SOMETHING SPECIAL THIS WEEK!
My good friend, Steve Jussely, is pastor of the Lakeland Presbyterian Church in Brandon, Mississippi. Steve has written for his own use a two-page “Sermon Preparation Guide” which he uses to help develop sermons. He has agreed to allow me to share it with you, and you can find it in .pdf format at www.timothyreport.com. Click on the link “Sermon Preparation Guide” near the top right.
THIS WEEK’S GRAPHIC
Is for Mother’s Day! The graphic is free for use in your non-profit organization’s publications, and can be downloaded at www.timothyreport.com
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Welcome to THE TIMOTHY REPORT for May 3, 2004
“To assist, encourage, enable and equip”
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
CHANGING ADDRESSES? If you are changing addresses, first unsubscribe
from the list and then subscribe to the new address
TO UNSUBSCRIBE:
Send a blank e-mail to: TimothyReport-unsubscribe@in-his-steps.com
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
COMMENTARY: THE BACKSIDE OF THE STORM
This past Thursday night (April 30, 2004), when the storms came through our part of the state where I live (Mississipi), I was at home, reading. When I heard the thunder I went outside to watch the storm arrive. It wasn’t long in coming! Soon, I had to take shelter under the garage, and from that dry place I watched the rain pour down. At least where I live, it was all over in about thirty minutes. I stepped back out under the sky, and looked straight up. To the east, in the direction the storm was headed, the sky was still dark, with lightning flashing almost constantly. It was a beautiful show! To the west, where the storm had been, the stars and the moon were shining brightly, as if nothing had ever happened.
The thought occurred to me that I was standing on the backside of the storm! And I discovered that on the backside of the storm is where the stars shine again. It’s where the moon comes out! Life ahead of us will be good, but it will also be bad. It will be filled with joys, but there will be more than an ample supply of sorrow. We will win a few victories, and we will suffer a few defeats. I cannot tell you exactly what your life will be like in the future, but I can tell you this: regardless of what you think it will be, it will be vastly different from that. Life very rarely turns out the way we plan. The storms will blow through, but the good news is that if we keep our lights burning through them, we will come out and find that the backside of the storm is far more splendid than anything we ever imagined!
--Rocky Henriques
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
-------------------
CARROT, EGG OR COFFEE BEAN?
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that whenever she solved one problem a new one took its place.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.
In a few minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied. She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they got soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich flavor.
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently. The daughter then asked, "What's the point, mother?"
The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a soft heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after a death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor. If you are the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you.
When the hours are the darkest and trials are their greatest, do you elevate to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?
--Author Unknown
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
-------------------
WE CANNOT DO WITH HIM
I had been in a madhouse a dozen times if it had not been for my God. My feet had altogether gone into the chambers of despair, and I had ended this life, if it had not been for the faithful promises of the God that keeps and preserves his people. My life has not been a miserable, but a happy one; and yet I tell you that there have been times in it when I could not have done without my God. I do not understand what some of you, who are always at the pinch, do without God. … Oh! I cannot tell what you do without God.
--Charles Spurgeon
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
-------------------
ADVICE ON WHAT TO BUY FOR MOTHER’S DAY
What NOT to Buy Your Wife: Although the only person a man usually shops for is his wife, the whole experience is a stressful one. Many a man has felt extreme frigid temperatures for a long period based on a poor present decision. As a veteran of these wars, I'm still not sure what to buy my wife, but I'll pass on what not to buy her:
1. Don't buy anything that plugs in. Anything that requires electricity is seen as utilitarian.
2. Don't buy clothing that involves sizes. The chances are one in seven thousand that you will get her size right, and your wife will be offended the other 6999 times. "Do I look like a size 16?" she'll say. Too small a size doesn't cut it either: "I haven't worn a size 8 in 20 years!"
3. Avoid all things useful. The new silver polish advertised to save hundreds of hours is not going to win you any brownie points.
4. Don't buy anything that involves weight loss or self-improvement. She'll perceive a six-month membership to a diet center as a suggestion that's she's overweight.
