The Wallet Washing

I usually do my laundry on Friday evening or Saturday morning.  Well this past weekend I had dinner on Friday with some friends from church and played dominoes afterwards so I didn’t arrive home till late.  So I waited till Saturday morning to do my laundry.  I gathered all my dirty clothes like I’ve done hundreds of times and put them in the washing machine.   Like usual I put in my detergent, bleach and fabric softener and turned it on.  So as the washer did its thing I continued with my other chores.  Finally the washer turned off and I went to take the wet clothes out and transfer them to the dryer.  I lifted up the lid and started moving the clothes from the washer to the dryer when all of a sudden I saw something that not only surprised me but horrified me.  I saw it hidden underneath a wet shirt.  I just stood there for a few seconds wishing it were not true.  But it was.  I had washed my wallet.  Yep, I had forgotten to take it out of my pants the night before like I always do and now there it was in the washer with all its contents soaking wet.

I immediately took it out and worked frantically in removing all of the papers that were inside.  Why?  Because I knew that if all those papers dried it would be almost humanly impossible to separate them.  So I placed a towel on the kitchen counter and began gently separating the very limp and delicate papers.  It took a long time to do but finally I completed the tedious job.  However there were a few problems in that some of the papers were already really stuck to one another.  In these few cases I gently tore them apart leaving some of the text from the back of one to the front of another.  Finally the task was done.  Then I began to take inventory to see exactly what had been in my wallet for years.  To my surprise I found such things as:  a credit card that I had never activated yet, logins and passwords for accounts on the internet that I no longer use, notes to myself that I had no idea what they meant anymore, the brand and number of my printer cartridges that I use (I’m glad I found this one), way too many old insurance cards that should have been thrown away after getting the new ones, my Sam’s card which I had forgotten I even had (you can see I don’t go shopping there very often,) and oh yes, one very clean and somewhat wrinkled blank check.  So I decided that this was a perfect time to take inventory of my wallet’s contents and decide what I should keep and what I needed to throw away.  I had needed to do this before but had kept putting it off so this was the perfect time to do it now.

Later I thought about what had happened and this came to my mind.  Even though this was a tragedy that I had washed my wallet, it turned out to be a good thing since I was able to get rid of quite a few items that I actually didn’t need.  Then I thought about how sometimes tragedies in life turn out the same way.  Can’t you think of times when this has happened to you or to someone you know?  I believe that God sometimes allows bad things to happen to us so that we, in essence, can take inventory of our life and soul.  It’s during these crises that we immediately turn to God for His help.  Then He gives us time to sort things out and He leads us and guides us as to what we should keep and what we need to get rid of.  It’s also during these times that we can be closest to Him.  If we have strayed away from Him, these times will hopefully bring us back into fellowship with Him.  Isn’t it comforting to know that He is there with us during tragedies and bad times?  I can think back in my past to certain tragedies that have happened and now see how God was right there with me every step of the way.  Then finally, when all was said and done, I found myself closer to Him than I was before.

But what if you don’t know God personally and have never accepted His Son Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?  Well, first of all, He knows you and wants to have a personal relationship with you.  This is why He sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for you.   The blood of Jesus is the only thing that can rid you of the sins in your heart and soul.  If you haven’t, won’t you ask Him to come into your heart today and live as your Lord and Savior?  He’s waiting for an invitation from you.  Once you do invite Him in, He begins to go through your life taking out all the ugly things, like I picked out the useless things from my wallet, leaving you with a clean heart free from all sin.   You will become a new creation in Christ leaving all the old things behind.  You can do it today, right here, right now.  He’s just waiting for that invitation.

Buzz The Buzzard

I get my inspiration for my stories from lots of places but one of the most bizarre was the inspiration for Buzz the Buzzard. One day while driving home from school I noticed something in the highway ahead of me. The closer I got I saw that it was the carcass of a dead animal. Around here this is definitely a familiar thing to see. However, the closer I got to the dead animal I saw something that I had never seen before. There lying on the pavement with the carcass was also the dead body of a buzzard. How strange!!! Usually buzzards time their flying from the carcass in the highway perfectly so as to give themselves plenty of time before getting hit by an oncoming car. Well obviously this particular buzzard was just a few seconds too late. He must have been enjoying his meal too much to notice the approaching car and he paid dearly for it. Because of his deciding to stay amongst the rotting decay rather than flying away, he died. Then the thought came to me about our choice between staying in our rotting and decaying sins or accepting Jesus as our Savior. Unlike Buzz, I hope and pray we will turn our eyes from the world and choose Jesus Christ which will assure us of an eternal home in heaven.

Below is the link to a video in which I'm reading the poem.

https://youtu.be/bLxusiputlk

If you're interested in creating a PowerPoint of this poem, just click on the photos below and they will show up enlarged.  Then copy and paste them into PowerPoint or do a screen capture of each one and import them into PowerPoint.  That's it.

