Manual of Life

One Solitary Life

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:16:26 GMT

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village,

 The child of a peasant woman.
 He grew up in another obscure village
 Where he worked in a carpenter
shop  Until He was thirty.

He never wrote a book.
 He never held an office.
 He never went to college.
 He never visited a big city.

He never traveled more than two hundred miles
 From the place where He was born.
 He did none of the things
 Usually associated with greatness.
 He had no credentials but Himself.

He was only thirty-three 
When He died.
 His friends ran away.
 One of them denied Him.

He was turned over to His enemies
 And went through the mockery of a trial.
 He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
 While dying, His executioners gambled for His clothing,
 The only property He had on earth.

When He was dead,
 He was laid in a borrowed grave
 Through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone
 and today Jesus Christ is the central
 figure of the human race.
 And the leader of mankind’s progress,
 All the armies that have ever marched,
 All the navies that have ever sailed,
 All the parliaments that have ever sat,
 All the kings that ever reigned put together,
 Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
 as powerfully as that One Solitary Life.

Dr. James Allen Francis

The Anchor Holds

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 10:32:08 GMT

The Anchor Holds

I have sailed through the long dark night out on the open sea, sailing by faith alone and yet his eyes were watching me.

And the anchor holds though the ship is battered the anchor holds though the sails are torn I have fallen on my knees as I face the raging seas yet the anchor holds in spite of the storm.

I once had visions and I even had dreams I've even held them all in my hands; but one thing I never knew was that they could slip right through my hands like they were only grains of sand.

I once was young, but I am older now and there has been beauty that these eyes have seen but it was in the night through the storms of my life where God proved his love for me

And the anchor holds though the ship is battered the anchor holds though the sails are torn I have fallen on my knees as I faced the raging seas yet the anchor holds in spite of the storm.

The lyrics of this song reminds us that even in the midst of the storms of life, there is one who holds us steady, who is unmoved, unaffected by the raging seas, always watching over us and with His help we can make it through no matter what comes our way, no matter how severe the storm may be our anchor will hold.

Hebrews 6:19
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.

Words and music by Lawrence Chewning & Ray Boltz..
Illustrations by Joe Pottle

The Emperor's Seed

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:01:52 GMT

The Emperor's Seed

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different.

He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you."

The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today, one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"

One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully.

Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about 3 weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. 6 months went by; still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing.

Ling didn't say anything to his friends. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection.

Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot but his Mother said he must be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his Mother was right.

He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down.

He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.

Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory.
If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.
If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.

But:

If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.
If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.
If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.
If you plant greed, you will reap loss.
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.

So be careful what you plant now, it will determine what you will reap tomorrow.

The seeds you now scatter will make life worse or better your life or the ones who will come after. Yes, someday, you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant today.

Author Unknown

The Stranger

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:10:38 GMT

The Stranger

A few months before I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our town. From the beginning Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him home to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world when I was born a few months later.

As I grew up I never questioned his place in our family. Mom taught me to love the Word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it, but the stranger was our storyteller. He could weave the most fascinating stories, which included adventures, mysteries and comedies and these became our daily conversations. He could hold our whole family spellbound for hours after each evening meal.

He was by this time like an old friend to the whole family, everyone like him very much. He took Dad, me and my brother Bill to our first major league baseball game. He was always encouraging us to see the movies and he even made arrangements to introduce us to several movie stars.

This stranger was an incessant talker. Dad didn’t seem to mind, but sometimes Mom heard enough and would quietly get up and retire to her room to pray and read her Bible. The rest of us were completely enthralled with one of his stories of far away places with strange sounding names and people. I wonder now if she had ever prayed that this stranger that has by now so encompassed and captivated our family would leave.

You see, my Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but this stranger never felt an obligation to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house – not from us, from our friends or adults that visited our home. Our longtime visitor, how ever occasionally used four-letter words that burned my ears and caused my to Dad squirm. To my knowledge this stranger was never corrected or confronted.

My Dad was a teetotaler who didn’t permit alcohol in his home, not even for cooking, but the stranger felt like we needed exposure and needed to be enlightened to the other ways of life. He offered us beer and other alcoholic beverages quite often. He made cigarettes and cigars look tasty and manly and pipes to look distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely at times) about sex and his comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive and generally embarrassing. I know now that my early concepts of the man/woman relationship were influenced by this stranger.

As I look back, I believe it was because of the Grace of God that the stranger did not influence us more than he did. Time after time he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave. More than thirty years have passed since this stranger moved in with the young family on Morningside Dr. But if I were to walk into my parents den today you would still see this stranger sitting patiently over in a corner, just waiting for someone to listen to him talk and tell his stories of adventure and excitement, and watch him draw his fascinating pictures. You may be familiar with him or at least have heard of him?

His name is a household word and is known by millions, everyone calls him by his first name –

FAR AWAY PLACES WITH STRANGE SOUNDING NAMES.

Author unknown.
Edited by Joe Pottle Sr.

Which is the most read book in America?

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 12:35:52 GMT

Which is the most read book in America?

They lie on the table side by side
The Holy Bible and the TV guide.
One is well worn from constant handling
It is ever present, available and demanding.
Not the Bible, but the TV guide.

