I MAY NOT REPRINT FOR A WHILE WHEN THESE ARE GONE
Hundreds of people have requested and downloaded the Cross Graphic which is featured on the www.timothyreport.com website. Many have written and requested a T-shirt—and now you can get them! Professionally designed in color, these shirts are sure to grab attention and draw comments. From a distance it will look like a cross (of course), but when people get closer, they see there are words on it, and they can’t help but look! A great way to share your faith in Christ!!!
They’re great for Christmas gifts (but you need to order quickly!), for yourself as a wonderful way to share your faith, or even as a fund-raiser for your youth group! You can see what the shirt looks like and find out all the details by clicking on the link at the top of the home page of the website.
THIS WEEK’S GRAPHIC
Is from an old hymn, and reads, “O praise His Name, He lifted Me. Yet how or why I cannot tell.” 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 November 1, 2004
“To assist, encourage, enable and equip”
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CRITICISM
In John F. Kennedy’s administration as President of the United States, the pundits wrote an endless series of columns offering advice as to how he could do a better job. That prompted him to tell a favorite story:
“There was once a legendary baseball player,” said Kennedy. “He never failed to hit when at bat and never dropped a ball. Grounders never dribbled between his legs. He threw with unerring accuracy. In the field and on the bases he had the speed and grace of a leopard. He never tired or missed a signal. In fact, he would have been one of the all-time greats except for one thing—no one was ever able to get him to put down his beer and hog dog and come out of the press box to play.”
--Bob Neuman and Randy Udall, “Too Funny to be President” (Henry Holt and Co., date unknown)
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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BE CAREFUL ABOUT THE ADVICE YOU FOLLOW
A company once hired a consultant to improve efficiency, and he immediately called a meeting of all shop personnel. He stressed the importance of following a set plan of engineering procedures. He gave this analogy: “You are on the “Titanic,” and it’s sinking. You find yourself on a lifeboat. It’s dark and hazy. Which direction would you row? Now, you’re in the same situation, but you have the ship’s navigator with you. Which way would you row? You’d row the way the navigator told you to, right?”
There were several murmurs of agreement in the crowd until one man in the back spoke out: “Well, I don’t know. He already hit one iceberg!”
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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WHAT WE NEED IS A NEW CREATION
One man took his very old and ailing car into the shop for repair. But the mechanic wasn’t encouraging. “I’d save the radiator cap,” he suggested, “and screw a new car in under it.”
In our own personal experience, we are well aware of the times when we tried to fix things ourselves. We tried this and we tried that—but nothing worked. Only when we come to the Gospel and learn that Jesus is the answer for whatever the question happens to be, do we realize that what we really need is not new resolutions or laws or promises. What we need is a new creation. That is what God has provided for us in Christ.
--Rocky Henriques
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?
Author Robert Fulghum has calculated (with some notable exaggeration) that in his life so far he has spent 35,000 hours eating, 30,000 hours in traffic getting from one place to another, 2508 hours brushing his teeth, 870,000 hours just coping with odds and ends, filling out forms, repairing things, paying bills, getting dressed and undressed, and 217,000 hours at work.
"There's not a whole lot left over when you get finished adding and subtracting," he says. "The good stuff has to fit in somewhere. Which is why I often say, 'It's not the meaning of life, it's the meaning in life.'" All of us have attended lectures which end with the speaker asking, "Are there any questions?" On such occasions, Fulghum says he usually asks the most important question of all: "What is the meaning of life?" He says that the question is never taken seriously--people laugh and nod and gather up their stuff and the meeting ends on that ridiculous note.
But once when he asked that question, to his surprise, he got a serious answer. It came from Doctor Alexander Papaderos, a Greek philosopher and teacher and founder of an Institute on the Isle of Crete dedicated to human understanding and peace. One summer, Fulghum attended a two week seminar at the Institute. At the conclusion of the final session, Doctor Papaderos asked: "Are there any questions?" There was only quiet. So Fulghum asked, "Doctor Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?"
The usual laughter followed, and people stirred to go. Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was. "I will answer your question," he said. Then, taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.
Then he said: "When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found several broken pieces of a mirror. A German soldier's motorcycle had been wrecked in that place. I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine--in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find. I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light.
“But light-- truth, understanding, knowledge--is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it. I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world--into the black places in the hearts of men--and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.”
And then he took his small mirror and, holding it carefully, caught the bright rays of daylight streaming through the window and reflected them onto my face and onto my hands folded on the desk.
--Robert Fulghum, "It was On Fire When I Lay Down On It." (Adapted).
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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PEACE
'The peace of God that passeth all understanding'—He, through it all, 'will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus'.
I must say a word about that expression 'keeping' your hearts and minds. It means garrisoning, guarding—a number of words can be used. It conjures up a picture. What will happen is that this peace of God will walk round the ramparts and towers of our life. We are inside, and the activities of the heart and mind are producing those stresses and anxieties and strains from the outside. But the peace of God will keep them out and we ourselves inside will be at perfect peace. It is God that does it. It is not ourselves, it is not prayer, it is not some psychological mechanism. We make our requests known unto God, and God does that for us and keeps us in perfect peace.
--Martyn Lloyd-Jones
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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HATRED
Dale Carnegie once observed, "When we hate our enemies, we give them power over us — power over our sleep, our appetites, our happiness. They would dance with joy if they knew how much they were worrying us. Our hate is not hurting them at all, but it is turning our days and our nights into hellish turmoil."
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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A TOTALLY DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE
Rather than saying "God, here is my problem," we should put the problem into perspective by saying, "Problem, here is my God!
--Unknown
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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CHURCH ATTENDANCE
The reason people miss church when it rains is the reason why we have church.
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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GUILT
Years ago, Gil Hodges was manager of the Washington Senators, and he was very strict with his players. Once, he informed them that four of the team had violated his curfew. Instead of calling them in individually and imposing the customary fine of $100, he addressed the entire squad in the clubhouse. Coach Hodges said, “I know who you are, but I don’t want to embarrass anybody. There’s a cigar box on my desk. At the end of the day I want to see $400 in it.” At the end of the day Hodges found $700 in the box.
You see, more than four people were struggling with the problem of guilt. Guilt can wreck havoc with our bodies and create turmoil in our minds, and it must be dealt with.
Only God can remove guilt. The Psalmist said, “For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:11-12). And the Apostle Paul told the Romans, “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:7). When God forgives our sins, He blots them out of His memory, and it is as if we had never done that which is unworthy. And when God forgives us, we ought to forgive ourselves and strive to do better in the future.
--Author Unknown
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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MOM, HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING ALL ALONG
One teenager was headed to school one morning when his mother told him that the neck tag on his shirt was hanging out. "I know," he replied. "It's a fad me and some of the guys started."
Weeks later, as the style persisted, Mom commented, "I can't stand it! Every time I see that, I want to fix it for you." She gently tucked the tag in place and rumpled his hair.
"Yeah," he said, smiling slyly. "All the girls do."
Before we jump in and “fix things” for someone too quickly, perhaps we should take the time to find out whether it really needs fixing at all. An old saying reminds us to “never remove a fence until you know why it was put up.” This is true especially in our churches, where there may be some traditions, attitudes or events that have very good reasons behind them, even if they are not readily apparent. Take the time to find out what’s behind them before you move too quickly. You may discover that it doesn’t need to be changed after all.
--Rocky Henriques
(The Timothy Report, www.timothyreport.com, November 1, 2004)
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