Monday, January 31, 2011

Top Dollar Tithing Tunes

For those looking for new offertory songs this just might be for you...

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Short Sermons...and you thought it not possible.

APHORISMS: 

SHORT, POINTED SENTENCES THAT EXPRESSES A WISE OR CLEVER OBSERVATION OR A GENERAL TRUTH. 

1. The nicest thing about the future is . . . it always starts tomorrow.

2. Money will buy a fine dog, but only kindness will make him wag his tail.

3. If you don't have a sense of humor, you probably don't have any sense at all. 

4. Seat belts are not as confining as wheelchairs.

5. A good time to keep your mouth shut is when you're in deep water.

6. How come it takes so little time for a child who is afraid of the dark to become a teenager 
who wants to stay out all night?

7. Business conventions are important . . . because they demonstrate how many people 
a company can operate without. 

8. Why is it that at class reunions you feel younger than everyone else looks? 

9. Scratch a cat . . . and you will have a permanent job. 

10. No one has more driving ambition than the teenage boy who wants to buy a car. 

11. There are no new sins; the old ones just get more publicity. 

12. There are worse things than getting a call for a wrong number at 4 a.m. - 
like, it could be the right number. 

13. No one ever says "It's only a game" when their team is winning. 

14. I've reached the age where 'happy hour' is a nap. 

15. Be careful about reading the fine print. . . . There's no way you're going to like it. 

16. The trouble with bucket seats is that not everybody has the same size bucket. 

17. Do you realize that, in about 40 years, we'll have thousands of old ladies running around 
with tattoos in strange places? (And rap music will be the Golden Oldies!) 

18. Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Cadillac than in a Yugo. 

19. After 60, if you don't wake up aching in every joint, you're probably dead. 

20. Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind . . . and the ones that mind don't matter. 

21. Life isn't tied with a bow .. . . . . . .  but it's still a gift. 

Friday, January 28, 2011

10 Things you DON'T Want to do in Your Marriage

Here are ten things you DON’T want to do in your marriage.
#1 Don’t quit.
Marriage is tough. To make your marriage work, you must be tenacious. Couples quit too soon or too often. Hang in there. Stick it out. Don’t ever give up.
#2 Don’t go to bed angry.
Your bed is not the place to argue, and neither is it the place to hold hurt feelings. Work it out. Talk it over. Settle the issue before going to bed.
#3 Don’t nag.
A sure way to ruin your marriage is to point out everything your spouse does wrong. Nag, nag, nag and you will kill, kill, kill your marriage.
#4 Don’t whine or complain.
Life is tough. Marriage demands effort. Don’t complicate matters by whining or complaining about every little thing.
#5 Don’t quit dating.
If you really want your marriage to thrive, keep dating. Plan a date night every week. Keep chasing one another just like you did before you were married.
#6 Don’t keep score.
The point system may work in athletic completion, but it stinks in a marriage. Don’t keep a tally of your spouse’s rights or wrongs.
#7 Don’t spend more than you make.
Don’t fall for the fallacy that says you deserve the best just because you are married. Save your money. Stay out of debt. Be generous. Live within your means.
#8 Don’t compare.
Don’t compare your spouse to someone else. Don’t compare your marriage to someone else’s marriage. And please don’t compare your spouse to their parents. If you want a healthy marriage, don’t compare.
#9 Don’t leave.
Leaving, moving out, or separating accomplishes nothing more than a deeper divide. Stay home and work out your problems.
#10 Don’t get lazy.
Find a way to keep serving one another. Discover ways to help one another. In a marriage it takes teamwork to make the marriage work
(copied from Energizing Word blog)

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Worth Ship

In Argentina, soccer star Diego Maradona has fans so passionate that they began a church in his name and mark their calendars by his birth:  this year is 44 D.D., which stands for a Spanish phrase meaning "the 44th year after Diego's birth."  Annually, the "Church of Maradona" gathers to celebrate his birth:  Ornaments celebrating soccer exploits hang from a Christmas tree, and soccer cleats hang from a cross.  According to news accounts one 49-year-old fan said, "In Diego, I think, I feel, and I exist."

