The Book of Parables :-)

I ran across this earlier in the week. It was titled  "The Book of Parables"


“Once upon a time a man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; and the thorns grew up and choked the man. And he went on and met the Queen of Sheba, and she gave that man a thousand talents of silver, and a hundred changes of raiment.

And he got in his chariot and drove furiously, and as he was driving along under a big tree, his hair got caught in a limb and left him hanging here!

 
And he hung there many days and many nights. The ravens brought him food to eat and water to drink. And one night while he was hanging there asleep, his wife Delilah came along and cut off his hair, and he fell on stony ground. And it begin to rain, and rained forty days and forty nights.

And he hid himself in a cave. Later he went on and met a man who said, “Come in and take supper with me.” But he said, “I can’t come in, for I have married a wife.” And the man went out into the highways and hedges and compelled him to come in! He then came to Jerusalem, and saw Queen Jezebel sitting high and lifted up in a window of the wall.

 When she saw him she laughed, and he said, “Throw her down out of there,” and they threw her down. And he said “Throw her down again,” and they threw her down seventy-times-seven. And the fragments which they picked up filled twelve baskets full! NOW, whose wife will she be in the day of the Judgment?”

Much love, Dennis

The 10 Plagues

Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in
Sunday School. "Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind
enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt.
When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon
bridge, and all the people walked across safely. He used his
walkie-talkie to radio headquarters and call in an air strike. They sent
in bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved."

"Now, Joey, is that REALLY what your teacher taught you?" his mother
asked.

"Well, no, Mom, but if I told it the way the teacher did, you'd never
believe it!"
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I was listening to James McDonald this morning. He was speaking about the story of Moses, God, and a Pharaoh. As Christians we are saved by faith, believing that Jesus is God in human form. We were not privileged to see signs like these. God used Moses and his brother Aaron to convince Pharaoh to set the Israelites free. The 10 signs that followed seem very obvious from the start that the God of Moses was all powerful.

With his brother Aaron, Moses asked the Pharaoh to let the people of Israel leave Egypt in order to celebrate a feast in the wilderness to honor their God.



The Pharaoh refused.

God told Moses that He would demonstrate His power to convince Pharaoh. How does someone who sees these signs be so ignorant?

First, He would "harden the heart" of the Pharaoh, making him adamant against their leaving. Then He would produce signs whose escalating severity culminated with the death of every first-born Egyptian male.

1. Water Turned to Blood

2. Frogs

3. Lice

4. Flies

5. Livestock Diseases

6. Boils

7. Hail

8. Locusts

9. Darkness

10. Death of the First Born

These were real, water to blood. That's absolutely gross!

Each plague was a little worse than the one before. I know that Pharaoh's heart was hardened, but it just seems so obvious looking at it from (3400-3600) years ago.

We are experiencing some signs today. Nothing quite as obvious as what God displayed to the Egyptians, but I personally would not want to live through anything like the 10 plagues.

Thank you Jesus for delivering me from my sins. It's obvious to me that God is exactly who he says he is.

Much love, Dennis

　
 　

God's recipe

I've used this before but it is worth 3-4 posts.  Church Gossip

ildred, the church gossip and self-appointed arbiter of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose in the other members' private lives. Church members were unappreciative of her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.
      
      She made a mistake, however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon.
      
      She commented to George and others that everyone seeing it there would know what he was doing.
      
      George, a man of few words, stared at her for a moment and just walked away. He didn't explain, defend, or deny; he said nothing.
      
      Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Mildred's house... and left it there all night!
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This is about the best thing
I've ever read as an explanation.

Sometimes we wonder,
'What did I do to deserve this?' or
'Why did God have to do this to me?'
Here is a wonderful explanation!
A daughter is telling her Mother how everything
is going wrong, She's failing algebra, her boyfriend
broke up with her and her best friend is moving away.
Meanwhile, her Mother is baking a cake and
asks her daughter if she would like a snack, and the
daughter says, 'Absolutely Mom, I love your cake.'
'Here, have some cooking oil,' her Mother offers.
'Yuck' says her daughter..
'How about a couple raw eggs?' 'Gross, Mom!'
'Would you like some flour then?
Or maybe baking soda?'
'Mom, those are all yucky!'
To which the mother replies:
'Yes, all those things seem bad all by themselves.
But when they are put together in the
right way, they make a wonderfully delicious cake! '
God works the same way. Many times we wonder why
He would let us go through such bad and difficult
times. But God knows that when He puts these things
all in His order, they always work for good! We just
have to trust Him and, eventually, they will all
make something wonderful
God is crazy about you.
He sends you flowers every spring and
a sunrise every morning.
Whenever you want to talk, He'll listen.
He can live anywhere in the universe,
and He chose your heart.

Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are
here we might as well dance!
Much Love, Dennis