These are quotes which stood out to me, possibly for use in a sermon someday. Their presence here does not mean I agree with them, it merely shows that I might want to reference them later. The default view is five random selections. Use the tag list on the right to view all quotes relevant to that theme.
A lady is having a bad day at the roulette tables in Vegas. She's down to
her last $50. Exasperated, she exclaims, "What rotten luck! What in the
world should I do now?" A man standing next to her suggests, "I don't
know...why don't you play your age?"
He walks away. Moments later, his attention is grabbed by a great commotion
at the roulette table. Maybe she won! He rushes back to the table and pushes
his way through the crowd. The lady is lying limp on the floor, with the
table operator kneeling over her.
The man is stunned. He asks, "What happened? Is she all right?"
The operator replies, "I don't know. She put all her money on 29, and 36
came up. Then she just fainted!"
In his Turning Point daily devotional on January 24, 2003, David Jeremiah observes, "New York's Joel Sherman is the world's new Scrabble Champion. Using words like vug and helicoid, he beat out Nigel Richards of New Zealand to take first place (and $25,000 in prize money) in last August's international competition. When asked the secret of his success, he simply replied, 'This is all I do.' Sherman, who hasn't held a regular job in ten years, spends all his time playing Scrabble. His life revolves around the board game, and he lives off the prize money he wins.
"What does your life revolve around? Or, to put it differently, 'What is the chief and highest end of man?' The Westminster Larger Catechism answers: 'Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever"
I use a small personal size spiral note pad, not a clipboard. Clipboards are associated with political campaigns. I write the questions down so that if (when?) my mind goes blank, I don't end up asking an inappropriate question.
To start an interview I normally approach someone that’s walking (at first I didn't do this but I learned that it’s probably best). People are less defensive when I offer to walk along with them wherever they’re going. If they’re in a hurry or feeling pressured it’s easy for them to say so without feeling awkward or mean. I ask if they would mind giving their personal opinion on a few things and I tell them that 'm not going to comment on their answers. This is is really just an interview.
I usually begin by asking "Do you normally feel comfortable talking to people you don't know about spiritual or religious matters?" After that question I usually ask 2 or 3 more. Some of the questions I've asked are:
Do you think ghosts (or spirits) are real?
How do you feel when the subject of Jesus comes up in a conversation?
Do you think the church has a positive influence on society?
How do you feel when someone invites you to a religious event?
Have you ever had someone try to convert or “save” you?
Does Christianity have a positive influence on society?
Is there a religious or spiritual person that you admire?
Do you think there are messages for you in your dreams?
Do you think that Christians in general are a good representation of Jesus?
Reuters Updated: 5:51 a.m. ET Nov. 3, 2004
TAIPEI, Taiwan - A man leaped into a lion's den at the Taipei Zoo on
Wednesday to try to convert the king of beasts to Christianity, but
was bitten in the leg for his efforts.
"Jesus will save you!" shouted the 46-year-old man at two African
lions lounging under a tree a few meters away.
"Come bite me!" he said with both hands raised, television footage showed.
One of the lions, a large male with a shaggy mane, bit the man in his
right leg before zoo workers drove it off with water hoses and
tranquilizer guns.
Newspapers said that the lions had been fed earlier in the day,
otherwise the man might have been more seriously hurt ... or worse.
NOTE: attached photo - "An image taken from television shows a man
being attacked by a lion after he crossed a barbed wire fence to
"preach" to two of the animals at the Taipei Zoo on Wednesday."
Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or
redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the
prior written consent of Reuters.
In Paul's mind there is the picture of a Roman Triumph and of Christ as a universal conqueror. The highest honour which could be given to a victorious Roman general was a Triumph. Before he could win it he must satisfy certain conditions. He must have been the actual commander-in-chief in the field. The campaign must have been completely finished, the region pacified and the victorious troops brought home. Five thousand of the enemy at least must have fallen in one engagement. A positive extension of territory must have been gained, and not merely a disaster retrieved or an attack repelled. And the victory must have been won over a foreign foe and not in a civil war. In an actual Triumph the procession of the victorious general marched through the streets of Rome to the Capitol in the following order. First, there came the state officials and the senate. Then there came the trumpeters. Then there were carried the spoils taken from the conquered land. For instance, when Titus conquered Jerusalem the sevenbranched candlestick, the golden table of the shew-bread and the golden trumpets were carried through the streets of Rome. Then there came pictures of the conquered land and models of conquered citadels and ships. There followed the white bull for sacrifice which would be made. Then there walked the wretched captives, the enemy princes, leaders and generals in chains, shortly to be flung into prison and in all probability almost immediately to be executed. Then there came the lictors [minor judicial officials] bearing their rods, followed by the musicians with their lyres. Then there came the priests swinging their censers with the sweetsmelling incense burning in them. And then there came the general himself. He stood in a chariot drawn by four horses. He was clad in a purple tunic embroidered with golden palm leaves, and over it a purple toga marked out with golden stars. In his hand he held an ivory sceptre with the Roman eagle at the top of it, and over his head a slave held the crown of Jupiter. After him there rode his family, and finally there came the army wearing all their decorations and shouting Io triumphe! their cry of triumph. As the procession moved through the streets, all decorated and garlanded, amid the shouting, cheering crowds, it was a tremendous day, a day which might happen only once in a lifetime. That is the picture that is in Paul's mind. He sees the conquering Christ marching in triumph throughout the world, and himself in that conquering train. It is a triumph which, Paul is certain nothing can stop. We have seen how in that procession there were the priests swinging the incense-filled censers. Now to the general and to the victors the perfume from the censers would be the perfume of joy and triumph and life; but to the wretched captives who walked so short a distance ahead it was the perfume of death, for it stood for the past defeat and their coming execution. So Paul thinks of himself and his fellow apostles preaching the gospel of the triumphant Christ. To those who will accept it, it is the perfume of life, as it was to the victors; to those who refuse it, it is the perfume of death as it was to the vanquished.