Sunday Dispatch Megathread

[the iron horse]

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"Some people think that God peers over the balcony of heaven trying to find anybody who is enjoying life. And when He spots a happy person, He yells, Now cut that out! That concept of God should make us shudder because it's blasphemous!"

~Paul Little

[the iron horse]

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O Seun tuntun laiye mi
Ko dawo duro,
Aanu ni mori gba,
O Seun tuntun laiye mi
Ko da wo duro
Araiye ewa ba mi yo

God is doing new things in my life
There’s no stopping Him
And His Mercy is my portion
God is doing new things in my life
There’s no stopping Him
Everybody please rejoice with me!

~Nigerian Hymn

[the iron horse]

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"He's put enough in this world to make faith one of the most reasonable things. He's left enough out to make it impossible to live by sheer reason alone."

~Ravi Zacharias

[the iron horse]

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“And when you come before God, don’t turn that into a theatrical production either. All these people making a regular show out of their prayers, hoping for stardom! Do you think God sits in a box seat?

“Here’s what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won’t be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace.

“The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply.

~Matthew 6:1-13 (The Message)

[the iron horse]

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Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

1 John 4:1-3

[the iron horse]

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One father is more than a hundred schoolmasters.
~George Herbert

Color Him Father - YouTube

[the iron horse]

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"I didn't go to religion to make me happy. I always knew a bottle of Port would do that. If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don't recommend Christianity."

~C.S. Lewis

[the iron horse]

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We may ignore, but we cannot evade, the presence of God.
The world is crowded with Him.
He walks everywhere.

~C.S. Lewis, Perelandra

[the iron horse]

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For food in a world where many walk in hunger
For faith in a world where many walk in fear
For friends in a world where many walk alone
We give you thanks, O Lord

In the name of Christ we pray.

Amen

[the iron horse]

Sunday Dispatch.701

Steve McQueen is one of my favorite actors. One thing I liked about him was that in scenes where he was being shot at, he looked scared. This made his films more realistic to me. He didn’t come across as a super hero immune to danger. He could express a wide range of emotions.

I was watching one of his films a few nights ago and it brought back some thoughts about Steve McQueen and his life…and about his faith.

The part of his life I want to share concerns the last part of his life. Note: Quoted paragraph is from Southern Yankee Gospel and McQueen quotes from Notes in the Key of Life.

This final chapter of his life started when he hired a pilot to teach him to fly.

"The pilot who taught him was a man in his early 60s by the name of Sammy Mason. Self-described as cranky and difficult to get along with, he became fast friends with McQueen. As they shared long hours in the air, talking together about the meaning of life, Steve sensed that there was something different about him. The more time they spent together, the more he wanted to know what Mason’s secret was. One day he asked him outright. Mason sat down with the aging actor and explained what, or rather who, had made the difference in his life. The answer, he said, was Jesus Christ."

A few weeks later while attending church, McQueen accepted Christ.

Several months later that year McQueen was diagnosed with pleural mesothelioma, a fast-spreading and incurable form of cancer. The news was crushing because he had expected God to use him in some great way now that he was a Christian.

While he was undergoing experimental treatments for his cancer, McQueen met with some doctors who practiced visualization techniques to encourage healing. In his interviews with them, McQueen repeatedly talked about his faith and how he wanted to share it with others.

"...you mentioned earlier about finding a cure in my life. Well, that cure was finding the Lord in my life.”

McQueen endured several treatments and operations, but a physical cure was not to be.

Four days after Billy Graham visited him in the hospital McQueen died with a Bible resting on his chest. It was opened to his favorite verse: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Steve McQueen Tribute Video ("Old Soldier," by Marc Cohn) - YouTube

[the iron horse]

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Be brave. Be strong. Don't give up. Expect God to get here soon.

~Psalm 31:24

[the iron horse]

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“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.”

~D.L. Moody

[DaveC]

Originally Posted by the iron horse

Sunday Dispatch.673



“We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.”



~D.L. Moody

I like this quote. Thank you for sharing it.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

[the iron horse]

Sunday Dispatch.674

“They’ll rebuild their ruined cities.
They’ll plant vineyards and drink good wine.
They’ll work their gardens and eat fresh vegetables.
And I’ll plant them, plant them on their own land.
They’ll never again be uprooted from the land I’ve given them.”


