September 27, 2010

“Do two men walk together unless they have made an appointment?” Amos 3:3

To maintain a relationship two must set aside times, scheduled and planned, to converse. Not all conversation is verbal. You must spend time in the company of each other to be in relationship. Failure to make and keep a regular appointment with God results in the mind doubting, the spirit drifting and a general slide toward worldly thinking and acting. While God is always present, one still needs the discipline of setting aside a scheduled “appointment” to meet with him. Not for his sake, but for ours. We otherwise allow things to dominate our time and soon our faith and walk is affected. Do you have a scheduled appointment with your Father every day?

Thought for the week: Once the game is over, the King and the pawn go back in the same box.
-- Italian Proverb

Funny for the week: "Meatloaf"

A recent bride called her mother one evening in tears.

"Oh, Mom, I tried to make Grandma's meat loaf for dinner tonight, and it's just awful! I followed the recipe exactly, and I know I have the recipe right because it's the one you gave me. But it just didn't come out right, and I'm so upset. I wanted this to be so special for George because he loves meat loaf. What could have gone wrong?"

Her mother replied soothingly, "Well, dear, let's go through the recipe. You read it out loud and tell me exactly what you did at each step, and together we'll figure it out."

"Okay," the bride sniffled. "Well, it starts out, 'Take fifty cents worth of ground beef'…………."

Ok, and what color was her hair?....... Chaplain Barnes

Last week’s answer:

3. What did the Innkeeper tell Mary and Joseph?

a. “Come back after the Christmas rush and I should have some rooms.”

b. “I have a stable you can use.”

c. “There is no room in the Inn.”

d. Both b and c

e. None if the above No word about the innkeeper. See Luke 2:7

This week’s question:

4. Jesus was delivered in a:

a. Stable

b. Manger

c. Cave

d. Barn

e. Unknown

September 20, 2010

Note: As stated at the beginning of this ministry, these devotions are a mixture of my readings, musings and observations of life. Very little is original. So, I want to share some of my favorite copied devotions over the next few weeks.

“Who is among you that feareth Jehovah, that obeyeth the voice of his servant? He that walketh in darkness and hath no light, let him trust in the name of Jehovah and rely upon his God.” Isaiah 50:10 (RV)

“What shall the believer do in times of darkness – the darkness of perplexity and confusion, not of heart but of the mind? Times of darkness come to the faithful and believing disciple who is walking obediently in the will of God; seasons when he does not know what to do, nor which way to turn. The sky is overcast with clouds. The clear light of heaven does not shine upon his pathway. One feels as if he were groping his way in darkness. Beloved, is this you? What shall the believer do in times of darkness? Listen! ‘Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and rely upon his God.’ The first thing to do is NOTHING. This is hard for poor human nature to do. When you run into a spiritual fog bank, don’t tear ahead; slow down the machinery of your life. If necessary, anchor your boat or let it swing at its moorings. We are simply to trust God. While we trust, God can work. Worry prevents Him from doing anything for us. If the darkness that overshadows us strikes terror to us; if we run hither and yon in a vain effort to find some way of escape out of a dark place of trial, where divine providence has put us, the Lord can do nothing for us. The peace of God must quiet our minds and rest our hearts. We must put our hand in the hand of God like a little child, and let Him lead us out into the bright sunshine of His love. He knows the way out of the woods. Let us climb up into His arms, and trust Him to take us out by the shortest and surest road. Remember, we are never without a pilot when we know not how to steer.” Streams in the Desert pp.309-320

Thought for the week: A great many people think they are thinking when they are really rearranging their prejudices. -- William James

Funny for the week: Baptist Cowboy

A cowboy, who just moved to Wyoming from Texas, walks into a bar and orders three mugs of Bud. He sits in the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.

The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy, "You know, a mug goes flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought one at a time."

The cowboy replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in Arizona, the other is in Colorado. When we all left our home in Texas, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when we drank together. So I'm drinking one beer for each of my brothers and one for myself."

The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.

The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. He orders three mugs and drinks them in turn.

One day, he comes in and only orders two mugs. All the regulars take notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss."

The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in his eyes and he laughs.

"Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains, "It's just that my wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking."

"Hasn't affected my brothers though."

