Parental Influence

Parental Influence
Near a church in Easley,SC , there can be seen in a cement sidewalk the prints of two baby feet with the toes pointing toward the Church. It was said that many years ago, when the sidewalk was being laid, a mother secured permission to stand her baby boy on the wet cement. The tracks are seen today plainly. The mother had wanted her little boy to start aright.

Gratitude

Gratitude
Rev. John R. Ramsey tells how in one church a certain person provided him with a rose boutonnière for the lapel of his suit every Sunday. At first he really appreciated it but then it sort of became routine. Then one Sunday it became very special. As he was leaving the Sunday Service a young boy walked up to him and said, "Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?" At first the preacher didn't know what the boy was talking about. When it sank in, he pointed to the rose on his lapel and asked the boy, "Do you mean this?" The boy said, "Yes, sir. If you're just going to throw it away, I would like it."


The preacher smiled and told him he could have the flower and then casually asked what he was going to do with it. The boy, who was probably no more than 10 years old, looked up at the preacher and said, "Sir, I'm going to give it to my granny. My mother and father divorced last year. I was living with my mother, but she married again, and wanted me to live with my father. I lived with him for a while, but he said I couldn't stay, so he sent me to live with my grandmother. She is so good to me. She cooks for me and takes care of me. She has been so good to me that I wanted to give her that pretty flower for loving me."

When the little boy finished, the preacher could hardly speak. His eyes filled with tears and he knew he had been touched by God. He reached up and unpinned the rose. With the flower in his hand, he looked at the boy and said, "Son, that is the nicest thing that I've ever heard but you can't have this flower because it's not enough. If you'll look in front of the pulpit, you'll see a big bouquet of flowers. Different families buy them for the Church each week. Please take those flowers to your granny because she deserves the very best."

Then the boy made one last statement which Rev. Ramsey said he will always treasure. The boy said, "What a wonderful day! I asked for one flower but got a beautiful bouquet."

That's the thankful spirit. That's the gratitude attitude. And it's that attitude that should guide our giving and our lives. Like that boy's granny, God has blessed us so much. God has been so good to us that giving shouldn't even be a question. It should just flow from us naturally.

This Tiny Cross of Pain

This Tiny Cross of Pain


Though prayers for healing

seemed in vain ,

God helped me learn

to live with pain ;

To use the very

thing I dread

For closer walk

with Him instead ;



And how to lend

a listening ear

To those who hurt\
and shed a tear
of symapathy,
or press their hand –
worth more because
I understand .

Dear God ,if that’s
the only way
You’d have me serve
from day to day ,
please use this
tiny cross of pain
for others
and for Heavens’s gain !
Jan Bagwell
Jan Bagwell

Sin

Sin

There is a community in southern Iraq that is named by locals as the site of the Garden of Eden. There was even a tree there called the Adam tree. After years of conflict and the recent hostilities, the area that was purported to be the Garden of Eden is now a ruined mess. At one time the regime in Iraq thought they might make a tourist attraction of the town, but there is little to attract anyone now. Even the Adam tree is gone. Much of its current condition was the result of political opposition in the area, but war has ravaged it even further. The locals hope that now that hostilities have ended pilgrims might come to the area again. Whether or not this is the sight of Eden is debatable. What is certainly true is that we lost Eden long ago. In losing Eden we subjected ourselves to estrangement from God and from each other.

Lessons My Mother Taught Me

Lessons My Mother Taught Me
2 Timothy 3:14-15

In 1865 William Ross Walker penned the immortal words, "The hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world." Years later in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation recognizing Mother's Day for the first time. Since then, every president has done the same. This underscores how highly we value and love the mothers of this land. Such honor is appropriate because a mother's love and influence is priceless.

In my own case, that certainly was true. Several principles my mother demonstrated impacted me so deeply that they became an integral part of my life and have stayed with me all these years. First and foremost among these principles was her deep love for the Word of God. My mother's Bible was so torn and ragged that it fascinated me. I wanted to read it in order to find out what she found so attractive about that tattered volume.

Her diligent prayer life was equally impressive.Hearing her call my name to the Father and talk about the things that were troubling me provided an awesome encouragement and hedge of protection for a young lad.

There were many other godly principles that I observed in my mother. Her Christian character was like a great anchor in our family. Over the centuries, such women of steadfast Christian character have influenced countless children to become godly adults. Truly, the impact of a believing mother is immeasurable.

Giving the Best to God

An elderly mother in Scotland gave up her son to the Lord. One day she went to a missionary society meeting where only contributing members were admitted. The doorkeeper asked, "Are you a contributor?" "I am afraid not," she answered. When he wouldn't let her in, she left disappointed. Pondering his words, she thought of her son who years before had gone as a missionary to Sierra Leone in West Africa. His body now lay buried in that distant land. She retraced her steps to the building and explained to the man, "I forgot. You asked me if I was a contributor. I gave my only boy, and he is buried out in Sierra Leone." The doorkeeper removed his cap, bowed graciously, and said, "Come in." He then led her to a front seat

