Dear Mother,

I'm not saying that you did take the gravy ladle from the house, I'm not saying that you did not take the gravy ladle, but the fact remains that one has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.

Love, Brian

Dear Son,

I'm not saying that you do sleep with Stephanie, and I'm not saying that you do not sleep with Stephanie, but the fact remains that if she were sleeping in her own bed, she would have found the gravy ladle by now.

Love, Mom

Heaven is very good looking because at last we will be in complete harmony and satisfaction with Christ and the fatigue and the miseries of this life will be gone. We are in a battle, but even if we are squashed like a bug in the process, we get to bear His Name and be bugs under His banner. His banner over us is Love. Fight for joy.

"Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience."

Faith is a living, bold trust in God's grace, so certain of God's favor that it would risk death a thousand times trusting in it. Such confidence and knowledge of God's grace makes you happy, joyful and bold in your relationship to God and all creatures. The Holy Spirit makes this happen through faith. Because of it, you freely, willingly and joyfully do good to everyone, serve everyone, suffer all kinds of things, love and praise the God who has shown you such grace. Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire! Therefore, watch out for your own false ideas and guard against good-for-nothing gossips, who think they're smart enough to define faith and works, but really are the greatest of fools. Ask God to work faith in you, or you will remain forever without faith, no matter what you wish, say or can do.

"I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion."

Blessed be the Father, who has blessed us
In Christ with every blessing from above;
Who chose us to be holy and be blameless;
Whose pleasure was adopting us in love;
Who planned before the world began
By His good will that we should stand
Before Him face to face
To the praise of the glory of His grace.

Blessed be the Son, who has redeemed us;
Whose blood, for our forgiveness has been spilled;
Who lavished grace so rich and free upon us;
Who showed to us the mystery of His will;
Whose kind intent made wisdom known;
Who's made us heirs of all He owns;
In whom our hope is placed
To the praise of the glory of His grace.

Blessed be the Spirit who sustains us;
The promised One in whom we have been sealed;
Who tuned our hearts to hear salvation's message;
By whom the Gospel's truth has been revealed;
Whom God gave as a guarantee
That what He owns, He will redeem;
Who stirs our hearts to faith
To the praise of the glory of His grace.

Blessed be the Father who has blessed us.
Blessed be the Son who shed His blood.
Blessed be the Spirit who sustains us.
Blessed be the Lord our God.

Use the Bible in most ordinary writing unless one occasionally needs the ring of extra authority implied by the full term. The term is usually set in Roman type--the Bible--unless a specific edition is referred to, such as The NIV Study Bible. See also, "Scripture Versus Bible."