Billy Graham's Prayer as aired by well known broadcaster Paul Harvey

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'

"THE DIARY OF A NO BODY"

I can’t remember the author. I read the book almost 15 years ago. Why do I remember the book? Well, the theme of the book is very similar to what is found in the Holy Book of Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes deals with the meaning of life and it was written by the wisest person according to God’s holy word; Solomon. We are told that Solomon had everything any human being could ever have: hanging gardens, beautiful women, entertainers, parlours and he built the most elegant buildings that would make today’s home flippers a joke. Yet he found all these things meaningless or chasing after the wind. This is the same matter explored in the “Diary of a no body.” The character lived a very routine life of work, life at home, tea parties and wanting to be what he was not. He did not find any satisfaction in any of these. He concluded, life was meaningless as well. For Solomon though, he made a footnote in his search for meaning in life. He discovered that the chasing after the wind made sense if one had God as a reference point. Then, everything falls into place. What a revelation!

butterflies

“Butterflies who live in the sun must die young.” Pat Shipman (Mata Hari)

The Obedient Wife

There was a man, who had worked all his life, had saved all of his
money, and was a real miser when it came to his money.

Just before he died, he said to his wife...'When I die, I want you
to take all my money and put it in the casket with me.

I want to take my money to the afterlife with me.'

And so he got his wife to promise him, with all of her heart, that
when he died, she would put all of the money into the casket with
him.

Well, he died.

He was stretched out in the casket, his wife was sitting there -
dressed in black, and her friend was sitting next to her. When they
finished the ceremony, and just before the undertakers got ready to
close the casket, the wife said,

'Wait just a moment!'

She had a small metal box with her; she came over with the box and
put it in the casket. Then the undertakers locked the casket down
and they rolled it away.

So her friend said,
'Girl, I know you were not foolish
enough to put all that money in there with your husband.'

The loyal wife replied,
'Listen, I'm a Christian;

I cannot go back on my word. I promised him that I was going to put
that money into the casket with him.'

You mean to tell me you put that money in the casket with
him!?!?!?'

'I sure did,' said the wife..
'I got it all together, put it into my account, and wrote him a
cheque....
If he can cash it, then he can spend it.'

++This story was passed on by a friend

HONEY

"If you go looking for honey, expect to be bitten by bees." Kenneth Kaunda

DOG IS INDEED MAN'S BEST FRIEND

(STORY AS FORWARDED BY A FRIEND)
There is a legend of a woman who had a faithful dog. This dog was so
faithful that the woman could leave her baby with it and go out to
attend other matters. She always returned to find the child soundly
asleep with the dog faithfully watching over him...

One day something tragic happened. The woman as usual, left the baby in
the "hands" of this faithful dog and went out shopping. When she
returned, she discovered rather a nasty scene. There was a total mess.
The baby's cot was dismantled and his nappies and clothes torn to shreds
with bloodstains all over the bedroom where she had left the child and
the dog.

Shocked, the woman wailed as she began looking for the baby. Presently,
she saw the faithful dog emerging from the under the bed. It was covered
with blood and licking its mouth as it had just finished a delicious
meal.

The woman went berserk and assumed that the dog had devoured her baby.
Without much thought she clubbed the dog to death. But as she continued
searching for the "remains" of her child, she beheld another scene.
Close to the bed was the baby who, although lying on bare floor, was
safe. And under the bed the carcass of a jackal torn to pieces in what
must have been a fierce battle between it and the dog which was now
dead.

Then the reality hit the woman who now began to understand what took
place in her absence. The dog fought to protect the baby from the
ravenous jackal. It was too late for her now to make amends because in
her impatience and anger, she had killed the faithful dog. A dog
deserving praise and adoration that fought to save the life of her dear
beloved child received death in return.

How often have we misjudged people and torn them to shreds with harsh
words and even with physical assault before we have had time to evaluate
the situation? It is called the sin of presumption. Presuming things are
one way without taking the trouble to find out exactly what the
situation really is. A little patience can drastically reduce major life
long errors.