One is used daily to help folks decide.
No, not the Bible, the TV guide.
As the pages are turned, what shall they see?
It really doesn’t matter, just turn on the TV.

Then confusion begins, for they can’t all agree
on what they should watch on their new TV.
So they open the book the one in which they confide,
No, not the Bible, but the TV guide.

The Bible, the Word of God is seldom read,
maybe a verse or two before they fall into bed.
They are exhausted, sleepy and as tired as can be,
not from reading the Bible but from watching TV.

So then back on the table lying side by side,
is the Holy Bible and the ever present TV guide.
There seems to never be time for prayer, no time for His Word,
God’s plan of Salvation is seldom heard.

But never forget, God’s forgiveness of sin, so full and so free,
is found in the Bible not on TV.
Now you must decide and make your choice,
In your home which book will be heard, which will be read?
The TV guide or the Bible, God’s Holy Word?

Your Choice – Which One?

Author unknown –
Edited by Joe Pottle

The Day Bill Came To Church

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:18:37 GMT

The Day Bill Came To Church

His name is Bill.

He has wild hair, wears a t-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and no shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college. He is a kind of private person and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college. Across the street from the campus is a church. The members of which are well-dressed and very conservative. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it.

One day a student named Bill decides to visit that church. He walks in wearing his jeans, t-shirt, wild hair, and no shoes and starts down the center aisle looking for a place to sit. The church is completely packed, and he can't find a seat. The members look at him and he makes them a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything. Bill gets closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes that there are no seats left, he just sits down on the floor.

By now the members are really uptight at the actions of this unkempt young man and tension fills the air. Then, from the back of the church, a deacon with silver-gray hair, a three-piece suit, and a pocket watch, a godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane, and as he heads down the aisle toward Bill. Every eye is on him and all the members are whispering to each other, he will take care of this rude young man and you can't blame him for what he is going to do.

How can you expect a man of his age and background to understand and tolerate a brash college kid sitting on the floor of his church during the service? It takes a long time for the elderly man to get down the aisle to where Bill is sitting. All eyes are focused on him. The church is utterly silent. The minister can't even begin preaching until the deacon does what he has to do. When he reaches the front where Bill is sitting, the congregation watches intently and is completely shocked as he, with great difficulty, because of his age, lowers himself and sits down on the floor next to Bill so he wouldn't be sitting alone.

When the mister gains control of himself, he says to the congregation, "What I am about to preach to you, you will not remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget".

- Author Unknown
- Editing by Joe Pottle

Take up your cross

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:59:38 GMT

Take up your cross

Whatever your cross,
whatever your pain,
there will always be sunshine,
after the rain

Perhaps you may stumble,
perhaps even fall,
But God's always ready,
To answer your call.

He knows every heartache,
He sees every tear,
A word from His lips,
can calm every fear

Your sorrows may linger,
throughout the night,
But suddenly vanish,
at dawn's early light.

Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

The Savior is waiting,
somewhere above,
To give you His grace,
and send you His love.

Whatever your cross,
whatever your pain,
God always sends rainbows
after the rain.

Spilled Apples

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:37:38 GMT

‘‘Spilled Apples’’

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. Well, as such things go, one thing led to another. The sales manager talked longer than anticipated and the meeting ran overtime. Their flights were scheduled to leave out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport, and they had to speed frantically to the airport. With tickets and brief cases in hand, they barged through the terminal to catch their flight back home. In their rush one of these salesmen unintentionally kicked over a table which held a display with baskets of apples for sale. The apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly-missed boarding.

All but one of them, for he paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the young girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his buddies to go on without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did. The young girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for the spilled apples as the crowd swirled about her; no one stopping to help, and no one to care for her plight. They where so busy with their own lives and problems that they could not see and feel for someone in need.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more. As he did this he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?" She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly." As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister"

He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes. She continued, "Are you Jesus? He stopped in mid-stride, for the question startled him and made him wonder. Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and turning about in his soul:

“Mister, Are you Jesus?”

Author unknown.
Edited and illustrated by Joe Pottle

Do people mistake you for Jesus? ‘OH WHAT A MISTAKE’ That should be the desire of our hearts, should it not? To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His Love, Life and Grace. In His everyday life Jesus always had time to stop and help those in need and He went about doing good. If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as close as we can to the way He would. Knowing Him is more than simply knowing about Him or quoting Scripture and going to church. It's actually living the Word as life unfolds around us day to day. We are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall. Thank God that one day Jesus willingly stopped what He was doing to pick us up from the pit of sin and met our needs. He did this as He hung on a cruel Cross on a hill called Mt. Calvary where He paid in full the price demanded for our damaged fruit. Let's start living like we are worth the price He paid. OH, THAT MEN MAY ASK OF US, “ARE YOU JESUS”?

Saturday Morning Walk

Wed, 27 May 2009 11:32:39 GMT

Saturday Morning Walk

Natal , Brasil - Saturday, May 29, 2004 8:30am

I was walking with our little dog, Max, and taking pleasure in the beautiful day, even though I was beginning to feel theheat. I noticed a woman walking towards me with four little children in tow, one who was too you ng to walk be carried by a little girl no older than seven or eight.

