Title: Cowboy Story

Jake, the rancher, went one day to fix a distant fence;
the wind was cold and gusty and the clouds rolled gray and dense.

As he pounded the last staples in and gathered tools to go,
the temperature had fallen and the snow began to blow.

When he finally reached his pickup, he felt a heavy heart;
from the sound of that ignition, he knew it wouldn't start.

So Jake did what most of us 'd done had we been there;
he humbly bowed his balding head and sent aloft a prayer.

As he turned the key for the last time, he softly cursed his luck.
They found him three days later, frozen stiff in that old truck.

Now Jake had been around in life and done his share of roamin';
but when he saw Heaven, he was shocked-it look just like Wyomin'!

Of all the saints in Heaven, his favorite was St. Peter.
Now, this line, it ain't needed but it helps with rhyme and meter.

So they set and talked a minute or two, or maybe it was three;
nobody was keepin' score- in Heaven time is free.

"I've always heard," Jake said to Pete, "that God will answer prayers,
but one time I asked for help and well, He just plain wasn't there.

Does God answer prayers of some, and ignore the prayers of others?
That don't seem exactly square- I know all men are brothers.

Or does he randomly reply, without good rhyme or reason?
Maybe, it's the time of day, the weather or the season?

Now I ain't trying to act smart, it's just the way I feel;
and I was wonderin', could you tell me, what the heck's the deal?"

Peter listened very patiently and when Jake was done,
there were smiles of recognition, and he said, "So, you're the one!

That day your truck, it wouldn't start, and you sent your prayer a flying;
you gave us all a real bad time, with hundreds of us trying.

A thousand angels rushed to check the status of your file;
but you know, Jake, we hadn't heard from you in quite a while.

And though all prayers are answered, and God ain't got no quota,
He didn't recognize your voice, and started a truck in North Dakota."


Title: Come As You Are

One Sunday morning at our quite ritzy church a man came in just minutes
before the service was to start.   He was dressed horribly.   He had on boots,
overalls, a flannel shirt, and a cowboy hat.

The entire congregation was aghast.

Many of us quickly sent notes to our minister about our concern of this.
After the service our minister greeted the humbly dressed man and asked him
if he enjoyed the service.

The man exclaimed he had enjoyed it very much.

The minister asked the man to consider possibly dressing differently, and
told him to pray to Jesus about how he would have him dress if he should
return again.

The next week the man returned.   He was dressed the same and once again the
congregation was disturbed by this.   The minister greeted the man again and
asked him what he had been told by Jesus concerning how to dress for
church.

The man said, I spoke to Jesus about this but Jesus said, "he didn't know
how I should dress before coming to this church because he has never been
here."


Title: Foot Prints

     There's a little old Christian lady living next door to an atheist.  Every
morning the lady comes out onto her front porch and shouts "Praise the Lord!".
The atheist yells back, "There is no God".  She does this every morning with
the same result.  As time goes on the lady runs into financial difficulties
and has trouble buying food.  She goes out onto the porch and asks God for
help with groceries, then says "Praise the Lord".  The next morning she goes
out onto the porch and there are the groceries she's asked for, so of course she
says "Praise the Lord".  The atheist jumps out from behind a bush and says,
"Ha! I bought those groceries - there is no God".  The lady looks at him and
smiles, then she shouts "Praise the Lord, not only did you provide for me Lord,
you made Satan pay for the groceries!!"  

FOOTPRINTS
      Oooo     Some people
     (    )    come into our lives
      \  /     and quickly go.
      (_/

 oooO
(    )   Some people
 \  /    stay awhile
  \_)    and leave

      Oooo     footprints on our
     (    )    hearts...
      \  /
      (_/

 oooO
(    )   and we are
 \  /    never the same!
  \_)         

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Title: Anyway

People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
  Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
  Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
  Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
  Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
  Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
  Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
  Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough.
  Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
  It was never between you and them anyway!

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Title: Do you believe

     One day a class of 6 year olds were sitting in a classroom.  The teacher
was going to explain evolution to the children.  
     The teacher asked a little boy:
         TEACHER: Tommy do you see the tree outside?
         TOMMY: Yes.
         TEACHER: Tommy, do you see the grass outside?
         TOMMY: Yes.
         TEACHER: Go outside and look up and see if you can
                  see the sky.
         TOMMY: Okay. (He returned a few minutes later)Yes, I saw the sky.
         TEACHER: Did you see God?
         TOMMY: No.
         TEACHER: That's my point. We can't see God because he isn't there.
                  He doesn't exist.
     A little girl spoke up and wanted to ask the boy some questions.  The
teacher agreed and the little girl asked the boy:
         LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the tree outside?
         TOMMY: Yes.
         LITTLE GIRL: Tommy do you see the grass outside?
         TOMMY: Yessssss (getting tired of the questions by this time).
         LITTLE GIRL: Did you see the sky?
         TOMMY: Yessssss
         LITTLE GIRL: Tommy, do you see the teacher?
         TOMMY: Yes
         LITTLE GIRL: Do you see her brain?
         TOMMY: No
         LITTLE GIRL: Then according to what we were taught today in school,
she must not have one!
     "FOR WE WALK BY FAITH, NOT BY SIGHT"

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Title: Take the Son
      
   A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art.
They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael.
They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.

   When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war.  He
was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another
soldier.

