Monday Morning Funnies

Thanks to Suzanne Schneider from KP for forwarding this to me this week. Its pretty good!

What Love means to a 4-8 year old . . ...

A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, 'What does love mean?' The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined See what you think:


'When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore.
So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love.'

Rebecca- age 8

'When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.
You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.'

Billy - age 4

'Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other.'

Karl - age 5

'Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.'

Chrissy - age 6

'Love is what makes you smile when you're tired.'

Terri - age 4

'Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.'

Danny - age 7

'Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and you talk more.
My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss'

Emily - age 8

'Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.'

Bobby - age 7 (Wow!)

'If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,'

Nikka - age 6
(we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

'Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday.'

Noelle - age 7

'Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.'

Tommy - age 6

'During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling.

He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore.'

Cindy - age 8

'My mommy loves me more than anybody
You don't see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.'

Clare - age 6

'Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.'

Elaine-age 5

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford.'

Chris - age 7

'Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.'

Mary Ann - age 4

'I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.'

Lauren - age 4

'When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.' (what an image)

Karen - age 7

'Love is when Mommy sees Daddy on the toilet and she doesn't think it's gross.'

Mark - age 6

'You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.'

Jessica - age 8

And the final one …

The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife.

Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.

When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said,

'Nothing, I just helped him cry.'


Hey, make it a great week! I hope you will join me back here Tuesday. Watch the video below...its humor with a powerful punch of truth. [you will have to copy and paste it...sorry!]

-Pastor Randy

http://www.youtube.com/v/Xzp0S3yO1QA&hl=en&rel=0&color1=0x006699&color2=0x54abd6&border=1'

Sunday Wrap Up

What a great day of worship, fellowship, and a little rest. We just got home from Skyline. I ate their twice today...that's lots of cheese clogging up the 'ole arteries all for the cause of Christ(I'm messing with ya!). Anyway, we had a great time of fellowship this afternoon after church and tonight. Thanks so much to all of you that came out and ate at Skyline today. You're the greatest! Next Sunday we go back to Wendy's from 12 to 4 pm. Fifteen per cent of all proceeds go to Kings Point's El Salvador missions. Tell your friends and family to eat at Wendy's Sunday!

We had a wonderful service today in the sanctuary. I really enjoyed the praise & worship today and I was honored today to be God's messenger. Thank you so much for responding to the Word. God's Spirit is moving powerfully in our services. I encourage you to pray and fast for our services. God desires to do so much more than what we can imagine or even think.

I heard they had quite a wedding in the children's worship service. I heard it was so crazy that the minister officiating it (Dalton McBeath) "lost it." I heard a rumor that it might be on youtube. If it does appear there I will screen it and possibly put it on the blog.

Next Sunday, July 6th, we have a great time planned (if the Lord tarries that long). Next Sunday AM, the color guard will be with us. Our veterans will lead us in the pledge to the American flag. We will have patriotic music from the kids choir along with the adult choir. Several great brief videos will be debuted telling stories of great American war heroes. And I will continue my message on "Freedom" that I begin this morning. Then, in the evening we will have a special prayer and praise service over at Cornerstone. Our choir will be singing and different ones will be leading us in prayer. PLEASE INVITE YOUR UNSAVED FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO THE MORNING SERVICE. I believe people can truly be "freed from sin" and turn their lives over to Christ if we will just bring them with us to God's house.

Please continue to remember our missionary in your prayers: Arlene Miller. Also, remember Alvin, Jerry, and Franky too. These brothers and sisters have very serious needs and urgently need our prayers right now.

I love and appreciate you!

-Pastor Randy

Saturday Insights

Good morning everyone!

Today, I would like to ask you to join me in prayer for some special needs. Franky Armold, Wilma Chess's mother, is in the hospital and very serious. Wilma's brother, Jerry, who recently has been attending out church is also recovering from a cancer tumor procedure. He is looking at another surgery within the next two weeks. So please remember Wilma's family including Wilma in your prayers.

Alvin Money is in the hospital and needs prayer as well. Please continue to remember our missionary, Arlene Miller. The doctors are still trying to figure out why she is loosing muscle mass and weight in general. She also needs prayer for her eyesight. Sister Miller desperately needs the body of Christ to be interceding for her right now in prayer and fasting. As I have illuded to in the past, this is an all-out attack from the enemy and to combat him we must use spiritual weapons: prayer and fasting. Please engage the battle!

