tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60697972727336786162024-02-19T04:00:03.268-08:00E-Inspiration - Inspirational Stories with a Christian BasisInspirational Stories, Quips and Quotes with a Christian basis. These stories will inspire you to greater service for Christ.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger121125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-84909187090173642752008-07-09T05:05:00.000-07:002008-07-09T05:08:15.695-07:00We Are Already Set FreeRay Bakke writes...I knew an old Glasgow professor named MacDonald who, along with a Scottish chaplain, had bailed out of an airplane behind German lines. They were put in a prison camp. A high wire fence separated the Americans from the British, and the Germans made it next to impossible for the two sides to communicate. MacDonald was put in the American barracks and the chaplain was housed withUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-8274869249987406022008-07-09T05:02:00.000-07:002008-07-09T05:04:54.253-07:00"Without Folds" Spiros Zodhiates writes...There is a significant word in the Greek New Testament which isused to describe a person who truly exhibits sincerity in theirChristian life. The word is haplotes, which literally meanswithout folds. This is best illustrated by examining a simplesheet of paper. As you fold down the edges or if you were tocrumple the page, you will notice that in trying to straighten Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-785178014417579552008-07-09T05:01:00.000-07:002008-07-09T05:02:43.644-07:00Croft Pentz Will Be MissedThis space has been reserved so often for "Zingers" by Croft Pentz.Croft Pentz passed on to his eternal reward on July 2, 2008.Here is a portion of his obituary. He will be missed.Rev. Croft M. Pentz, 77, of 13394 Meadow View Ave., Waynesboro, PA, died at 10:55 P.M., Wednesday, July 2, 2008, in the Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA. His death was unexpected and attributed to natural causes. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-21614636776261251322008-06-23T07:11:00.001-07:002008-06-23T07:11:41.128-07:00How You Can Be a PeacemakerCarl and Sam were at odds with each other. They could not even remember the initial cause of friction … but their hostility had festered through the years. A deeply concerned deacon prayed that God would use him as a peacemaker.He called on Carl. “What do you think of Sam?” he asked. “He’s the sorriest guy in town!” “But,” countered the deacon, “you have to admit that he’s a hard-working man.” “Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-68132630638171543052008-06-23T07:10:00.000-07:002008-06-23T07:11:05.451-07:00"True Riches"A tax assessor came one day to a poor minister of the gospel to determine the amount of taxes he would have to pay. “What do you possess?” he questioned.“Oh, I am very wealthy,” replied the minister. “List your possessions, please,” the assessor instructed.The man of God replied, “First, I have everlasting life—John 3:16. Second, I have a mansion in Heaven—John 14:2. Thirdly, I have peace that Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-50025826601715428892008-06-23T07:09:00.000-07:002008-06-23T07:10:07.152-07:00Zingers - 25 Easy Ways to Curb Church Growth25 Easy Ways to Curb Church Growth Begin your message with the phrase, "You know what's wrong with you people..." Begin that year-long sermon series on the 40 weeks of Daniel. Place tire puncture strips in the parking lot for cars going the wrong way before Sunday school. Keep the Christmas pageant livestock in the church choir room year 'round. If your auditorium slopes downward to the platform,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-77049443490534847252008-06-17T04:00:00.000-07:002008-06-17T04:02:23.979-07:00Starving Near the South PoleIn 1908, Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton headed an Antarctic expedition attempting to reach the South Pole. They came closer than any before but, 97 miles short of the pole, had to turn back. Shackleton and his men trudged over 200 miles of ice floes, dragging a lifeboat weighing nearly a ton, taken from their ship, crushed by the ice pack.In his diary Shackleton told of the time when their foodUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-81635378942980949302008-06-17T03:58:00.000-07:002008-06-17T04:03:27.347-07:00Fruits of Community InvolvementFor his first pastorate, Burkett Smith came to the Evangelical United Brethren church of Bear Lake. He discovered that the members had little concern for their neighbors in this dwindling western Pennsylvania town. Invited to serve as an honorary member of the Bear Lake Volunteer Fire Department, the new pastor