My Contribution
(Said by Stacey King, after Michael Jordan scored a career-high 69 points and Stacey King scored 1 point against the Cavaliers.)
We can go two ways with this quote. There are times we think way too much of ourselves and we claim more credit than we deserve.
But there are other times when we remember whose team we are on. If I ever played basketball, it would make all the difference being on Michael Jordon's team; if football, Tom Brady's team, if baseball, Ty Cobb's team.
Since we have believed, you and I have been on Jesus' team. As such, we must humbly remember to give Him the credit for any good that takes place in our lives.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
Lenin Looks Great, But ...
Newser reports:
The Soviet Union founder, who died in 1924, would have turned 145 this week, and his mausoleum closed while the preservation team made improvements to his embalmed body.
Their primary goal is maintaining the body's look and feel rather than its original material, Scientific American notes: "They have to substitute occasional parts of skin and flesh with plastics and other materials, so in terms of the original biological matter, the body is less and less of what it used to be," says an expert.
That sets the work apart from processes like mummification, he notes, "where the focus was on preserving the original matter while the form of the body changes." Now, in addition to the skin replacements, Lenin has false eyelashes, and instead of skin fat, researchers have molded a combination of chemicals to keep his skin looking the same.
The body is re-embalmed using a bath of chemicals in alternate years. Lenin has kept scientists busy: During the period between the 1950s and 1980s, as many as 200 experts had jobs maintaining the body, Scientific American notes.
When you look at the picture of how lifelike Lenin looks, it’s astonishing.
But here’s a thought: It takes 200 experts to keep Lenin looking lifelike, yet it is only a matter of time before they lose that battle. On the other hand, God infuses actual life into not one, but every single one of us without any help at all.
Thanks to science, Vladimir Lenin looks great at 145. But thanks to God, you look better!
“I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40).
The "God Bless You" Decree
In the face of a sweeping epidemic of bubonic plague, Pope Gregory, circa 600 AD, decreed that "God bless you" be the appropriate response to a person's sneeze.
How interesting to find out that every time we respond to a sneeze we're offering the appropriate response to a decree without even knowing it! Even more amazing is how unaware most people seem to be of God's decrees or how to appropriately respond to them.
"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord from the heavens! Praise him from the skies!
Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all the armies of heaven!
Praise him, sun and moon! Praise him, all you twinkling stars!
Praise him, skies above! Praise him, vapors high above the clouds!
Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for he issued his command, and they came into being.
He set them in place forever and ever. His decree will never be revoked" (Psalm 148:1-6).