This is a Valentine from God taken from John 3:16.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16. Found in the First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake in 2009.
This is a bumper sticker that I found in a Disney World parking lot.
It seems appropriate for Thanksgiving, our least commercial holiday.
This bumper sticker says, “God answers knee-mail 
.”
The following was written by Denise Rhodes Beck on Wednesday, June 1, 2011, and is re-printed with permission. She is serving as a missionary in Uganda
I am….(fill in the blank).
The white lady with all the kids.
Little left of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Joplin but its cross.
The one that is married to the really tall white guy.The one who tripped carrying her groceries from the market (coordination is not my spiritual gift).
Tonight I was the friend sitting across from Emilie over a platter of Ethiopian food.
In between cleaning up spills and coaxing our children to finish eating, our conversation ended up where every other conversation over the past week and a half ended up…Joplin. My home town.
Joplin High School with duct tape making an "H" and "E" after the "O" and "P" on the top line. The eagle is the high school's mascott. It was carved in a tree trunk after the tornado blew threw.
The place we both left exactly one year ago today.
The place my mom sent the email from that I awoke to on Monday morning entitled,
“We are all OK”
(those words are always followed by a “BUT”).
The place the tornado made famous.
To be so far away from people and places you love when they are suffering is heart wrenching.
I sat at the computer Monday morning (Sunday night U.S. time) and just sobbed as I read post after post and saw picture after picture.
My kids just stared and me (one brought me a vitamin…I don’t think they knew what to do with me).
Joplin's St. John's Hospital after the tornado.
I questioned so much why God had us so far away at this time.
So tonight Em and I shared our stories of weathering the storm from afar.
After a few stories in, I began to see why, and I thought you might like to hear, too. When tragedy strikes, those it strikes are put in an amazing position.
Joplin's 20th Street. Note chalk figure on the pavement.
A terrible, awful, amazing position.
It is as if they have been given a microphone and their life is now being lived four times louder.
The church is not a building. It is the people. This is where the Bethel Assembly of God building used to be.
People will now stop, look, and listen….FOREVER.It is like my friend here whose eighteen month old daughter was accidentally killed by a teammate’s car.
Thirty years later my friend’s life story still quiets a room and fills it with goosebumps as she speaks of her choice to love and forgive…and stay in Africa.
A wooden cross inside St. Paul's Methodist Chruch survived the tornadic winds.
Hundreds of churches have been planted as a result.Joplin…you have been given a microphone, and the world is listening.
I can say that because I am on the other side of it.
When I enter a local shop and one of my African friends has heard about the tornado and is questioning how there could be a God, I have an open door and we talk.
I believe this is the Joplin Morman Church.
When the kids’ art teacher’s face drops when he hears I am from Joplin; he wonders if my family is OK, I share God’s goodness.I begin to listen to Emilie tell of a friend, a young girl from Canada, who stopped by so full of searching and questions.
She doesn’t believe in God but she is having trouble processing what she is seeing on Aljazeera (the international news channel).
Joplin's Home Depot is in the background across the street from the demolished AT&T Store.
“They are talking about Joplin.
“They are saying they have never seen anything like it before.
“People are taking in strangers from the street.
“People are opening their homes to feed and clothe anyone in need.
“They are saying it is the church!”
The totality of the devastation in Joplin can be seen here.
And Emilie is invited into this young lady’s heart to share with an openness that has never before been possible.
Joplin, you are his hands, his feet, his light to the world.
His glory is being shouted from your microphone.
So many of you have lived through a nightmare.
A little girl has lost her doll baby.
I pray thirty years from now your decision to give God glory in the midst of your hardest days will be the stuff that causes a hush to settle over the room.You have been given an incredible gift.
Thank you for sharing it with the world.
So…who am I today?
If Joplin is selfless love, loudly proclaiming his glory, I hope at the end of everyday, I can say…
“I am Joplin.”
= = = = =
All of the photos may be enlarged by clicking on them.
Here’s a tee shirt whose message fits both the temperature and the day of the week, Sunday.
This tee shirt was found at Disney World during Thanksgiving Week, 2010.
“I’m one cool kid unique in God’s eyes,” is the message.
Here’s a bumper sticker that I found on a winter day in the front McHenry County College parking lot.
GOD is NOT
a Republican
…or a Democrat
Seems pretty obvious, but a group called Sojourners thought you ought to know.