The El Salvador mission team is busy raising money for their mission trip in August. Please keep them in prayer. They are conducting several fundraisers; car washes, Skyline, and Wendy's again on July 6th. Please support them as the Lord leads and provides.

Speaking of July 6th, on that Sunday evening we will be joining Cornerstone and possibly some other churches for a "Night of Prayer and Praise" at 6 pm at Cornerstone. We will be praying for our nation, churches, community, and individual needs; as well as doing some praise & worship. It ought to be a great night of fellowship, praise and worship, and prayer! I hope you will make plans to join us.

Well, I got to get going! I have a busy day today as I am sure you do as well. I hope to see you at worship tomorrow for you that attend KP. Make it a great day in the Lord!

-Pasto Randy

Friday Countdown

Good morning everyone! Well, Friday is here and the end of the work week for most of you. For you that work the weekend, I pray that God give you strength and refresh you in spirit and mind.

Remember, this Saturday morning KP serves breakfast at the Rescue Mission downtown Cincinnati. Please try to go if possible. Everyone leaves from the church at 4:30 am. I can personally tell you that you will feel more blessed than those that you will serve. Also, the men have prayer Saturday morning at 9 am and the ladies at 6 pm at the church. Participating in these ministries will spiritually wet your apetite for a great Sunday of worship!

It's hard to believe this is the last weekend in June already. The summer is flying by. I encourage you to join us this weekend for what I am sure will be two great worship services. I am praying for you and I look forward to sharing God's Word with you.

Hey, try this prayer (below) today as you get ready to leave work or after you leave your work. It works...God will answer you and make your time at home truly "a place of refuge and refreshment."

Make it a great weekend!

- Pastor Randy


Prayer at Quitting Time

Father, I thank You for this day. Now I step out of the role of employee and into the role of husband and father/mother and wife.

Lord, I thank You that I do not carry the baggage of the day home with me, but I leave it at my work. Whatever responsibilities, problems or situations I had to face there, however difficult the day may have been for me, I give it all to You. By an act of my will, I choose not to think about it, meditate on it or allow it to control my life.

With the same zeal, enthusiasm and fervor that I started this day, I now turn toward home. My spouse and children deserve a husband and father/wife and mother who is happy to see them, someone who is filled with energy, happiness and joy. I refuse to drag across the threshold weary, worn out and beaten down by the day’s activities.

Father, grant me a refreshing now, for the second part of my day. Thank You that Your joy overflows in my heart so that I come home as a solution, not a problem. As I enter the doorway, let me bring with me joy and peace and life, not misery, frustration and fatigue.

Lord, I ask You to strengthen me: spirit, soul and body. Fill my heart with Your love and grace. Clear my mind of the cobwebs of the day. Thank You that I can choose to put a smile on my face and joy in my heart, that I can determine in advance to have a wonderful evening with my family. Thank You that I can bring with me the character and personality of one who is in love with You and in love with his/her spouse and children.

Lord, help me to be sensitive to the needs of my mate. Help me to listen as he/she tells me about his/her day. Help me to be excited with him/her in his/her moments of triumph, to be sympathetic with him/her in his/her moments of stress and anxiety. I understand that there is no harder work or more difficult job than balancing the daily demands of life and the raising of and providing for young children.

Help me to be sensitive to the needs of my spouse. Help me to express to him/her that I do value his/her contribution to the family, that I do love him/her and appreciate everything he/she does for me and for our children.

Lord, help me never—under any circumstances, either by word or deed—to be condescending or to insinuate that I think less of his/her responsibilities than I do my own or that I consider them in any way subordinate to mine. Help me to encourage and strengthen him/her, to be his/her best friend and closest confidant.

Lord, I know that no one has the influence over our children’s lives that my spouse and I do. Help me to be that role model that they need as a parent. Thank You for physical strength in my body so I can play with my children in the evening. Thank You for clarity of mind so I can be sensitive to their conversations and attuned to the events of their day. Help me not to consider the details of their lives and their daily activities trivial, but help me to see things from their perspectives and viewpoints.

Lord, help me to respond with excitement and enthusiasm to whatever made them happy today. Help me to be tenderhearted and sympathetic to whatever challenges they had to face in their world today. Help me, Lord, to instill within them a confidence, a trust and surety in You, and a dependence upon You.

