More than 2000 years ago there was a man born contrary to the laws of life. This man lived in poverty and was reared in obscurity. He did not travel extensively - only once did he cross the boundary of which he lived and that was during his exile at childhood. He possessed neither wealth nor influence. His relatives were inconspicuous and had neither training or formal education.

• In infancy he startled a king.
• In childhood he puzzled priests/doctors.
• In manhood, he ruled the course of nature and walked upon the billows as if pavement, and hushed the sea asleep.
• He healed the multitudes without medicine and made no charge for his service.
• He never wrote a book yet all the libraries of the world couldn't hold the books that have been written about him.
• He never wrote a song, and yet has furnished the theme for more songs than all of the songs writers together.
• He never founded a college but all the schools put together cannot boast of having as many students.
• He never marshaled an army or drafted a soldier nor fired a rifle yet no leader ever had more volunteers who live under His orders, made more rebels stack arms and surrender without a shot fired.
• He never practiced psychology and yet he has healed more broken hearts than all the doctors far and near.
• Once each week the wheels of commerce stop turning. And multitudes find their way to worship in assemblies, to pay homage and respect to Him.

Satan called a worldwide convention.

In his opening address to his evil angels, he said, "We can't keep the Christians from going to church. We can't keep them from reading their Bibles and knowing the truth. We can't even keep them from forming an intimate, abiding relationship experience in Christ. If they gain that connection with Jesus, our power over them is broken. So let them go to their churches; let them have their conservative lifestyles, but steal their time, so they can't gain that relationship with Jesus Christ.

This is what I want you to do, angels. Distract them from gaining hold of their Savior and maintaining that vital connection throughout their day!"

"How shall we do this?" shouted his angels.

"Keep them busy in the non essentials of life and invent innumerable scheme to occupy their minds," he answered. "Tempt them to spend, spend, spend, and borrow, borrow, borrow. Persuade the wives to go to work for long hours and the husbands to work 6-7 days each week, 10-12 hours a day, so they can afford their empty lifestyles.  Keep them from spending time with their children. As their family fragments, soon, their home will offer no escape from the pressures of work! Over-stimulate their minds so that they cannot hear that still, small voice."

"Entice them to play the radio or cassette player whenever they drive. To keep the TV, VCR, CDs and their PCs going constantly in their home and see to it that every store and restaurant in the world plays non-biblical music constantly. This will jam their minds and break that union with Christ."

"Fill the coffee tables with magazines and newspapers. Pound their minds with the news 24 hours a day. Invade their driving moments with billboards. Flood their mailboxes with junk mail, mail order catalogs, sweepstakes, and every kind of newsletter and promotional offering free products, services and false hopes.  Keep skinny, beautiful models on the magazines so the husbands will believe that external beauty is what's important, and they'll become dissatisfied with their wives. Ha!  That will fragment those families quickly!" "Even in their recreation, let them be excessive. Have them return from their recreation exhausted, disquieted and unprepared for the coming week. Don't let them go out in nature to reflect on God's wonders. Send them to amusement parks, sporting events, concerts and movies instead.

Keep them busy, busy, busy! And when they meet for spiritual fellowship, involve them in gossip and small talk so that they leave with troubled consciences and unsettled emotions."

"Go ahead, let them be involved in soul winning; but crowd their lives with so many good causes they have no time to seek power from Jesus. Soon they will be working in their own strength, sacrificing their health and family for the good of the cause. It will work! It will work!"

It was quite a convention. The evil angels went eagerly to their assignments causing Christians everywhere to get more busy and more rushed, going here and there.
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I guess the question is: Has the devil been successful at his scheme? You be the judge! Does "busy" mean:

  B-eing
  U-nder
  S-atan's
  Y-oke?

Please pass this on or are you too BUSY?!

Where would I be Standing?

One Sunday morning during service, a 2,000 member congregation was surprised to see two men enter, both covered from head to toe in black and carrying sub-machine guns. One of the men proclaimed, "Anyone willing to take a bullet for Christ remain where you are." Immediately, the choir fled, the deacons fled, and most of the congregation fled. Out of the 2,000 there only remained around 20. The man who had spoken took off his hood, looked at the preacher and said "Okay Pastor, I got rid of all the hypocrites. Now you may begin your service. Have a nice day!" And the two men turned and walked out.

Too deep not to pass on...
** Funny how simple it is for people to trash God ...and then wonder why the world's going to hell.
** Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says.
** Funny how everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible says.
** Funny how someone can say "I believe in God" but still follow Satan (who, by the way, also "believes" in God).
** Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing.
** Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace.
** Funny how someone can be so fired up for Christ on Sunday, but be an invisible Christian the rest of the week.
** Funny how when some of you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them.
** Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me.

Are you thinking?

Are you going to paste this in an email and send it to two people?

Are you going to send it to everyone you know?

Are you going to send it at all?...............

Keep it in perspective and count your blessings.  A bad night in racing beats a great day in 90% of the countries.  100,000 Christians will be martaryed this year.  I met a woman in the Ukraine whose husband and eldest son died in the communist prisons because they attended an illegal Church.  The pastor did 20 years hard labor because he preached the gospel without permission.  I was in Korea and saw a man with an open palm slapping the senses out of a woman while everyone walked around them.  I asked my guide what is going on and he replied, "She must have done something to deserve it."  40% of Kirovograd is unemployed, 10,000 children will starve to death today, and 200,000 children will be orphaned in China this year.  The average annual salary for the world population is less then $100.

God made
Adam bit
Noah arked
Abraham split
Joseph ruled
Jacob fooled
Bush talked
Moses balked
Pharaoh plagued
People walked
Sea divided
Tablets guided
Promise landed
Saul freaked
David peeked
Prophets warned
Jesus born
God walked
Love talked
Anger crucified
Hope died
Love rose
Spirit flamed
Word spread
God remained.

"Why, God tells me."
 
"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"

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A little girl became restless as the preacher's sermon dragged on and on.  Finally, she leaned over to her mother and whispered, "Mommy, if we give him the money now, will he let us go?"

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After the dedication of his baby brother in church, little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I want to stay with you guys!"
 
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Terri asked her Sunday School class to draw pictures of their favorite Bible stories. She was puzzled by Kyle's picture, which showed four people on an airplane, so she asked him which story it was meant to represent. "The flight to Egypt," said Kyle.
 
"I see ... And that must be Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus," Ms. Terri said. "But who's the fourth person?"
 
"Oh, that's Pontius the Pilot.
 
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The Sunday School Teacher asks, "Now, Johnny, tell me frankly do you say prayers before eating?"

"No sir," little Johnny replies, "I don't have to. My Mom is a good cook."

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A college drama group presented a play in which one character would stand on a trap door and announce, "I descend into hell!"   A stagehand below would then pull a rope, the trapdoor would open, and the character would plunge through.
 
The play was well received. When the actor playing the part became ill, another actor who was quite overweight took his place. When the new actor announced, "I descend into hell!" the stagehand pulled the rope, and the actor began his plunge, but became hopelessly stuck. No amount of tugging on the rope could make him descend. One student in the balcony jumped up and yelled: "Hallelujah! Hell is full!"

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Pastor Dave Charlton tells us, "After a worship service at First Baptist Church in Newcastle, Kentucky, a mother with a fidgety seven-year old boy told me how she finally got her son to sit still and be quiet.
 
About halfway through the sermon, she leaned over and whispered, 'If you don't be quiet, Pastor Charlton is going to lose his place and will have to start his sermon all over again!' It worked."
 
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