This Week's WOW 4/20/11

A MODERN PARABLE

By Pastor Carol

The infamous “tax day” has just passed, and with that I am reprinting a “confession” written by an Internal Revenue Service agent. 

“The other day I checked a queer return.  Some guy with an income under $15,000 claimed he gave $1872 to some church.  Sure, he was within the 20% limit, but it looked mighty suspicious to me.  So I dropped in on the guy and asked him about his return.  I thought he’d become nervous like most of them do, but not this guy.

“Have you a receipt from the church?” I asked, figuring that would make him squirm.  “Sure,” he replied, “I always drop them in the drawer.”  And off he went to get his checks and receipts.

Well, he had me.  One look and I knew he was on the level.  I apologized for bothering him, explaining that I have to check on deductions that seem unusually high.  As I was leaving he invited me to attend his church.  “Thanks,” I said, “but I belong to a church myself.”  “Excuse me,” he replied, “that possibility never occurred to me.”

As I drove home I kept wondering what he meant by that last remark.  It wasn’t until Sunday morning when I put my usual dollar in the offering plate that I understood.”

~+~+~+~

Like it or not, when Jesus was asked about paying taxes, he said

 “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

ODE TO UNCLE SAM

Paying income taxes

I always get annoyed.

But then I think

Things could be worse –

I could be

UNEMPLOYED!

~+~+~

This Week's WOW 4/13/11

Your Character Matters

By Pastor Donnie

In a discussion I had with someone recently about how to really live a life of integrity and actually step up to being a Christian man, we started to discuss the importance of accountability.  We started developing questions based out of a book titled Character Counts by Rod Hanley.  These questions we developed were personalized ones that would help us stay accountable to one another.  Often we believe that we can do this Christian walk alone – “It’s just Jesus and me” we tell ourselves but we were not meant to do this life alone.  We need others to sharpen us and to help us develop because we are not called to be mediocre Christians but rather we are supposed to be people of excellence in all that we do.  Here are a few of the questions that we developed that would help us live lives of excellence in every aspect of our lives, not just the “spiritual” ones.  They are simple questions but if they are followed, they can yield some amazing results in our lives.  I encourage you to talk to someone this week about holding you accountable.   –

            Are you setting aside time for God?  What did you get out of your time?

Have you done 100% at work?

Have you taken care of your body – exercise, eat right, sleep enough?

Has pride stopped you from succeeding this week?

Last week my pain was when _________

My growth from last week was __________

Growth I desire for next week is _____________

This Week's WOW 4/6/11

Friendship Power

by Pastor Rick

Here are a couple of thoughts on the subject of friendship and its power that I have had in my files for a long time.

"Life is to be fortified by many friendships.  To love, and be loved, is the greatest happiness of existence." Sydney Smith

"Friendship is the springboard to every other love.  Friendships spill over onto the other important relationships of life.  People with no friends usually have a diminished capacity for sustaining any kind of love.  They tend to go through a succession of marriages, be estranged from various family members, and have trouble getting along at work.  On the other hand, those who learn how to love their friends tend to make long and fulfilling marriages, get along well with the people at work, and enjoy their children." Alan Loy McGinnis The Friendship Factor