accepted—and learned that not one of his church men was in the fire company.At the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-88364345036224997842008-06-10T06:38:00.000-07:002008-06-10T06:39:43.107-07:00"A Great Dad Story"Derek Redmond ran the 400-meters in his fastest time in five years in preliminary rounds at the summer Olympic games in Barcelona. Four years earlier, in Seoul, a tendon problem had forced Derek to drop out. He had since undergone operations on both Achilles tendons.But in the finals, as he rounded the turn into the back stretch, a sharp pain shot up his right leg. He went down, struggled to his Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-91792641003931332882008-06-10T06:37:00.001-07:002008-06-10T06:37:57.383-07:00"Getting The Fist Pump"Bob Welch writes...Recently, I watched my son play in a qualifying event for a PGA Nike golf tournament. At 19 and 5-foot-8, he was the youngest and smallest of 115 entrants, and one of the few amateurs. He had played hard and smart but hadn’t been able to sink a putt all day.But he had handled himself with dignity and battled to the end of a course whose tees were set as far back as possible, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-67649097000765242682008-06-10T06:36:00.000-07:002008-06-10T06:37:20.649-07:00Today's ZingersMotivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. —Jim RyunPeople are always motivated for at least two reasons: the one they tell you about, and a secret one. —O. A. BattistaHe that does good for God’s sake seeks neither praise nor reward; He is sure of both in the end. —William PennSee: Proverbs 21:2; Proverbs 8:10-11; Psalms 27:4 Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-21681455039433809322008-06-05T05:17:00.001-07:002008-06-05T05:17:53.077-07:00"The Coors Triumph"On February 9, 1960, Adolph Coors III was kidnapped and held for ransom. Seven months later his body was found on a remote hillside. He had been shot to death. Adolph Coors IV, then fifteen years old, lost not only his father but his best friend. For years young Coors hated Joseph Corbett, the man who was sentenced to life for the slaying. Then in 1975 Ad Coors became a Christian. While he Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-70410547242368090972008-06-05T05:12:00.000-07:002008-06-05T05:17:00.257-07:00"A Glorious Mixture" Years after her concentration camp experiences in Nazi Germany, Corrie ten Boom met face to face one of the most cruel and heartless German guards that she had ever contacted. He had humiliated and degraded her and her sister. He had jeered and visually raped them as they stood in the delousing shower. Now he stood before her with hand outstretched and said, "Will you forgive me?" She writes: "IUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-80815855350463011462008-06-05T05:10:00.000-07:002008-06-05T05:12:21.931-07:00Zingers by Croft Pentz - June 4, 2008Forgiveness should be like burning the mortgage--it's gone and forgotten.It is better to forgive too much than to condemn too much.No one is ever stronger and stands higher than when he forgives.It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.Some forgive their enemies, but not until they are dead.- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-6023875013983462022008-05-10T05:42:00.001-07:002008-05-10T05:44:03.934-07:00The Church's Mission - A Parable Philip Anderson writes... Not long ago I visited my sister, a director of patient services for the children's unit of a large southern California hospital. She was conducting me on a tour through that unit. All the time--echoing through the halls--we could hear the cry of a baby coming from one of the rooms. Finally, we came to that room. It was a little child, about a year old, covered with Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-69825778854012828122008-05-10T05:41:00.001-07:002008-05-10T05:41:56.666-07:00Mother's Ultimate GiftYears ago, a young mother was making her way across the hills of South Wales, carrying her tiny baby in her arms, when she was overtaken by a blinding blizzard. She never reached her destination and when the blizzard had subsided her body was found by searchers beneath a mound of snow. But they discovered that before her death, she had taken off all her outer clothing and wrapped it about her Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-68345526750350587352008-05-10T05:40:00.000-07:002008-05-10T05:41:15.822-07:00Zingers by Croft Pentz - May 10, 2008Mother's Day is when everybody waits on mother and she pretends she doesn't mind the extrawork.It's easy to spot an overprotective mother; she's the one who controls her kids better than youcontrol yours.History shows