Uncle Ernie, who was one of my teachers at Bible school – he is now with the Lord – used to tell stories in his sermons.

The following illustrates what happens when we try to be someone we are not:

A man in California was looking for a job and inquired at a zoo. He was told that the gorilla of the zoo had died and needed to be replaced. He was asked, “Are you willing to take the role of the gorilla?”  “Sure,” the man said and put on the gorilla costume.

He scratched himself as all apes do, and swung himself  from one branch to the other.

But one day he lost his balance and ended up in the enclosure of the lions.

The lion hissed at him and the gorilla cried, “Help me! Help me!” Then the lion said, “Shut up, or both of us will be without a job.”

We are only sinners, who are saved by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I surely like that image!

Auckland Harbour

“If you alter the course of ship by even one degree, you end up in a different place.

By changing the course of a young person’s life by even one degree, they too will set off confidently, on a different voyage.” – Tessa Duder

That makes me think of the almost 25 years in Kaikohe, where we lived and where I taught the Bible not only in Kaikohe, but also in the surrounding schools.

We had also seminars, mainly in Kerikeri, to train people to go into the schools with the Bible.

A reminder

Whenever smokers pick up a pen like this they are reminded to become smokefree.

I am not a smoker!

The Northland Age, Thursday, February 11, 2016

GOD

Intr.:

ADAM and JESUS

A.  “Adam disobeyed God and caused many others to be sinners.

B.   But Jesus obeyed Him and will make many people acceptable to God.”

End:

Are we following ADAM or the Lord JESUS CHRIST?

AT THE BEACH

Two questions are on my mind at the present time.

Who likes to answer questions? I do, sometimes. Are questions not asked to be answered?

THE FIRST QUESTION:

“Have a problem on your hands and need someone in your corner?”

I am looking at the question just now. An advert in one of our local papers, NORTHERN NEWS, February 10, 2016, that is today, asks the question.

I think we all have problems  on our hands and we need someone in our corner.

In the March 24, 2012 number – that is some time back – of the magazine called THE PEOPLE’S FRIEND, the editor listed a catalogue of grievances: A pipe burst at the back of the house, a tile fell off the roof and the car battery died.

Other problems are accidents and illnesses.

What is your list at the present time? Things are happening to us. They are also described as the tyranny of circumstances.

THE SECOND QUESTION:

I found the second question in the WAR CRY, issue 6635, the magazine of The Salvation Army.

Mark Batterson asks: “What if you approached every person, every situation, every challenge as if Christ were in your corner?”

I know my answer to the second question, but what is your answer?

“FAMILY

_________

we may not have it all together, but together we have it all.”