SUMMER PROJECT

My summer project has been to pray for as many countries of the world as possible. I have a fascination with God’s people throughout the world and if I had the means, I would love to travel and see God’s image in the many nationalities of the world. Lately though, I have been shocked to see the tragedies that seem to follow one after another in many parts of the world. It is hard to see the desperation of people on TV and not being able to do anything. Of the many gifts that we have, prayer is possibly the only gift anyone can use from anywhere. It is priceless. I didn’t know where to start. I chose to use letters of the alphabet and pick countries in ascending order. I realized as soon as I started that this is not a small project. I discovered (through the internet) there are countries that I have not heard of! I never knew for example that Tuvalu is a country! I now know that this will be more than a summer project but I am glad that I am learning about God’s people and their struggles through this exercise. The CIA website provides me with the basic facts to start with. I have also discovered that X seems to be the only letters of the alphabet that has no country of the world named after it!

TURTLE

"For the turtle to make progress, it must stick out its nake." Unknown author

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Canada is blessed with beautiful landscapes. I soaked in some hidden gems on my recent visit to Vancouver and surrounding areas as follows: snow capped mountains overlooking north east Langley

Easter

Some Christian groups do not celebrate Easter! Many other people celebrate easter just like any other holiday. You have possibly heard of easter bunnies and eggs.These are man made interpretations and traditions. Easter is a powerful Christian holiday that reminds us of he saving love of God(The 40 days before easter are called LENT). It is a time when Jesus took the sins of the world that the world can be reconciled with God. Unfortunately, some people refuse to accept a free gift that cost God so dearly. If you are celebrating easter just like any other holiday, please pause and remember that it is a solemn holiday of God's love to the world. The sadness though ended with the resurrection of Jesus and for this, easter is both solemn and joyous. Celebraqte with God's people wherever you may be.

Playing golf with a 3 iron

I am somewhat getting attached to the game of golf (yet to hit 350 yards!). At a recent leadership workshop I attended, the speaker asked us if we have ever seen a professional golfer completing an 18-hole golf course with a 3 iron only. For a vriety of reasons (distance being one of the main ones), golfers use different clubs to hit the little white ball. This makes the game fluid and interesting.In life however and especially as we grow older, there is always a tendency to use the same old tricks. We fear to use the new tricks because of the discomfort of learning anything new. We however become inneficient and miss opportunities of increasing our tools for solving problems and enjoying life. For a long time, I became attached to one bible version and did not want to read anything else. I now have at least 3 version (KJV, NIV and RSV). It is so exciting and enriching to read the same verse from different perspectives. Certainly, a single iron in a game of of golf is not enough. Variety is the way forward even in spritual matters.

IMAGE OF GOD

I have reflected on what it means being made in the image of God. In fact I have read a book about it. I still don't understand it very well. The closest I have come to understanding is what I learnt this week from Psalm 139:14 where it says that God must be praised because "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." The encouragement from this is that God planned everything before I was born and so are the brothers and sisters going through the tragic loss of life in Haiti.With this realization, no one has the authority to put down what God purposely brought about.

HAHITI

It was a sad day to see pictures of the earthquake devastation in Hahiti. I certainly felt for the people of Hahiti. Canada's Governor General (rep for the Queen) hails from Haiti and it was most humbling to see her break down and she gave a press conference on the tragedy. As much as most of us are helpless to provide a helping hand, anything that we can provide to those doing the work on the ground will be an act of kindness. Let us also uplift the men and women who are trying their best to save a few lives, for the most part with their bare hands in prayer for their safety and security.

RESOLUTIONS

The coming of a new year always brings about resolutions. The year 2010 will be no exception. Surprisingly, resolutions do not last for too long. An encouraging resolution which is God centred is striving for the best.This is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said "I press on" Phill 3:12. It is not about making resolutions that are going to be broken a week later. It is about committing to doing what is right before God. We cannot do it in our own strength. It requires inviting God to work with us.

WHAT IS YOUR GIFT THIS CHRISTMAS?

