UPDATE:
The “Sermon Preparation Guide” by Steve Jussely has been very popular. However, some of you had difficulty downloading the PDF file. Steve now has provided a NotePad document with the same information, and you can find it on the website.
THIS WEEK’S GRAPHICS: TWO OF ‘EM
The first is built around the words of Jesus: “Ask, Seek, Knock.” The second is from the first half of Proverbs 3:5—“Trust in the Lord with all your heart.” The graphics 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 2, 2004
“To assist, encourage, enable and equip”
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CONTROLLING THE TONGUE
It was a particularly tough football game, and nerves were on edge. The home team had been the victim of three or four close calls, and they were now trailing the visitors by a touchdown and a field goal. When the official called yet another close one in the visitors' favor, the home quarterback blew his top.
"How many times can you do this to us in a single game?" he screamed. "You were wrong on the out-of-bounds call, you were wrong on that last holding call, and you failed to say anything about a late hit in the first quarter."
The official just stared. The quarterback seethed, but he tried to suppress language that might get him tossed out of the game. "What it comes down to," he bellowed, "is that YOU STINK!"
The official stared a few more seconds. Then he bent down, picked up the ball, paced off 15 yards, and put the ball down. He turned to face the steaming quarterback. "And how do I smell from here?" he asked.
There are so many times when it is hard to "bite the tongue" and say nothing. The urge to say "something" seems so overpowering that the words sometimes erupt before we have a chance to think them through. Unfortunately, those words have consequences. The minor offenses result in 15-yard penalties. The more serious offenses result in years of regret and heartache, or perhaps broken relationships that take years to rebuild. No wonder James had such strong words of praise concerning the person who is always able to control what he says (James 3:2).
"He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding is of a calm spirit. Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace; When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive." (Prov. 17:27-28)
May your words today be few, calm, and carefully thought out.
--Author Unknown
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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IMITATING CHRIST
A dignified, elderly woman who was among a group viewing an art exhibition in a newly opened gallery. When one contemporary painting caught her eye, addressing the artist standing nearby she gasped, "What on earth is that?"
He smiled condescendingly. "That, my dear lady, is supposed to be a mother and her child."
"Well, then," reasoned the little old lady, "why isn't it?"
We are supposed to look like Christ. Why don’t we?
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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SUCCESS AND FAILURE
The possibility of failure comes with the territory when you invest your resources in any true risk taker. If you have learned how to downhill ski, you will know the meaning of the ski instructor's quip: "If you're not falling, you're not learning." Many of the individuals we consider greatly successful -- Walt Disney and his string of bankruptcies, for example -- failed miserably numerous times. Soichiro Honda, founder of Honda Motors, said, "Many people dream of success. To me success can only be achieved through repeated failure and introspection. In fact, success represents the one percent of your work which results only from the 99 percent that is called failure." Very few people unacquainted with the pain of failure ever will know the joy of true success.
--Tom Peters: Thriving on Chaos, (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1987) p. 249
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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WE NEVER KNOW WHO IS WATCHING US
Is there not something captivating in the sight of a man or a woman burdened with many tribulations and yet carrying a heart as sound as a bell? Is there not something contagiously valorous in the vision of one who is greatly tempted, but is more than conqueror? Is it not heartening to see some pilgrim who is broken in body, but who retains the splendor of an unbroken patience? What a witness all this offers to the denouement of His grace!
-- John Henry J.H. Jowett
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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UNITY IN THE CHURCH
In the comic strip “Dondi” several years ago, the little boy Dondi was sitting on the ground having a picnic with a friend of his. The girl said to Dondi, “I discovered that helping you do your work made me understand you better. Helping you made me feel important. It’s like in music! When you solo, you’re important, but a duet is also fun because you’re working with somebody else who is important.”
And she went on: “And some of the greatest music is written for loads of people to sing together like a big important chorus.” Dondi asked, “But don’t they sing differently, with high voices and low ones?” The girl replied, “Sure! But the important thing is that they all help each other sing the same song!”
In the church of the Almighty God, your opinion, my opinion, whether we all agree with each other or not—none of that is important anymore. It may be important in social clubs, civic organizations, and sometimes in our own families. But it is not important in God’s church! What is important is that we all help each other sing the same song!
--Rocky Henriques
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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TRUE OR FALSE?
(Timothy Report subscriber David Ledbetter sent this in—thanks, David!)
Can you guess which of the following are true or false?
1. Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
2. Alfred Hitchcock didn't have a bellybutton.
3. A pack-a-day smoker will lose approximately 2 teeth every 10 yrs.
4. People do not get sick from cold weather; it's from being indoors a lot more.
5. When you sneeze, all bodily functions stop - even your heart!
6. Only 7 per cent of the population are lefties.
7. 40 people are sent to the hospital for dog bites every minute.
8. Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until they are 2- 6 years old.
9. The average person over fifty will have spent 5 years waiting in lines.(If married, a lot longer!)
10. The toothbrush was invented in 1498.
11. The average housefly lives for one month.
12. 40,000 Americans are injured by toilets each year.
13. A coat hanger is 44 inches long when straightened.
14. The average computer user blinks 7 times a minute.
15. Your feet are bigger in the afternoon than the rest of the day.
16. Most of us have eaten a spider in our sleep.
17. The REAL reason ostriches stick their head in the sand is to search for water.
18. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot.
19. John Travolta turned down the starring roles in "An Officer and a Gentleman" and "Tootsie".
20. Michael Jackson owns the rights to the South Carolina State anthem.
21. In most television commercials advertising milk, a mixture of white paint and a little thinner is used in place of the milk.
22. Prince Charles and Prince William NEVER travel on the same airplane just in case there is a crash.
23. The first Harley Davidson motorcycle built in 1903 used a tomato can for a carburetor.
24. Most hospitals make money by selling the umbilical cords cut from women who give birth. They are reused in vein transplant surgery.
