A teacher is not there just to acquaint you with the tools of your trade; a teacher is a tool of your trade, no matter what that trade is. You never stop needing teachers. The great musicians never stop taking lessons, never stop trying to improve. The great concert pianist, Arthur Rubinstein, used to say that if he missed a day of practice, he noticed it in the quality of his performance. If he missed two days, the critics noticed. And if he missed three days, the audience noticed.

–       Unknown Author

One of the greatest teachers of all-time was Jesus Christ. He took known things from everyday life to teach spiritual truth. The Parable of the Sower is a case in point.

Luke 8:5-8

“A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold.” As he said these things, he called out, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Do you have ears?

Give it some thought.

Gary

If 99.9 percent is good enough, then…

– two million documents will be lost by the IRS this year.
– 22,000 checks will be deducted from the wrong bank accounts in the next 60 minutes.
– 12 babies will be given to the wrong parents each day.
– 268,500 defective tires will be shipped this year.
– 14,208 defective personal computers will be shipped this year.
– 103,260 income tax returns will be processed incorrectly this year.
– 2,488,200 books will be shipped in the next 12 months with the wrong cover.
– two plane landings daily at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago will be unsafe.
– 18,322 pieces of mail will be mishandled in the next hour.
– 291 pacemaker operations will be performed incorrectly this year.
– 880,000 credit cards in circulation will turn out to have incorrect cardholder information on their magnetic strips.
– $9,690 will be spent today, tomorrow, next Thursday, and every day in the future on defective, often unsafe sporting equipment.
– 55 malfunction automatic teller machines will be installed in the next 12
– 20,000 incorrect drug prescriptions will be written in the next 12 months.
– 107 incorrect medical procedures will be performed by the end of the day today.

If you trust in the finished work of Christ, you can’t be trusting in baptism, church affiliation, some prayer or your good works. It has to be 100% or you fall short. Either He did it all or He was a failure.

John 19:28-30

After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.” A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to His mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished,” and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.

Rest now in His perfect work to save a repentant sinner.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Do you know what the difference is between involvement and commitment? Just look at a plate of ham and eggs. The chickens were involved; the pig was committed!

How many times in Scripture we find individuals who were committed like: Noah, Abraham, Gideon, David and his mighty men.

I question my own commitment. Do you question yours?

Psalm 37:5

Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Quit just getting your foot wet and screaming. Dive in!

Give it some thought.

Gary

God is on the lookout today for a man who will be quiet enough to get a message from Him, brave enough to preach it, and honest enough to live it.

Vance Havner

So many who claimed the mantle of being a Christian leader have proven to be phony when the curtain came down. Thank God for those who have lived Christ, promoted Him, and died still honoring their calling. Many of these individuals are the bedrock of my Christian experience and I am thankful for them.

The Word of God is full of such examples.  We need more like the Apostle Paul.

1 Corinthians 7:7

I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another.

Give it some thought.

Gary

Seven Ages of Man

6 weeks –all systems go
6 years –all systems “No!”
16 years–all systems know
26 years–all systems glow
36 years–all systems owe
56 years–all systems status quo
76 years–all systems slow

R.M. Cornelius in The Rotarian.

I never believed I’d awake some morning and be seventy years old, but it happened. Whatever happened to sliding down the knoll, dating girls, getting married, going to college, buying a house, paying off stuff, having different dogs and strange cats, enjoying vacations and starting wrinkles and gray hair. These are all in the wake as the boat of life races into old age. It happened to multitudes before me and now it’s my turn. I have to go now, for I have a doctor’s appointment.

Isaiah 46:4 

Even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save. 

Psalm 92:14 

They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green,

Psalm 71:9 

Do not cast Me off in the time of old age; forsake Me not when my strength is spent.

Time…  Think about it.

Gary

There are four ages of man:

1) when you believe in Santa Claus,

2) when you don’t believe in Santa Claus,

3) when you are Santa Claus,

4) when you look like Santa Claus.

That’s about the way it is. No amount of exercise, medication, medical procedures or vitamins will change the inevitable. It’s certainly more productive to emphasize the hereafter over the here-and-now.

Psalm 90:10

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away.

Ephesians 5:16

Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

Give it some thought.

Gary

A foreigner in Israel made a decision about serving God and King David who had just been driven from the throne. Ittai brought many with him to wander along with the rejected king in his time of need.

 2 Samuel 15:19-21 

But suddenly the king turned to Ittai, the captain of the six hundred Gittites, and said to him, “What are you doing here? Go on back with your men to Jerusalem, to your king, for you are a guest in Israel, a foreigner in exile. It seems but yesterday that you arrived, and now today should I force you to wander with us, who knows where? Go on back and take your troops with you, and may the Lord be merciful to you.”

But Ittai replied, “I vow by God and by your own life that wherever you go, I will go, no matter what happens—whether it means life or death.”

Believers are also foreigners in this world who have made a decision to serve the rejected King. Our decision is not taken lightly and could cost us dearly. It should reveal whose side we are on and how far we will go.

Ephesians 2:19

Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,

Give it some thought.

Gary