your cup of tea. I am thinking about studying to be a pastor and I am always hearing about it being unnatural, wrong, immoral, sinful, etc., but there are people who kill themselves over homosexuality every day. So, love him, accept him, care for him, and let him worry about the repercussions.
Source(s):
future pastor and counselor

NOTE: I realize that I might have just stepped into a minefield discussing homosexuality. Well, yes I do believe that homosexuality is wrong. It is "not God's best" as Joel Osteen so eloquently put it on Larry King. However, instead of stuffing it down his throat and preaching at him, I believe that a quiet life lived in front of him and private prayer is sufficient to help him realize the error in his ways.

Some Good Christian one-liners

I came across these yesterday and thought I would share them before I go to bed...they're really neat!

Xstian "one liners" < son0fyah > 03/23 22:24:26


Don't let your worries get the best of you;
Remember, Moses started out as a basket case.

Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited
Until you try to sit in their pews.

Many folks want to serve God,
But only as advisers.

It is easier to preach ten sermons
Than it is to live one.

The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, But mosquitoes come close.

When you get to your wit's end,
You'll find God lives there.

People are funny;
they want the front of the bus,
Middle of the road,
And back of the church.

Opportunity may knock once,
But temptation bangs on the front door forever.

Quit griping about your church;
If it was perfect, you couldn't belong.

If a church wants a better pastor,
It only needs to pray for the one it has.

We're called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.

God Himself doesn't propose to judge a man until
he is dead. So why should you?

Some minds are like concrete
Thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.

Peace starts with a smile.

I don't know why some people change churches;
What difference does it make which one you stay home from?

A lot of church members singing
'Standing on the Promises'
Are just sitting on the premises.

Be ye fishers of men.
You catch 'em - He'll clean 'em.

Stop, Drop, and Roll won't work in Hell.

Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.

Don't put a question mark where God put a period.

Don't wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.
Forbidden fruits create many jams.

God doesn't call the qualified,
He qualifies the called.

God grades on the cross,
not the curve.

God loves everyone,
But probably prefers 'fruits of the spirit'
over 'religious nuts!'

God promises a safe landing,
not a calm passage.

He who angers you, controls you!

If God is your co-pilot, swap seats!