almost all the greatest workers for God had godly mothers.There is no modern pain medicine as effective as a mother's kiss. -- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers (Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-28113235902989977212008-04-22T06:14:00.000-07:002008-04-22T06:15:23.689-07:00No Exceptions!One evening I stopped by the church just to encourage those who were there rehearsing for the spring musical. I didn't intend to stay long, so I parked my car next to the entrance. After a few minutes, I ran back to my car and drove home. The next morning I found a note in my office mailbox. It read: "A small thing, but Tuesday night when you came to rehearsal, you parked in the 'No Parking' Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-73020905184659134812008-04-22T06:13:00.000-07:002008-04-22T06:14:17.648-07:00Equal Opportunity SaviorThere's a wonderful story about a Chicago bank that once asked for a letter of recommendation on a young Bostonian being considered for employment. The Boston investment house could not say enough about the young man. His father they wrote, was a Cabot; his mother was a Lowell. Further back was a happy blend of Saltonstalls, Peabodys, and others of Boston's finest families. His recommendation wasUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-765249121373293252008-04-22T06:12:00.000-07:002008-04-22T06:13:24.693-07:00Zingers by Croft Pentz - April 22, 2008Egotism is that certain something that enables a man in a rut to think he's in the groove.Egotists are I specialists.Conceit is an illness that refreshes the victim and makes others sick.Fellows who boast of being self-made men usually have a few parts missing.A big head is hard to keep under your hat. -- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Zingers(Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,1990).Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-51325626741923702872008-04-17T06:48:00.002-07:002008-04-17T06:49:09.999-07:00Five Ways To Get Rid Of Your PastorSit up front, smile and say "amen" every time he says something good. He will preach himself to death.Pat him on the back and tell him what good work he is doing in the church and community. He will work himself to death.Increase your offering in the church. Then he will suffer from shock.Tell him you have decided to join the visitation group and win souls for the Lord. He will probably suffer a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-50140818874132341122008-04-17T06:48:00.001-07:002008-04-17T06:48:22.675-07:00Where His Sermons WentComing to the close of many years of faithful ministry, an aged pastor tied his sermon notes in a bundle and wrote on it: "Where his the influence of all the sermons I have preached gone?" One who had been under his ministry for years and who had grown in Christlikeness and in the knowledge of God's Word, gave the following heartfelt appraisal of his sermons: "Where are last year's sunrays? They Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-14281480219911585792008-04-17T06:47:00.000-07:002008-04-17T06:48:00.682-07:00Zingers by Croft Pentz - April 17, 2008Many a person who prides himself on having an open mind merely has a vacant one.It's strange, but a big head is the sign of a small man.The real test of a big man is his willingness to occupy a small place in a great way.The less some people know, the more eager they are to tell you about it.People are seldom too busy to stop and tell you how busy they are.-- Croft M. Pentz, The Complete Book of Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-26947923903306080412008-04-09T05:38:00.000-07:002008-04-09T05:39:28.681-07:00Envying MozartRemember the story of Mozart's life told from the perspective of Antonio Salieri. The play and the film were both called Amadeus. Salieri was the court musician in Vienna. He worked hard at his craft, writing melodies that were nice and choral pieces that were fine and instrumental works that were good. He knew that God had blessed him. As a young man he had prayed fervently to God, "Let me Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6069797272733678616.post-20341388543500131042008-04-09T05:37:00.002-07:002008-04-09T05:38:39.896-07:00Not All Composers Make Good ConductorsThe following story brings out the fact that we were all created to function in certain areas with gifts and talents, however, whenwe begin to move outside of that realm it sometimes leads to great difficulty for us... and others. He wanted to conduct. His conducting style, however, was idiosyncratic. During soft passages he'd crouch extremely low. For loud sections, he'd often leap into the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0