I transferred my domain over to http://theobloggers.com/ and have a whole new look.
You can still find me at http://jasonbrowning.net but wanted to let some of you who were getting to me through Blogger know.
thanks,
Jason
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
A Preacher's Life
A happy Monday morning to all! I hope everyone had a good weekend. These were sent to me over the weekend by a member in the congregation here in La Grange. I thought these were pretty funny and wanted to share. Enjoy!
Jason
A preacher said to a farmer, "Do you belong to the Christian family?"
"No," he said, "they live two farms down."
"No, I mean are you lost?"
"No, I've been here thirty years."
"I mean, are you ready for Judgment Day?"
"When is it?"
"Could be today or tomorrow."
"Well, when you find out for sure when it is, you let me know. My wife will probably want to go both days!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call to Another Church
A preacher places his order at the pet store. "I need at least 50 mice, 2,000 ants and as many of those little silverfish you can get."
The clerk replies, "We can probably do that, but it might take some time. Mind if I ask why you are placing such an unusual order?"
The preacher replies, "I've accepted an offer to another church and the men told me to leave the parsonage the way I found it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Farewell Offering
During the last Sunday service that the preacher was to spend at the church he served for some years, his hat was passed around for a goodwill offering.
When it returned to the preacher, it was empty.
The preacher didn't flinch.
He simply raised the hat to Heaven and said, "I thank You, Lord, that I got my hat back from this congregation."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hot-Air Hand Dryers
My preacher friend put sanitary hot air hand dryers in the rest rooms at the church where he preaches and after two weeks, took them out.
I asked him why and he confessed that they worked fine, but when he went in there he saw a sign that read, "For a sample of this week's sermon, push the button.
Jason
PREACHER'S LIFE
A preacher said to a farmer, "Do you belong to the Christian family?"
"No," he said, "they live two farms down."
"No, I mean are you lost?"
"No, I've been here thirty years."
"I mean, are you ready for Judgment Day?"
"When is it?"
"Could be today or tomorrow."
"Well, when you find out for sure when it is, you let me know. My wife will probably want to go both days!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Call to Another Church
A preacher places his order at the pet store. "I need at least 50 mice, 2,000 ants and as many of those little silverfish you can get."
The clerk replies, "We can probably do that, but it might take some time. Mind if I ask why you are placing such an unusual order?"
The preacher replies, "I've accepted an offer to another church and the men told me to leave the parsonage the way I found it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Farewell Offering
During the last Sunday service that the preacher was to spend at the church he served for some years, his hat was passed around for a goodwill offering.
When it returned to the preacher, it was empty.
The preacher didn't flinch.
He simply raised the hat to Heaven and said, "I thank You, Lord, that I got my hat back from this congregation."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hot-Air Hand Dryers
My preacher friend put sanitary hot air hand dryers in the rest rooms at the church where he preaches and after two weeks, took them out.
I asked him why and he confessed that they worked fine, but when he went in there he saw a sign that read, "For a sample of this week's sermon, push the button.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Ancient Words
Holy words long preserved for our walk in this world;
They resound with God's own heart, O, let the ancient words impart.
Words of life, words of hope, give us strength, help us cope;
In this world where-'er we roam, Ancient words will guide us home.
Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
Holy words of our faith, handed down to this age,
came to us through sacrifice, O, heed the faithful words of Christ.
Holy words, long preserved for our walk in this world,
They resound with God's own heart, O, let the ancient words impart.
Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
O let the ancient words impart.
They resound with God's own heart, O, let the ancient words impart.
Words of life, words of hope, give us strength, help us cope;
In this world where-'er we roam, Ancient words will guide us home.
Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
Holy words of our faith, handed down to this age,
came to us through sacrifice, O, heed the faithful words of Christ.
Holy words, long preserved for our walk in this world,
They resound with God's own heart, O, let the ancient words impart.
Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
Ancient words ever true, changing me, and changing you;
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
We have come with open hearts, O let the ancient words impart.
O let the ancient words impart.
