Tuesday, March 31, 2009

I JUST KNOW

I've been listening to my mp3 player while working out at the gym. I pulled out my CD cases a while back and downloaded songs onto my player. I've rediscovered so many treasures from my past. One of these is Disciple. I was just coming out of the world and felt lost (musically). I didn't have any new music to listen to and at the time didn't like most Christian music. The church I attended had some awesome worship songs......and that was cool.....but I still loved heavy bass driven solo screamin' loud rock music. These guys were a breath of fresh air.

Disciple is a Christian rock group originally out of Knoxville Tennessee. Back in 2000 David Hopper, a good friend of mine, invited me to hear them at Wallace Hall here in Gadsden. These guys preached. Their songs were heavy with scripture. The music was worshipful for me. I got fired up for God.

I had a new favorite band.

The band started out as a trio. And they ROCKED! It didn't take me long to buy all of their albums. This Might Sting A Little was the first CD I bought. Two of my favorite songs from the album are 'I Just Know (Jesus is the way)' and 'Big Bad Wolf'. I also purchased their first CD My Daddy Can Whip Your Daddy and their second What Was I Thinking. I eagerly awaited their fourth album By God....which is awesome.....and their fifth album Back Again. I believe the last time I saw them was in 2005 in Boaz Alabama when their fifth CD was released. Since then I've heard that they've gone more commercial and added new members and lost some original ones. They've had a few more albums as well. But for me.....this song is the reason I fell in love with their music.

THE GADSDEN FLAG

I ran across this article today. This was all new to me. I love this flag....especially now with all that's going on in this country. Today it became even more endearing.
An Article by: Chris Whitten
I like seeing all the American flags. I do have my complaints about the American government, especially about how intimately the Washington D.C. politicians feel they should be involved in the daily lives of their subjects, I mean, citizens. But the flag isn't just a symbol of the American government. It's a symbol of shared American values -- especially our highest common value: freedom.

When it comes to symbolizing freedom and the spirit of '76, I do think there's a better American flag. With all due respect to the stars and stripes, I prefer the yellow Gadsden flag with the coiled rattlesnake and the defiant Don't Tread on Me motto.
The meaning of Old Glory can get mixed up with the rights and wrongs of the perpetually new-and-improved government. The meaning of "Don't Tread on Me" is unmistakable.
There's also an interesting history behind this flag. And it's intertwined with one of American history's most interesting personalities, Ben Franklin.


Benjamin Franklin is famous for his sense of humor. In 1751, he wrote a satirical commentary in his Pennsylvania Gazette suggesting that as a way to thank the Brits for their policy of sending convicted felons to America, American colonists should send rattlesnakes to England.
Three years later, in 1754, he used a snake to illustrate another point. This time not so humorous.

Franklin sketched, carved, and published the first known political cartoon in an American newspaper. It was the image of a snake cut into eight sections. The sections represented the individual colonies and the curves of the snake suggested the coastline. New England was combined into one section as the head of the snake. South Carolina was at the tail. Beneath the snake were the ominous words "Join, or Die."

[Benjamin Franklin's woodcut from May 9, 1754.Newspaper Serial and Government Publications Division,Library of Congress.]

This had nothing to do with independence from Britain. It was a plea for unity in defending the colonies during the French and Indian War. It played off a common superstition of the time: a snake that had been cut into pieces could come back to life if you joined the sections together before sunset.

The snake illustration was reprinted throughout the colonies. Dozens of newspapers from Massachusetts to South Carolina ran Franklin's sketch or some variation of it. For example, the Boston Gazette recreated the snake with the words "Unite and Conquer" coming from its mouth.
I suppose the newspaper editors were hungry for graphic material, this being America's first political cartoon. Whatever the reason, Franklin's snake wiggled its way into American culture as an early symbol of a shared national identity.

The snake symbol came in handy ten years later, when Americans were again uniting against a common enemy.

In 1765 the common enemy was the Stamp Act. The British decided that they needed more control over the colonies, and more importantly, they needed more money from the colonies. The Crown was loaded with debt from the French and Indian War.
Why shouldn't the Americans -- "children planted by our care, nourished by our indulgence," as Charles Townshend of the House of Commons put it -- pay off England's debt?
Colonel Isaac Barre, who had fought in the French and Indian War, responded that the colonies hadn't been planted by the care of the British government, they'd been established by people fleeing it. And the British government hadn't nourished the colonies, they'd flourished despite what the British government did and didn't do.

