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WITandWISDOM(tm) - March 7, 2007 ISSN 1538-8794 ~~~~~~~ THOUGHTS: A church sign… To handle yourself, use your head. To handle others, use your heart. Submitted by Malladi Murthy ~~~~~~~ SPECIAL THOUGHTS: An AgapePress story by Mark Creech details a new challenge for churches: members who win lotteries and then want to donate a portion of their winnings, despite the church's outspoken opposition to gambling. Creech relates: "Pastor Scott Thomas understands this principle well. According to Family News In Focus, he faced a very difficult situation several years ago when a deacon in his church offered a portion of lottery winnings for a building fund. Thomas refused the gift and stood on the principle of Christian separation. 'I've just always believed that God doesn't need to use chance to build his Church,' said Thomas. Furthermore, he added that impoverished people largely play lotteries and the church shouldn't profit on the backs of the poor. "Despite Thomas' opposition, however, the church wanted the money and fired him. They accepted the gift and built the building. As a result, attendance has dropped from 165 to fewer than 50 people a week. Thomas says: 'Several of the members have called me and said, 'The albatross around our necks is that we are now known as the lottery church.'" Pastor John Piper wrote, "Don't play the lottery for me. We are followers of Jesus. He had no place to lay His head and did not accept the demonic temptation to jump off the temple for the jackpot of instant recognition. The Calvary road is not paved with Powerball tickets, but with blood. Don't play the lottery for Bethlehem Baptist Church. We will not, I pray, salve your conscience by taking one dime of your plunder, or supporting even the thought of your spiritual suicide. Let the widow give her penny and the laborer his wage. And keep your life free from the love of money." By Rev. Mark H. Creech Source: AgapePress http://headlines.agapepress.org/archive/2/122003mc.asp ~~~~~~~ THIS & THAT: Rambling Thoughts: Some folks are so eager to find fault, you'd think there's a reward. I only use deodorant under one arm, so I know what I would have smelled like. Don't worry about what people think, they don't do it very often. I wish my mouth had a backspace key. Many great discoveries are made by not following instructions. The older I get, the better I was. A pessimist is someone who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks. What a tangled web parents weave, thinking children are naive. Some rights are worth dying for. The right of way is not one of them. They call it a tax return . . as if the money you pay was going to make a round trip. There is nothing wrong with having nothing to say ... unless you insist on saying it. Submitted by Nancy A Thomas ~~~~~~~ KEEP SMILING: The birth of our second child, a daughter, came after a long and difficult labor. But it was definitely worth it when our beautiful little girl emerged, perfect in every way. Later, in my room, my husband looked at her tenderly, with tears in his eyes. Then as he glanced up at me, I expected him to utter something truly poetic. Instead he asked, "What'd we decide to call her again?" Source: Clean Laffs, http://www.cleanlaffs.com/ ~~~~~~~ TRIVIA: Computer Tips - Bypass CD Autoplay Some CD's and DVD's come with the autoplay feature. When you put in the disk and close the CD tray, the program automatically starts. Sometimes that's nice, sometimes it's a nuisance. To stop Windows from automatically playing a CD, hold the SHIFT key down when you close the CD tray. The CD tray, for those of you living in your own little world, would be that thing on the front of your computer case that you use as a cup holder. ;) Source: Internet Tutor, http://www.gophercentral.com/sub/sub-tutor.html