September 25, 2011

I am currently working 60 hour weeks and will be for quiet a while. I
will try and get a SONday Weekly out once in a while but it won't be
on a consistent basis.







This weeks Christian Crossword Puzzle: David

There's a Dennis the Menace cartoon in which Dennis and his friend Joey are walking away from
the Wilson's house with their hands full of cookies. Joey asks, "I wonder what we did to deserve
this?" Dennis tells his friend, "Joey, Mrs. Wilson gives us cookies not because we're nice, but
because she's nice."

The same can be said of our Heavenly Father. He gives, not because we're good, but because he's
good. He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us for our iniquities. Instead, he is the one...

...who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your
desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's. (Psalm 103:4-5)

Source: The Timothy Report
                  (January 17, 2011)

Scattered Sheep
DB Reading: Ezekiel 33:21-33; 34; 35; 36

Churches are imperfect places, led and attended by imperfect people. Consequently, many of God's sheep have
wandered away from the flock, and even from the Lord, because they've been hurt by people in the church. Some
have been driven away by the stinging remarks and insensitive actions of other church members. Some have been
deeply wounded by the unloving or inappropriate conduct of a church leader. "So they were scattered because
there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep
wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. They were scattered over the whole earth, and no one
searched or looked for them." (Ezek 34:5-6).

God promises to hold accountable his earthly shepherds who "cared for themselves rather than for my flock"
(Ezek 34:8-10). He rebukes the leader who harms or neglects his flock, saying, "You have not strengthened the
weak or healed the sick or bound up the injured. You have not brought back the strays or searched for the lost.
You have ruled them harshly and brutally" (Ezek 34:4). God also promises to deal with the bullies of his flock, saying,
"I will judge between one sheep and another.... Must my flock feed on what you have trampled and drink what you
have muddied with your feet? ...Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your
horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered" (Ezek 34:17-22).
God's lost and hurting sheep are scattered over the whole earth. No matter how far or how long each one has
wandered, God himself will seek them out to bring them home. "For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: I myself
will search for my sheep and look after them.... I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on
a day of clouds and darkness.... I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down.... I will search for the lost and
bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak..." (Ezek 34:11-16).

Despite those who have given the church a bad reputation, many caring shepherds and loving sheep can be found
among its people. God's church can be a place of healing, strength and growth. God's people can provide wisdom,
courage and compassion. Because Satan knows the benefit of belonging to a healthy flock, he tries to draw the sheep
away from the support of other believers so that, isolated and unprotected, they will become more vulnerable to the
wolves and foxes that prey on the lost and the weak. Bitter, angry, confused and betrayed, they wander further away
from the concerned voice of "the good shepherd" (John 10:14), until they become crippled by their wounds and trapped
in Satan's snare. Jesus will never give up looking for his stray sheep. "And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier
about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not
willing that any of these little ones should be lost" (Matt 18:13-14).

If you've been hurt by someone in the church, go to God about it. Trust the one who hurt you to the one who sees all
deeds and knows all hearts; he will shepherd his flock with justice (Ezek 34:16). If you scattered "on a day of clouds
and darkness" and have lost your way, answer the Lord's beckoning call; reach up to take his outstretched hand. Let
Jesus rescue you from danger and restore your soul. Let him bind up your wounds and dry your tears. Let him gather
you in his arms and carry you close to his heart (Isa 40:11). Ask him to lead you to a group of believers who can comfort
and encourage you as you grow strong in the knowledge and ways of the Lord.

God never turns an honest seeker away. No matter what
you’ve done, or where you’ve been, or how ugly your sin
may be, if you will come to Jesus, he will never say No.

~ Ray Pritchard ~

When Crowfoot, the great chief of the Blackfoot confederacy in southern Alberta, gave the Canadian
Pacific Railroad permission to cross the Blackfoot land from Medicine Hat to Calgary, he was given
in return a lifetime railroad pass. Crowfoot put it in a leather case and carried it around his neck for
the rest of his life. There is no record, however, that he ever availed himself of the right to travel
anywhere on the CPR trains. We often treat the promises of God in the same way.

~ F. Duane Lindsey ~

At creation we see the hand of God, but at the cross we see His heart.

~ Charles Lowery ~

Source:

There were two Catholic boys, Timothy Murphy and Antonio Secola, whose lives parallel each
other in amazing ways. In the same year Timothy was born in Ireland, Antonio was born in Italy.

Faithfully they attended parochial School from kindergarten through their senior year in high
school. They took their vows to enter the priesthood early in college, and upon graduation,
became priests.

Their careers had come to amaze the world, but it was generally acknowledged that Antonio
Secola was just a wee cut above Timothy Murphy in all respects.

Their rise through the ranks of Bishop, Archbishop and finally Cardinal was swift to say the least,
and the Catholic world knew that when the present Pope died, it would be one of the two who
would become the next Pope.

In time the Pope did die, and the College of Cardinals went to work. In less time than anyone had
expected, white smoke rose from the chimney and the world waited to see whom they had chosen.

The world, Catholic, Protestant and secular, was surprised to learn that Timothy Murphy had been
elected Pope!

Antonio Secola was beyond surprise. He was devastated, because even with all of Timothy's gifts,
Antonio knew he was just a bit better qualified.

With gall that shocked the Cardinals, Antonio Secola asked for a private session with them in which
he candidly asked, "Why Timothy?"

After a long silence, an old Cardinal took pity on the bewildered man and rose to reply.

"We knew you were the better of the two, but we just could not bear the thought of the leader of
the Roman Catholic Church being called POPE SE-COLA!"