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Cybersalt News
Oh look, Chicken Thursday!
Storm season has returned to Cybersalt World Headquarters. We have being getting hit from all directions. It's working out well for Grandma Cybersalt because each time we have one she picks up the apples that the wind has picked for her. Although, I guess picking the apples you can get while standing up would be better!
Today's video share is a sweet story of how some people became friends of a magpie.
Click Here to Watch
~ Pastor Tim
Funny Answering Machines
"Hi! John's answering machine is broken. This is his refrigerator. Please speak very slowly, and I'll stick your message to myself with one of these magnets."
"Greetings, you have reached the Sixth Sense Detective Agency. We know who you are and what you want, so at the sound of the tone, please hang up."
"Hello, this is Sally's microwave. Her answering machine just eloped with her tape deck, so I'm stuck with taking her calls. Say, if you want anything cooked while you leave your message, just hold it up to the phone."
"Hello, you are talking to a machine. I am capable of receiving messages. My owners do not need siding, windows, or a hot tub, and their carpets are clean. They give to charity through the office and don't need their picture taken. If you're still with me, leave your name and number and they will get back to you."
"This is not an answering machine - this is a telepathic thought-recording device. After the tone, think about your name, your reason for calling, and a number where I can reach you, and I'll think about returning your call."
"Hi, this is George. I'm sorry I can't answer the phone right now. Leave a message, and then wait by your phone until I call you back."
"If you are a burglar, then we're probably at home cleaning our weapons right now and can't come to the phone. Otherwise, we probably aren't home and it's safe to leave us a message."
"Hi. I am probably home. I'm just avoiding someone I don't like. clenLeave me a message, and if I don't call back, it's YOU."
One-Liner #1873
Learning English: Before was was was, was was is.
"Be a Billionaire!"
and Help
Refugees and
Persecuted Christians
Parting Ways with Style
My balding friend bought a new wig before moving away. So got him a comb ... as a parting gift.
Quote #2307
"If you can't see the sun you will be impressed with a street light. If you've never felt thunder and lightning you'll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures."
- John Piper
The Ambulance Down in the Valley
‘Twas a dangerous cliff, as they freely confessed,
Though to walk near its crest was so pleasant;
But over its terrible edge there had slipped
A duke and full many a peasant.
So the people said something would have to be done,
But their projects did not at all tally;
Some said, “Put a fence ’round the edge of the cliff,”
Some, “An ambulance down in the valley.”
But the cry for the ambulance carried the day,
For it spread through the neighboring city;
A fence may be useful or not, it is true,
But each heart became full of pity
For those who slipped over the dangerous cliff;
And the dwellers in highway and alley
Gave pounds and gave pence, not to put up a fence,
But an ambulance down in the valley.
“For the cliff is all right, if you’re careful,” they said,
“And, if folks even slip and are dropping,
It isn’t the slipping that hurts them so much
As the shock down below when they’re stopping.”
So day after day, as these mishaps occurred,
Quick forth would those rescuers sally
To pick up the victims who fell off the cliff,
With their ambulance down in the valley.
Then an old sage remarked: “It’s a marvel to me
That people give far more attention
To repairing results than to stopping the cause,
When they’d much better aim at prevention.
Let us stop at its source all this mischief,” cried he,
“Come, neighbors and friends, let us rally;
If the cliff we will fence, we might almost dispense
With the ambulance down in the valley.”
“Oh he’s a fanatic,” the others rejoined,
“Dispense with the ambulance? Never!
He’d dispense with all charities, too, if he could;
No! No! We’ll support them forever.
Aren’t we picking up folks just as fast as they fall?
And shall this man dictate to us? Shall he?
Why should people of sense stop to put up a fence,
While the ambulance works in the valley?”
But the sensible few, who are practical too,
Will not bear with such nonsense much longer;
They believe that prevention is better than cure,
And their party will soon be the stronger.
Encourage them then, with your purse, voice, and pen,
And while other philanthropists dally,
They will scorn all pretense, and put up a stout fence
On the cliff that hangs over the valley.
Better guide well the young than reclaim them when old,
For the voice of true wisdom is calling.
“To rescue the fallen is good, but ’tis best
To prevent other people from falling.”
Better close up the source of temptation and crime
Than deliver from dungeon or galley;
Better put a strong fence ’round the top of the cliff
Than an ambulance down in the valley.
- Joseph Malins (1895)
Featured Illustrations are items well suited for illustrating or inspiring a point in a sermon, speech, or devotional. Funny, moving, or perhaps even graphic, the point of them is the point you make with them.
Susan Page writes . . . .
Not Yet Paradise
- photo by Susan PageA few days before an election that captured world attention, I was visiting a local botanical garden.
After strolling through the spectacular outdoor gardens, I wandered into the solarium where something immediately captured my attention. The Bird of Paradise flower on display was unusual, creating a visual object lesson.
As my camera zoomed in on this beautiful exotic flower, I could not help but be amazed. The sap from the flower had dried forming what looked like an eye flowing with tears. Amazingly, it was precisely in the right location to look realistic. Yes, I have a good imagination, but this visual gave me pause to reflect and do a little research.
In South Africa because of its appearance, sometimes the Bird of Paradise flower is referred to as the Crane Flower. However, this striking flower is aptly named after a bird species, called the Bird of Paradise. It symbolizes joyfulness, paradise, freedom, anticipation, and excitement. Furthermore, it stands for faithfulness, love, and thoughtfulness.
Yet in my photographic capture, the flower looked anything but joyful. It looked sorrowful.
The passage of Scripture that came to my mind is from St. Paul’s writings. I know the passage is not specifically about sorrowful-looking flowers. Yet, it is a meaningful passage that speaks about all creation's suffering as we eagerly anticipate when there will be no more disease or decay. We groan and shed tears with our longing for Christ’s return.
“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness” (Romans 8:18-26).
The passage goes on to teach how we should view and process any election or troubling world event. We are called to pray!
“We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God” (Romans 8:26-27).
This passage finishes with an often-quoted promise, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So, let us reflect again on the visual of a sorrowful-looking Bird of Paradise flower. Remember it is a flower that symbolizes joyfulness, paradise, freedom, anticipation, excitement and most importantly love and thoughtfulness. Our heavenly paradise is coming, perhaps, very soon!
While we wait, let us share our joy, our excitement our message of freedom in Christ and our anticipation for His return. In the sharing, let us be thoughtful and may our love for the lost overflow from the love which comes from Christ.
Be a beautiful blossom, a sweet aroma that causes people to stop and take notice. We can be God’s chosen vessel, His channel of hope, to a world that is desperately hurting.
Read moreThe Cybersalt Digest is a ministry of Pastor Tim and Cybersalt.