From: R & S Scarcella & Family [susan@webpastor.com] Sent: Friday, 13 April 2001 8:27 PM To: hitsters@webpastor.com Subject: WEBPASTOR Weekly Hits! 2001 Vol 4 No.2 =================================================== YOUR WEBPASTOR WEEKLY HITS! - FREE NETMAGAZINE =================================================== distributed by Rev. Rocco & Mrs. Susan Scarcella from Church of the Good Shepherd Bossley Park NSW Australia WEBSITE: www.webpastor.com ITEMS, JOKES ETC TO: hits@webpastor.com SUBSCRIBE: subscribe@webpastor.com UNSUBSCRIBE: unsubscribe@webpastor.com (Please write "no hits" in the subject frame) HITS! ARCHIVES: Go to... http://www.webpastor.com/hits/index.htm WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY?: Go to... http://www.christianity.net.au HELP BLIMBINGSARI ORPHANAGE?: Go to... http://www.webpastor.com/miss&supp.htm LIKE YOUR OWN FREE EMAIL ADDRESS & MORE? Go to... http://www.webpastor.com/free-mail.htm *************************************************** Dear Netfamily, We have finally got to the desk after a very busy week. We pray that you will have a blessed Easter, and find time to thank God for His blessings through His Son, our Saviour. READING FROM THE WORD OF GOD So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you and the woman,and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." Adam lay with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the Lord I have brought forth a man." Genesis 3:15,16;4:1 (NIV) As the song says "Don't it only go to show that you don't know what you've got till it's gone." So it was for Eve. She realised she had been duped. The knowledge she had gained by listening to the serpent had not made her into a god; it had brought death into the world. Yet God was not prepared to abandon His creation! From the very first, He promised redemption through a "seed of the woman", one who would defeat forever the Whisperer, the Deceiver, while being dealt a serious blow himself. Eve did not see the coming of her Saviour, but she believed He would come. Only too late did she see how trustworthy God's words were, but when she did, she clung to them unquestioningly. So much so that, when she gave birth to her first son, she hoped that this would indeed be The One who would bring salvation. We, who live in 2001AD have all the answers that Eve did not have, brothers and sisters. WE have seen the One. Do we trust in Him? TESTIMONY "I'm a Christian today, because a man would not stop praying for me. I was born with a passion to sing and sang and wrote and thought about death until I nearly died. I searched for answers in drugs, men, and in the entertainment world. All I found was trouble. I was out of control. But all those years there was a man I had never met who kept praying for me. He knew my mother. He told me years later that there were nights when he would wake up and pray for me till sweat ran down his face. Finally, alone on a back porch I heard the gentle loving voice of the Holy Spirit calling me to the Father. I called the man who had prayed for me that night... and I gave my life to Jesus. He changed my life completely." Tammie." PRAYER POINTS ***Thank God that nothing and no one of us is outside of God's control and that He waits, like the loving Father that He is, for us to turn to Him. ***Thank God for the great gift of His Son. If His promised coming was a comfort for Eve, may his coming be so much more for us, and His Second Coming a source of great excitement. ***Thank God for forgiveness, unconditional and free, through the death of Jesus. Pray that our lives may be changed in the light of this truth. ***Pray for our brothers and sisters worldwide, as they share in Good Friday and Easter celebrations, often at great risk to their lives and safety. ***Pray for little Amelia, who will be operated on sometime in May, and for her family as they wait. ***Pray for those who are alone and/or suffering, especially at this time of year, and for those experiencing loss or family problems. THE DEATH OF COMMON SENSE Today, we mourn the passing of an old friend by the name of "Common Sense". Common Sense lived a long life but died from heart failure at the brink of the millennium. No one really knows how old he was since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He selflessly devoted his life to service in schools, hospitals, homes, factories and offices, helping folks get jobs done without fanfare or foolishness. For decades, petty rules, silly laws and frivolous lawsuits held no power over Common Sense. He was credited with cultivating such valued lessons as to know when to come in out of the rain, the early bird gets the worm and life isn't always fair. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies (don't spend more than you earn) and reliable parenting strategies (the adults are in charge, not the kids). A veteran of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Depression, and the Technology revolution, Common Sense survived cultural trends including body piercing, whole language, "new math", and don't ask don't tell, but his health declined when he became infected with the "If-It- Only-Helps-One-Person-It's-Worth-It" virus. In recent decades his waning strength proved no match for the ravages of federal regulation. He watched in pain as good people became ruled by lawyers and auditors. His health rapidly deteriorated when schools implemented policies where a 6-year old boy is charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate, a teen is suspended for taking a swig of mouthwash after lunch, and a teacher is fired for reprimanding an unruly student. Finally, Common Sense lost his will to live as the Ten Commandments became contraband, churches became businesses, criminals received better treatment than victims, and federal judges invaded everything from Boy Scouts to professional sports. As the end neared, Common Sense drifted in and out of logic, but was kept informed of developments regarding regulations for ladders, low flow toilets, and "smart" guns, and he was in disbelief when told that the homeowners associations restricted exterior furniture only to that which enhanced property values. It was the songs proposed for the 2000 Grammy Awards and the films nominated for the Oscars that caused him to breathe his last breath. Common Sense was preceded in death by his parents Truth and Trust; his wife, Discretion; his daughter, Responsibility; and his son Reason. Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. -Anon. HAHAHA CORNER ***Little Johnny stared at his test paper. The big read "F" stared back at him. Billy looked at his glum friend and asked, "Why did you get such a low grade on that test?" "Because of an absence," Johnny answered. "You mean you were absent on the day of the test?" he questioned. Little Johnny replied, "No, but the kid who sits next to me was." -Anon. ***Badly Worded Epitaph: "Here lies Captain Ernest Bloomfield. Accidentally shot by his orderly, March 2nd 1879." "Well done, good and faithful servant." -Grave inscription of British soldier, in northwest frontier of modern-day Pakistan ***Several weeks after Rodney had been hired as an engineer for a large company, he was called into the personnel director's office. "What is the meaning of this?" the director asked, "When you applied for this job, you told us you had five years experience. Now we discovered this is the first engineering job you've ever held." "Well," Rodney replied, "in your advertisement you said you wanted somebody with imagination." -Anon. ***A 4-year-old son was eating an apple in the back seat of the car, when he asked, "Daddy,why is my apple turning brown?" "Because," his dad explained, "after you ate the skin off, the meat of the apple came into contact with the air, which caused it to oxidize, thus changing the molecular structure and turning it into a different color." There was a long silence. Then the son asked softly, "Daddy, are you talking to me?" -submitted by Pat C SOME GREAT SITES TO VISIT! http://www.shibumi.org/eoti.htm -thanks to Ron J http://www.ultranet.com/~mari/ -thanks to Tony P If you have a "great site" which fits our criteria, send it to us and we'll let others know. Happy Easter! Buona Pasqua! Frohe Ostern! Selamat Hari Paskah! Rocco and Sue. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++