#1201  The Empty Bird Cage
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There once was a man named George Thomas, a 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. 

Several 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 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 and 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 birdcage 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 tears, and all your blood." 

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

The pastor picked up the cage, he opened the door, 
and he walked from the pulpit. 

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 we believe what the newspapers say, 
but question what the Bible says. Isn't it funny how 
everyone wants to go to heaven provided they do not 
have to believe, think, say, or do anything the Bible 
says. Isn't it funny how someone can say, "I believe 
in God", but still follow Satan who, by the way, also 
'believes' in God? 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 and people think twice about 
sharing. 

Isn't it funny how the lewd, crude, and vulgar pass 
freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion 
of Jesus is suppressed in the school and workplace? 

Isn't it funny how when you go to forward this message, 
you will not send it to many on your address list because you're 
not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for 
sending it to them. 

Isn't it funny how I can be more worried about what other people 
think of me than what God thinks of me. 

Who will pass this on? 

MountainWings.com did - regardless of the criticism. 


Thank you for inviting MountainWings in your mailbox. 
See you tomorrow.