Grac*e-mail for 07/09/10 got grace?

Grac*e-mail for 07/09/10
got grace?

This is my mailing for the current week and next week…. ‘cause I am headed for the beach! My vacation starts tomorrow and we are headed for Emerald Isle, NC. Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying God’s grace.

John()_:-) Every time you see this angel, remember that God loves you!

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Mark 5:1-20

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,3 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains,4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.

6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me."

8 For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"9 Then He asked him, "What is your name?"

And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."10 Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.

11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.12 So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."13 And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.

14 So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened.15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.16 And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.

18 And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.19 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

NKJV

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Grac*e-mail now has a page on Facebook… so send your friends an invitation to enjoy!

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Got this link from Dan Griffiths…. You can adopt a member of the Armed Forces to pray for – what a great thing to do after we prayed for all of them on July 4th!

http://www.adoptourtroops.org/

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Speaking of troops… check this out.

Vietnam Wall

First click on a state. When it opens, scroll down to the city and the names will appear. Then click on their names. It should show you a picture of the person, or at least their bio and medals.

This really is an amazing web site. Someone spent a lot of time and effort to create it.

The link below is a virtual wall of all those lost during the Vietnam War with the names, bio's and other information on our lost heroes. Those who remember that time frame, or perhaps lost friends or family can look them up on this site. Pass the link on to others, as many knew wonderful people whose names are listed.

http://www.virtualwall.org/iStates.htm

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Got these from “Pun of the Day”. You can subscribe at
http://www.punoftheday.com/

When I first tried the new cough syrup, I really had no idea what to expectorate.

I am kicking myself I did not take up karate earlier.

When people first heard of the ABS, it was braking news.
When a guitarist messes up, he re-chords his mistake.

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Haha… Got this from my dad, John Robert Bright…
The Children's Bible in a Nutshell:
In the beginning, which occurred near the start, there was nothing but God, darkness, and some gas. The Bible says, 'The Lord thy God is one, but I think He must be a lot older than that. Anyway, God said, 'Give me a light!' and someone did. Then God made the world.
He split the Adam and made Eve. Adam and Eve were naked, but they weren't embarrassed because mirrors hadn't been invented yet. Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating one bad apple, so they were driven from the Garden of Eden. Not sure what they were driven in though, because they didn't have cars.
Adam and Eve had a son, Cain, who hated his brother as long as he was Abel.
Pretty soon all of the early people died off, except for Methuselah, who lived to be like a million or something.
One of the next important people was Noah, who was a good guy, but one of his kids was kind of a Ham. Noah built a large boat and put his family and some animals on it. He asked some other people to join him, but they said they would have to take a rain check.
After Noah came Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob was more famous than his brother, Esau, because Esau sold Jacob his birthmark in exchange for some pot roast. Jacob had a son named Joseph who wore a really loud sports coat.
Another important Bible guy is Moses, whose real name was Charlton Heston. Moses led the Israel Lights out of Egypt and away from the evil Pharaoh after God sent ten plagues on Pharaoh's people. These plagues included frogs, mice, lice, bowels, and no cable.
God fed the Israel Lights every day with manicotti. Then he gave them His Top Ten Commandments. These include: don't lie, cheat, smoke, dance, or covet your neighbor's stuff.
Oh, yeah, I just thought of one more: Humor thy father and thy mother.
One of Moses' best helpers was Joshua who was the first Bible guy to use spies. Joshua fought the battle of Geritol and the fence fell over on the town.

After Joshua, came David. He got to be king by killing a giant with a slingshot. He had a son named Solomon who had about 300 wives and 500 porcupines. My teacher says he was wise, but that doesn't sound very wise to me.
After Solomon there were a bunch of major league prophets. One of these was Jonah, who was swallowed by a big whale and then barfed up on the shore. There were also some minor league prophets, but I guess we don't have to worry about them.
After the Old Testament came the New Testament. Jesus is the star of The New. He was born in Bethlehem in a barn. (I wish I had been born in a barn too, because my mom is always saying to me, 'Close the door! Were you born in a barn?' It would be nice to say, 'As a matter of fact, I was.')
During His life, Jesus had many arguments with sinners like the Pharisees and the Sadtosees.
Jesus also had twelve opossums. The worst one was Judas Asparagus. Judas was so evil that they named a terrible vegetable after him. Jesus was a great man. He healed many leopards and even preached to some Germans on the Mount. But the Pharisees and all those guys put Jesus on trial before Pontius the Pilot. Pilot didn't stick up for Jesus. He just washed his hands instead.
Anyways, Jesus died for our sins, then came back to life again. He went up to Heaven but will be back at the end of the Aluminum. His return is foretold in the book of Revolution.
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Got this from Darlene Gillespie…
THE KNOTS PRAYER.
Dear God :
Please untie the knots that are in my mind ,
my heart my life.