No doubt, the whole thing is just some rabid soccer fans having fun.  My question is, when was the last time you were ever so over-the-top in your passion for God?

Do you live a God-oriented life?  This kind of life is more than just thinking about God from time to time.  Most people wonder what he's like, what he expects, whether he's happy with their lives, and how to get him to meet their needs.  Almost everyone thinks about these things.

But the God-oriented life is very different.  Someone who lives a God-oriented life is someone who is...
. . . stirred by the greatness of God
. . . moved by the grace of God
. . . expectant for the activity of God
. . . hungry for the word of God
. . . passionate for the glory of God
. . . hopeful for an experience with God
Do I, do you live a God-oriented life?  The question is, when was the last time you were ever so over-the-top in your passion for God?

(copied/revised from a recently read blog by Tom Goodman)

Monday, January 24, 2011

Louie Giglio - Laminin

This is well worth the watch....thanks to Trey who borught it to my attention.

Friday, January 21, 2011

12 Rules for Preachers...and all others as well....

I recently came across John Wesley’s 12 Rules for Preachers while reading some blogs that I follow.
John Wesley was a man used by God in a powerful way – he was a game-changer in terms of sharing the gospel and in building systems to make the biggest impact for the Kingdom.
I was struck by how appropriate they still are today, so I thought I’d share them with you below:
“1. Be diligent. Never be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never while away time, nor spend more time at any place than is strictly necessary.
“2. Be serious. Let your motto be, ‘Holiness to the Lord.’ Avoid all lightness, jesting, and foolish talking.
“3. Converse sparingly and cautiously with women, particularly with young women.
“4. Take no step towards marriage without solemn prayer to God and consulting with your brethren.
“5. Believe evil of no one unless fully proved; take heed how you credit it. Put the best construction you can on everything. You know the judge is always supposed to be on the prisoner’s side.
“6. Speak evil of no one, else your word, especially, would eat as doth a canker; keep your thoughts within your own breast till you come to the person concerned.
“7. Tell every one what you think wrong in him, lovingly and plainly, and as soon as may be, else it will fester in your own heart. Make all haste to cast the fire out of your bosom.
“8. Do not affect the gentleman. A preacher of the Gospel is the servant of all.
“9. Be ashamed of nothing but sin; no, not of cleaning your own shoes when necessary.
“10. Be punctual. Do everything exactly at the time. And do not mend our rules, but keep them, and that for conscience’ sake.
“II. You have nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore spend and be spent in this work. And go always, not only to those who want you, but to those who want you most.
“12. Act in all things, not according to your own will, but as a son in the Gospel, and in union with your brethren. As such, it is your part to employ your time as our rules direct: partly in preaching and visiting from i house to house, partly in reading, meditation, and prayer. Above all, if you labour with us in our Lord’s vineyard, it is needful you should do that part of the work which the Conference shall advise, at those times and places which they shall judge most for His glory.
“Observe, it is not your business to preach so many times, and to take care merely of this or that Society, but to save as many souls as you can, to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to repentance, and, with all your power, to build them up in that holiness without which they cannot see the Lord. And, remember, a Methodist preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the Methodist discipline. Therefore you will need all the grace and sense you have, and to have all your wits about you.”

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Top Ten list


Why People do not come to church....

10) can’t find a polyester leisure suit anywhere
 9) relate to jazz and rock more than Handel and Bach
 8) would rather sleep in own bed than in pew
 7) one word: hypocrites!
 6) already served time as a child
 5) I gave at the office
 4) during organ music, start craving ballpark hot dogs
 3) can only remember three commandments
 2) feel guilty enough already
And the #1 reason people don’t go to church is . . .
 1)…They haven’t experienced the love and acceptance that is felt at Central Baptist….

 Invite and bring someone with you to Sunday School and Worship this Sunday at Central Baptist.  It could be a day that they remember for eternity.