Glen Park Gospel Church >> Archive >> Thoughts and Quips

Each month the Glen Park Gospel Church produce a one page newsletter called the Green Leaf. It's available from the chapel each Sunday. Some months include brief thoughts and quips. We thought you might also appreciate reading them.

10/1995

If temper got us into trouble, its pride that keeps us there!

11/1995

Overcoming in the name of Jesus

Men don't believe in a devil
    Like their Fathers used to do,
They have opened their hearts to the broadest creed
    And let his majesty through.

A church conference in the 1960's debated whether the part of the Catechism which required members to 'renounce the works of the devil' should be removed from the catechism, and the members decided that it should remain for another seven years.

Do you believe in the devil? We have the same authority for a belief in the devil as we do for our belief in God, The Bible. If there is a God, then there is a devil. And he is all that the Bible says that he is, a liar and the father of lies. He cheats, and tricks and holds the world in his evil influence.

"The whole world lies in the wicked one", wrote John; and also, "The son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil."

Jesus is able to give you power in your life to cope with these needs as you trust Him. The answer to the temptation and deceit of the devil in your life is the power of the blood of Jesus and your word of commitment to Jesus Christ against him.

He is a spirit, and a very evil and powerful one. He will ruin your life if he can. However Jesus is stronger than he. When the devil comes to destroy your life and commitment, Jesus Christ is able to withstand him. There is victory in the name of Jesus.

5/1996

If thou art merry, here are airs,
If melancholy, here are prayers;
If studious, here are those things writ
which may deserve thy ablest wit.
If hungry, here is food divine
If thirsty, nectar, Heavenly wine

Read then, but first thyself prepare
to read with zeal, and mark with care:
And when thou readest what there is writ,
Let thy best practice second it.
So, twice each precept writ should be,
first in the book, and then in thee.

8/1996

The Gospel is not a new law. It is not a code of morals or ethics. It is not a creed to be accepted. It is not a system of religion to be adhered to. It is the good news that God will forgive and accept any person who trusts His provision of the crucified and risen Christ as the answer to their rebellion and sin.

6/1997

Secrets From the Past

There are two verses each buried in successive Chapters of 2 Chronicles. Each is a secret in its own right, but together pure synergy.

First, 26:15 (Uzziah) became very powerful because of the help he received from God. (But when King Uzziah became strong, he grew arrogant and that led to his downfall.)

This is a secret that few know and fewer apply. King Uzziah achieved wonderful feats because he humbly trusted in God and His word. In time he became one of Judah's most memorable kings, and the whole nation was blessed.

The lesson is re-enforced by the example of Uzziah who in time became proud, thinking that he himself had accomplished these feats. His pride became his undoing.

Second, 27:6 "Jotham grew powerful because he obeyed the Lord His God". Obedience is the obverse of trust. They are the right and left shoe.

Trust and Obey for there is no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to Trust and obey.

11/1997

Out of the Past

The Church Wardens in Swaffam, Norfolk, England, made this note in the Church registers,
"Given to a poore man that cam from Cumberland who lost 11 miles by wind and water 4d."
which has been transcribed to mean, "A poor man from Cumberland, a complete stranger from another County, who lost all his assets of 11 wind and water mills, received a charitable gift of four pence."

In centuries past the Church parish was the center of social, civic and economic life for the community. This included not only local, but also international relief. The register for Syderstone records,
"Collected towards the relief of the distressed Protestants of Poland and Bohemia, Maye 16 1658 the sum of foure shillings and sixpence Sam Smythe"
and later
"Collected in the Parish of Syderstone towards the reliefe of the Christian slaves in Turkey 10 shillings and 0 pence. October 4th 1680."

Out of the heart.
"Whoever hath this world's goods and beholds his brother in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him."

5/1998

Treasures in heaven are laid up when treasures on earth are laid down.

6/1998

A man's life does not consist of what he possesses, but rather of what possesses him.

7/1998

If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything.

Matthew 24:24 "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

8/1998

You're not what you think you are,
but what you think, you are.

9/1998

Jesus the carpenter needs joiners.

7/1999

OLD CHRISTIANS NEVER DIE . . .
they just go to Heaven.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

6/2000

Statistics about the Jesus Video

Between Easter 1997 and Easter 2000 the Victorian Office has distributed 64,000 Jesus videos in Victoria and Tasmania.
World Wide 3.339 billion people have viewed the video.
It is available in 558 languages with a further 232 currently being translated.
Every day the video is screened an estimated 8,826 times.

11/2000

Getting Things Tangled

"Praying always with all prayer" Ephesians 6:18

J Sidlow Baxter tells the story of a woman who worked in a weaving mill. The instruction on the machine read, ‘If you get your threads tangled send for the foreman'. One of the workers a busy and diligent woman got her threads tangled and tried to disentangle them herself. She only made them worse. After she sent for the foreman, he came and looked into the loom. "Have you tried to disentangle them yourself?" he asked. "Yes," she replied. "Why didn't you send for me, according to the instructions?" "I tried to do my best," she replied sullenly. The foreman quietly rebuked her. "Always remember," he replied, "that doing your best is sending for me."

7/2001

Some day that golden dawn will come
When I have reached my journey's end
And all my work on earth is done
My guide has now become my friend

10/2001

Dear Lord,

So far today, I am doing all right. I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or self-indulgent.
I have not whined, complained, cursed, or eaten any chocolate. I have charged nothing on my credit cards.
But I will be getting out of bed in a few minutes, and I think that I will really need your help then.

Amen

5/2002

Floating members make a church sink!

