January 21, 2013
A few days ago, as 2013 was just starting, I was awakened about 1:30 in the morning. I “heard” these words clearly in my spirit man; “Honor and Integrity brings Advancement in 2013” A day or so ago, I received newsletter from a Seattle-based ministry. Inside was an article written by a Doug Lawrence. It so exemplified the heart of the word that I had received, that I want to share it here.
...A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner.
In their rush through the airport terminal, with tickets and briefcases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of apples. And apples flew everywhere.
Without stopping or so much as looking back in concern, they all managed to reach the gate in time for their nearly missed boarding. That is ALL BUT ONE!!! He paused, took a deep breath, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the young apple seller whose table had been overturned.
He told his buddies to go on without him, waved good-bye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived home and explain why he was taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor.
He was glad he did! The apple seller was a 16-year old girl who was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping around the terminal floor trying to find her apples as the crowd swirled around her, no one stopping or caring about her plight.
The salesman knelt on the floor with the girl, gathered up the apples, put them back on the table and helped her arrange and organize her display. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become very battered and bruised, unsellable: these he set aside in another basket.
When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said, “ Please take this $40 for the damage we did. Are you okay?” She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, “I hope that we didn’t spoil your day too badly.” And as he started to walk away, the bewildered girl called out to him, Mister…” He slowed and looked back into those blind eyes. ….are you Jesus?”
...Even though this salesman wasn’t the one who caused the damage, he is the only one who displayed Honor by putting his plans aside and going back to help clean up the mess his colleague had made. He also displayed Integrity by making restitution out of his own pocket for the damages that were a result of another.
Let me ask you ...Do you mean the words that you say and do you do what you say you will do, even if it inconveniences you or costs you more than you thought it would ? Honor and Integrity brings Advancement in 2013.
December 17, 2011
An article came across my desk the other day. I’d never heard this story before, so I thought that I would share it here.
From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.
-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.-
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit--Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit--Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles' Creed.
June 01, 2011
To those of you who frequent the ministry website, I would like to apologize for the time lapse in posting to this blog.
The day after Elias sent me his blog for May, the hard drive in my laptop crashed without any warning. At the same time, I was confronted with two expensive vehicle repairs and my elderly father, for whom I am a primary care provider, had just had eye surgery.
Needless to say, with all of this transpiring, it took a few days to be able to get out to a replacement hard drive from our closest computer superstore (which is an hour away), then restore the data from the most recent backup and then add the latest changes to bring the site current again.
So again, my apologies on the tardiness of this latest post.
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