GOD'S GRACE

It is a shame but this message is very true. Hope you are all as blessed as
I was by this story. I wonder how many people will delete this without
reading it because of the title.

There once was a man named George Thomas, pastor in a small New England
town. One Easter Sunday morning he came to the Church carrying a rusty,
bent, old bird cage, and set it by the pulpit.
Eyebrows were raised and, as if in response, Pastor Thomas began to
speak....

"I was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward
me swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild
birds, shivering with cold and fright.

I stopped the lad and asked, "What do you have there, son?"

"Just some old birds," came the reply.

"What are you going to do with them?" I asked.

"Take 'em home and have fun with 'em," he answered. "I'm gonna tease 'em and
pull out their feathers to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good
time.."

"But you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do
then?"

"Oh, I got some cats," said the little boy. "They like birds. I'll take 'em
to them."

The pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds,
son?"

"Huh?? !!! Why, you don't want them birds, mister. They're just plain old
field birds. They don't sing. They ain't even pretty!"

"How much?" the pastor asked again.

The boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?"

The pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed
it in the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone. The pastor picked up the
cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where there was a tree
and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the
door, and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them
free. Well, that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the
pastor began to tell this story:

One day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from
the Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting. "Yes, sir, I just
caught a world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used bait I knew
they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"

"What are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.

Satan replied, "Oh, I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry
and divorce each
other, how to hate and abuse each other, how to drink and smoke and curse.
I'm gonna teach them how to invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm
really gonna have fun!"

"And what will you do when you are done with them?" Jesus asked.

"Oh, I'll kill 'em," Satan glared proudly.

"How much do you want for them?" Jesus asked.

"Oh, you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you'll take them
and they'll just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you. You
don't want those people!!"

"How much? He asked again.

Satan looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your blood, tears and your life."

Jesus said, "DONE!" Then He paid the price.

The pastor picked up the cage and walked from the pulpit.


Note:
Isn't it funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder
why the world's going to hell? Isn't it funny how someone can say "I
believe in God" but still follow Satan.
Isn't it funny how you can send a thousand jokes through e-mail and
they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the
Lord, people think twice about sharing?
Isn't it funny how we can be more worried about what other people think
of us than what God thinks of us?