Thinking about Life and the Lord!

James Byrnes, Secretary of State under FDR, said that the difference between successful people and average people can be summed up in these 3 words, and then some. He said, "Average people do what is expected. Successful people do what is expected, and then some." I believe the same could be said for a Christian. Sadly, most of the Christian people I know, even members of our own church, are not even "average" by this definition because they do not even do "what is expected." For many believers, attendance is optional in their minds. Coming to worship on Sunday night or Bible study on Wednesday night is not even on their radar. Tithing is not even a consideration for them as the choose disobedience. It never crosses their minds to tell someone they know about Jesus, much less invite them to church or Sunday School. Is this what Jesus meant in Luke 9:23, when He said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily

A little girl stood in the hallway of her Sunday School hall staring at a picture of Jesus standing and knocking on a door. Her pastor saw her standing there staring at the picture, so he walked over beside her and stood. After just a moment the little girl spoke to him in a confused and perplexed voice and asked, "Preacher, did Jesus ever get in?" What a good question for us! I wonder if we ever really let Jesus in? Do we let Jesus into our marriages? Do we let Jesus into our finances? Do we let Jesus into our decisions? Do we let Jesus into our families? Do we let Jesus into our jobs? Do we let Jesus in? The answer is clearly seen in our commitments of life. Here is what I know: Anything in this life that you are committed to will require you to make a sacrifice . If something does not require you to make a sacrifice personally, then you are really not committed to it. Take a marriage for example. If you are committed to you spouse, you will daily make personal sacrifices

Once again we are facing a fight against the Lottery in Arkansas. While on the surface a Lottery promises the citizens of our state the world, the fact is that in the 42 states with the lottery, none of the promises are being delivered to citizens. A lottery preys on our poorest and weakest citizens and serves as nothing more that a regressive tax. Already the Commercial Appeal out of Memphis was reporting the state-wide budget shortfalls in the Tennessee state government and listing the cuts that will be made to its citizens. How can that be? The lottery in Tennessee was supposed to solve that problem. We see it first hand in West Memphis. The new gaming devices at the dog track were supposed to provide all the money needed to the city and ultimately the county to provide for the needs of its citizens. Two weeks ago the city council had to meet to readjust their tax designations just to pay for the thousands of dollars worth of shortfall in the city budget. The lottery steals from you