Remove the have nots ,
the can nots and the do nots
that I have in my mind

Erase all the will nots ,
might nots
that may find a home in my heart .

Release me from the could nots
would nots
that obstruct my life .

And most of all
Dear God ;
I ask that you remove from my mind ,
my heart and my life
all the “ am nots”
that I have allowed to hold me back ,
especially the thought,
that I am not good enough
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Here is the beginning of an article… you can find the rest of it by going to
http://buildingchurchleaders.com/articles/2008/wrecktheroof.html?tCode=C7AF69E462&dCode=B639BCBCFF

Wreck the Roof

Are you willing to take apart the church to bring people to Jesus?

Mark Buchanan

I've never met a pastor who didn't agree in some measure with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian during WWII. From his cell in the Flossenburg concentration camp, he wrote, "The church is only the church when it exists for others."

Every pastor I know speaks well, stirringly even, of serving and blessing and winning those outside the church walls. But let's be honest, it's difficult at times to reconcile our speaking with our doing. If action is the fruit of conviction, if "by their fruit you shall know them," then the conclusion is inescapable: many pastors and churches could not care less about their communities.

I call this "Roof-tile Syndrome."

I derive that from Mark 2. Jesus is speaking inside a house, and "some men" bring a paralyzed man to the place, carried by four of them. They're trying to get their friend to Jesus. But a crowd knots the door, creates a barricade of backs. There's no getting past them to reach Jesus. So the men take the building apart. They rip open the roof and lower their friend through the hole. Jesus, seeing their faith (these are some men), forgives the paralyzed man, and then heals him.

And, of course, controversy breaks out among the religious folk.

Roof-tile Syndrome is when we are so caught up in the preaching of Jesus, we turn our backs to the needs of those still outside the building. We become barriers and not gateways. It's when we care more about keeping things intact than about restoring lives that are shattered. It's when we're more upset when stuff gets broken than excited when the broken are mended. It's when church gets reduced to the preaching of Jesus so that we fail to notice that we're seeing very little of the forgiveness and healing of Jesus. It is when we are so fearful about upsetting the religious folk (or homeowners) in our midst that we stop taking risks to get people to Jesus.

It's when my program, my office, my title, my privilege, my influence, my comfort takes precedence over others' needs.

It's when the church exists for itself; to hell with the rest of you.

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Got this from the “Pearls” mailing list. To receive, just sent Larry Burrows a request at larryb1939@sbcglobal.net

When difficult times come -- and they will -- we can decide to become bitter, angry, and brittle. Or, we can choose to open our lives to the presence of God, whose nature it is to enlarge us and deepen us and make us better because of what we have endured. --Charles E. Poole

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Got this from Billie Bryant… if you want to be added to his mailing list, send him a note at bluebird58@embarqmail.com

Today's Thought:

God's plan includes you, does your plan include God

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,
plans to prosper you and not to harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future."
Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

"I have created you and cared for you since you were born.
I will be your God through all your lifetime, yes, even when your hair is white with age.
I made you and I will care for you. I will carry you along and be your Savior."
Isaiah 46: 3-4 TLB

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Send good stories and clean funnies to: johnlynnbright@gmail.com

NOTE - All material contained in this mailing is shared as received and is believed, by me, to be anonymous... unless credit is given. Please contact me at the address above if you know the author of any material so that I may give credit where credit is due. Thanks!

Grace & peace –
John A. Bright
Pastor, Walmsley Boulevard UMC in Richmond, Virginia
johnlynnbright@gmail.com
"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change..."