Compliments and Criticisms

Beware flattery. A man once tried to poison Queen Elizabeth I immediately after loudly saying, "God save the queen." Judas kissed Jesus to betray Him. Since praise can damage a person more than criticism does, we need guard against becoming puffed up by flattery.

Compliments and criticisms are like shadows that look longer (compliments) and shorter (criticisms) as they come off our person. However long or short the shadow is cast, do take time to receive it kindly, consider it, and pray about it, but remember our height stays the same either way. God measures us not by what people say for or against us, but by the ongoing holiness of our inner walk with Jesus.

A 7-Vowel Word

In school I was taught the vowels are A E I O U, and sometimes W Y. I am surprised at the large number of people who do not know about the latter two.

W and Y serve intermittently as consonants and vowels. For instance, in the word "wow" W starts as a consonant, and ends as a vowel in a diphthong. In the word "yearly" Y starts as a consonant, and ends as a vowel. (Remember, every syllable has a vowel in it.)

Here's my quandary. I know of words that contain 6 of the 7 vowels--for instance "nefariously" and "precariously". But I cannot think of a word that includes W as a 7th vowel. Any help out there?

Twitter & FB john316marshall

Bible Reading in 100 Days

For more than 30 years, I have encouraged people to read the entire Bible every year. Pat Day, one of our deacons and a Sunday School teacher, accepted this challenge. Recently he decided to read the whole Bible in 100 days. I asked him why was he doing this. I want to share with you his response.

"I love to read and thought it odd that I devour mystery/action novels but plod through the Bible. It is the greatest mystery/action book there is so I decided to try something new. For me, reading the books in chunks of 3-5 chapters often lost the flow of the story. When you read Acts in two days you see the action and intensity. As I read through the OT, I saw the repetition of phrases, commands and sin. For me, it gives me a better feel for the whole book. I have highlighted more than I ever had before.

It is a commitment, too. I can read 3-5 chapters in 15-20 minutes. But to read at least 12 chapters a day requires a set time and dedication. Once I finish this read through, I am going to take the rest of the year to reread the NT in a different version."

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Wrong Choices

Jesus had not been subtle in His confrontations against the religious leaders. After He had used three consecutive parables to indict them, they launched a counter-attack (MT 22:15). Having been pounded by Jesus' parables, the religious leaders had to choose: get right or get mad. They opted for the latter and pushed back.

         We learn two lessons from the Pharisees' wrong choice here. One, don't let criticism make us mad. Say thank you to the critic. Then take time to ponder what was said, and pray about it. Their criticism of us could actually be right. Live humbly.

         Two, believers will have opponents. It is vain for us to think we can forever hide from trouble in our USA culture. Believers go through seasons of testing. I think we are entering one for us. We cannot forever escape being focused on by the wicked. People-pleasers, including me, struggle with this. We always hope "dodge, duck, and delay" will work, but it won't. At some point we will have to take a firm stand that will bring us repercussions.