THE CALL

Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8).

The story of the astonishing catch of fish in Luke is also the story of Jesus’ call of Peter to become a disciple. It contains what photographers have called the “decisive moment” that tells the whole story. The look on Peter’s face is not just about the catch of fish where all night there had been no fish. He has just experienced a theosophy, an encounter with God in the man standing before him in the boat. And the light of that revelation makes transparent his own naked sense of inadequacy, his sinfulness. “Depart from me, Lord,” he says to Jesus as he falls to his knees.

The call of Peter is not unlike other biblical calls: Moses at the burning bush; Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel; the conversion of St. Paul. In each case, the person being called feels the floor of their very existence fall out from beneath them. They are overwhelmed by their own unworthiness and inability to do what they are being invited to do. The call is what empowers them to go beyond themselves to a new kind of life. What the evangelicals call “conviction of sin” clears the way for the gift of salvation, to make sure the person knows it is not something they have earned or deserve.

There are human equivalents to this experience. Perhaps the most exhilarating is the “look of love” two people see in one another’s eyes that invites them into a mutual relationship they know is pure gift, total acceptance that defies logic and sets aside all inadequacy. I choose you. Or a moment of unconditional forgiveness that wipes clean some offense and restores a life-saving friendship. In either, case, love calls us to a deeper level of responsibility and loyalty. There is no turning back now.

We know the rest of Peter’s story a life changing journey of both courage and failure that will unite him to Jesus in both life and death.

BLESSED ARE YOU.........LUKE 6:20

“Blessed are you …” (Luke 6:20).

There is a moment when I thought filling a glass with water drop by drop that the water crests at the lip of the glass and then overflows with the next drop. It is full.

The Beatitudes describe a life lived at the point of fullness right before overflowing. Faith is poised there, still incomplete, still expectant, but already at the edge where earth and heaven meet. Jesus called his disciples to live in that moment, blessed in their want, their hunger, their tears, when the world ridiculed and rejected them as dreamers and troublemakers: “Rejoice, leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward will be great in heaven.”

Likewise, those who were content with what this world offers, satisfied, applauded for being worldly wise, wary of prophets. Woe to them for settling for happy when they might have had joy.

The Beatitudes are on the other side of the limits we set to protect our lives from exuberance and compassion. Each time we risk going beyond ourselves, we deepen the blessing that is always there where earth meets heaven, where life overflows and love is replenished faster than we can give it away. Blessed are those who learn this early and practice it daily, for they already live in the presence of God.

Good To Be Aware of EBOLA Disease........

It is good to be aware of this killer disease..EBOLA!

++++ EBOLA ++++

There is currently an Ebola outbreak putting all of us at risk. Pls help educate all around u by sending this msg to all your contacts..

What is EBOLA?

It's a virus that attacks a person blood system:

Ebola is what scientists call a haemorraghic fever - it operates by making its victims bleed from almost
anywhere on their body.
Usually victims bleed to
death.

Ebola is highly contagious;
Being transmitted via
contact with body fluids
such as blood, sweat, saliva,
semen or other body discharges.

Ebola is however NOT AN AIRBORNE VIRUS!

EXTREMELY deadly:
About 90% of people that
catch Ebola will die from it.
It's one of the deadliest
diseases in the world,
killing in just a few weeks.

Untreatable(no cure):
Ebola has no known treatment or cure.
Victims are usually treated for symptoms with the faint hope that they
recover.

How Do I Know Someone has Ebola?

•Fever
•Headache
•Diarrhoea
•Vomiting
•Weakness
•Joint & Muscle pains
•Stomach Pain
•Lack of Appetite

Protect Yourself:
•Wash Your Hands
with Soap
Do this a lot. You can
also use a good hand
sanitizer. Avoid
unnecessary physical contact with people.

■Restrict yourself to food you prepared yourself.

■Disinfect Your Surroundings
The virus cannot
survive disinfectants,heat, direct sunlight,detergents and soaps.

Clean up!:
•Fumigate If you have Pests.
•Rodents can be carriers of Ebola.
•Fumigate your environment & dispose off the carcasses properly!
•Dead bodies CAN still
transmit Ebola.
•Don't touch them without
protective gear or better yet avoid them altogether.

Protect Yourself:
•Use protective gear if you
must care or go near
someone you suspect has
Ebola.

Report:
•Report any suspicious
symptoms in yourself or
anyone else IMMEDIATELY.

Do not delay!

Educate Everyone:
•Tell your neighbours,
colleagues and domestic
staff (anyone really). Basically you're safer when
everyone is educated.

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND AND TO CARVE YOUR BENEFITS ON STONE

A story tells that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SLAPPED ME IN THE FACE."

They kept on walking until they found an oasis, where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the water and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "TODAY MY BEST FRIEND SAVED MY LIFE."

The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him: “After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now, you write on a stone, why?”
The other friend replied “When someone hurts us we should write it down in sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But, when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in stone where no wind can ever erase it.”

LEARN TO WRITE YOUR HURTS IN THE SAND
AND T O CARVE YOUR BENEFITS IN STONE.

PRACTICE BEFORE YOU PREACH..............

A woman once came to Gandhi and asked him to please tell her son to give up eating sugar. Gandhi asked the woman to bring the boy back in a week. Exactly one week later the woman returned, and Gandhi said to the boy, “Please give up eating sugar."
The woman thanked the Mahatma, and, as she turned to go, she asked him why he had not said those words a week ago.” Gandhi replied, “Because a week ago, I had not given up eating sugar.”

"You must be the Change, You wish to see in the World."
Practice before you preach!!

NO CHARGE...........................

No Charge:

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on. After his Mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:

For cutting the grass: Rs. 50
For cleaning up my room this week: Rs. 25
For going to the store for you: Rs 20
Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: Rs. 10
Taking out the garbage: Rs. 40
For getting a good report card: Rs. 50
For cleaning up and raking the yard: Rs. 60
Total owed by Mom: Rs. 255

Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind. She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he’d written on, and this is what she wrote:

For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me: No Charge
For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you: No Charge
For all the trying times, and all the tears that you’ve caused through the years: No Charge
For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead: No Charge
For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose: No Charge
Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is: No Charge.

When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears rolling down in his eyes, and he looked straight at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.” And then he took the pen and in great big letters he wrote: “PAID IN FULL”.

You will never know your parents worth till you become a parent
Be a giver not an acquirer.
BECAUSE MONEY IS THE WORST WAY OF MEASURING HAPPINESS…