Make a Mark

In order to do this sermon well you'll need someone who is able to draw whether it's you or a friend, son or daughter, etc. Have preferably an easel set up with a large piece of paper on it so that the artist can draw so that everyone can see. "Good morning. Earlier this morning I asked three or four people to make me a mark on this large piece of paper. Now I'm going to add something to each one of them." So I take my marker and begin to draw finishing what the three or four other people started. Some of the lines became cartoon characters, animals, landscapes, etc. I just drew whatever came to my mind. I spoke to the congregation as I drew making as many jokes as possible. Sometimes I would take the mark made by a man and turn it into something very sweet like flowers, butterflies, etc. and then say that Mr. So and So was showing his feminine side this morning. After completing all three or four drawings I could sign the paper at the bottom. Then I would start with my sermon. "Lots of people ask me how I do this - making something rather nice and creative out of just a line or squiggle. Well it's easy because I'm an artist. I can look at those simple little marks and see their potential. I can see what they can become with some help. So I just apply my talent to them and they change into something special." "If you think about it, this is a lot like God. God must be an artist too. Well I like to think that He is. Think about it. He can take an insignificant and somewhat useless life and see its potential. But what does He do? Well I added my talent to these lines while He adds His love, mercy, forgiveness and grace through His son Jesus Christ. And a miracle happens as that life becomes something beautiful. In fact this person becomes like a new creature in Christ. Before I could make a drawing from these marks, there was one requirement of these three people. Can you tell me what I was? Correct, they all had to give me their initial mark. Boys and girls, it's the same way with God. We have to surrender or give Him our lives before He can make something beautiful out of them. like a Christian.? Are you tired this morning of being just a simple little mark when God can see your potential as something so much greater? Well God is not now nor has He ever been pushy. Instead of barging into our lives He quietly and patiently waits for us to invite Him in. Want you do that today, right here, right now? Let's pray."

 

This is Mark and Celeste from St. Luke AMEZ Church in Bladenboro doing the disappearing ink trick.  Here Celeste is dropping on the disappearing ink.

 

Here, Mark is wrapped up with red cloth symbolizing the blood of Jesus Christs.  Once it was removed the ink was gone.

 

Death of a Friend

Years ago I had a young friend named Dell that worked with me on computer projects.  We really enjoyed technology and created some awesome presentations.  Well one night we worked so late that he spent the night.  The next morning I got up and decided to fix some cereal for breakfast.  The cereal and milk hit the spot after such a long night of work.  Well everything was going well until all of a sudden a bowl of milk was turned over and my friend was having an awful reaction to the milk.  And before I could do anything or even call for help, I watched him die right there in my house.  I can't explain to you how I felt to see my best friend's life just fade away as I held him.

I gave a long, sad sigh.  As I wipe a tear from my eye I continued, "I can't put into words how much I loved that Dell laptop.  Who knew I was going to turn over my bowl of cereal right on top of its keyboard?  The frying noise was awful.  But what was worth was seeing the screen slowly but surely fade to black.  Its motherboard was fried.  I could have cried you guys..............Oh wait a minute.  Did you think that I was talking about a real person.  Oh MY BAD.  It was a D- E- L- L not D- A- L- E.  Oh man, you actually thought that someone had an allergic reaction to milk in my house and died?  Well thank God that didn't happen.  But you know it did cause me to think about something.....

After it was all over I remembered that I had a warranty on my laptop.  Do you know what a warranty is?  A warranty is a written guarantee, from a manufacturer, promising to repair or replace a product like my laptop if necessary within a specified period of time.  So I sent back my laptop to Dell and they fixed it absolutely free.  What do you think about that?  Then this thought came to me.  Wouldn't it be great if we as human beings had warranties?  But duh.........we do and they are all here in the Bible.  In fact there are so many guarantees in here that I can't go over them all.  We're covered for such things as:
When you have sinned...Psalm 32:51.When you are worried...Matthew 6:25-34.
When you're afraid...Psalm 34:7.
When you are lonely...Psalm 23.
When you are fighting Satan...Romans 8:31.
When you feel unloved...Romans 8:38-39.
And finally the most important is our guarantee of a home in heaven for all eternity which is found in John 3:16.
But in order to have these promises you must first know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior.  Do you  know Him today?  If not, you can today, right here, right now.  All He's waiting for is an invitation.

You Remind Me Of Someone

This sermon incorporates three very simple drawings that I have included.  Either use real people to be represented by the caricatures as I did or make up your own in a fictional story. 

I want to tell you a quick story about three of my friends. 

This is my first friend Tabitha.  She is intelligent, knows her technology, is married to a law enforcement officer and is the mother to two of the cutest little girls that you have ever seen.  Since our first meeting years ago Tabitha and I have become the very best of friends and we share not one but two offices together at two of our high schools.  We're there very seldom at the same time but when we are we share with one another what's been going on in our lives.  I'll never forget our conversations after her mother died.  Mine had died about twelve years before so we had yet one more thing in common. We have laughed with one another and have listened to each other's problems in hopes of lending a helping hand.  But you know, now that I look at her she reminds me of someone.  What about you?  Does she look familiar to your or does she look like some movie star or television personality?  I can't put my finger on it, but she reminds me of someone.    Oh well I'll continue with my story and maybe it will  come to me.