Help me to present what I do in such a way that they never resent my work but realize that my job is a gift from You and that through it You bless our family so that it is a positive contribution to our lives.

Help me never to speak ill about anyone in my work place, or say anything that will give my family wrong thoughts or ideas or attitudes toward my work. Help me to be a full-time spouse and a full-time parent this entire evening. Thank You for the gift of Your Holy Spirit to empower me for the work You have called me to do and to fulfill the role at home that You have entrusted to me.

In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

The Spirit of Antichrist

The recently released Pew Research survey that shows that 57% of evangelicals in America believe that there are other ways to attain eternal life besides Jesus is an indication of a spirit that is sweeping both the secular and spiritual worlds in popularity and acceptance. I am speaking of the "spirit of antichrist" that the apostle John writes about in 1 John 4:3, "And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world."

This deceiving spirit that denies the Deity of Christ is subtly becoming a widely accepted belief among both conservatives and liberals. Postmodern thinkers say that claiming to know truth is arrogant or unloving. For decades now, America's public educational systems have taught that all truth is relative and there are no absolutes. If there are no absolutes, i.e. if all truth is relative, then my position on issues is just as valid as your position due to the fact that each “truth” may be based on a different foundation. We have seen this philosophy expressed in contemporary times as “I’m okay, you’re okay” or in the immortal words of Rodney King, “Can’t we all just get along?”

This concept known as universalism embodies the idea that we all are trying to get to the same place (heaven, eternal consciousness, a higher plane) but we are just using different methods. It really does not matter what you believe just as long as your belief is sincere. It also implies that we all worship the same God, its just that we use a different name for Him. Allah is the same as Jehovah who is the same as God who is the same as (fill in the blank at this point). Therefore, the teaching of the Bible must be taken symbolically rather than literally and the various personal accounts in the Bible are nothing more than fictional stories used to illustrate the given writer’s point of view.

I recently came across this idea presented in the national media to millions of people when I was listening to Bill O'Reilly’s radio program and he was talking about sin and condemnation to hell. A caller who was evidently a born-again Christian tried to tell him that Jesus was the only way to heaven; Bill politely ridiculed the caller. He said that if that was what he professed, then the caller was going to not be taken seriously. The verse in question was "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me." O'Reilly's interpretation was that Jesus was not talking about belief in Him as the Son of God but rather, coming to God was accomplished by living like Jesus, i.e. loving your neighbor, being a good person, etc. In other words, you can work your way into heaven. There was also the implication that there is no ultimate truth in this regard. He actually said that there were many ways to get to heaven; it was up to the individual. This thinking is very prevalent in our society and around the world.

The spirit of antichrist is paving the way for the antichrist himself to some day come on the world scene and announce that he is the real Christ. The Bible tells us that many people around the world will believe and worship him. Even now as we see various religious groups including cults and even many so-called Christians denying that Jesus is the way to salvation is only setting the stage for the greatest false Christ of them all. I encourage you to pray and fast, study your Bible, submit to those over you in spiritual authority, and discern good from evil in these last days. Jesus in Matthew 25 speaks of many being deceived in the end times. I encourage you..."watch and pray."

Unbelievable...57% of Evangelicals Nullify the Cross of Christ

In Tuesday's blog I wrote about a major survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life that indicated that most Americans do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation. And that most Americans agree with the statement that many religions – not just their own – can lead to eternal life. This view is shared by a majority of adherents in nearly all religious traditions, including more than half of members of evangelical Protestant churches(57%).

Why is this finding so dangerous in regards to America's Evangelical churches? FIRST AND FOREMOST, WHEN WE BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS BESIDES JESUS TO ETERNAL LIFE WE ARE DENYING THE DEITY OF CHRIST.[see Tuesday's blog]

SECONDLY, BY BELIEVING THAT THERE ARE MANY WAYS OTHER THAN JESUS TO ETERNAL LIFE, WE NULLIFY THE DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. If we really believe that we can attain eternal life by our works or by some other way then why would Christ have to go to the cross and die for our sins? Why would we believe in a supernatural resurrection of Christ? Why would we need to believe that he ascended and makes intercession for believers in heaven? In essence, an evangelical Christian who believes that there are other ways to eternal life really doesn't need Jesus to go to Calvary. They are just fine with a crossless Christianity. Basically, Jesus did not have to do anymore than just be a great teacher or prophet if we truly think that there are other ways to have eternal life other than Jesus.

