One of my dad's favorite sayings after watching the nightly news was, "This country is going to hell in a handbasket". When I was a kid I didn't know that he really meant it and I didn't understand the truth of that comment. During my 18 years living in Manhattan and Brooklyn, I noticed that nearly all the payphones on the streets had "PRAY" or "WORSHIP GOD" scratched into them (sometimes both). No one really knows who did that, but it was everywhere. All those years it always got my attention but I saw it as just words and not a suggested action. It's on my phone booth now...and an action I take daily.
Matthew 7:
13 "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose the easy way. 14 But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.15 "Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep, but are really wolves that will tear you apart. 16 You can detect them by the way they act, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit. 78,90,52,0,B,0
oh dude i was SKIPPING yur Sunday preaching, but this NY/Manhattan remebrance, I LIKED, because being yours. I was born there at Lenox Hill Hospital, pure Manhattan.Like. Need go by that pay phone soon, look arround for Benita s remains man.
ReplyDeleteGreat thoughts for today and oh so true.
ReplyDeleteAhhh the very part of religion that has kept me so far away from it. The part where it teaches you to judge and condemn others. (among other things).
ReplyDeleteSundays are my favorite day to read your blog.
ReplyDeleteditto here with Chris Miller.
ReplyDeleteI like that the verse says "many who choose".
ReplyDeleteI was wondering.. does your pay phone work?
cool blog Mr Wells!
I like that the verse reads "many who choose"
ReplyDeleteI waswondering ,is your pay phone operational??
Cool Blog Mr Wells.
Amazing the way people read the words but miss the message. There's nothing judgemental in the passage... merely a statement that it's simple to take the 'easy way' out, but what's the benefit. It's tough to do 'the right thing' every day, but in the end, the payout is far better.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't just religion, this is daily life.
John, please keep it up.
John,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your blog. Totally digging your Sunday thing.
I agree with liteluvr. Keep it up & thanks for inspiring us.
ReplyDeleteI love your Sunday devotionals.
John God said that His Word would never return to Him void. God bless for sharing.
ReplyDeleteDon
Your friend from Big Spring, texas
I can understand why there are those who disdain organized religion, in certain forms.
ReplyDeleteI DO NOT understand those who disdain a man's personal belief in God.
God bless you John.
Al
.
I Love this one!
ReplyDelete“What you do speaks so loudly that I cannot hear what you say." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
RjP form Louisiana
We always called it vandalism I'm sure the phone company would agree.
ReplyDeleteAmen
ReplyDeleteWhy all the God speak all of a sudden? It's beginning to turn me off. John, I think you've been in the desert too long.
ReplyDeleteEverything is just fine. Just turn off the radio, TV, and internet news. Then get on with your life.
ReplyDeleteTime for the Field Lab to become a welcoming community for the like minded? I sense that coming.
John,
ReplyDeleteI love your blog posts...and yes the 'Sunday ones'.
Not sure why it is so bothersome to some readers, that you wish to share inspirational thoughts or a scripture verse.
At least for now, it's still a (sort of) free country in the US.
If you don't like it...you don't have to read it.
Just sayin'.
John, I appreciate your work in the Texas desert and your blog. I'm not surprised that many would be offended by the posted passages of scripture. It's usually the verses that are exclusive that are "offensive", but then Jesus did say that he was "the way, the truth, and the life" and that "no man could come to the Father, except through him". I don't see alternatives mentioned there. That's not to say that most religions don't contain good things. It's an issue of salvation and in that case, most roads don't lead to Rome.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, some will stick with the blog and some will move on--not too big deal. By the way, believers are called to be discerning. Discernment is not the same as judgment. I think we can agree that judgment is carried out by God (or delegated to certain human agents, i.e., judges).
Again, I've enjoyed your blog for sometime and am impressed with what you have accomplished from what was once a patch of barren ground. Any progress on the Airstream?
I really enjoy reading your blog...including Sunday. I don't understand why people have such problems with the Scriptures and thoughts you write on Sunday...so much that they want you to stop writing them. They can skip that day if they choose...and it is YOUR personal blog.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, watching "little" Ben on uStream is nice. Haven't tuned in for a couple of days (internet problems), but the last time I watched I thought he needed some kind of steer toy. Not exactly sure what that might be and I realize he might already have something away from the camera.
:-)
Even if I believed in a god I could not worship one that has designed such a thing as hell. I wish more Christians would follow Matthew 6:5.
ReplyDelete"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full."