Why MY son?

To access an outline of today's sermon on "Paying Your Dues" At TLBC today, Click Here.


A mother asked President Bush,
"Why did my son have to die in Iraq?"

Another mother asked President Kennedy,
"Why did my son have to die in VietNam?"

Another mother asked President Truman,
"Why did my son have to die in Korea?

Another mother asked President F.D. Roosevelt,
"Why did my son have to die at Iwo Jima?"

Another mother asked President W. Wilson,
"Why did my son have to die on the battlefield of France?"

Yet another mother asked President Lincoln,
"Why did my son have to die at Gettysburg?"

And yet another mother asked President G. Washington,
"Why did my son have to die near Valley Forge?"

Then long, long ago, a mother asked,
"Heavenly Father, why did my Son have to die on a cross outside of
Jerusalem?"

The answers to all these are similar--

"that others may have life and dwell in peace, happiness and freedom."

Larry Killion
Larry's Links

Just checking in..

Attendance was low in church today. My sermon was on "Castaways and Christ" and the outline is on the front page of our church website HERE.

A minister passing through his church in the middle of the day, Decided to pause by the altar and see who had come to pray. Just then the back door opened, a man came down the aisle, The minister frowned as he saw the man hadn't shaved in a while. His shirt was kind a shabby and his coat was worn and frayed, the man knelt, he bowed his head, Then rose and walked away.

In the days that followed, each noon time came this chap, each time he knelt just for a moment, A lunch pail in his lap. Well, the minister's suspicions grew, with robbery a main fear, He decided to stop the man and ask him, "What are you doing here?"

The old man said, he worked down the road. Lunch was half an hour. Lunchtime was his prayer time, For finding strength and power. "I stay only moments, see, because the factory is so far away; as I kneel here talking to the Lord, This is kind a what I say: "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS JIM CHECKING IN TODAY."

The minister feeling foolish, told Jim, that was fine. He told the man he was welcome To come and pray just anytime. Time to go, Jim smiled, said "Thanks." He hurried to the door. The minister knelt at the altar, he'd never done it before. His cold heart melted, warmed with love, and met with Jesus there. As the tears flowed, in his heart, he repeated old Jim's prayer: "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, LORD, HOW HAPPY I'VE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND EACH OTHER'S FRIENDSHIP AND YOU TOOK AWAY MY SIN. I DON'T KNOW MUCH OF HOW TO PRAY, BUT I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERYDAY. SO, JESUS, THIS IS ME CHECKING IN TODAY."

Past noon one day, the minister noticed that old Jim hadn't come. As more days passed without Jim, he began to worry some. At the factory, he asked about him, learning he was ill. The hospital staff was worried, But he'd given them a thrill. The week that Jim was with them, Brought changes in the ward. His smiles, a joy contagious. Changed people, were his reward. The head nurse couldn't understand why Jim was so glad, when no flowers, calls or cards came, Not a visitor he had. The minister stayed by his bed, He voiced the nurse's concern: No friends came to show they cared. He had nowhere to turn.

Looking surprised, old Jim spoke up and said with a winsome smile; "the nurse is wrong, she couldn't know, that in here all the while everyday at noon He's here, a dear friend of mine, you see, He sits right down, takes my hand, Leans over and says to me: "I JUST CAME AGAIN TO TELL YOU, JIM, HOW HAPPY I HAVE BEEN, SINCE WE FOUND THIS FRIENDSHIP, AND I TOOK AWAY YOUR SIN. I ALWAYS LOVE TO HEAR YOU PRAY, I THINK ABOUT YOU EVERY DAY, AND SO JIM, THIS IS JESUS - CHECKING IN TODAY."

Larry Killion

The Killion Site

Mouse Trap

My sermon today was on "How to have the good hand of God upon You" and as usual the outline is on the front page of our church website. click here

Have you heard the parable of the mouse trap?

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.
"What food might this contain?" The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, "Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it."

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured, you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"
The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of mousetrap catching its prey.
The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.
The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.
But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with the farmer around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.
We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

One of the best things to hold onto in this world is a friend...I am thankful for all of those I call friend, for each of you have, at one time or another, helped ease a burden that was much too heavy for me to carry alone.

===

Larry Killion

Be my friend on Shelfari

http://www.shelfari.com/tacwash

Little eyes see a LOT

WHEN YOU THOUGHT I WASN'T LOOKING
(Written by a former child)
A message every adult should read, because childrenare watching you and doing as you do, not as you say.When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang myfirst painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed astray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kindto animals.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make myfavorite cake for me and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say aprayer, and I knew there is a God I could alwaystalk to and I learned to trust in God.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make ameal and take it to a friend who was sick, and Ilearned that we all have to help take care of each other.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give ofyour time and money to help people who had nothingand I learned that those who have something shouldgive to those who don't.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you takecare of our house and everyone in it and I learnedwe have to take care of what we are given.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how youhandled your responsibilities, even when you didn'tfeel good and I learned that I would have to beresponsible when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears comefrom your eyes and I learned that sometimes thingshurt, but it's all right to cry.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw that youcared and I wanted to be everything that I could be.
When you thought I wasn't looking, I learned most oflife's lessons that I need to know to be a good andproductive person when I grow up.
When you thought I wasn't l ooking, I looked at youand wanted to say, "Thanks for all the things I sawwhen you thought I wasn't looking."
I AM SENDING THIS TO ALL OF THE PEOPLEI KNOW WHO DO SO MUCH FOR OTHERS ANDTHINK NO ONE EVER SEES.

LITTLE EYES SEE A LOT.

Each of us (parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle,teacher or friend) influence the life of a child.How will you touch the life of s omeone today?Just by sending this to someone else,you will probably make them at leastthink about their influence on others