Category: Uncategorized

Rolling Hills Christian Church has spent fifty years diligently cultivating a good neighbor image, and this week they celebrated their spiritual irrelevance and moral acquiescence with a Sunday morning festival.

The Prayer of Jabez by Bruce Wilkinson, one of the best-selling non-fiction books in the past ten years, has gutted China’s house church movement, say observers.
“Chinese Christians used to sacrifice everything for Christ. Now they only want God to bless them,” says one Chinese elder who has served five prison terms for planting churches. He and others say China’s Christians have “grown soft with navel-gazing” and have lost their tolerance for persecution.

Jerry Thomas, 21, used to feel stuck at a “crummy fast food job.” But after completing the 40 Days of Purpose program at Union Methodist Church, he is now energized about his less-than-enviable employment.

Mike found this today…
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Day Job Humor

If your job’s getting you down, and you haven’t quite reached rock-bottom, this might help you get there. Ironically this was contributed by a former manager of mine…except on my lunch breaks I was allowed to take a few murder runs down Peak 9 at Breckenridge. Thanks Joe.

Subject: prison vs. work

Prison vs. Work Just in case you ever get these two
environments mixed up, this should make things a little bit
clearer:

IN PRISON………you spend the majority of your time in an
10×10 cell.

AT WORK………..you spend the majority of your time in an
8×8 cubicle.
************
IN PRISON………you get three meals a day.

AT WORK………..you get a break for one meal and you have
to pay for it.
************
IN PRISON………you get time off for good behavior.

AT WORK………..you get more work for good behavior.
************
IN PRISON………the guard locks and unlocks all the doors
for you.

AT WORK………..you must often carry a security card and
open all the doors for yourself.
************
IN PRISON………you can watch TV and play games.

AT WORK………..you could get fired for watching TV and
playing games.
************
IN PRISON………you get your own toilet.

AT WORK………..you have to share the toilet with some
people who pee on the seat.
************
IN PRISON………they allow your family and friends to
visit.

AT WORK………..you aren’t even supposed to speak to your
family.
************
IN PRISON………all expenses are paid by the taxpayers
with no work required.

AT WORK………..you get to pay all your expenses to go to
work, and they deduct taxes from your salary to pay for
prisoners.
************
IN PRISON………you spend most of your life inside bars
wanting to get out.

AT WORK ……….you spend most of your time wanting to
get out and go inside bars.
***************
IN PRISON ……..you must deal with sadistic wardens.

AT WORK………..they are called managers.

So… I’ve been dealing with an ad all day. Super annoying.
Anyways, they want to make some more changes and said they would fax the changes to me.
Fine.
But then I was told, the changes will be written in red.
I’ll be sure to look for the writting in red on the fax.

I may tweak this before it goes to press… but here’s where I’m at right now….

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I have a new picture hanging on the wall in my office. I say “new,” but it’s actually been around for a few years in my various dwelling places.
I’m sure many of you have seen it.
It’s a picture by Jean Guichard of La Jument Lighthouse, off the coast of Brittany, France.
It shows the keeper of the lighthouse, Théodore Malgorne, standing outside the structure, as a large titanic wave explodes around lighthouse.
Many people believe the lighthouse keeper was killed by the wave, and in-fact, a co-worker assumed just that when he saw the picture today.
But in fact the keeper turned around just after the famous picture was taken and remained safe inside the lighthouse as the waves pounded down around it.
La Jument Lighthouse was built in 1911 after the shipwreck of the Drummond Castle and countless other sea vessles. In 1896 an estimated 250 people were killed during one accident near the site.
Its building was financed by a French entomologist (a specialist in insects) who almost drowned in another shipwreck.
He pledged that he would pay for the construction of the lighthouse if the work could be completed in seven years.
The structure was completed and still stands against the high winds and waves that crash around it throughout the year.
What’s most interesting about the La Jument story, captured on film by Guichard, is the fact that the lighthouse keepers thought Guichard was coming to rescue them by helicopter.
They had been in the lighthouse for some time and had sought rescue from the storm in the upper levels of the building.
Their hiding place was quickly erased as they watched the waves crash through the glass and wash many of their belongings out to sea.
They remained hopefully that help would arrive, and were certain that Guichard was the safety they had waited for.
But in his true time of need, Malgorne realized the only hope he had was to return to safety of the lighthouse as the waves crashed around him.
I can relate to Malgorne in many ways.
Beyond my fascination with lighthouses, I too look for safety and hope in things outside the arms and reach of God.
Things go wrong in my life and I start to think, “Maybe this isn’t where God wants me to be. Maybe it’s time to move elsewhere. Maybe His protection has left me to die at sea.”
And then I start looking for other means of safety and protection.
But those distractions can be deadly.
As soon as I walk out from under His protection I realize all that He is really protecting me from.
I see the winds and waves that threaten to completely wipe me out and realize — the only safety is there in His arms.