25. Humphrey Bogart was related to Princess Diana. They were 7th cousins.
26. If coloring weren't added to Coca-Cola, it would be green.
ALL OF THE ABOVE ARE TRUE !!!
(Doesn't #16 really 'bug' you! )
NOTE: You could use this to illustrate some other pretty amazing truths:
1. God merely “spoke” the universe into existence.
2. God sent His only Son to die on the cross for us.
3. The Creator of the Universe actually hears us when we pray.
4. There will one day be a resurrection of the dead.
5. Jesus is coming back!
--Rocky Henriques
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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VICTORY
Many of you saw the movie Chariots of Fire back about ten years ago. It was the true story of Eric Liddell, a man who ran for Scotland, then went on to become a missionary. You may recall that he refused to run on the Sabbath, forfeiting some of the awards he probably would have won in the 1924 Olympics.
Well, there was another scene in that movie that may have appeared like Hollywood fiction, but it was also true. One year before the pivotal event in the movie, Eric Liddell ran in a meet between England, Ireland and Scotland. He ran the 100-, 220-, and 440-yard events.
In the 440, he got off to a bad start. When that gun sounded, there was a lot of shoving to get in front to the inside lane, the advantageous position.
Liddell tangled feet with J. J. Gillies of England and tumbled to the track. He sat there dazed for a moment, not knowing whether he could get up, when the official screamed, "Get up and run!"
He jumped to his feet and took off after the pack, which was now a full twenty yards ahead of him. In a quarter mile, that's a big distance to try to make up. In his unorthodox style of running he took off after the pack. He pulled into fourth place ten yards behind the leader, J. J. Gillies.
With forty yards to go, he pulled into third place, then second. Right at the tape he passed Gillies, stuck his chest out, won the race, and collapsed to the track in total exhaustion. Medical personnel had to assist him off the track that day.
An article appearing the next day in The Scotsman newspaper said, "The circumstances in which Liddell won the race made it a performance bordering on the miraculous. Veterans whose memories take them back thirty-five years and in some cases longer in the history of athletics were unanimous in the opinion that Liddell's
win in the quarter mile was the greatest track performance they had ever seen."
There's something glorious about getting up off the track after you've been knocked down and running again. Win or lose, you didn't stay down.
-- Craig Brian Larson, "Strong to the Finish," Preaching Today, Tape No. 155.
See: Job 17:9; Gal 6:9; Heb 12:1.
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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INTEGRITY
Personal integrity is priceless. Just six cents worth of failure can cause irreparable harm. Dr. Bob Reccord tells of an experience he learned about while in the business world. A major institution that ranked among the Fortune 500 was working to make an unheard of move. They were going to promote a 38-year-old Vice President to President. The man was a very impressive business man who wooed and awed the Board of Directors. Upon completing the final interview process, the Board broke for lunch with plans to offer this man the prestigious position of president after they all returned from lunch. This young man went to lunch alone at a cafeteria but was unintentionally followed by several of the Board members who stood in line behind him. When the young man came to the bread section, he placed two 3-cent butters on his tray and covered them up with his napkin. As he checked out he never revealed the hidden 6-cents worth of butter. When everyone returned to the Board Room for what was to be a joyous occasion the mood had dramatically changed. The promising young man was not only denied the helm of the company but was immediately fired from his position as Vice President. All because of 6-cents worth of butter.
--Andy Cook
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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PREACHING—AGONY OF THE SOUL
Every sermon should be an agony of the soul, a passion to beget Christ in the souls of men.
--John Chrysostom
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
I Trust You'll Treat Her Well
by Victor Buono
Dear World,
I bequeath to you today one little girl... in a crispy dress... with two blue eyes... and a happy laugh that ripples all day long... and a flash of light blond hair that bounces in the sun when she runs. I trust you'll treat her well.
She's slipping out of the backyard of my heart this morning...and skipping off down the street to her first day of school. And never again will she be completely mine. Prim and proud she'll wave her young and independent hand this morning and say "Goodbye" and walk with little lady steps to the schoolhouse.
Now she'll learn to stand in lines... and wait by the alphabet for her name to be called. She'll learn to tune her ears for the sounds of school-bells... and deadlines... and she'll learn to giggle... and gossip... and look at the ceiling in a disinterested way when the little boy 'cross the aisle sticks out his tongue at her. And, now she'll learn to be jealous. And now she'll learn how it is to feel hurt inside. And now she'll learn how not to cry.
No longer will she have time to sit on the front porch steps on a summer day and watch an ant scurry across the crack in the sidewalk. Nor will she have time to pop out of bed with the dawn and kiss lilac blooms in the morning dew. No, now she'll worry about those important things... like grades and which dress to wear and whose best friend is whose. And the magic of books and learning will replace the magic of her blocks and dolls. And now she'll find new heroes.
For five full years now I've been her sage and Santa Claus and pal and playmate and father and friend. Now she'll learn to share her worship with her teachers... which is only right.
But, no longer will I be the smartest, greatest man in the whole world. Today when that school bell rings for the first time... she'll learn what it means to be a member of the group... with all its privileges and its disadvantages too.
She'll learn in time that proper young ladies do not laugh out loud... or kiss dogs... or keep frogs in pickle jars in bedrooms... or even watch ants scurry across cracks in sidewalks in the summer.
Today she'll learn for the first time that all who smile at her are not her friends. And I'll stand on the front porch and watch her start out on the long, lonely journey to becoming a woman.
So, world, I bequeath to you today one little girl... in a crispy dress... with two blue eyes... and a flash of light blond hair that bounces in the sunlight when she runs.
I trust you'll treat her well.
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
August 2, 2004)
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