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Cybersalt News

Sunday greetings, everyone, and welcome to December!

Even though it is December 1st today, it would not be out of place to wish me a happy new year because today is the beginning of a new fiscal year for my business. I am grateful to God for the way He has provided in the past 12 months. BTW, I am down to just over 200 emails in my inbox, which I hope will be zero by the time the real new year roles in.

Today's video share contains one of my favourite kinds of humour: self deprecating. I love how Jack Benny serves it up on himself in this clip.
Click here to watch.

~ Pastor Tim 

After the church service a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money."

"Well, thank you," the pastor replied, "but why?"

"Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had."

I don't mean to interrupt people. I just randomly remember things and get really excited.

"Be a Billionaire!"

and Help

Refugees and

Persecuted Christians

How much does a chimney cost?

Nothing. It's on the house.

“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.”

- Garrison Keillor, Leaving Home

The late Peter Marshall was an eloquent speaker and for several years served as the chaplain of the US Senate. He used to love to tell the story of the "Keeper of the Spring," a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slope of the Alps.

The old gentleman had been hired many years earlier by a young town councilman to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise have choked and contaminated the fresh flow of water.

The village soon became a popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Years passed.

One evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man's eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring.

Said the keeper of the purse, "Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know, the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn't necessary any longer." By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man's services.

For several weeks, nothing changed.

By early autumn, the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A few days later, the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks, and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved more slowly, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they rehired the old keeper of the spring, and within a few weeks, the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps.

Are there leaves of anger, twigs of resentment, or silt of unforgiveness clogging your spring of living water? Just as little by little the stream became clogged and contaminated by debris, so our spirits can become obstructed by the *small sins* of day-to-day living. Let's keep the water clean and flowing.

- Charles R. Swindoll

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.

Rev. James Snyder, God's Penman, writes . . . . 

I am not given to complaining, except when I'm awake. That's according to The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage.

Lately, I've been leaning towards a complaining attitude. I've reached the point of being an old geezer. I'm older than both of my grandfathers, and in three years, I'll be up to where my father was when he passed away.

The Cybersalt Digest is a ministry of Pastor Tim and Cybersalt.