5. Don't buy jewelry. The jewelry your wife wants, you can't afford. And the jewelry you can afford, she doesn't want.
6. And, guys, do not fall into the traditional trap of buying her frilly underwear. Your idea of the kind your wife should wear and what she actually wears are light years apart.
7. Finally, don't spend too much. "How do you think we're going to afford that?" she'll ask. But don't spend too little. She won't say anything, but she'll think, "Is that all I'm worth?"
--Herb Forst in Cross River, NY, Patent Trader, in Reader's Digest, date unknown
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
------------------
A BEAUTIFUL AND CHASTE WOMAN
A beautiful and chaste woman is the perfect workmanship of God, and the true glory of the angels, the rare miracle of earth, and the sole wonder of the world.
--Georg Hermes
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
------------------
AN EQUAL, FROM HIS SIDE
Not from his head was woman took,
As made her husband to o'erlook;
Not from his feet, as one designed
The footstool of the stronger kind;
But fashioned for himself a bride;
An equal, taken from his side.
--Charles Wesley
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
-------------------
A BABY IS A MIRACLE
When you are drawing up your list of life's miracles, you might place near the top the first moment your baby smiles at you.
--Bob Greene
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
-------------------
GOD’S JEWELS IN ROUGH PACKAGES
If we look back upon the past, many of us will find that the very time our Heavenly Father has chosen to do the kindest things for us, and given us the richest blessings, has been the time we were strained and shut in on every side. God's jewels are often sent us in rough packages and by dark liveried servants, but within we find the very treasures of the King's palace and the Bridegroom's love.
--A. B. Simpson
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
-------------------
THE MYSTERY OF MARRIAGE
The mystery is this: God did not create the union of Christ and the church after the pattern of human marriage; just the reverse! He created human marriage on the pattern of Christ's relation to the church.
--John Piper
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
-------------------
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Nearly everytime Jesus is mentioned in the Scriptures as being at the right hand of God, He is sitting. Nearly everytime. But there is one instance, and only one that I can find, where Jesus is seen standing on the right hand of God. What significance is that, and how can it encourage and comfort us when a loved one has died?
Always on the search for another story or illustration? Ever hesitate to use any particular story because you've used it too many times already?
Here's a solution! "Funeral Ideas and Illustrations" contains more than 100 stories, poems, and quotations for use in funerals or in Bible studies or sermons on death.
The items found in this collection come from a wide variety of sources. There may be some stories and/or poems you've used for years, and there are some you've never seen before. Some of the sermon outlines and messages are original material. And it's only $5.
In this collection, you will find:
--A sermon specifically designed for the Thanksgiving Season
--A poem written by a wife and son of a relatively young man who passed away.
--What a man wrote after losing three children to death
--Which hymn encouraged Daniel Webster in his final hours
--What Golda Meir said when asked if Israel would allow Nikita Kruschev's body to be buried in Israel
--An encouraging poem which is great to use in a funeral when a grieving spouse is left behind.
--A portion of a letter a Godly woman left behind for her family to read after she had gone on to be with the Lord.
--Mary Pickford's wonderful analogy of death
--Cardinal Joseph Bernardin's viewpoint of his own approaching death
--The word early Christians used to describe the place where they placed the bodies of loved ones when they died--a comforting, encouraging thought!
Visit http://www.timothyreport.com/funeral.html to view sample illustrations and to learn how to get your copy.
(The Timothy Report, Swan Lake Communications, www.timothyreport.com
May 3, 2004)
-------------------
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
All lists are owned by S. M. Henriques, publisher of THE TIMOTHY REPORT and of CQDAILY. Both are free and you may unsubscribe at any time by following the instructions above or on each message.
PLEASE do not send unsubscribe messages to the list owner without first trying to unsubscribe yourself.
****************************
This material is copyrighted 2004 S. M. Henriques, Jackson, Mississippi. To receive your FREE subscription, Visit http://www.timothyreport.com
Scroll down on the main page for instructions on how to subscribe.
The Timothy Report is published every Monday by Rocky Henriques, 255 Swan Lake Drive, Jackson, MS 39212. E-mail address: rocky@timothyreport.com. Phone: 601-372-7710
Home Page: www.timothyreport.com
