Humor 5/22/00: Pirate Story & Graduation Gift

Hi everyone,

This past weekend was BCEC reunion weekend. Pastor Steve came out to LA
for a conference. Steve Lee, Pastor Steve and I went down to San Diego
to visit John and Teresa Wu. They have two adorable young sons. Then
on Saturday night, we went to Charles & Genevieve's place for dinner.
The other people there were Clarice Law, Lydia Tse, Theresa Huang, Mag
Wong, Boda Chen, Joyce Ho, and Helen Chen, who was in town for a
conference as well. We made pizza and had a great time just chatting
and watching Charles and Genevieve's wedding video. I'll post the
pictures I took with my digital camera on the BCEC site on Yahoo.

John and Teresa are Palm Pilot veterans. Steve was extremely impressed
with the folding keyboard for the Palm Pilot. John beamed me some
useful applications, such as Diddlebug, and Secret. Alf told me that if
you open an online banking account at Citifi.com, you can get a free
low-end model of the Palm Pilot. All you need is to deposit $500 into
the account.

This week's thought provoking question is: "If you had to name the best
purchase you've ever made, which one would you choose?"

This week's humor was forwarded by Anna Man, followed by an
inspirational piece forwarded by someone on the IVGCF list.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
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Long ago, there lived a sailor named Captain Bravo. He was a manly man's
man, who showed no fear when facing his enemies. One day, while sailing
the Seven Seas, his lookout spotted a pirate ship, and the crew became
frantic.

Captain Bravo bellowed, "Bring me my red shirt!" The first mate quickly
retrieved the captain's red shirt, and while wearing the brightly
colored frock, the Captain led his crew into battle and defeated the
pirates.

That evening, all the men sat around on the deck recounting the day's
triumph. One of them asked the Captain, "Sir, why did you call for your
red shirt before battle?" The captain replied, "If I am wounded in the
attack, the shirt will not show my blood. Thus, you men will continue to
fight, unafraid." All of the men sat in and marveled at the courage of
such a manly man's man.

As dawn came the next morning, the lookout spotted not one, not two, but
TEN pirate ships approaching. The crew stared in worshipful silence at
the captain and waited for his usual orders. Captain Bravo gazed with
steely eyes upon the vast armada arrayed against his ship, and without
fear, turned and calmly shouted, "Get me my brown pants!"
__________________________________________

Is the Packaging Important to You?

A young man was getting ready to graduate from college. For many months
he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and
knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he
wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his
father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation,
his father called him into his private study. His father told him how
proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved
him.

He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box. Curious, but somewhat
disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely,
leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed in gold.
Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, "With all your
money you give me a Bible?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the
Bible.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He
had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was
very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him
since that graduation day.

Before he could make arrangements, he received a telegram telling him
his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his
son. He needed to come home immediately and take care of things.

When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled
his heart. He began to search through his father's important papers and
saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago.

With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages. His father
had carefully underlined a verse, Matt 7:11, "And if ye, being evil,
know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your
Heavenly father which is in heaven, give to those who ask Him?"

As he read those words, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible. It
had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car
he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the
words ...PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss God's blessings because they are not packaged
as we expected?