Revitalize Your Church

I saw an interesting sign on a box a while back-- "Warning, contents may explode under stress!" Don't you wish volatile people had labels like that? "Warning -- This person is stressed out and ready to explode!" Then, we'd all know when to steer clear. Of course, from time to time, we all need a label like that, because stress is common to everyone. Life is stressful. The day you're free from stress is the day they carry you away in a coffin. We can't expect to be stress-free this side of heaven. Businessman, Malcolm Forbes recognized this when he said, "If you have a job without aggravations, you don't have a job." We can learn to deal with our situations, however, so the stress won't get the best of us! Here are a few thoughts on beating stress in your daily life: 1. Try to take life one day at a time. Poet Robert Frost said, "Just take things as they come, and handle them the best you can." 2. Remember tha...

Paraprosdokian:  "Figure of speech in which the latter part of a sentence or phrase is surprising or unexpected; frequently used in humorous situations."  i.e.  "Where there's a will, there are greedy relatives." Here are eight -- sent to me by my friend, Al Prentice: 1.  Do not argue with an idiot.  He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience. 2.  The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it's still on my list. 3.  Light travels faster than sound.  This is why some people appear bright until you hear them. 4.  If I agreed with you, we'd both be wrong. 5.  Knowledge is in knowing that a tomato is a fruit.  Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad. 6.  Nostalgia isn't what it used to be. 7.  Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine. 8.  Evening news is where they begin with "Good Evening" and then proceed to tell you why it's not.

For all the saints, who from their labors rest, who thee by faith before the world confessed, thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed. Alleluia, Alleluia! Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might; thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight; thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light. Alleluia, Alleluia! For the apostles' glorious company, who bearing forth the cross o'er land and sea, shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee: Alleluia, Alleluia! For the Evangelists, by whose blest word, like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord, is fair and fruitful, be thy Name adored. Alleluia, Alleluia! For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye, saw the bright crown descending from the sky, and seeing, grasped it, thee we glorify. Alleluia, Alleluia! O may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, fight as the saints who nobly fought of old, and win, with them the victor's crown of gold. Alleluia, Alleluia! O blest communion, fellowship divine! we feebly s...

R ecently a tourist from Chicago, visiting our delightful northwoods community remarked, "I wish I could just quit my job and live in Hayward full time. It would be like living in heaven!" I smiled, and thought, "He sure doesn't know what it's like to live here!" Later, relating this conversation to a Hayward native, I said, "Poor fellow doesn't realize that living in the Northwoods is a far cry from vacationing here." To this, my Hayward friend replied, "If that's the way it is for you, then you're doing it wrong." "I think the citizens of Hayward ought to act like tourists," he continued, "We should take advantage of all our community has to offer! We should jump in the lake, canoe down the Namekagon, hike in the Chequamegon Forest, go fishing, attend the Lumberjack Show, and buy candy at Trembley's. We should travel the bike path, drink java at Backroads, go camping, feast on Old Southern BBQ,...

A beautiful thought expressed by 18th Century Methodist leader, John Fletcher, in a letter to his dear friend, Charles Wesley: "I have the impression that we can never have too much compassion for sinners, nor overemphasize for them the love of Jesus, when he himself became incarnate and declared redemption and salvation to tax gatherers and evildoers.  I have also the impression that faith shows itself gradually in many hearts, and that it is our task to nourish the weakest spark, the faintest signs."    ( Reluctant Saint , Patrick Streiff, p. 82)

A stranger once stopped a man on the road and asked, "Where does this road lead?"  "My friend," the man replied, "this road leads to any place in the United States."

Congratuations to those who are graduating from high school this weekend.  You have navigated many years of instruction and now are embarking into the brand new world of adulthood.  Graduation is the doorway to a new chapter in your life. As you stand at the threshold, it will pay you to heed the advise of the great king, Solomon, known as the wisest man who ever lived:  "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth" (Ecc. 12:1). Today as you stand at the door, I encourage you to pause and reflect on the following words: honor, understanding, gratitude and courage. Honor:    This is a time to honor those who have taught you -- your parents and your teachers.   In  Proverbs 1:8 King Solomon said " Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching." When I was young, I didn't think my teachers and parents knew very much.  The older I get, the more I realize the more they knew. Grant hon...

Poet, Edwin Markham, had put aside a great sum of money for his retirement. When he went to the bank to withdraw from the account, however, he discovered that a “trusted friend” had plundered his nest egg, leaving him penniless. Edwin now needed to write again in order to survive. He sat at his desk day after day but was unable to produce anything. He could think only of his loss. Bitterness and resentment were walls, shutting out his creativity. It was destroying his life. One day, he began to doodle on the blank page before him. As usual, he could think of nothing to write. So, he drew circles on the paper. Suddenly, as he gazed at the circles, he knew what he must do. Bowing his head in prayer, he poured out his resentment to God and asked for the strength to forgive. Then he picked up his pen and began to write: He drew a circle that shut me out, Rebel, heretic, a thing to flout. But love and I had the wit to win, We drew a circle that took him in! Has someone wronged you? Have y...