--Writer Unknown
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Heart Flaws: Pessimism and Worry
I have been unable to blog on a consistent basis here of late but hopefully things will slow down for me in just a little over a month from now. Summer time is always the busiest time of the year for me. Maybe some time soon I will be able to share some of what else is making life so hectic for me right now.
Things are going okay here. Cody and the boys left yesterday for their annual trip to Wisconsin. They should be be back around the middle part of next week. It is always nice up there this time of year and I would love to have gone but there is just too much going on here that will not allow me to get away.
This past Sunday, I began a series of lessons on heart flaws; ones that are especially difficult for us as Christians. And Sunday's lesson was specifically on worrying too much and negativity/pessismism. The funny thing is of the 150 or so in our assembly Sunday morning, it was probably me that needed to hear the lesson more than anyone. I hope I was listening.
Of course, not all worrying is bad. I think it is commonly agreed that a little stress keeps us going and can be a good thing, so long as we don't allow our worrying and anxiety to deprive us of the joy that we should have as Christians. But think about some of the things we worry about. We worry about things that have already happened. We can't live in the past though (Luke 9:62). Or we tend to worry about things that will inevitablly happen. Or worry about something that will never happen. Again, yes, some of these are examples of our natural human reaction to life, and to a degree that is just the way we are, but the point is that God does not want us to allow these things to rob us of the overall happiness we should have as kingdom citizens.
Jesus' words in Matthew 6:19-34 provide a great text about this very subject. Notice what we can learn about being overly anxious from this text:
Things are going okay here. Cody and the boys left yesterday for their annual trip to Wisconsin. They should be be back around the middle part of next week. It is always nice up there this time of year and I would love to have gone but there is just too much going on here that will not allow me to get away.
This past Sunday, I began a series of lessons on heart flaws; ones that are especially difficult for us as Christians. And Sunday's lesson was specifically on worrying too much and negativity/pessismism. The funny thing is of the 150 or so in our assembly Sunday morning, it was probably me that needed to hear the lesson more than anyone. I hope I was listening.
Of course, not all worrying is bad. I think it is commonly agreed that a little stress keeps us going and can be a good thing, so long as we don't allow our worrying and anxiety to deprive us of the joy that we should have as Christians. But think about some of the things we worry about. We worry about things that have already happened. We can't live in the past though (Luke 9:62). Or we tend to worry about things that will inevitablly happen. Or worry about something that will never happen. Again, yes, some of these are examples of our natural human reaction to life, and to a degree that is just the way we are, but the point is that God does not want us to allow these things to rob us of the overall happiness we should have as kingdom citizens.
Jesus' words in Matthew 6:19-34 provide a great text about this very subject. Notice what we can learn about being overly anxious from this text:
- It is unneccesary (v.32)
- It is a lack of trust (v.26, 31)
- It is prohibited (vv.25, 31, 34)
- It is pointless (v.27)
- It is what those that do not belong to God do (v.32)
So what can we do to overcome this tendency among us?
- Follow Joshua's lead in Joshua 24:15. Determine in our minds that we are going to conquer our penchants for being negative and pessimistic. Make the commitment that we are going to follow God regardless so there is little room for overly worrying about things. Afterall, God is in control.
- Follow David's example, and when we fall, get back up. Paul charges us to be steadfast in our labors, knowing they are not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).
- Accentuate the positive (Philippians 4:8).
- Trust in God and stop trying to rely on ourselves (Isaiah 26:3-4; Philippians 4:13; Romans 8:28-31).
- Get busy for the kingdom and do something good for someone else (Matthew 6:33).
- Pray (1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Peter 5:7; James 5:16).
I hope to write more soon. Peace!
Sunday, July 5, 2009
We Shall Assemble
We shall assemble on the mountain,
we shall assemble at the throne.
With humble hearts into His presence,
we bring an offering of song.
Glory and honor and dominion,
unto the Lamb, unto the King.
Oh hallelujah, hallelujah!
We sing the song of the redeemed.
We shall assemble on the mountain,
we shall assemble at the throne.
With humble hearts into His presence,
we bring an offering of song.
Glory and honor and dominion,
unto the Lamb, unto the King.
Oh hallelujah, hallelujah!
We sing the song of the redeemed.
--Twila Paris
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