In this speech, Barre referred to the colonists as "sons of liberty."
In the following months and years, as we know, the Sons of Liberty became increasingly resentful of English interference. And as the tides of American public opinion moved closer and closer to rebellion, Franklin's disjointed snake continued to be used as symbol of American unity, and American independence. For example, in 1774 Paul Revere added it to the masthead of The Massachusetts Spy and showed the snake fighting a British dragon.

[Paul Revere's modified "Join or Die" snake from the mastheadof Thomas's Boston Journal, July 7, 1774. Newspaper Serialand Government Publications Division, Library of Congress.]

[The seal from a 1778 $20 bill from Georgia. The financial backing for these bills was property seized from loyalists. The motto reads "Nemo me impune lacesset," i.e. "No one will provoke me with impunity."]By 1775, the snake symbol wasn't just being printed in newspapers. It was appearing all over the colonies ... on uniform buttons ... on paper money ... and of course, on banners and flags.

The snake symbol morphed quite a bit during its rapid, widespread adoption. It wasn't cut up into pieces anymore. And it was usually shown as an American timber rattlesnake, not a generic serpent
.
We don't know for certain where, when, or by whom the familiar coiled rattlesnake was first used with the warning "Don't Tread on Me."

We do know when it first entered the history books.

In the fall of 1775, the British were occupying Boston and the young Continental Army was holed up in Cambridge, woefully short on arms and ammunition. At the Battle of Bunker Hill, Washington's troops had been so low on gunpowder that they were ordered "not to fire until you see the whites of their eyes."

In October, a merchant ship called The Black Prince returned to Philadelphia from a voyage to England. On board were private letters to the Second Continental Congress that informed them that the British government was sending two ships to America loaded with arms and gunpowder for the British troops.

Congress decided that General Washington needed those arms more than General Howe. A plan was hatched to capture the British cargo ships. They authorized the creation of a Continental Navy, starting with four ships. The frigate that carried the information from England, the Black Prince, was one of the four. It was purchased, converted to a man-of-war, and renamed the Alfred.

To accompany the Navy on their first mission, Congress also authorized the mustering of five companies of Marines. The Alfred and its sailors and marines went on to achieve some of the most notable victories of the American Revolution. But that's not the story we're interested in here.

What's particularly interesting for us is that some of the Marines that enlisted that month in Philadelphia were carrying drums painted yellow, emblazoned with a fierce rattlesnake, coiled and ready to strike, with thirteen rattles, and sporting the motto "Don't Tread on Me."
Benjamin Franklin diverts an idle hour

[Benjamin Franklin, portrait by David Martin, 1767. White House Historical Association.]In December 1775, "An American Guesser" anonymously wrote to the Pennsylvania Journal:
"I observed on one of the drums belonging to the marines now raising, there was painted a Rattle-Snake, with this modest motto under it, 'Don't tread on me.' As I know it is the custom to have some device on the arms of every country, I supposed this may have been intended for the arms of America."

This anonymous writer, having "nothing to do with public affairs" and "in order to divert an idle hour," speculated on why a snake might be chosen as a symbol for America.

First, it occurred to him that "the Rattle-Snake is found in no other quarter of the world besides America."

The rattlesnake also has sharp eyes, and "may therefore be esteemed an emblem of vigilance." Furthermore,
"She never begins an attack, nor, when once engaged, ever surrenders: She is therefore an emblem of magnanimity and true courage. ... she never wounds 'till she has generously given notice, even to her enemy, and cautioned him against the danger of treading on her."

Finally,
"I confess I was wholly at a loss what to make of the rattles, 'till I went back and counted them and found them just thirteen, exactly the number of the Colonies united in America; and I recollected too that this was the only part of the Snake which increased in numbers. ...
"'Tis curious and amazing to observe how distinct and independent of each other the rattles of this animal are, and yet how firmly they are united together, so as never to be separated but by breaking them to pieces. One of those rattles singly, is incapable of producing sound, but the ringing of thirteen together, is sufficient to alarm the boldest man living."

