>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 you got there, son?" "Just some old
>birds," came the reply.
>
>"What are you gonna 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?"
>
>"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 the 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 get 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 he opened the door and he walked from the
>pulpit.
_____
I receive some wonderful things in email. Thank You to all of those who
take the time, and are thoughtful enough to send out some of the most
inspirational things that I have ever seen. There is some wonderful
witnessing going on in email. I have been uplifted more than once
by my friends.