Just Five More Minutes
While at the park one day, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground.

"That's my son over there," she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater who was gliding down the slide.

"He's a fine looking boy" the man said. "That's my daughter on the bike in the white dress."

Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter. "What do you say we go, Melissa?"

Melissa pleaded, "Just five more minutes, Dad. Please? Just five more minutes."

The man nodded and Melissa continued to ride her bike to her heart's content. Minutes passed and the father stood and called again to his daughter. '"Time to go now?"

Again Melissa pleaded, "Five more minutes, Dad. Just five more minutes."

The man smiled and said, "OK."

"My, you certainly are a patient father," the woman responded.

The man smiled and then said, "Her older brother Tommy was killed by a drunk driver last year while he was riding his bike near here. I never spent much time with Tommy and now I'd give anything for just five more minutes with him. I've vowed not to make the same mistake with Melissa.

She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bike. The truth is, I get Five more minutes to watch her play."

Life is all about making priorities, what are your priorities?

Give someone you love 5 more minutes of your time today!

Real Faith

Summers here in Tennessee can be very hot. This spring I decided to buy myself to a nice screenhouse. Now that the setup fiasco is behind me, I find myself spending most of my day in my 'Thinking Tent'. Sometimes I enjoy it so much that I don't want to come inside. My record so far is 2 A.M. I am certain that soon I'll be witnessing the rising sun from my tent.

Peanut and Roscoe, the two most wonderful dogs in the world (in case you haven't heard), love the tent too. I think that they know that this is our special place.

Most of our weather works well with the screenhouse. On sunny days the green roof heats up and makes it very cozy. There is an almost constant crosswind that is so refreshing. The spring rain showers are just wonderful to watch from the safety of our tent.

Yesterday, Peanut, Roscoe, and I experienced something that my tent was not intended for. I was sitting at my table working on my laptop computer when all of a sudden the screen went blank. Puzzled, I checked my wires to see if I could find out why it had shut off. For some reason, there was no electricity. I looked across the street and said, 'Hmmph, they've lost power too. I wonder why?' Just then a loud rumble of thunder answered my question. Slowly I turned my head, and dropped my jaw. Sliding down the mountain and headed straight towards me was a dark gray thundercloud. Forks of lighting connected the ground to the sky. I could see sheets of rain on the mountain. I looked at Peanut and Roscoe and said, 'This is going to be a bad storm!?

It seemed like they smiled back at me. I covered them with our blanket and quickly stowed things away that needed to stay dry. Just as I finished, the rain started. It looked like we would have to ride this one out in the tent.

Much to the puppies delight, I joined them underneath the blanket. They spent a few moments arranging themselves and ended up each placing their lovely heads on my shoulders. I pulled the blanket over their heads and turned my attention back to the storm.

The wind started to pick up. The poles of the tent shook back and forth. I feared that with this much pounding, the poles might fly apart and collapse the tent on my buddies and I.

My head turned back and forth to catch the flashes of lightening. An explosion of thunder quickly followed each flash of light. It seemed that the storm was quickly getting closer and closer. My heart raced as the lightning strikes sounded all around us.

The rain beat hard on the roof of the tent. Soon the wild wind drove the rain inside. My face was getting wet. The storm showed no sign of passing on.

My thoughts turned to my puppies. How afraid they must be. The noise alone must have made them scared for their lives. Between the hard pounding of the rain, the harsh gusting of the wind, and the explosive sounds of the thunder, they must have been close to panic. I felt so badly for Peanut and Roscoe as I imagined their eyes wide with fear, crying into my shoulder.

I reached my hand down and felt Peanut's heartbeat. Instead of a quick scared pounding, her heart was calm. So was Roscoe's. How could they be so calm in the middle of this terrible storm?

I gently lifted the blanket and looked at my puppies. What I saw surprised me. Their little eyes were closed. Roscoe took a deep breath, and let it out with a loud snore.

I couldn't believe it! Even as the flashes of frightening lightening lit up their faces, they were both sound asleep. I wondered how they could be sleeping!

Then it hit me. Peanut and Roscoe had total faith in me. They knew, and trusted that no matter what happened, I'd make sure that they were safe and unhurt.

Now, it is true that I'd do anything in my power to protect keep them safe, secure and dry. The problem is no one ever told them that I had no power over this storm. I too was at the mercy of the wind and rain.

Once again my precious puppies taught me something special. As I lay under the blanket, I thought of Peanut and Roscoe's total faith and trust. They were demonstrating for me what my faith in God should look like!

So often I just trust God a little bit. When it comes to my life, my sin, and my problems, God wants to take complete charge. He doesn't want me scurrying around trying to help. All he wants is for me to trust Him in the same way that Peanut and Roscoe trusted me.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28, 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.?