Many scholars now agree that this "American Guesser" was Benjamin Franklin.
Franklin, of course, is also known for opposing the use of an eagle -- "a bird of bad moral character" -- as a national symbol.
Although Benjamin Franklin helped create the American rattlesnake symbol, his name isn't generally attached to the rattlesnake flag. The yellow "don't tread on me" standard is usually called a Gadsden flag, or less commonly, a Hopkins flag.

These two individuals were mulling about Philadelphia at the same time, making their own important contributions to American history and the history of the rattlesnake flag.
Christopher Gadsden was an American patriot if ever there was one. He led Sons of Liberty in South Carolina starting in 1765, and was later made a colonel in the Continental Army. In 1775 he was in Philadelphia representing his home state in the Continental Congress. He was also one of three members of the Marine Committee who decided to outfit and man the Alfred and its sister ships.

Gadsden and Congress chose a Rhode Island man, Esek Hopkins, as the commander-in-chief of the Navy. The flag that Hopkins used as his personal standard on the Alfred is the one we would now recognize. It's likely that John Paul Jones, as the first lieutenant on the Alfred, ran it up the gaff.

[Commodore Hopkins, portrait by C. Corbutt, 1776. Click here for a larger image. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.]

It's generally accepted that Hopkins' flag was presented to him by Christopher Gadsden, who felt it was especially important for the commodore to have a distinctive personal standard. Gadsden also presented a copy of this flag to his state legislature in Charleston. This is recorded in the South Carolina congressional journals:

"Col. Gadsden presented to the Congress an elegant standard, such as is to be used by the commander in chief of the American navy; being a yellow field, with a lively representation of a rattle-snake in the middle, in the attitude of going to strike, and these words underneath, "Don't Tread on Me!"

The Gadsden flag and other rattlesnake flags were widely used during the American Revolution. There was no standard American flag at the time. People were free to choose their own banners.
[Flag of the Culpeper Minute Men.]

The Minutemen of Culpeper County, Virginia, chose a flag that looks generally like the Gadsden flag, but also includes the famous words of the man who organized the Virginia militia, Patrick Henry, i.e. "Liberty or Death."

The First Navy Jack features an uncoiled rattlesnake winding its way across a field of thirteen red and white stripes.
One of the most interesting variations is the flag of Colonel John Proctor's Independent Battalion from Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
[Flag of Colonel John Proctor's Battalion, raised in 1775. The "I.B.W.C.P" above the rattlesnake stands for Independent Battalion, Westmoreland County, Pennsyvania.]
Tradition holds that in May 1775, when the citizens of Westmoreland gathered at the Hannastown Tavern and issued their own Declaration of Independence, they tore down the British flag that was flying there and made some modifications. The original flag had an open red field with the British ensign in the upper corner. They painted a coiled rattlesnake and its "Don't Tread on Me" warning onto the center, as if ready to strike at the Union Jack. This flag is one of the few that's still intact. It's at the William Penn Memorial Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

After the Revolution, rattlesnake flags became less common. General Washington and many members of Congress preferred stars, stripes, and more conventional symbols, such as the eagle.
Over the years the Gadsden flag has become more and more associated with rebellion and totally disassociated with pride in one's government. Some say that this makes it a lousy symbol for the Fourth of July. But I say that makes it a great symbol for celebrating the spirit of July 4, 1776.

Monday, March 30, 2009

PENNIES by Joyce Kilmer

A few long-hoarded pennies in his hand
Behold him stand;
A kilted Hedonist, perplexed and sad.
The joy that once he had,
The first delight of ownership is fled.
He bows his little head.
Ah, cruel Time, to kill
That spendid thrill!

Then in his tear-dimmed eyes
New lights arise.
He drops his treasured pennies on the ground,
They roll and bound
And scattered, rest.
Now with what zest
He runs to find his errant wealth again!

So unto men
Doth God, depriving that He may bestow.
Fame, health and money go,
But that they may, new found, be newly sweet.

Yes, at His feet
Sit, waiting us, to their concealment bid,
All they, our lovers, whom His love hath hid.