THIRDLY, IF WE BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO ETERNAL LIFE OTHER THAN JESUS, THEN WHY PREACH THE GOSPEL? Why share Christ with our unsaved friends and family? Why give to missions? Why make the effort to disciple people in the local church? I mean wouldn't the need and urgency to do these things be useless if there are other ways for people to be saved. If this is the case, the church should define all the ways you can attain eternal life and then preach "all these ways a person can be saved" to the unsaved. Doesn't that make more sense then proclaiming something we really don't believe?

FOURTHLY, IF WE BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS TO ETERNAL LIFE OTHER THAN JESUS, THEN DO WE REALLY BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD? From Genesis to Revelation it proclaims that Jesus has come to be the Savior of the world. The Old Testament books point to the cross of Christ and in the New Testament we hear from the eyewitnesses of Jesus testifying of His redemptive words and deeds. We also read for ourselves concerning His ministry as intercessor in heaven and the many scriptures that point to His return to set up His kingdom here on earth. Listen to me please, if you believe that there are other ways than Jesus to eternal life, then you surely cannot believe that the Bible is the innerant Word of God!

More tomorrow...

Why Those in Our Pews Don't Believe

Recently a major survey by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life was released. Its findings indicate that most Americans have a non-dogmatic approach to faith. A majority of those who are affiliated with a religion, for instance, do not believe their religion is the only way to salvation. And almost the same number believes that there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion. This openness to a range of religious viewpoints is in line with the great diversity of religious affiliation, belief and practice that exists in the United States, as documented in a survey of more than 35,000 Americans that comprehensively examines the country’s religious landscape. [click on the link below for more information]

Most Americans agree with the statement that many religions – not just their own – can lead to eternal life. Among those who are affiliated with a religious tradition, seven-in-ten say many religions can lead to eternal life. This view is shared by a majority of adherents in nearly all religious traditions, including more than half of members of evangelical Protestant churches (57%). Only among Mormons (57%) and Jehovah’s Witnesses (80%) do majorities say that their own religion is the one true faith leading to eternal life.

Why is this finding so dangerous in regards to America's Evangelical churches...that ONLY 43% of American Evangelicals surveyed believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, WHEN WE BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE OTHER WAYS BESIDES JESUS TO ETERNAL LIFE WE ARE DENYING THE DEITY OF CHRIST.

I know there might be some that would refute this and say "No I still believe that Jesus is the Son of God." But how can you believe that Jesus is the Son of God and not believe in the words that Jesus spoke? If so, you are calling Jesus (who you say is God) a liar and the scriptures clearly says "He cannot lie."

Read below to what Jesus said in His own words about how to attain eternal life.

John 3:16 (the words of Jesus)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 4:14 (the words of Jesus)
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

John 6:33 (the words of Jesus)
For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

John 10:28 (the words of Jesus)
And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

John 11:25 (the words of Jesus)
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

John 14:6 (the words of Jesus)
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

I am sorry, but this is absolutely unbelieveable that people can sit in evangelical (full gospel) churches in America and only a little more than 4 out of 10 believe that Jesus is the way to eternal life. It blows my mind! Personally, I have preached in mostly Pentecostal churches but I went to seminary in one of the best evangelical (non-pentecostal) schools in the country and have preached in many other evangelical denominations in my 27 years of ministry. This is how I explain these findings.

I sincerely believe that its not that evangelicals really believe that there are other ways besides Jesus to get to heaven, but I really don't believe that most evangelicals know what they believe. Many of our evangelicals that sit in our churches on Sunday morning don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and do not have a clue what they believe scripturally except for what the EVENING NEWS or the MEDIA tells them to believe. This is no doubt a sad commentary on we evangelical pastors. Undoubtedly, if we were preaching "Jesus Christ Cruficified" more than "Self-Help" or "Feel-Good" sermons...the percentage of people believing that Jesus is the only way would be much higher.

My prayer is God help us to preach the pure gospel of Jesus Christ so that people will be convicted by the truth that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected by the power of your Spirit!

More tomorrow on the pew research center's report.

http://religions.pewforum.org/reports