Money Quotes - Good Sense

The lust for affluence in contemporary society has become psychotic; it has completely lost touch with reality. - Richard J. Foster

The poorest man I know is the man who has nothing but money. - John D. Rockefeller

He who provides for this life but takes no care for eternity is wise for a moment but a fool forever. - John Tillotson

Their property held them in chains.

They think of themselves as owners;

whereas it is they rather who

are owned. Enslaved as they are

to their own property,

they are not the masters of their money but its slaves. - Cyprian

Give a person everything they want and at that moment, everything will not be everything. - Immanuel Kant

If you would make a person happy, add not to their possessions, but subtract from the sum of

their desires.

Blessed are those who can give without remembering, and receive without forgetting.

The modern American is a person who drives a bank-financed car over a bond-financed highway
on credit card gas to open a charge account at a department store, so they can fill up their savings-and-loan-financed home with installment-purchased furniture!

Possession is an obsession in our culture. - Richard J. Foster

It’s not the high

cost of living that gets you. . .

it’s the cost of high living!

Consumers are in an endless, hopeless search for happiness through the confiscation

of things. - Thomas O’Quinn

Affluenza turns the good life into the goods life. - Richard Swenson

When your outgo
exceeds your income,
your upkeep
will be your downfall!

These quotes are taken from Good Sense Budget Course, Dick Towner and John Tofilon

Right On

Dave Ramsey Article

Ahead

^12-14I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. ^15-16So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us. If any of you have something else in mind, something less than total commitment, God will clear your blurred vision—you'll see it yet! Now that we're on the right track, let's stay on it.
Philippians 3:12-16

Let It Snow

Hoping for snow. Living in expectation. Fun stuff. The way to live. W/out expectation one really isn't living.

The Christain Life

The Christian life really should be Madi Gras (Fat Tuesday), Lent, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Birthdays are rolled up in a nice and tasty roll with lots and lots of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (or your fav) and enjoying it with our hearts and heads bowed along with lots and lots of other people.

Man, I Struggle With This. Thank God.

35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”
36 “What is your request?” he asked.
37 They replied, “When you sit on your glorious throne, we want to sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.”
38 But Jesus said to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”
39 “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!”
Then Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup and be baptized with my baptism of suffering. 40 But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. God has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.”
41 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 43 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. 45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:35-45

Lent

It was brought to my attention yesterday that Lent begins on Wed. 2-25-09. It was brought to my attention by my children and my wife. Not that we will participate (maybe), but my high school children are having mini Madi Gras in some of their classes today and my mother-in-law will participate in Lent. I know friends, peers, fellow ministers and a few SCC church members who have participated in Lent and may do the same this year a we look forward to Easter Sunday. I know a little about Lent and Easter. I know that I, as a follower of Jesus Christ, should practice Lent not just during Lent and that I should live Easter not just at Easter. Lent - Focusing on God. Giving God my desires, my hopes, my sins, my life. Easter - Hope. Life. New. Celebration. Both of them are about God. God's character. God's power. God's redemption. God working in my life and me living for God. So as I think about Lent and Easter and as you think about Lent and Easter may we think about God. Hope. Renewal. Cleansing. Service. Sacrifice. Giving. Purity. Forgiveness. Healthy relationships. God's Kingdom. Loving God and loving others, and ....

I am thankful for the season/days of Lent and for Easter Sunday, but may I realize they are much more than a season and a day. They really are the way I am to live. Same for you if you are a follower of JC.

7 He (God) is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. Ephesians 1:7-8

8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. Ephesians 2:8-10

20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

$3.00

“I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb not a new birth. I’d like to buy $3 worth of God, please.”- Wilbur Reese

MAY WE MOVE WAY PAST THIS.

From "expect" via podcast by Erwin McManus (2)

We've all known our moments of fear. We've all been the best of cowards. We've all been weak and feeble at times.

Here may be the dilemma for some. You may only know who you have been, but you do not realize who you are becoming. You are no longer one who has to shrink back.

It should not surprise you that you cannot live a life of dreams unless you begin to live a life of expectation.

If you are optimistic it is because you are deluded. You are wandering in the desert and you see and oasis. No wonder people thing you are out of your mind it is because you are. The pessimistic and cynic sees what is, the optimist sees what can become. What is possible.

The world needs you to believe. Believe. Expect.

For those who think you cannot do this:

Hebrews 12:12 "Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees." My Indian name is Feeble Arms and your Weak Knees. People need to see us step out and up of our fears so they can find healing through your faith. Hebrews 12:13 "Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

The idealist, optimist, the believer, the one who sees what doesn't exist but refuses to believe it cannot exist. That's the person who changes the world. Only the believer can create the future.

AMEN, Steve Nethery

From "expect" via podcast by Erwin McManus

There are some of us who are like the walking dead because when we wake up in the morning there is not something compelling, something that demands our lives, something that demands our existence.

The difference between those who overcome failure and those are overcome by failure:
Those overcome by failure take failure personally, think it is pervasive and view it as permanent. Those who overcome failure do not take it personally, do not think is is pervasive and do not view it as permanent. From Learned Optimism, Martin Seligman.

35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. 36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. 38 But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." 39 But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.

Hebrews 10:35-39

More Later On, Nethery

Oh Yeah!!!

A Child's Bible Report. Just For Fun. :)

Through the eyes of a child: The Children's Bible in a Nutshell
In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says,'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did. Then God made the world. He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars. Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel. Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something. One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check. After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat. Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable TV. God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff. Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more:Humor thy father and thy mother. One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town. After Joshua came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me. After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them. After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.') During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Democrats. Jesus also had twelve opossums.The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him. Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Democrats and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead. Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.

CAN

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you can. - Charles Wesley

A Point to Ponder

Carefully avoid in yourself those things which disturb you in others. - T. aKempis

Prayer - Listening

Hearing God's Voice is a good link to visit and peruse for your personal growth.

How To Listen To God is a good book on listening to and obeying God.

Quote For Thought

"It's amazing how many people who are standing alone wish they weren't." Eric Bryant

I have stood alone and did not like it. I have gone into rooms alone and did not like it. I have walked into a gatherings alone and did not like it. It is no fun. I can tell you that when I was standing alone and a person came over and introduced themselves to me and began a light conversation it felt good. It was comforting. I can tell you that had people not walked up to me years ago I may not be serving Christ or following Christ. Thanks to Terry Hitt, Mr. and Mrs. Burks, Mr. and Mrs. Hathaway, Kyle Klemcke, Bill Pursely, Debbie Morgan, David Levell, Bill Lovelace, and many others who introduced themselves to me when I was standing alone or maybe I just felt I was standing alone. "Hi, my name is ..."

Letter From God

Lamentations 3:21-26

21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
22 Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him."
25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

To Ponder

God loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. - Leighton Ford

Cardboard Stories By Richland Hills

The link below will take you to the video clip Sunrise showed in the weekend worship experience on 2-1-09.

http://www.rhchurch.org/pages/cardboard-testimonies/