THIS WEEK’S GRAPHIC
Is based on the saying, “There is a God, and I’m not Him.” ALSO, for those of you in the United States, there is a graphic you can use to remind your people to VOTE in November! Any of the graphics appearing on the website are absolutely free for use in your non-profit organization’s publications, and can be downloaded at www.timothyreport.com
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Welcome to THE TIMOTHY REPORT for August 23, 2004
“To assist, encourage, enable and equip”
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A story tells of two friends who were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face.
The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE.
They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him.
After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE.
The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?"
The other friend replied, "When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does
something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it."
The lesson? We should LEARN TO WRITE OUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE OUR BLESSINGS IN STONE.
--Author Unknown
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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HIDDEN SPRINGS
St. George’s-by-the-Vineyard, according to Richard Wentz, is an old church in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains. It holds the title deeds to a vineyard which produces, the natives insist, the most luscious grapes anywhere in that region. Every year when those grapes are ripe, members of St. George’s come to pick and eat the luscious clusters or to make wine which is allegedly the best available anywhere. People often wondered about that vineyard because nobody in particular seemed to take care of it. Then old Jeremy, the sexton, died. His father before him had been sexton, his father’s father before him, back and back for generations. No one could remember a time when the sexton of the church had not been a member of that family.
A taciturn recluse, Jeremy did not talk much to anybody, but lovingly cared for St. George’s-by-the-Vineyard. After his death, a note was found alongside his bed. It simply said, “The key to everything is under the altar.” So the senior warden went to the altar and looked underneath. There surely enough was a key, but not only a key; there was a stone slab which could be lifted up, and there were stairs leading down into a crypt. The warden and some of the other officials took flashlights and began to investigate that dark cellar. To their surprise they could hear the gurgling of a spring. And when they reached it, they discovered beside it a chart and a time schedule. Unknown to anybody else, the sexton had been releasing the waters of that spring regularly and faithfully into the ducts the irrigated the vineyard. Ah, that was the secret of its rich productivity—a spring that people did not know about, a secret source of renewal and vitality.
How spiritually productive are our vineyards? How fruitful are they? Is there a hidden Spring from which water flows abundantly into our lives, producing a rich harvest of Christlike characteristics?
--Vernon Grounds, “Radical Commitment,” Multnomah Press, 1984, pp. 86-87
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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PERSPECTIVE
It’s amazing how your perspective can change everything entirely. Here is just one example:
Two fellows were working on a house. The one who was nailing down siding would reach into his nail pouch, pull out a nail and either toss it over his shoulder or nail it in.
The other guy, figuring this was worth looking into, asked, "Why are you throwing those nails away?"
The first explained, "If I pull a nail out of my pouch and it's pointed TOWARD me, I throw it away 'cause it's defective. If it's pointed toward the HOUSE, then I nail it in!"
The second got completely upset and yelled, "You dummy!!! The nails pointed toward you aren't defective! They're for the OTHER side of the house!!"
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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HEAVEN
Our valleys may be filled with foes and tears; but we can lift our eyes to the hills to see God and the angels, heaven's spectators, who support us according to God's infinite wisdom as they prepare our welcome home.
--Billy Graham
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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WORSHIP
Worship is transcendent wonder.
--Thomas Carlyle
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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GOOD FOR BEGINNING OF THE SCHOOL YEAR!
Mistakes I'm not going to make this year at school:
1. Since I flunked Math IV last year, I'm not going near that class this year. This year I'm taking Math V.
2. If I can help it, I'm not going to Homecoming again with my sister.
3. Not only am I going to remember the combination to my locker, I'm going to remember which floor it's on.
4. When a teacher asks me a question, I'm not going to answer with, "Who wants to know?"
5. I'm going to try to take part in after-school activities other than detention.
6. This year I'm not going to work after school. Not that anybody would hire me, but that's beside the point...
7. This year I'm going to wear matching shoes.
8. This year I'm not going to ask for dates by saying to the girl, "I'm sure you've got better things to do, but..."
9. If a teacher says we can sit anywhere we want, no more first row for me. I'm sitting out in the parking lot.
10. This year I'm going to help my teachers. Instead of rudely talking during class, I'm going to spend the period more creatively. I'm going to sleep.
Some general warnings.
You know it's going to be a tough class when some of the students leaving the room are crying so hysterically it's obvious they'll have to stop by the restroom to pull themselves together before football practice.
You know it's going to be a tough class when there are scratches on the glass in the classroom door that could have been made only by human fingernails.
You know it's going to be a tough class when you look around and there's no back row.
You know it's going to be a tough class when the teacher hands out a seven-pound book and says, "This is volume one."
You know it's going to be a tough class when the office helpers who bring notes up from the office slip them under the door.
You know it's going to be a tough class when you discover a message under your desk that reads: HELP! I'M TRAPPED IN THIS HORRIBLE CLASS AND I MAY NEVER SEE MY TELEVISION AGAIN!!
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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PEDAL
At first I saw God as my observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was out there sort of like the President. I recognized His picture when I saw it, but I didn't really know Him.
But later on when I recognized my Higher Power, it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride; but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that God was in the back helping me pedal.
I don't know just when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since...life with my God makes life exciting.
When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but predictable. It was the shortest distance between two points.
But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up mountains, and through rocky places and at breakneck speeds. It was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said "pedal."
I worried and was anxious and asked, "Where are You taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer, and I started to trust.
I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure; and when I'd say, "I'm scared," He'd lean back and touch my hand.
He took me to people with gifts that I needed, gifts of healing acceptance, and joy. They gave me their gifts to take on my journey; our journey, God's and mine.
And we were off again. He said, "Give the gifts away. They're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and still our burden was light.
I did not trust Him at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it. But He knew bike secrets, knew how to make it bend to take sharp corners, jump to clear high places filled with rocks, fly to shorten scary passages.
And I'm learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, my God.
And when I'm sure I can't do any more, He just smiles and says, "PEDAL"!
--Author Unknown
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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GUIDEPOSTS FOR KIDS
A great website for kids! Find it at http://www.gp4k.com/
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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THE EVERLASTING ARMS
As long as we live on this side of heaven, we will never be perfect. We will fall short. We will fail to give God adequate praise. We will grow tired in our clinging. We will come to a point in the darkness when we feel we cannot hold on any longer, and we will grow faint of heart. During such times we do not need to fear. God is a loving, merciful God. He sees our struggles, our striving. While we do our best to obey God in this life, our salvation, our position at the foot of God’s throne, our place in God’s family—these we cannot earn or maintain by our own efforts. Our ability to endure in the dark ultimately is not up to us. God is our Creator and Sustainer. He is responsible for us. When I am too worn out to hang on to him, when the strength of my own arms gives way, I have the assurance that “underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27).
--Ruth Graham, “In Every Pew Sits a Broken Heart,” (Zondervan: 2004), p. 210.
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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A SPECIFIC PLAN
Mark it down, things do not "just happen." Ours is not a random, whistle-in-the-dark universe. There is a God-arranged plan for this world of ours, which includes a specific plan for you. And through every ordinary day and every extraordinary moment, there is a God who constantly seeks you.
-- Charles Swindoll
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, August 23, 2004)
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