It is December 09 and the season is Christmas. Many people have already made plans of how they are going to make this year memorable. I heard a Christmas story that just blew me away and thought of sharing it: " A Sunday School Teacher walked in her clas with two Chrikstmas presents. The first present was wrapped in brown paper. The second was wrapped in sparkly colourful paper. The kids chose the sparkly present as their treat for the day." The teacher went to explain that Jesus came in a brown wrapping paper. He was born in a stable and hardly had a warm blanket when the birth attendant(Joseph) received him on earth! Apart from the poor shepherds and some foreign visitors (so called magi),nobody really cared about his birth. Fast forward to age 20 to 30. Still, nobody cared except for some 12 illiterate loyal followers, the sick, the lame, the blind and a few curious Jews. Yet this is the person we call THE SON of GOD or appropriately Emmanuel (God with us)! He certainly did not receive the appropriate gift of recognition as the liberator of mankind. You can mke a difference by choosing him as your best gift for the 2009 Christmas. Choose Him as your saviour and friend and present Him with your the best gift ever! He is just waiting for your decision. He just wants you as a friend (see John 15:15).

GARBAGE DISPOSAL

In most urban centres, garbage is collected at least once every fortnight. If garbage is left uncollected, unsanitary conditions ensue and health may be compromised. When garbage collecters take a labour dispute by going on strike, it is not the most pleasant time to live in a city because of the smell that comes out of the heaps of garbage. Human life is not very different from garbage. When we habour all sorts of garbage in our hearts (anger, envy,or generally all manner of SIN), our lives send out a stench. Fortunately, we are told that we can take out our garbage on a regular basis to the one who is faithful and just to wipe our misdeeds clean. In contrast to the city garbage collectors, He who is able to forgive our sins does not go on strike. This is our God and you can read about how He does this in 1 John 1:9-10.

Happy Birthday Zambia

Zambia celebrated 45 years of independence from Britain on October 24. Zambia has had4 presidents (three of them in the last 15 years). Ascendancy to power has been through the ballot. Though problems exist at evry election (with allegations of vote rigging), the people of Zambia must be congratulated for respecting the rule of law. My birthday wish for Zambia is to see selfless young leaders to take up the challenge of leading. I respect what the founding fathers did but there comes a time to put new leaders into office. 45 years is long enough to trust that wisdom has been passed on. Well done Zambia.

NOTABLE QUOTE

"A civilization flourishes when people plant trees under which they will never sit." Greek Proverb

THE LOG IN YOUR EYE

"The log in your eye," is a story that most people are farmiliar with from Mathew 7:1-6 on judging others. The story made even more sense to me when I heard the following humorous lines (i hope) from the man of God:
"An elderly couple stopped by a restaraunt to eat. They were on a long road trip for their summer holidays. They got in their car after their meal and upon travelling about 30km, the woman remebered that she left her handbag in the restaraunt. She asked her husband to drive back so she could pick her handbag. The husband was not amused. Being on the major highway, he could not just turn around. The next exit was 10km away. He ranted on and on. "Why didn't you check before we left?" "Now we have to waste gas on a trip we shouldn't be making." The wife just kept quite, thinking that the husband was possibly right in making these remarks. They finally got to the restaurant and as the wife stepped out of the car, the husband shouted, "While you are picking your handbag, collect my credit card from the cashier and pick my hat from where I sat."

Zacheaus

Zacheaus was "physically challenged!" He was a short man and unable to see stuff well at crowded events.This was the case when Jesus, the greatest super star that ever lived was passing through a Palestine city called Jericho. Zacheaus badly wanted to get a glimpse of Jesus, after all he had heard that the dead were coming to life and the bind had their eyes opened because of Jesus. He climbed a tree to get a glimpse. Surprise, surprise, the "star dropped in" and begged him to come down and prepare a banquet. This is a happy ending and Zacheaus promised to lead an upright life thereafter. This story reminds me that we are all too short to see Jesus. For many of us, it is the buggage we carry (e.g. hate, anger) that makes it impossible to enjoy life to the full (like Jesus). It may be that, we literally have physical challenges (illness etc). Fortunately, He who came to seek the lost has already seen this. He is acually saying, "I know where you are, I want to come to supper with you." Coming to supper means relieving us off our burdens. It is the bottom line.