Jack’s Winning Words  10/15/13
“Don’t let good enough be good enough.  God wants us to keep growing.”  (Joel Osteen)  Osteen is a popular Houston preacher with a wide TV audience.  He has a way with words which seems to connect with people.  Off camera, Osteen says, “I try to get out of my preacher’s suit.”  Each of us is really just an ordinary person, but with God’s help, we can be an influence for good in ways beyond our understanding..    ;-)  Jack

 FROM SHARIN' SHARON:  We just had an elderly husband of a woman in our congregation die. For years and years and years he had faithfully driven her back and forth to church but he himself never came in. But a little bit before he died, she shared with some of us at the coffee hour that every Sunday morning, early, they both sat on the couch and watched Joel Osteen's service together. I think she will always be so comforted by her memories and we are too.====JACK: All believers are not necessarily found within the walls of a church.  I'm inspired by some "hidden" stories.

 FROM BLAZING OAKS:  ANN LANDERS OR DEAR ABBY HAD A COLUMN YEARS AGO ABOUT NOT SETTLING FOR "GOOD ENOUGH" WHICH I HAVE SOMEWHERE!  I'M OFF TO AB WOMEN'S FALL RALLY, SO  NO TIME TO LOOK IT UP,  BUT I THINK LIFE-LONG LEARNING IS A CREDIBLE GOAL FOR ALL  OF US WHO WANT  TO KEEP ON GROWING.  WE LIVE IN A VAST, WONDERFUL WORLD OF WHICH WE KNOW PRACTICALLY ZERO PERCENT EVEN WITH OUR STRIVING TO BE EDUCATED AND INFLUENTIAL !! ====JACK:  Your attendance at the AB Fall Rally is an indication that you haven't given up on growing...exploring what's new in the world.

 FROM FACEBOOK LIZ:  lal & lol.  told ya joel is an ok guy!====JACK:  I'd like to see 60 Minutes do a profile on Osteen when he's not in his preacher's suit.====LIZ:  he was on jimmy fallon a couple of weeks ago...====JACK:  There are many ways to preach the Gospel.  I'm sure that Joel had left his preacher's suit at home.

 FROM TARMART REV:  "Whoa there, Jack!!" Joel Osteen??====JACK:  I wonder how you or I would do, preaching to a packed crowd in a sports' arena with the TV cameras focused in on our every word and every movement.  Of course you're used to that kind of experience when you give the prayers at Willmar's stock car races.

 FROM GOOD DEBT JON:  When we were in Houston a few weeks ago we drove by Joel Osteen's facility, a former Basketball Arena I believe. It's right on one of the interstate freeways in Houston. Very impressive, I watched his sermon Sunday night on cable. I enjoy his friendly way of using concise slogans and mixing in scripture.====JACK:  He has a way of being religious, without being religious.

 FROM PLAIN FOLKS CHESTER:  This goes right back to what I said about the shameful  Iowa/Western Michigan game. Twenty-one to three was good enough. What point in running the score to fifty-nine? Sometimes good enough IS good enough! I'm an Iowan and I'm embarrassed.====JACK:  College football has become a business.  The score (not the intangibles) has become the bottom line.  See how GREAT we are!

 FROM SBP IN FLORIDA:  Accessibility to thought provoking "spreaching" i.e. WW and Joel Osteen is a God send. You're right! "All believers are not necessarily within the walls of a church." Many are seated in front of the TV at 9:00 a.m. Sunday morning as well as at some point in time in front of the computer M-F. Saturday, YOYO. I know!====JACK:  I know a man who goes to church, and he also has a low table at home with a cushion in front of it.  He spends some time each day, kneeling at the table and meditating.  Is it possible that the Spirit is present in both places...equally, or more in one than the other?====SBP:  The Spirit is omnipresent...to my way of believing.