Revitalize Your Church

Farmer John was plowing in his field one day and hit a rock. Kathunk! He climbed off his tractor, went around to the rock, and began to pull it out of the soil, to discard on the rock pile in the back 40. He noticed, as he dug around in the dirt, that it wasn’t really a rock after all. It was a brick. The brick was encrusted with filthy grime. It looked almost like a brick-shaped dirt ball. As the good farmer picked up the brick, he was surprised at how heavy it seemed. This was no ordinary brick! He scratched through the caked exterior, and discovered, to his amazement, a streak of gold gleaming through. Could it be? Could it be? The farmer hurried to the old farmhouse, where he washed the brick off in the sink, and discovered that his hopes had been realized. Sure enough, it was a bar of solid gold! What a treasure! Farmer John told his wife, who told her friends, who in turn, shared the news with their neighbors. Pretty soon, everybody in town had heard about the discovery. All the ...

We must disabuse people of the notion that there is any shortcut to achievement. Life requires thorough preparation. Veneer isn't worth anything. -- George Washington Carver

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy street. Suddenly, just in front of him, the light turned yellow. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, even though he could have beaten the red light by accelerating through the intersection. The tailgating woman was furious and repeatedly honked her horn, screaming in frustration, as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, while also, dropping her cell phone and makeup. As she was still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very stern looking police officer. The officer ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, fingerprinted, photographed and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours, a policeman approached the cell and opened the door. She was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects. He said, 'I'm very sorry for this mistak...