The mother was carrying a number of brooms made of straw on her shoulder. The children ran ahead of her, ringing the doorbells of each home they passed. The mother would then stop at each house and call out, to see if if the home owner wanted to buy a broom. You have to picture this in your mind, all the homes have walls around them with closed doors and they answer through a small intercom hanging on the wall outside. The woman yells into these intercoms asking if they would buy a broom. She walked the entire length of the street I was on and not one resident answered her call.

As I was watching this scene I was grieved in my spirit for this family but then the scenario got worse for at the end of this street I saw a man who turned out to be the husband of this woman. He had at least a dozen or more of the same type of brooms on his shoulder along with three more children, the oldest around nine or ten.

This family with seven children, one too young to walk, was out early on a Saturday morning walking the streets trying to sell brooms in order to earn enough money to survive. They weren’t begging or stealing: they were out walking in the hot sun with their seven children trying to sell some cheap brooms to earn a little money.

As I pondered this scene I was troubled in more ways than one. I could not speak the language, so I could not communicate with them to even tell them of God’s love for them. Besides, that would have meant nothing to them, for a God Bless you extended with an empty hand to a person that is hungry is an empty phrase. The second thing was that I had no money on me. If I had, I would have bought some of those brooms and then given them back so they could sell them again.

I came back home and told Voni about this and discussed it with her and while we were talking I felt in my spirit to take some money, get in my car and go out and see if I could find them. I did this and came upon them sitting on the sidewalk under a tree to get out of the blazing sun. I pulled over and beckoned to them and the wife came over and I gave her some money and told her that Jesus loved her and her family. (Voni had told me how to say it in Portuguese) The woman was almost in tears and the children were smiling from ear to ear. I left and went on an errand and on the way back the Holy Spirit prompted me again. Once more I went up and down the streets until I found them.

The husband and three children were on one side of the street and his wife with four children were on the other. I pulled over to the man and beckoned him to the car and indicated that I would buy all his brooms and gave him enough to buy all of them and more. I got him to understand that I wanted him to keep all the brooms and the look that came over his face and the children’s faces when they realized what was happening was reward enough. I once again told them that God loved them and went on my way.

The Holy Spirit then reminded me of the words of Jesus when He said, “When you did not do it to one of the least of these you did not do it to Me.”

I could not speak their language but there is a saying that is true no matter in what the country or language. “Actions speak louder then words.”

I trust that by my actions they will believe that Jesus loves them. I know that tonight that whole family will eat and I will be able to sleep better.

Joe Pottle

The Kingdom of God and the Church

Wed, 27 May 2009 10:59:04 GMT

The Kingdom of God and the Church

No where within the pages of the Bible is the Kingdom of God and the church identical. Only the Roman Catholic Church considers itself and the Kingdom identical. You do not read or hear it said, “Repent for the Church is at hand.” You do read and hear, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Matt. 3:2 Sadly in today’s world the emphasis is largely on the organized church and not the Kingdom of God.

But I want to emphasize that the church is important, for it is the fellowship of the redeemed and those being-redeemed. It is a building comprised of those who meet for public worship with the goal (hopefully) of propagating the Gospel of the Kingdom. With all its faults and failures it is still the greatest institution for serving on the face of the earth. Its critics are many but it has no rivals in the work of human redemption. There is not a corner of the world where the church has gone that is hasn’t brought with it schools, orphanages, hospitals, churches, leper asylums, food kitchens, laborers of all kinds, etc to meet the needs of the people, both spiritual and physical, everything to lift the body, soul and mind of all races. No other institution can compare to it or has done anything like it.

But it is not the Kingdom of God, no one can be saved by it. The church is the subject of redemption and if so how can it dispense it? If the church itself needs saving, how can it give salvation? “Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior.” Ephesians 5:23. The Kingdom of God is absolute; the church is relative or dependant. The Kingdom of God commands; the church obeys. When anything relative tries to make itself absolute, there is idolatry. The church loses its life in the life of God’s Kingdom and then finds itself again. Men build the church but cannot build the Kingdom – they “receive the Kingdom.” The Kingdom of God is built from the foundation of the world, built into the structure of our Reality – it is Reality. When Christ returns for His Bride, the True Church, all denominational tags will fall off and be discarded for they are of no interest to Him. We belong to the Body fo Christ, the invisible Church, which is the one true Church.

So consequently the issue boils down to this, are people following the organized church or are they following the Lord Jesus Christ, do they belong to this group, that group, or the other group? The church is not the issue, Christ is, do we belong to Him or the church? We are not and never will be saved by belonging to a church no matter what they claim; we are saved by belonging to Christ and His Kingdom. In today’s society the modern ecumenical emphasis would seem to make Christ and the church co-redeemers, this is false for there is one and only one Redeemer – Christ Jesus our Lord.

My Affirmation: I do not belong to the church, I belong to the Kingdom of God, for the Kingdom is God’s final order and has the final word.

These are my thoughts influenced by thoughts from the Word Became Flesh by E. Stanley Jones

Joe Pottle