The Garden of Eden

The Garden of Eden

When Universe showed its face, No plants grew, not even a trace; Seeds did not sprout for lack of rain; Barren was the land without grain.Water came beneath the surface, That became the only source.Some soil from the groundThe Lord took in His hand! The first man came out of it, To breathe and live, he became fit! See how the Lord's mercy goes! What all man wants, God knows.God made a garden in Eden, In the East and placed in this man.All trees He made, well and good, To give man fruits as food.In the middle of the garden, There stood life-giving tree one, Besides another tree that offeredKnowledge, both good and bad! A stream flowed in Eden.It watered the holy garden.Beyond the limits of this Eden, As four rivers, it began to run.Around Havillah went River Pishon.Around Cush flowed River Gihon.Around Assyria ran Tigris River, And the fourth was Euphrates River.God placed the man then, In the Garden of EdenAnd said, 'Oh man, you're freeTo eat the fruit of any tree.''But you SHALL NOT eatFrom the tree that gives fruitOf knowledge, good and bad, Your instant death to avoid.'The Lord saw then, It's no good for man, Who needed a companion, On earth to live alone.”God created birds and animals, Taking from ground some soil; To the man, He brought them, And asked him to name them.The man named everyone: Birds and animals, one by one, But there was not a single one, To serve him as a companion! The Lord found a way out! Into deep sleep, the man was put, God took a rib from the man, And then executed His plan.He formed a beautiful woman, Out of the man’s rib taken; And gave a female companionTo be with this solitary man.So man said, 'At last, here is one, Of my own kind, bone of my bone, Flesh of my flesh, a woman, Who's taken out of (me) man.'Thus, it happens in any man's lifeThat he be united with his wife, Leaving his father and mother, To become one Soul forever.

Footsteps in the Garden: Guilt and Grace

Footsteps in the Garden: Guilt and Grace


Genesis 3:7


"Then the eyes of both were opened and they knew that they were naked" (Genesis 3:7a)

Let us look inside this human experience . . . this first experience with guilt and shame.

Although Adam was fresh in human experiences, he knew he had never felt like this. While he had no name for it, he knew he didn't like it. His stomach was fluttering, his face felt tight. His cheeks were hot, throat and constricted.

It was difficult to look at Eve. The former feeling of delight was gone. Instead he felt some repulsion, a slight edge of nausea. She looked at him as though she could see through him and didn't like what she saw.

Their relationship had all seemed so natural and comfortable. Now they couldn't talk to each other. He had felt free and safe and now he felt bound and vulnerable, exposed. He felt the need to cover himself, to hide. From what? From whom? So, quietly, without any discussion of what they were doing, he and Eve made a covering for their bodies and hid.

God would be taking His early evening stroll. Adam who had delighted in seeing His creator now found himself gripped with human feelings he would learn to call fear and guilt. The expected happened. "They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden." What a fearful sound that must have been. Quiet steps on soft grass can be as shattering to the guilty as a slight sound to a migraine sufferer. The steps were jarring to those sensitive and wounded spirits. Although it may have been a call of friend to friend, " Where are you?" It must have caused Adam to leap from his hiding place like a startled rabbit.

It the meeting of downcast eye with searching eye Adam was now in the presence of the One he had betrayed. The full intensity of the feeling came. The face tightened even more, feeling as though it would split.. The constriction in the throat made speech almost impossible. The words sounded dry and raspy. Adam had an instinctive desire to throw up his hands to ward off a blow he knew he deserved. "I heard the sound of you in the garden and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."


"Who told you, you were naked?"

The loss of innocence, when does it come? When do you know you are naked? I remember as child, if you innocently appeared without your clothes on in the presence of those other than your parents the adults would say," Shame, shame!" For the first time you knew you were naked . . . You felt shame for what you were because of others discomfort. You were robbed of your innocence by the shame of others. This is not the guilt and shame of which I speak.

"Who told you, you were naked?" The real loss of innocence comes when we are legitimately responsible for circumstances in which we find ourselves and genuinely ashamed of our behavior. It is when the sense of nakedness comes from self-awareness, from within. Our moral weakness has been exposed, our true motivation has been revealed, a character deficiency has been made transparent. Suddenly, we are known for what we are, what we really think, how we really feel.

How to Love your Mother

How To Love Your Mother

John 19:25-27



How precious is the mother’s reward of seeing her children grow to be godly men or women, honoring God with their time, talent, and treasure. Is there any better evidence of a godly mother’s love and sacrifice?



It becomes so easy in America to use Mother’s Day as a quick remedy to attempt to salve all the shortcomings in the mother-child relationship. But it takes more than cards, calls, and flowers to properly love a mother.



When is the last time you hugged your mother? When is the last time you planted a kiss on her soft cheek and told her, sincerely told her, that you love her? There are many ways to express love and gratitude to a mother, but there is no better way to reward a godly mother than to grow to become the follower of Christ she long envisioned.



Mothers sometimes are not only the sole source of all cooking and home maintenance in a child’s life, but many also serve as breadwinners. Sometimes mothers are the only reason some children ever see the inside of a church.



It is wonderful to set aside a day especially for remembering our mothers, but it pleases the Lord when we show them constant love. One of the last things Christ did before His death was make sure His mother was well cared for by the apostle John. Is there any more touching evidence of what a mother should mean?