April 14, 2002: WWJD, Prayer

Hi,

Last week, I went to Detroit to visit with some of our auto industry
customers. It was my first visit to Detroit and its many suburbs. I drove
up the weekend before my business trip to stay with some friends. The
first family I stayed with was Steve & Lisa and their cute baby boy,
Jordan. Here are some pictures:

Steve Lisa Jordan
http://cards.webshots.com/cp-22692801-AdLL-album/35633062BjfXXa

After lunch with them, we drove through the University of Michigan, in Ann
Arbor. I've always wanted to visit this campus. There were crowds of
students gathering on the streets, so we wondered what was going on.
Afterwards, we learned that it was the annual "Hash Bash". From what I
gather, for two-hours on this day, marijuana smoking is legal on campus.
They also have speakers, outdoor concerts, etc. We didn't get out and walk
around campus, but the campus looked quite nice.

I also stayed with my friends Daniel and Joan, and their two teenage sons,
Bryan and Michael. After church, Dan took me to the Ford auto museum. It
was quite interesting. I'll post the pictures I took of the museum next
week.

A friend of mine Teresa sent out the following request:

Hello! It's Teresa, and I need your help...A graduate student in psychology
whom I know needs data for her PhD dissertation. This should only take 15
minutes of your time because it's ONLINE! Cool, huh? : ) But there are
requirements...

You MUST be:

1) Second generation Chinese American, meaning your parents immigrated over
here from Asia and you were born in the U.S.
2) Over 18 years old.

The website address is: www2.hawaii.edu/~michi

Please copy and paste to get to the survey. If you know anybody else who
could help to fill out a survey, please forward the address to them.
Thanks!!!

This week's thought provoking question: "If you could break one world's
record for anything other than sports, what would it be?"

This week's humor and inspirational pieces were forwarded from Anna Man and
Ronald Quan.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

WWJD

Most people assume WWJD is the acronym for "What would Jesus do?"

But the initials really might stand for "What would Jesus drive?"

One theory is that Jesus would tool around in an old Plymouth because the
Bible says,
"God drove Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden in a Fury."

But in Psalm 83, the Almighty clearly owns a Pontiac and a Geo.

The passage urges the Lord to "pursue your enemies with your Tempest and
terrify them with your Storm."

Possibly God favors Dodge pickup trucks because Moses' followers are warned
not to go up a mountain "until the Ram's horn sounds a long blast."

But then some scholars insist that Jesus drove a Honda but didn't like to
talk about it.

As proof, they cite a verse in St. John's gospel where Christ tells the
crowd,
"For I did not speak of my own Accord..."

Meanwhile, Moses rode a British motorcycle, as evidenced by a Bible passage
declaring that "the roar of Moses' Triumph is heard in the hills."

Joshua no doubt drove a Triumph with an aftermarket slip-on muffler because:
"Joshua's Triumph was heard throughout the land."

And, following the Master's lead, the Apostles car pooled in, you got it, a
Honda:
"The Apostles were in one Accord."
_________________________________

Prayer

Louise Redden, a poorly dressed lady with a look of defeat on her face,
walked into a grocery store. She approached the owner of the store in a
most humble manner and asked if he would let her charge a few groceries.
She softly explained that her husband was very ill and unable to work, they
had seven children and they needed food. John Longhouse, the grocer
scoffed at her and requested that she leave his store. Visualizing the
family needs, she said: 'Please, sir! I will bring you the money just as
soon as I can." John told her he could not give her credit, as she did not
have a charge account at his store.

Standing beside the counter was a customer who overheard the conversation
between the two. The customer walked forward and told the grocer that he
would stand good for whatever she needed for her family. The grocer said
in a very reluctant voice, "Do you have a grocery list? Louise replied,
"Yes sir!"
"O.K." he said, "put your grocery list on the scales and whatever your
grocery list weighs, I will give you that amount in groceries."

Louise, hesitated a moment with a bowed head, then she reached into her
purse and took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She
then laid the piece of paper on the scale carefully with her head still
bowed. The eyes of the grocer and the customer showed amazement when the
scales went down and stayed down. The grocer, staring at the scales,
turned slowly to the customer and said begrudgingly, "I can't believe it."
The customer smiled and the grocer started putting the groceries on the
other side of the scales. The scale did not balance so he continued to put
more and more groceries on them until the scales would hold no more.

The grocer stood there in utter disgust. Finally, he grabbed the piece of
paper from the scales and looked at it with greater amazement. It was not
a grocery list, it was a prayer, which said:
"Dear Lord, you know my needs and I am leaving this in your hands."
The grocer gave her the groceries that he had gathered and stood in stunned
silence. Louise thanked him and left the store.

The customer handed a fifty-dollar bill to the grocer and said, "It was
worth every penny of it."

Only God Knows how much a prayer weighs.
POWER OF PRAYER: When you receive this, say a prayer. That's all you have
to do. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost
but a lot of rewards.