I Never Picked Cotton

            I never picked cotton, but my daddy did and his brother did.

            I did live in West Texas for several years. A lot of cotton farming is done out there.  That is why a story Calvin Partain wrote for a magazine a few years ago interested me.    

           Calvin, who grew up in cotton country, noted one day how straight the rows of cotton were on a fellow’s land. He asked the farmer how he made the rows so straight.

            The farmer replied, “When I plow a new role I fix my eyes on an object at the far end of the field and never look back. You can't plow looking back.”

            The Preacher who wrote Hebrews tells us in chapter twelve that God, the angels, and those who have gone on before us join us in the worship assembly. God encourages us, and we in the church encourage each other to set our eyes on what we cannot see—God and his celestial city, and to head in that direction. By the grace of God, the worship assembly helps our lives to be straight.

Three Times and You’re Out

            An old story about a husband and father who refuses to go to church goes like this:

Preacher: "Why don't you ever come to church with your wife and family?"

Man: “I don’t go because every time I do, they throw something at me.”

Preacher: “What do you mean?”

Man: “When I was just a baby, my parents took me to church and the minister threw water on me. When I got married, the wedding ceremony took place in a church, and they threw rice at me.”

Preacher: "And if you don’t start going to church soon, the next time you do I’m afraid they’ll throw DIRT on you!”

            That sounds like a preacher story, doesn’t it? However, a deeper meaning emerges.

            There are literally millions of groups in the world seeking to mold people into an image. Only one of these groups is the local church, and its mission is to serve as God’s instrument in molding people into the image of Jesus.

            According to Hebrews 10:19ff, it is essential that Christians place a priority on meeting with that one group—the most important group—in the world.

            19-21 So, friends, we can now—without hesitation—walk right up to God, into "the Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into God's presence is his body.

 22-25 So let's do it—full of belief, confident that we're presentable inside and out. Let's keep a firm grip on the promises that keep us going. He always keeps his word. Let's see how inventive we can be in encouraging love and helping out, not avoiding worshiping together as some do but spurring each other on, especially as we see the big Day approaching (Heb. 10:19-25.) THE MESSAGE

Wishing You Were Here

         An old story tells about a Sunday school teacher who challenged her kids to go home that afternoon and write a letter to God. The following Sunday, they were to return with their letters.

         A boy who was her student wrote:

         Dear God,

         We had a good time at church today. Wish you could have been there.

         I hope that never happens at my congregation!

Top Nine Hymns for the Over Fifty Crowd

   [From December 26, 2011 through January 1, 2012, I'm going to be running some of my top viewed posts for 2011. I hope you enjoy these once again--or for the first time. ME]

            Someone sent this to me several years ago. I shared it with my church [in May], and they got a chuckle out of it.

Top Nine Hymns for the Over 50 Crowd

            9-Precious Lord, Take My Hand, And Help Me Up

            8-It Is Well with My Soul, But My Knees Hurt

            7-Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Seeing

            6-Just a Slower Walk with Thee

            5-Count Your Many Birthdays, Name Them One by One

            4-Go Tell It on the Mountain, But Speak Up

            3-Give Me the Old Timers' Religion

            2-Blessed Insurance

            1-Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah…

                                    I've Forgotten Where I Parked

Top Nine Hymns for the Over Fifty Crowd

            Someone sent this to me several years ago. I shared it with my church yesterday morning, and they got a chuckle out of it.

Top Nine Hymns for the Over 50 Crowd

            9-Precious Lord, Take My Hand, And Help Me Up

            8-It Is Well with My Soul, But My Knees Hurt

            7-Nobody Knows the Trouble I Have Seeing

            6-Just a Slower Walk with Thee

            5-Count Your Many Birthdays, Name Them One by One

            4-Go Tell It on the Mountain, But Speak Up

            3-Give Me the Old Timers' Religion

            2-Blessed Insurance

            1-Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah…

                                    I've Forgotten Where I Parked

Perilous Worship

            I love the old story about the preacher who noticed little Alex gazing at the large plaque that hung in the foyer of the church. The seven-year-old had been staring at the plaque for some time, so the preacher walked up, stood beside the boy, and said quietly, "Good morning Alex."

            "Good morning," replied the young lad, focused on the plaque. "Dr. McGhee, what is this?" Alex asked.

            "Well son, these are all the men who have died in the Service," replied the preacher.

            Soberly, they stood together, staring at the large plaque. Little Alex’s voice barely broke the silence when he asked quietly, "Which one, the 9:00 or the 10:30 service?"

          

The Temple of the 1000 Buddhas

Rick Atchley once related the story about a temple located in Kioto, Japan. It was called the “Temple of the 1000 Buddhas.” When one entered into that temple to worship, he encountered 1000 images of Buddha—each one slightly different than the other. Why? So that the worshipper could go in and find the image of Buddha that looked most like him. That would be the one he worshiped.  

Could we be guilty of similar worship?

"How do you get 300 people to worship God together when they can't worship God alone?"

--Ravi Zacharias