Well my second friend is Larry and here is a picture of him.

Larry and I have been friends since college and that was a long, long time ago.  When I first met him I thought he was crazy then and I still think he's crazy.  But I guess that's one of the things I like the most about him.  When we get together we're going do two things for sure.  First we're going to talk school and education since we're both teachers and secondly, we're going to laugh.  We always have the best time together.  I love being around Larry.  He makes me laugh.  He knows how to listen to my problems and offers sound advice.  We are kindred spirits and he is just about as close to me as a brother.  Before their son and my mom died, he, his wife and I would get together and have the best of times.  They were and still are like family to me.  And finally once again he and I are working at the same school just like we did about 20+ years ago.  I'm proud to call Larry one of my best friends.  And you know what?  He reminds me of someone too.  But who is it?  Yes, look at those eyes.  They look familiar.  Does he favor someone famous to you?  Well I'll think of it later so I'd better go on with my third friend.

His name is Teddy and here is a picture of him.

 

I first met Teddy when I was teaching art classes for Southeastern's Adult Ed and we've been friends ever since.  I'd have to say that Teddy is probably one of the most talented people that I have ever known.  He is extremely talented in art and he has the most beautiful voice.  Whenever he has an idea for an art project he comes over to my house and we work out the details.  He made a CD or two and we listen to those.  It's a pleasure spending time with Teddy. We help each other with our problems.  We go out to eat occasionally and even ride down to the beach to catch a movie.  He's such an intelligent man also.  I always feel better after having been with him.  And here it goes again, he also is reminding me of someone but who can it be?  It's right on the tip of my tongue.

In fact it's amazing that they all three resemble someone else.  Wait a minute.  I've got an idea.  Let's take Tabitha with her long hair.

Now let's take the facial features of Larry.....and put them here on top of Tabitha's face like this....

 

 

Then finally if I put Teddy's beard on top this picture I should get this.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JESUS, yes that's who they all three remind me of.  How could I not have seen that?  But why wouldn't they remind me of Him?  They themselves are Christians which means they are Christ-like.

So there's no mystery as to why I like these three friends so very much.  When I'm with them I'm with fellow believers and we all can commune with our Savior Jesus Christ.  In fact being with fellow Christians is the closest thing to being with Jesus Christ on this old earth.

 

I thank Jesus for dying on the cross and shedding His blood for my sins and the sins of all others.  His blood washes away our sin and transforms us into new creations in Christ.  It also assures us of a home in Heaven for all eternity.  And as I thank Him daily for His many blessings I have to thank Him for wonderful Christ-like friends.

Silence Is Golden - Really?

This is one of the strangest sermons that I ever did but it is very effective.  I got up as usual to speak but said absolutely nothing.  That's right - nothing.  I looked around and smiled.  I checked the time.  I opened my mouth as if to speak but then changed my mind.  I scratched my head.  I shrugged my shoulders.  I kept this up until the congregation and I were beginning to feel somewhat awkward.  There was this strange sense of uneasiness as members began to whisper to one another asking, "What is going on?"  After what seemed like forever but was actually a minute or so, I spoke.

"Whew, I'm glad that's over," I said.  "I know you all were wondering what I was doing, right?  Well I wanted you all to hear silence as I said nothing.  You were anxiously awaiting to hear something but what did I say?  Nothing.  You were wanting to hear me speak and tell you about this wonderful man named Jesus.  But I said nothing.  You were wanting to hear about His life and His ministry and I said nothing.  You were wanting to hear about how He was crucified on a cross where He shed His blood to cleanse us all from our sins.  But I said nothing.  You were wanting to hear about His love, mercy, forgiveness and His marvelous grace.  But I said nothing.  Shame on me for remaining quiet.  How could I have remained quiet when I had the perfect opportunity to tell others about Christ and what He has done for me?  Shame on me.  Granted, this was just a way to illustrate how we as Christians sometimes fail to speak up for Christ when we have the perfect opportunity; when we know we should; and more importantly, when we know that someone is wanting to hear about our Savior.  But how many times does what I just did here, happen in real life?  How many times have we heard people cursing using Jesus' own name and we don't ask them to not speak about our Savior in such a way?  Is silence golden?  How many times is someone obviously hurting or in distress and we don't offer to comfort them with a simple prayer?  Is silence golden?  How many times do we see others living a life of sin and we fail to talk to them about Christ?  Is silence golden?  There's a whole world out there that needs to know Christ and how can they know Him without experiencing Him?  And that's where we come in.  Today, we are His mouth, hands and feet.  My daily prayer is that the lost somehow experience Jesus and what better way for that to happen than for me to share with them what's He's done for me? 
I have no idea who coined the phrase "Silence Is Golden," but it surely is not when a person's soul is at stake. So let's all speak up for Jesus and spread the light of His gospel to a dark and sinful world.  So on the count of three, let's all raise our voices in praise to Jesus our Lord and Savior.  One, two, three.....................