Statistics, who needs 'em?

"Smoking is one of the leading causes for statistics"--Fletcher Knebel

"86% of all statistics, are made up"--Who knows, (But my daughter uses this one all the time:))

I tire of stats. They are thrown at us all the time: 78% of all left handed people are not using half of their brain, or 99% of all people who smoke smoke less if their is an elephant sitting on their chest. But I really dislike those stats that try and help you understand something: "This ship is so big it displaces 22 tons of water, that is enough to fill 2500 Olympic size swimming pools" 2500 Olympic pools, or 22 tons of water, sorry I can't comprehend either one, so your not helping much. My favorite though has to be: "This ship goes 1.9 million miles per year, that is enough to go to the moon and back 12 times, or encircle the Earth 11 times", like I know how far it is to the moon, or around the earth. Here is a statistic that is true though, no making this up: "100% of people that do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ will not get into Heaven". That one I can understand, that one is easy. I might not be able to visualize how many tankers of gasoline it would take to fill up the largest swimming pool in the world, but I know that without Jesus, there is no getting into heaven.

How about you? Does it help you when someone tells you that you use enough gasoline in one year to fill up the Super Dome in New Orleans 2 times with some left over? Nope, can't comprehend that one, I don't know how many gallons it takes to fill the Super Dome, sounds like allot though. God told me He would take my sins and "Throw them as far as the East is from the West" though, and that is pretty far. I do know that: Philippians 4:19
"And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus."

Do you see it? That one little word the implies a statistic? ..............God....WILL supply all of your needs from His glorious riches..............did you catch it that time? "ALL". I believe "All" means 100%. So lets put it this way: "And this same God who takes of me will 100% of the time, supply 100% of your needs from His glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus" Now there is a statistic I can understand. No trying to figure out how many Swimming Pools that would fill, or how many times around the world or trips to the Moon, it would take.

There are SO many statistics we hear all the time, 49% of all marriages end in divorcee, I have even heard that it is almost the same or even more with christian couples. I don't know where they get these statistics because yes there is divorce in my church but it is nowhere near those numbers. I wonder if some of these stats are made up to benefit
companies, politicians, celebrities,.....wow, do ya think? Is that so hard to believe, no not really.


When we hear a statistic that say, 49% of all people who hear a message from a certain minister, come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, do we rush out and try to get all our unsaved friends and neighbors and family members to go to his next " service?" More then likely not, because we have heard these numbers all our lives and we aren't impressed.

We could go around and tell everyone that 100% of all Christians are 100% loved and taken care of by God. But I don't think that would have much effect on people. You see, these numbers don't have much meaning to us anymore, they are just numbers that are thrown around all the time. BUT when we share what God has done for us, how He has healed us our family our friends that trusted Him. We tell them about the joy He has put in our hearts, the peace that has taken over our minds. Tell them about the love we have for others, the willingness to serve, to help, to talk to others about Him because of what He has done in our lives. I believe this will have much more of an impact then say: "God has taken care of 80% of all my needs this month and I am waiting on the other 20%" Numbers, just numbers.

With apologizes to my Daughter who is a High School Math teacher, numbers do not impress us much. Stories do, real stories of how God, our father, our supplier, our friend, has answered our prayers, how our lives have changed because of our trusts in Him. Sorry, Erin, but numbers are just numbers, they do not show us how much our father loves us.

Here is a useless statistic: 0% of all right handed people write with their left hand. Wow, aren't you glad God doesn't care about stupid stats?

Now, I am going to jump out on a limb here and predict that: 28% of those reading this will like it, 32% will say it is so-so, and 40% will not know what the subject was 10 minutes after reading it. See statistics are for dummies.