Head Hog

The church secretary answered the phone and then heard a very countryfied voice on the other end saying, "I want to talk to the head hog at the trough!"

Puzzled, the secretary said, "Excuse me sir?"

"I said I want to talk to the head hog at the trough!"

She then realized what the man wanted. He wanted to talk to the pastor. Somewhat indignant she said, "Sir if you want to talk to our pastor, you will have to address him properly. You should call him Pastor, or Reverend, or Brother, but you certainly cannot refer to him as the Head Hog at the Trough!"

The man on the other end said in a country drawl, "Oh, I just wanted to donate $10,000 to the church."

The secretary promptly replied with friendly enthusiasm, "Can you hold please, I think the big pig just walked through the door!"

I find that funny! It also reminds me of these words from James 2.

My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.

Have a great weekend, and go to church for Heaven’s sake!

A Good Prayer

John Baillie, a Scottish theologian who died in 1960, wrote a devotional book entitled, "A Diary of Private Prayer." Here is a prayer that seems very appropriate for this week.

Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness rather than the fruits of sin.

Let me use disappointment as material for patience;

Let me use success as material for thankfulness;

Let me use suspense as material for perseverance;

Let me use danger as material for courage;

Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering;

Let me use praise as material for humility;

Let me use pleasures as material for temperance;

Let me use pains as material for endurance.

Amen.

Gentle Answer

Proverbs 15:1

A gentle answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

These words are true. We know they are, don’t we?

I’ve proven/experienced the second line a lot over the years, and I am working on making the first line my practice. Lord, help me.

Blessings in Diguise

I heard it again the other day – a beautiful and powerful song that arrests my attention, grabs my heart, and speaks to me every single time.

It’s "Blessings" by Laura Story. Here are a few of the words:

What if my greatest disappointments

Or the aching of this life

Is the revealing of a greater

thirst this world can’t satisfy

And what if trials of this life

The rain, the storms, the hardest nights

Are Your mercies in disguise?

Then the beautiful chorus:

. . .What if Your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are

Your mercies in disguise?

Story echoes and points me to these life-changing words of Paul in 2 Corinthians 12.

He (the Lord) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Thanks, Paul and Laura, I needed that.

Prayer for the Week

Here is it again. Monday. I hope you are ready for all the opportunities that will unfold before you this week. Are you ready?

As we launch into this week, I invite you to join me in saying this prayer, prayed a long time ago by David, recorded in Psalm 139:23,24.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;

test me and know my anxious thoughts.

See if there is any offensive way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.

It’s a great prayer for the week, don’t you think?

Drive Safely

Three big burly fellows on huge motorcycles pulled up to a highway diner where a truck driver, just a little guy, was perched on a stool quietly eating his lunch.

As the three fellows came in, they were feeling in the mood for a fight. They spotted the small framed trucker, grabbed his food away from him, and laughed in his face.

The truck driver said nothing. He got up, paid for his food and walked out.

One of the three cyclists, unhappy that they hadn’t succeeded in provoking the little guy into a fight, commented to the waitress, "Boy, he sure wasn’t much of a man, was he?" The waitress replied, "Well, I guess not."

Then, looking out the window, she added, "I guess he’s not much of a truck driver, either."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, he just ran over three motorcycles as he left."

Drive safely this weekend and go to church for Heaven’s sake!

What's your Focus?

I read a couple of things the other day that I want to place together. Here’s the first one.

I am not what I ought to be,

Not what I want to be,

Not what I am going to be,

But I am thankful that

I am better than I used to be.

And now for the second:

"How much more pleasant this world would be if we magnified our blessings the way we magnify our disappointments."

I think they are related, and they are related to, and reflect, this wonderful thought in 2 Corinthians 4.

. . .We do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.