5/2002

Proverbs

Here are some proverbs we have come across in our daily devotions. Those unacknowledged are assumed anonymous. Some have been adapted.

• Gospel starts with ‘go'.
• Counting your days, make your days count, lost time is never found!
• With God's strength behind you, His love within you, and His arms underneath you, you are more than sufficient for the task ahead of you - W A Ward.
• What would you be worth if you lost all your money?
• To escape God's justice, flee to His mercy.
• True wisdom consists principally of two parts: the knowledge of God and the knowledge of ourselves. - John Calvin.
• The flower of youth never appears more beautiful than when it bends toward the Son of Righteousness. - Matthew Henry.
• Instead of pointing your finger, open your hand.
• Silence isn't always golden, sometimes its just yellow!
• Every lock of sorrow has a key of promise to fit!
• Live innocently, God is watching! - Linnaeus.
• When men forsake Godly principles, they invite devilish problems.
• True faith is not a burden to carry on your back, it is a song to fill your heart.
• Floating members make a church sink!
• God intends trials to make us better, not bitter.
• Live for thy neighbour, if thou wouldst live for God! - Seneca.
• Christians are either bibles or libels, depending on what they put first in their lives! - F B Meyer.
• Looking down your nose gives you a wrong slant on life!
• It is comforting to know that ‘He who guides us with His eye' sees tomorrow clearer than we see today - Bosch.

8/2002

Worry is the darkroom of the mind
where negatives are developed.

9/2002

Christians don't gossip,
They just share prayer points!

5/2003

Disappointments : His appointments

4/2004

Jacob said in his troubles,
"All these things are against me"
Genesis 42:36RSV.

Paul wrote,
"All things work together for good to them who love the Lord . . ."
Romans 8:28RSV.

Which is your perspective?

7/2004

'There is an advertised price of sin,
but it is always much, much lower than that you pay.'

12/2004

'God always answers our kneemail'

2/2005

There are three classes of people.
The haves, the have-nots, and
the haves but have-not-paid-for-it.

12/2021

Christmas is a time for giving.
The gift of a smile is an amazing gift we may give others which gives pleasure but costs nothing.
It takes only a moment to hand over but the memory may last.

5/2022

"I WOULD RATHER STAND WITH GOD AND BE JUDGED BY THE WORLD
 THAN STAND WITH THE WORLD AND BE JUDGED BY GOD."
Seen on a tough looking man's T-shirt

10/2022

"We beseech Thee O Lord, to send your blessing on this Church.
 Here may the faithful find salvation, the careless be awakened;
 here may the doubting find faith and the anxious be encouraged.
 Here may the tempted find help, the sorrowful find comfort,
 may the strong be renewed, and the young inspired
 through the presence of your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen."
At the door of the Avening Church, UK.

2/2023

Jesus died to pay a debt He didn't owe
for we who owed a debt we couldn't pay.

3/2024

The assurance that Jesus rose from the dead on the 3rd day, by Lee Strobel, "The Case for Christ".

1. The disciples were in a unique position to know whether the resurrection happened, and they were willing to endure suffering and deprivation, proclaiming it was true.
2. Apart from the resurrection, there is no reason why sceptics like Paul and James would have been converted and died for their faith.
3. Within weeks of the crucifixion, thousands of Jews began abandoning key social practices that had had religious importance for centuries.
4. The early sacraments of communion and baptism affirmed Jesus' resurrection and deity.
5. The miraculous emergence of the church in the face of brutal Roman persecution "rips a great hole in history, a hole the size and shape of the Resurrection of Jesus" C.F.D. Moule.

4/2024

Jesus' death on the Cross bridged the gap between a perfect God and a fatally flawed humanity... God took the worst deed of history and turned it into the greatest victory.

Philip Yancy writes in "The Jesus I never knew".
Between the cross and the empty tomb hovers the promise of history: hope for the world, and hope for each one of us who live in it.

9/2024

Romans 15:13. A Continual looking forward to the eternal world is not, as some modern people think, an escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean we are to leave the present world as it is. If you read History, you will find that the Christians that did most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you will get neither.

C.S.Lewis, quoted by Billy Graham in Unto the Hills.

2/2026

Imagine if Iran becomes a Christian nation. For a hint from what the Bible says about Elam, possibly referring to today, see below. And find @TousiTV on YouTube. And read Jeremiah 49:35,36,38,39

"This is today. It's been happening for a while. A key part of that verse is how the Elamites have been thrown all over the world, Me included."
- Pirooz Amir, Iranian Messianic Jew, 12th Jan, 2026
oneforisrael.org/jewish-iranian-points-out-the-fulfillment-of-bible-prophecy-about-elam-today

5/2026

(read on with caution)

Traditional media has been run over by the internet which reduced the value of information to a fraction of what was needed to support editorial staff and quality research. As a result most news outlets have resorted to emotive opinions that encourage consumer interaction. They feed off each other without checking sources. Negativity creates the most ‘clicks’ and so that is what we get. Truth has become optional. What to do?

For news about Iran, I found Tousi.TV (or YouTube.com/@TousiTV) to be quite different, politically confronting for some. It is run by an Iranian in the UK and does have sources on the ground. At least in terms of Iran, you might like to tune in.

For general news I have been trying out Ground.News. This was started by an ex NASA engineer with the aim of summarising what the main news agencies are reporting for each event. Alongside this they identify where each news agency leans politically which makes it easy to see likely biases. Ground.News is American but does provide some Aussie flavour by following local publications and by swapping the red/blue colours that define American / Australian politics. You will have to take a look to see what I mean.

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