   The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.

   About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock
at the door.  A young man stood at the door with a large package
in his hands.

   He said, "Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom
your son gave his life.  He saved many lives that day, and he was
carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and
he died instantly.  He often talked about you, and your love for art."

   The young man held out his package.  "I know this isn't much.  I'm
not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted
you to have this."

   The father opened the package.  It was a portrait of his son, painted
by the young man.  He stared in awe at the way the soldier had
captured the personality of his son in the painting.  The father was
so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears.

   He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture.
"Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a
gift."

   The father hung the portrait over his mantle.  Every time visitors
came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before
he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.

   The man died a few months later.  There was to be a great auction
of his paintings.  Many influential people gathered, excited over
seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase
one for their collection.  On the platform sat the painting of the
son.  The auctioneer pounded his gavel.  "We will start the bidding
with this picture of the son.  Who will bid for this picture?"


   The back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings.
Skip this one!"

   But the auctioneer persisted, "Will someone bid for this painting?
Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?"

   Another voice shouted angrily, "We didn't come to see this painting.
We came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts.  Get on with the real
bids!"  But still the auctioneer continued, "The son!  The son! 
Who'll take the son?"

   Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the
longtime gardener of the man and his son.  "I'll give $10 for the
painting."

   Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.  "We have $10, who
will bid 20?"  The crowd answered, "Give it to him for $10.  Let's
see the masters."  "$10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?"  The
crowd was becoming angry. They didn't want the picture of the son.
They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections.
The auctioneer pounded the gavel.  "Going once, twice, SOLD for $10."

   A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now let's get on with the
collection!"  The auctioneer laid down his gavel, "I'm sorry, the
auction is over."  "What about the paintings?"  The auctioneer
replied, "I am sorry.  When I was called to conduct this auction, 
I was told of a secret stipulation in the will.  I was not allowed
to reveal that stipulation until this time.  Only the painting of
the son would be auctioned.  Whoever bought that painting would
inherit the entire estate, including the paintings.  The man who took
the son gets everything."

   God gave his Son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like
the auctioneer, His message today is, The Son, the Son, who'll take
the Son?;  Because you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.
     					--author unknown

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Title: Christmas Love

     Each December, I vowed to make Christmas a calm and peaceful 
experience.  I had cut back on nonessential obligations -- extensive 
card writing, endless baking, decorating, and even overspending.  
Yet still, I found myself exhausted, unable to appreciate the 
precious family moments, and of course, the true meaning of Christmas.  
     My son, Nicholas, was in kindergarten that year.  It was an 
exciting season for a six year old.  For weeks, he'd been memorizing 
songs for his school's "Winter Pageant."  I didn't have the heart to 
tell him I'd be working the night of the production.  Unwilling to 
miss his shining moment, I spoke with his teacher.  She assured me 
there'd be a dress rehearsal the morning of the presentation.  All 
parents unable to attend that evening were welcome to come then.  
Fortunately, Nicholas seemed happy with the compromise.  
     So, the morning of the dress rehearsal, I filed in 10 minutes 
early, found a spot on the cafeteria floor and sat down.  Around 
the room, I saw several other parents quietly scampering to their 
seats.  As I waited, the students were led into the room.  Each class, 
accompanied by their teacher, sat cross-legged on the floor.  Then, 
each group, one by one, rose to perform their song.  Because the 
public school system had long stopped referring to the holiday as 
"Christmas", I didn't expect anything other than fun, commercial 
entertainment -- songs of reindeer, Santa Claus, snowflakes and good 
cheer.  So, when my son's class rose to sing, "Christmas Love", I 
was slightly taken aback by its bold title.  Nicholas was aglow, as 
were all of his classmates, adorned in fuzzy mittens, red sweaters, 
and bright snowcaps upon their heads.  Those in the front row -- 
center stage -- held up large letters, one by one, to spell out the 
title of the song.  As the class would sing, "C is for Christmas", a 
child would hold up the letter C.  Then, "H is for Happy", and on and 
on, until each child holding up his portion had presented the complete 
message, "Christmas Love".  
     The performance was going smoothly, until suddenly, we noticed her
-- a small, quiet, girl in the front row holding the letter "M" upside
down -- totally unaware her letter "M" appeared as a "W".  The audience 
of 1st through 6th graders snickered at this little one's mistake.  But 
she had no idea they were laughing at her, so she stood tall, proudly 
holding her "W".  Although many teachers tried to shush the children, 
the laughter continued until the last letter was raised, and we all saw 
it together.  
     A hush came over the audience and eyes began to widen.  In that
instant, we understood -- the reason we were there, why we celebrated
the holiday in the first place, why even in the chaos, there was a 
purpose for our festivities.
      For when the last letter was held high, the message read loud 
and clear:  CHRIST WAS LOVE.

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Title: "Take Time..."

Take time to pray... it helps to bring God near and washes the dust 
of the earth from your eyes.

Take time for friends... they are the source of happiness.

Take time for work... it is the price of success.

Take time to think... it is the source of power.

Take time to read... it is the foundation of knowledge.

Take time to laugh... it is the singing that helps with life's loads.

Take time to love... it is the one sacrament of life.

Take time to dream... it hitches the soul to the stars.

Take time to play... it is the secret of youth.

Take time to worship... it is the highway to reverence.

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