Ooo kay……..Chaplain Barnes

Last week’s answer:

2. How did Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem?

a. Camel

b. Donkey

c. Walked

d. Volkswagen

e. Joseph walked , Mary rode a donkey

f. Who knows? The Bible does not say

This week’s question:

3. What did the Innkeeper tell Mary and Joseph?

a. “Come back after the Christmas rush and I should have some rooms.”

b. “I have a stable you can use.”

c. “There is no room in the Inn.”

d. Both b and c

e. None if the above

September 13, 2010

Note: As stated at the beginning of this ministry, these devotions are a mixture of my readings, musings and observations of life. Very little is original. So, I want to share some of my favorite copied devotions over the next few weeks.

“Let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece.” Judges 6:39

“There are degrees of faith. At one stage of Christian experience we cannot believe unless we have some sign or some great manifestation of feeling. We feel our fleece, like Gideon, and if it is wet we are willing to trust God. This may be true faith, but it is imperfect. It always looks for feeling or some token beside the Word of God. It marks quite an advance in faith when we trust God without feelings. It is blessed to believe with out having any emotion. There is a third stage of faith which even transcends that of Gideon and his fleece. The first phase of faith believes when there are favorable emotions, the second believes when there is the absence of feeling, but the third form of faith believes God and His Word when circumstances, emotions, appearances, people and human reason all urge to the contrary. May God give us faith to fully trust His Word though everything else witness the other way.” Streams in the Desert pp. 229-230

Thought for the week: The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. -- Albert Einstein

Funny for the week: "Inclusive Poster"

Anxious to include as many minorities, religions and disabilities as possible, the human resources department of the University of Alberta has put up a Braille poster outside its main office. The poster has been placed inside a display case with a glass front.

This is brought to you by the same geniuses who put Braille instructions on the drive up window at the bank.

and they were then elected to Congress -------Chaplain Barnes

As we head towards Christmas, I think it would be fun to take a little Christmas test. Each week I will give you a question to see how much you know about Christmas based only on what the Bible says. All are multiple choice. Choose the most correct answer. Answers will follow in next weeks MMM. Good luck!

Last week’s answer:

This week’s question:

1. Joseph was from:

a. Bethlehem See Luke 2:3,4

b. Jerusalem

c. Nazareth

d. Egypt

e. Minnesota

f. None of the above

This week’s question:

2. How did Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem?

a. Camel

b. Donkey

c. Walked

d. Volkswagon

e. Joseph walked , Mary rode a donkey

f. Who knows?

September 6, 2010

(I apologize for this being late but I was in West Virginia with my church on a mission trip over labor day and did not get back till late.)

Thought for the week:

“Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters.” James 4:11

Yesterday was my wife’s birthday. Happy Birthday! It reminded me that once she had a co-worker confide something to her about another person that she did not want to know. We were talking about it that evening and my wife said, “If she talks about her like that, I wonder what she tells about me to others?” Good question. A friend of mine once said, “When someone loves you, your name is safe in their mouth.” What a thought. Anyone can speak evil of another person. We can always find something to cut them down about. Destroying someone’s character is so easy. But when you love someone, you desire only to build that person up in the eyes of others. Here is a little exercise to avoid speaking evil of another person. When you are around other people make it a point to look for something excellent or good about them and comment on that. Tell others about the good things you see in others and not the bad. At first it may be very hard to do because you are jealous, envious or just prone to major on the negatives. But if you will try to guard you lips and only speak kind and encouraging things about people you can soon overcome the evil intent of your heart and replace it with the Love of Jesus. After all did Jesus not tell us to treat others as we wanted to be treated? I bet that if we made it a practice of only speaking kind words about others, we would find others speaking kind words about us. What goes around, comes around. But most of all, having another person safe in your mouth can be an awesome witness for the Lord.

Funny for the week: "Singing Practice"

Joe's wife likes to sing. She decided to join the church choir. From time to time she would practice while she was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Whenever she would start in on a song, Joe would head outside to the porch.

His wife, with hurt feelings, said, "What's the matter, Joe? Don't you like my singing?"

Joe replied, "Honey, I love your singing, but I just want to make sure the neighbors know I'm not beating you."

Bet that got him a black eye……….Chaplain Barnes

Last week’s answer: What did the eunuch ask Phillip after Phillip had preached to him about Jesus? He asked Phillip to baptize him. (Acts 8:36)

As we head towards Christmas, I think it would be fun to take a little Christmas test. Each week I will give you a question to see how much you know about Christmas based only on what the Bible says. All are multiple choice. Choose the most correct answer. Answers will follow in next weeks MMM. Good luck!

This week’s question:

1. Joseph was from:

a. Bethlehem

b. Jerusalem

c. Nazareth

d. Egypt

e. Minnesota

f. None of the above