From: "Inflated Impressions" <inflatedimpressions@prodigy.net> To: <balloon@balloonhq.com> Subject: re:gospel theme Date: Sun, 21 May 2000 22:27:04 -0700 Hi, Tim McConeghy, Lord of Latex. I will lift you up first. Those of you who are not Christian or interested in a religious bit, feel free to delete this message as it is not my intention to waste your timeor cause you offense. Faith without works is dead. Faith in Christ is essential to our returning to heaven, but without works we are still lost. Prayer is the work we must do. What??? Prayer isn't work?? Oh yes it is. Christ himself instructs us in prayer and commands us to pray in the Gospels. So if prayer is work, how are we payed? The Lord will grant us our needs as we ask for his blessings.(here's where the balloons come in)We should remember that the Lord has a greater perception of our needs than we do. Just as each of us has a greater perception of our own lives than our neighbors. I give you this balloon as an example. This balloon has just entered into your perception but my perception encompasses the time I purchased it all the way through now. The Lords perception covers all this back through the gathering of the dirt that the rubber tree would eventually grow in and beyond to know whether the balloon will pop when I twist it and where it will eventually be when it decays futures we can't fathom much less be aware of. Because of this our prayers are answered in ways we may not understand. As a balloon twister or even as an adult we can taste a hint of this when dealing with children. A small boy approaches me and asks for a red sword. Simple enough, I inflate a blue balloon all the way to the end. "But I wanted a red sword"says the child. "I know" is my response as I twist the ends of the balloon to form a loop. Next I inflate , deflate, wrap , and re-inflate a clear balloon into a spiral. I attatch the spiral to the loop. "That's not a sword, I wanted a red sword!"the boy tates as his confusion eats at him."I know" is my only response. Finally I inflate the red balloon and twist the sword. I insert the sword through the spiral and hang the sword over the boys shoulder so that the sword rests at his opposite hip. "You asked for a red sword because that is what you wanted. Igave you what you needed even though you didn't know you needed it." The Lord works in mysterious ways, to teach us what we need. If we want to learn, to grow, to return to him we must work for him, with faith that he will answer in His wisdom. Matthew 26:39, Christ prays to God, the almighty, to "let this cup pass..." Thankfully, God, in His wisdom, let us, yes you and me, take His son, torture him, degrade him, martyr and kill him that a greater good could come to pass and a price could be paid for our souls. Amen. That said, I do not do gospel clowning. I have delivered messages to congregations using visual aids, but not for money. My gift was given to me by my creator and when I use it for His purposes I cannot expect Him to pay for what is His. I also don't accept bookings for gospel work. When a church calls for a twister I will do line work or table side but not pulpit. I don't begrudge those of you who do use your God for profit, and I hope you can understand if my opinions on balloon weapons and adult balloons are different than yours. Hope this helps. Remember I couldn't fill Christ's socks even if he wore any. Tim McConeghy Lord of Latex