The Taste of Our Lives
December 24, 2018 by Lane Johnson
Filed under Christian Life, For Him
By Lane Johnson
“Even though I am free of the demands and expectations of everyone, I have voluntarily become a servant to any and all in order to reach a wide range of people: religious, nonreligious, meticulous moralists, loose-living immoralists, the defeated, the demoralized—whoever. I didn’t take on their way of life. I kept my bearings in Christ—but I entered their world and tried to experience things from their point of view. I’ve become just about every sort of servant there is in my attempts to lead those I meet into a God-saved life. I did all this because of the Message. I didn’t just want to talk about it; I wanted to be in on it!”
1 Corinthians 9; 19-22 The Message Bible
As I write this, Sandy is preparing another batch of “friendship bread”. This particular recipe produces a very tasty cake type treat that is excellent with butter and coffee. I have begun to dislike “friendship bread”, however, not for its taste but because its recipe requires that you end up with four “starter” packs that are supposed to be passed on to your friends. These friends then will, in turn, end up with four starter packs themselves each time they make the bread. This then requires them to find four new unaware friends to which they can then unload the starters on who will soon be looking for other virgin friends who have not previously been initiated into this baking pyramid, multi-level, pass it on nightmare.
God Save Our Bathroom!
December 21, 2018 by Bob Kaku
Filed under Christian Life, For Him
By Bob Kaku
Two years after we moved into our newly constructed home, we noticed hairline cracks forming in the tiles of our master bathroom—all over the floor, shower walls, bath skirt, and even on top of the vanity counter. It looked like someone took a piece of chalk and drew lines on the tiles. The longest crack measured four feet and ran across multiple tiles. Where did these cracks come from?
“Lord, help! What’s happening to our bathroom?” my wife, Gail wailed.
I called the builder, and he came over to examine the problem. He squatted down toward the bath skirt and ran his finger over the crevices. “I think the problem is in the marble,” he said with a puzzled expression. “I’ll get back to you.” But we never heard back from him.
“It looks like we’re stuck since we didn’t extend the home warranty,” Gail lamented. “Who would have ever thought a new house would have such problems!”
Wrong Door
December 17, 2018 by George Dalton
Filed under Christian Life, For Him
By George Dalton
On a recent trip I must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me. So when my plane landed at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport, I raced off the plane and headed for the nearest restroom. Lucky for me there was no line, so I ran right into an open stall.
I was feeling better when, all at once, my reverie was interrupted by someone opening the stall door next to mine. I was about ready to leave when I happened to look down at the space under the stall partition and I saw a pair of high heel shoes. My first thought was that I didn’t want to embarrass the poor dear, so when I leave, I will leave quietly and she will not realize she is in the wrong restroom. Before I could get the door open, someone opened the door on the other side and, OH MY GOSH; there was another pair of high heels.
Being Led by the Spirit According to Garmin
December 14, 2018 by Lane Johnson
Filed under For Him
By Lane R Johnson
I have a companion that travels in my truck with me wherever I go. It’s a small navigational unit called Garmin. This companion is not very chatty, but I have grown to trust it implicitly. I call it Gwendolyn.
In the beginning it was difficult to trust Gwendolyn. I was used to making all the decisions and seeing the end from the beginning. The concept of heading off in faith lead by someone I couldn’t control was very difficult.
I remember an appointment I had in Virginia. I left Richmond in plenty of time. Everything went as usual until 45 minutes into the trip. Then I noticed that the roads were becoming increasingly rural. I ignored my uneasiness as long as I could until I found myself trapped in traffic on a two lane road. Cars in front, cars behind, nothing moving and all indications were that we were headed straight into the James River. I was trapped and I was very uncomfortable. I had no backup plan. I hadn’t brought a map and I was hopelessly lost. Not only that, but my appointment was critical and I had no idea how I was going to keep it. I fumed in my truck and finally, out of frustration, I railed at Gwendolyn. “I trusted you! I put myself in YOUR hands and look where it brought me!” Gwendolyn didn’t answer. No matter how much I fumed she remained silent. I decided to attempt to figure out how I could extricate MYSELF from this mess. Obviously, Gwendolyn had proven untrustworthy.
Do I Pass The Test?
December 11, 2018 by Warren Mueller
Filed under For Him
By Warren Mueller
Thirty years ago I prayed to receive Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and Lord. Soon afterwards, I heard a nagging voice in my head tell me “It isn’t that easy to get to heaven” and “You are fooling yourself if you think God can readily and easily forgive you for all the wrongs you have done.” I have also seen those who struggle with this question and go forward many times in church to accept Christ or try to prove by their good works that there has been a genuine change. So how can a person know for sure that a spiritual birth has occurred, that sins have been forgiven, and that they are a new creation indwelt by the Holy Spirit?
The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 13:5 that we are to “examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you unless, of course, you fail the test?” From this we see that each person must examine themselves about whether they have been transformed into a child of God by faith in Jesus. Nobody can do this for you or assure you that it has happened within you. Only you can answer this question. What are the questions we should be asking to evaluate this important change? I recently taught a Sunday School class on this subject and we compiled a list of questions to do this self examination. These questions are not listed in any order of importance.