~Amos 9:14-15 (The Message)




Rockets raining down from Gaza, they can tear a man to shreds
Just imagine what they can do to babies sleeping in their beds

Close to 3000 comin in so far, on our cities and our towns
Obama looks confused, John Kerry wears a perpetual frown

When someone comes to kill you
In the middle of the night
Don’t try to defend yourself

Don’t use an ounce of might
Just sit there quietly and try hard not to faint
As the world calls out for – maximum restraint

They’re shooting grads and quassams, from hospitals, mosques and schools
When they photograph their dead and dying Hamas just sits and drools

Another photo op to take, take straight to CNN
they paint Israel as the aggressor – and then it all begins again

When someone comes to kill you
In the middle of the night
Don’t try to defend yourself
Don’t use an ounce of might
Just sit there quietly and try hard not to faint
As the world calls out for – maximum restraint

Even France is getting the picture, Canada sure does too
Time to take the gloves off, time this shit is through

But the White House wants a cease fire, they wanna hand Hamas a win
Not only is that insane, it constitutes a sin

When someone comes to kill you
In the middle of the night
Don’t try to defend yourself
Don’t use an ounce of might
Just sit there quietly and try hard not to faint
As the world calls out for – maximum restraint

We gave them back Gaza and they started their missile attacks
Then they went cryin to the UN when Israel hit them back
Too few Jews have died, there must be something wrong
Israel must be cheating, it’s not fair that they’re so strong

When someone comes to kill you
In the middle of the night
Don’t try to defend yourself
Don’t use an ounce of might
Just sit there quietly and try hard not to faint
As the world calls out for – maximum restraint

~Peter Himmelman

Maximum Restraint (written and performed by Peter Himmelman) - YouTube

[kidrambler]

Are you suggesting those verses in Amos chapter 9 justify Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas?

I think war is always evil, and regarding this conflict I think both sides are between a rock and a hard place. I think Israel fell short of her covenanted relationship with God from the time Joshua led the fight against Jericho and Israel continues to suffer the deleterious consequence God forewarned would happen to them recorded at Deuteronomy 30. There would be a blessing if they remained in God's word given to Moses. Malediction would come if they did not. Sadly, they did not. Joshua failed them from the start. "Unless the LORD builds the house, it is to no avail the workers worked hard on it."

[kidrambler]

The reason I cite the verse "Unless the LORD builds the house...." is because Micah foretold God will make his case to Israel that they have always been wrong to build Jerusalem with acts of bloodshed. It was for this same reason that King David was not permitted to build God's temple. New Testament distinguishes between the Jerusalem of today and the one that God builds. It draws the comparison between Hagar and Sarah, Sarah representing the Jerusalem of promise, from above. Daniel foretold that both the temple and the city would be destroyed. Only the temple was destroyed by the Romans. The city of Jerusalem still stands as an idol opposing the spiritual city created directly by divine spirit. Jesus said to heed the prophet Daniel, using "discernment" because what is destined to occur must come to pass.

[the iron horse]

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The query: "At Auschwitz, tell me, where was God?"

And the answer: "Where was man?”


~William Styron, Sophie’s Choice

[kidrambler]

"Where was man?" That's spot on. Unbelievers often blame god because they prefer having no personal accountability for the way the world is now. It's all about choices; cause and effect.


Sent from my iPhone using U2 Interference

[the iron horse]

Sunday Dispatch.676

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows."

~ Luke 12:6-7

[the iron horse]

Sunday Dispatch.677

I don't wanna love the way I loved before
I don't want to love that way no more
What have I been writing love songs for?
I don't wanna write them anymore
I don't wanna sing from where I sang before
I don't wanna sing that way no more
What have I been singing love songs for?
I don't wanna sing them anymore
I don't wanna be that girl no more
I don't wanna cry no more
I don't wanna die no more
So, cut me down from this here tree
Cut the ropes from off of me
Sit me on the floor
"I AM"; the only one I should adore

Oh, take me to church
I've done so many bad things it hurts
Yeah, take me to church
But not the ones that hurt
'Cause that ain't the truth
And that's not what it's for
Yeah, take me to church
Oh, take me to church
I've done so many bad things it hurts
Yeah, get me to church
But not the ones that hurt
'Cause that ain't the truth
And that's not what it's for

I'm gonna sing. Songs of loving and forgiving
Songs of eating and of drinking
Songs of living. Songs of calling in the night
The songs of light, a bolt of light
And, love's the only love you should advise
Songs of long and spiteful fails
Songs that won't let you sit still
Songs that'll mend your broken bones
And don't leave you alone
So get me down from this here tree
Take the rope from off of me
Sit me on the floor
"I AM"; the only one I should adore

Oh, take me to church
I've done so many bad things it hurts
Yeah, take me to church
But not the ones that hurt
'Cause that ain't the truth
And that's not what it's for
Yeah, take me to church.
Oh, take me to church
I've done so many bad things it hurts
Yeah, get me to church
But not the ones that hurt
'Cause that ain't the truth
And that's not what it's for

~Sinead O'Connor

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMzY_KQIKjU

Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!"
~John 8:59