Can I tell you that the only way you or I will ever find rest is to surrender to God? We need to stop our efforts at 'managing? our lives and trust God completely. We must let God take us wherever He wants.

Truthfully, my dog's faith and trust was misplaced. I do not deserve it. Since I can't explain this to them, I do my best to keep the trust they give me.

It is different with God. He does deserve our total trust. He does have power over the whole earth. God knows everything. He is in control of everything. On top of that, God loves us very much. That makes it perfectly safe to trust God with everything in our lives.

We need to get practical with this. God has given us His word. Trusting God means following that Word. We must read it, and then obey it. It is that exercise of faith that seems to activate God's power in our lives.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells the people to obey everything He and God have told them.

Matthew 7:24-27:

(24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

(25) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

(26) And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

(27) And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Trusting and obeying God is the first step towards obtaining that special peace mentioned in Philippians 4:7 'And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.?

When the storms of life come, and be assured that they will, cling to the promises and commands found in God's word. When you do, you can be like Peanut and Roscoe, and know that by the end of it all will be well.

Think About It

Have you ever thought about it

Or tried to comprehend
Nailing your child to a cross
To die for other's sins
Then to have those same people
Denounce you and your son
And go along with their sinful lives
And ignore what you have done

That's what we all do
When Easter comes around
We hunt candy and eggs and celebrate
A bunny coming to town
And while all those things are good and well
We should concentrate on the cross
And remember the pain and suffering
When Jesus died for us

Have you ever thought about it
Or tried to comprehend
Having your child die for others
But at his memorial -none attend
And go along with their sinful lives
Like it's just another day
And forgetting the ultimate price
That Jesus had to pay

That's what we all do
When Sunday comes around
We sleep in late or go to the lake
Or simply lay around
And while all those things are good and well
We should concentrate on the Lord
And remember him each Sunday
By worshiping in one accord

Have you ever thought about it
Or tried to comprehend
Your child being able to save souls from hell
But no one tells their friends
They go along with their sinful lives
Never trying to help save a soul
And make money, success and having fun
Their primary goal

That's what we all do
When we don't witness to others
We'd rather speak of sports or gossip
With our sisters and out brothers
And while that's all good and well
We should concentrate on salvation
And remember to spread God's wonderful news
And his gracious invitation.

CELEBRATION OF PASSOVER

"Intimacy With Jesus Through

His Sufferings, Death

and Resurrection"

"That I may know (personally and intimately be acquainted with) him (Jesus), and the power (miraculous performance; force as of the military) of his resurrection (coming back to life), and the fellowship (communion; joint participation) of his sufferings (opposition and persecution), being made conformable (receiving the same form) unto his death (crucifixion of self)". Philippians 3:10 KJV (Capitals are mine for emphasis)

ONLY JESUS CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD AND IS ALIVE TODAY

Identification with Jesus in His sufferings, death and resurrection is the reason we celebrate Passover. Depending on how much we surrender to the Holy Spirit, He is at work to bring us into the image and likeness of Jesus. The Passover celebration is not about the goddess of Spring, Easter egg hunts, bunny rabbits or a fashion parade. It's about the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. His resurrection sets Christianity apart from all other religions. The founders of Islam, Confucianism, Hinduism and Buddhism are all dead. Only Jesus came back from the dead and is alive today.

THERE WAS AN IRRESISTIBLE YEARNING AND LONGING IN HIS SPIRIT

The word "know" in Hebrew is an idiom which means "the closeness of an intimate relationship between a husband and a wife". The Apostle Paul had known Jesus for many years already when he wrote this. But, there was an irresistible yearning and longing in His spirit which could not be quenched by anything else but a deep and fulfilling personal relationship with Jesus.

HIS OWN DESIRES HAD TO BE IN TOTAL SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD

In order to achieve this, he noted that he needed to be a joint participant in communion and fellowship with Jesus in the persecution and opposition He faced while here on Earth. He knew he must "feel" the rejection our Lord experienced, and those imprisoned for their faith, as they were part of the body of Christ. With this there had to be "a death to self". His own desires had to be in total submission to the will of God. There had to be "a funeral for the old man"--his carnal nature. This would be necessary to bring him into a fuller comprehension of knowing the powerful force of the miraculous performance of the resurrection. We cannot fully appreciate the resurrection until we feel His suffering and crucify our fleshly nature to His cross. This is when we enter into "the holy of holies" and meet with Him face-to-face.

Bishop Marvin Schmidt

World Changers International

"Making a Difference in Our World"

Bishop_Marvin@WCI888.com

"Your First Source of Inspiration and Information"

Marvin Schmidt