Mikes Spot On The Wall

• Jonah Is Awesome
  I saw Jonah and I was very impressed. I was in a blah mood going in (something I seem to get every holiday season), but I was feeling much better when I came out. What did I like best? They got the theme right. Almost every time I've seen the story of Jonah done for kids they seem to make the theme obedience (or else a big fish will come along and eat you…). Now Jonah's disobedience and it's consequence is definitely a part of the story, but the whole reason Jonah ran away and the lesson God is trying to teach him (and us) is that He is a God of compassion, mercy, and love. I hope to see more Veggie Tales movies in the future.

Mike's Walk

• When it seems dark.
  In our prayer meeting this morning two stories were related from people who experienced God's blessing in the midst of unusual circumstances.
  1. The bible came back: Alice is an awesome Christian in our congregation. She leads a couple ministries, bible studies, and helps out around the church with every event we have. One evening on the way to our church for a bible study she put her bible on the roof of her car and drove off forgetting it was there. The bible stayed for quite a ways but fell off on the highway coming into town about 2 miles out near an industrial park. She was frantic that she lost her bible of course. It had all her notes and highlights from various classes and courses. A man out of his luck was walking along the highway at night and tripped over the large bible. Picking it up he looked for someplace to take it to. He saw the industrial park and went over to see if someone there knew who's it was. A pastor of a tiny church in the park was also walking around praying over the area. The man showed him the bible and they began talking. The man received Christ and when they looked inside the bible they found Alice's name and number. Alice got her bible back and the kingdom grew by a soul because she lost it.
  2. A pair of glasses: A church was making boxes to send to an impoverished part of the world. One of the workers put his glasses in his shirt pocket while he was working and then at the end of the day after they had packed many dozen boxes and sent them off he realized he no longer had his glasses. He of course was very upset and angry because he was getting along in years and it was difficult for him to afford a new pair. Sometime later a missionary from the country they had sent the boxes to came to his church to talk about what God was doing there. He thanked the congregation for all the supplies they sent but most especially for the pair of glasses. "They fit my face and they were just my prescription too. I had been praying for a pair of glasses and God answered my prayer." The man moved to tears confessed to the missionary his anger now turned to joy over the glasses he had lost.