Category: Headline Page 129 of 130

Vanity of Vanities

On November 30, 2009

For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God?

Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone.

This is the greatest wisdom — to seek the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world.

IT IS VANITY…

It is vanity, therefore, to seek and trust in riches that perish.
It is vanity also to court honor and to be puffed up with pride.
It is vanity to follow the lusts of the body and to desire things for which severe punishment later must come.
It is vanity to wish for long life and to care little about a well-spent life.
It is vanity to be concerned with the present only and not to make provision for things to come.
It is vanity to love what passes quickly and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides.

Source:

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

BY THOMAS À KEMPIS
TRANSLATED FROM THE LATIN INTOMODERN ENGLISH
Christian Classics Etherial Library http://www.ccel.org

Read Whole Book or Download (PDF) here

Photo Credit: www.blretail.com

Choose Today Whom You Will Serve

By Thor

On November 25, 2009

In Headline

One of my favourite characters in the Bible is Joshua. I admire how he challenged the Israelites to choose whom they will serve. Joshua made a definite stand! A powerful one. Against the odds. He must have been rediculed, persecuted, and abandoned. His decision was unpopular to many people who chose to worship their idols, their wealth, their jobs, and their possessions.

Joshua was a military leader, a prophet, a judge. He was a man of influence. A spy. A war strategist famous for breaking down the walls of Jericho.

Joshua challenges us. No doubt about it. How can’t you not be motivated by his famous words? Be strong and courageous! Be strong and very courageous! Fear the LORD! Now he asks us: Whom will you serve? Who will be your master? Who will be your King? You have to choose.

This is my stand. As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD! (Joshua 24:15)

If you take that stand as I am, this is Joshua’s instructions. “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.”(Joshua is 1:8) For us Christian, the Word of God is our lifeblood. It’s the lamp upon our feet and the light unto our path.

Let us adopt to Joshua’s strategies and for sure we can win our battles. We can break down our modern Jericho walls of “sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5) As William Hazlett puts it: ” If you think you can win, you can win. Faith is necessary to victory.”

Thor, BehindCrossroads

dated Oct 1, 2009

Feel free to share my note with your friends with reference

Photo credit: www.themeadow.org

Raising Kids: Jethro's Sunday School Creations

By Thor

On November 21, 2009

In Headline

Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it. – Proverbs 22:6

I am always excited to ask my four year old son what activities he did at Hillsong Kid’s Church. Sunday by Sunday, he has that prominent expectation and enormous excitement to go. He has developed that sense of connection with other kids, volunteers and leaders at his Sunday school despite the short period of time since we moved here in Sydney only few months ago. How awesome! At his tender, innocent, and very young age, he is now exposed to God’s kingdom. He is now experiencing the goodness of God, the marvelous love of God, and that wonderful personal relationship with our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

I am really grateful to the Lord that I am raising a new generation in my lineage. My son is a Daniel who will defy the odds of what the world refers to as normal. You see, these days, it is normal for kids to be exposed with violent, brutal, and satanic computer games; it is normal for kids to be exposed to lewd, obscene, and indecent materials and shows; and it is normal for kids to shout back, disregard, and dishonor their parents. Praise God, my son is abnormal! I fervently pray that my son will not depart from the Godly values, teaching, and instructions he is now exposed to. Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb is a reward (Psalms 127:3). Let’s embrace our children before this world embrace them.

Jethro’s artworks (captions mine):

I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5) “…observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age! – Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:20)

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. (Psalms 119:105)

In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps (Proverbs 16:9). We’re accustomed to making plans and charting the course of our lives, but it’s good to be reminded that despite our best efforts, it is God who ultimately directs the course and events of our lives.

“I’m forgiven because You were forsaken. I’m accepted, You were condemned.

and I’m alive and well your spirit is within me, because You died and rose again.” lyrics: Amazing Love (You are My King) (Chris Tomlin)

The greatest comfort in the world can be found in God’s promise to forgive all of our sins, no matter how bad. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done; if we confess our sins to God and repent, He will forgive us.

Jethro @ Work:

with his friend John Ray

His creation…masterpiece

fun time @ Hillsong Kid’s Church

How to Get Into Heaven – Something Funny!

By Thor

On November 20, 2009

In Christian jokes, Headline

closed due to rapture

How to Get Into Heaven

A man dies and meets the gatekeeper at the Pearly Gates.The gatekeeper says to the man, “Here’s how it works. You need to have one hundred points to get into heaven. You tell me about all the good things you’ve done. They are all worth a certain number of points. If your total is one hundred or more, you can come in.”

“Well,” says the man. “I was happily married to the same woman for 52 years. I never looked at another woman. I was attentive and loved her dearly.”

“That’s great,” says the gatekeeper. “That’ll be two points.”

“Hmmm,” says the man. “This is going to be harder than I thought. Well, I attended church regularly, volunteered my time and tithed faithfully.”

“Wonderful,” says the gatekeeper, “That’s worth another point.”

“One point!” says the man. “Okay, okay. I was involved with a prison ministry for twenty-five years. I went into the prison, at least monthly, and shared Jesus with them.”

“Wow!” says the gatekeeper. “That’s another two points!”

“Only two points!” says the man. “At this rate, it’ll be by the grace of God that’ll I’ll ever get into this place.”

“Bingo!” says the gatekeeper. “That’s one hundred points! Come on in.”

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 (New King James Version)

source: from my inbox

Thoughts on Personal Development

By Thor

On November 12, 2009

In Headline

I came across an article entitled “The Power of Personal Development”. It’s written by Jeffrey Gitomer and was published in the SUCCESS Magazine. He mentioned about Orison Swett Marden, one of the founders of SUCCESS magazine.

According to Gitomer, Marden have authored more than 40 books and was a leading positive-attitude genius of the 20th century. He was well-known before 1930. He was a founding father of personal development and positive thought. I must admit that I never heard about Marden until I read the above article. I am particularly interested in the words of wisdom that was mentioned. The thoughts are really brilliant, direct, and honest. It’s one of those meaty parts of a written work that I can’t wait to swallow it up and meditate its taste to my heart’s content.

Here are a few of Marden’s words of wisdom from the book he wrote in 1908, “He Who Thinks He Can”:

“Every child should be taught to expect success.”

“The man who has learned the art of seeing things looks with his brain.”

“The best educated people are those who are always learning, always absorbing knowledge from every possible source and at every opportunity.”

“People do not realize the immense value of utilizing spare minutes.”

“No substitute has ever yet been discovered for honesty.”

“Poverty is of no value except as a vantage ground for a starting point.”

Who is Orison Swett Marden?

The son of poor parents, he was born in 1850 in Thornton Gore, a New Hampshire hamlet, to Lewis and Martha Marden. His father was a farmer, hunter, and trapper. His mother stayed home and took care of Orison and his two sisters. Orison was a mere 3 years old when his mother died at the age of twenty-two. Though his father was devastated by the loss he did his best to raise his three children and provide for them their basic needs. An unfortunate accident occured in which his father was seriously injured by a fallen tree trunk while setting a bear trap. Soon after the accident Lewis passed away and was buried along side his wife Martha… Read more

Photo from: http://www.infusebooks.com/marden/orison_swett_marden.htm