The oldest book in the Bible is said to be Job.
Job is a faithful servant of God.
The Devil cuts a deal with God to allow him to do anything in order pry Job away from God.
God is so confident in Job’s faithfulness that he allows the test.
Everything is taken from Job.
His family, his riches, his reputation.
Last Sunday, the Chicago Sun-Times featured the Lakemoor tragedy of Thomas Burleson as its front page story.
The front page of the Chicago Sun-Times, August 8, 2010.
The words of the Centegra emergency room doctor to him start the story:
Thomas,
I’m Sorry,
Your Family
Has Been Killed
That was August 21, 1999, the day that a drunk McHenry man named Walter Depner, drove across the median strip on Route 120 and totaled not only Burleson’s Volkswagen Microbus, but his life.
Although the Burleson family attended our First United Methodist Church of Crystal Lake, I think they went to an earlier service.
I read about the tragedy, of course, but didn’t make a person connection until I heard him give a practice Walk to Emmaus talk in our Wesley Hall. I was on the team, but can’t remember my role.
I sensed Burleson had given the talk or one similar to it before, because he made it through better than I made it through Chicago Sun-Times reporter Stefano Exposito’s story last week.
Not having touched base with Burleson recently, I don’t know if he has carried through on his seminary studies, but it is clear that God has blessed him with a new family and continued supportive friends.
He undoubtedly would object to my comparing him to Job, but I think it is something of a fit.
But, the last sentence of the story, concerning endurance, are
“I think I’m more joyful than happy.”
= = = = =
If you are interested in more information on attending a Walk to Emmaus weekend, just drop me an email. The next one is the weekend after the election.
Here’s a religious bumper sticker I found. It says, God Bless The Whole
No Exceptions
It was produced by Northern Sun Merchandising out of Minneapolis. 800-258-8579 is the toll free number on the bottom.
Here’s a religious bumper sticker I found. It says, God Bless The Whole
No Exceptions
It was produced by Northern Sun Merchandising out of Minneapolis. 800-258-8579 is the toll free number on the bottom.
My wife forwarded this email joke to me. I do not know who wrote it.
Once upon a time in the kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days.Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.
He inquired of God, “Where have you been?”
God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds,
“Look, Michael. Look what I’ve created.”Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, “What is it?”
”It’s a planet,” replied God, “and I’ve put Life on it. I’m going to call it Earth and it’s going to be a great place of balance.”
”Balance?” inquired Michael, still confused.
God explained, pointing to different parts of earth.
”For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth but cold and harsh while southern Europe is going to be poor but sunny and pleasant.
“I have made some lands abundant in water and other lands parched deserts.
“This one will be extremely hot and while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.”
The Archangel, impressed by God’s work, then pointed to a land mass and said, “What’s that one?”
”Ah,” said God. “That’s Illinois, the most glorious place on earth. There will be beautiful prairies, grasslands, farms, streams, abundant wild game and birds, rolling hills and woodlands. The people from Illinois are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent and humorous and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and ambassadors of peace.”
Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed,
“What about balance, God? You said there would be balance!!!”God replied wisely,
”Wait until you see the idiots I put in Springfield, Cook County and City Hall.”
My wife forwarded this email joke to me. I do not know who wrote it.
Once upon a time in the kingdom of Heaven, God was missing for six days.Eventually, Michael, the archangel, found him, resting on the seventh day.
He inquired of God, “Where have you been?”
God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds,
“Look, Michael. Look what I’ve created.”Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, “What is it?”
”Balance?” inquired Michael, still confused.
God explained, pointing to different parts of earth.
”For example, northern Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth but cold and harsh while southern Europe is going to be poor but sunny and pleasant.
“I have made some lands abundant in water and other lands parched deserts.
“This one will be extremely hot and while this one will be very cold and covered in ice.”
The Archangel, impressed by God’s work, then pointed to a land mass and said, “What’s that one?”
”Ah,” said God. “That’s Illinois, the most glorious place on earth. There will be beautiful prairies, grasslands, farms, streams, abundant wild game and birds, rolling hills and woodlands. The people from Illinois are going to be handsome, modest, intelligent and humorous and they are going to be found traveling the world. They will be extremely sociable, hardworking and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and ambassadors of peace.”
Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed,
“What about balance, God? You said there would be balance!!!”God replied wisely,
”Wait until you see the idiots I put in Springfield, Cook County and City Hall.”
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