Lo, comfort blooms on pain, and peace on strife,
And gain on loss.
What is the key to Everlasting Life?
A blood-stained Cross.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Dollar General and Badminton

I just returned from the nearby Dollar General. I bought vitamins and dog food. I used to drive an hour to go to Sam's Club to buy my vitamins; liquid ones with all this neat stuff added, like noni juice and pomegranite extract; about 30 dollars a bottle. Today I bought the Dollar General version of one-a-day for women; a 60 day supply for $2.50 minus the noni juice and other extras.

There were several families in there pushing carts; it was rather crowded. They have a brand of dry dog food that can be purchased for $3.95 and it is a 15 lb. bag.
This weekend Jose' and I resurrected a cheap, fun form of recreation; badminton! I remembered playing for hours in my backyard as a child. We bought a set with two racquets and two birdies for under 7 dollars at The Academy. We didn't get the set with the net, it was more than double the price we paid and besides, who needs a net? Our object was not to keep score, but to see how long we could keep the birdie engaged; we played in our front yard and later in my parents driveway. It is also great exercise!

kdr

Friday, March 27, 2009

A RESOUNDING VOICE

More than just a good tongue lashing......Daniel Hannan speaks the truth to his Prime Minister. My question is this......where is the voice of truth in our Congress?

Thursday, March 26, 2009

HEBREWS 11:3 - By faith we understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which appear.

I like the faith chapter in Hebrews. But here lately it's been on my mind. Today I started to read it again and couldn't get past verse 3. I read it like 10 times.....then it dawned on me. GOD HAS FAITH!?!?!?

In the beginning the cosmos was created by God.......by faith. I always thought that faith was something that we had to have. I never thought of God having faith. I understand that Jesus had faith his 33 years on earth. I never thought of God having faith prior or post to that time.

How deep does this go?

I will go as far as to say that God can't just have faith.......He is faith. For us to have faith is to be like him. Maybe that's why faith was so important to Jesus when He was on earth. His currency was faith. For us to be Christians we have to continue in that faith. Someone told me a while back......'start off small (in faith)'. Hence the mustard seed.

Keep dwelling........

"The Pig Bomb" Discovery Channel



This was a program about a wild pig problem primarily in Abbeville, Georgia. It also talked about wild boar hunting in the U.S. and Great Britain. It talked about the Eurasian Boar in Russia.
There were several people who spoke on this documentary. There were several people in Georgia, a guy in England, and a Russian man speaking Russian. But the amusing thing is that only the Russian and a young hog hunter from Georgia had subtitles. The young man from Georgia did speak with an extreme southern accent and some incorrect grammar...but subtitles?!
kdr

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

TREES

We both love Trees. In all seasons we enjoy seeing their expressions.

Joyce Kilmer
1886–1918


Trees

I THINK that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the sweet earth's flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

GOD BLESS AMERICA

From the ministry of Bob Jones
While in a trance on the afternoon of July 26, 2008, Bob heard the audible voice of God say “America has forgotten Kate Smith’s song……..God Bless America! They are cursing America more than blessing her with their words. Their words have power. I have not forgotten her; I love her. If they don’t begin to bless America, she will go down!

Bob felt it necessary to issue this warning! Bless America, don’t curse her. God has not given up on her, neither can we. Our words have the power to bless or curse so we need to begin to bless America with our conversation. (Duet 30:14-20)

God Bless America
Lyrics by Irving Berlin


God bless America,
Land that I love,
Stand beside her and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above;

From the mountains to the prairies,
To the oceans white with foam,
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.
God bless America,
My home, sweet home.

March 23, 1775

I know. I'm a day late in posting this. It's from my book, "The American Patriot's Almanac" by William J. Bennett and John T. E. Cribb.

"With hostilities between Americans and British troops breaking out in New England, Patrick Henry stood in a packed St. John's Church in Richmond, Virginia, and made a fiery argument to the Second Virginia Convention that the time had come for the colonies to gather their strength and commit themselves to action. His ringing words still remind us that freedom must be defended:


'Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of Hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?...The battle, sir , is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat, but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged, their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable-and let it come! I repeat, sir, let it come!

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, 'peace, peace'-but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!' "

I felt awhile ago that America's voting for Big Government was in essence comparable to Israel's asking for a king. They felt more secure with a king, not realizing, though Samuel warned them, the consequences that would come with that false security. It's too high a price to pay, y'all. It's not worth it.


1 Samuel 8:

10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king. 11 He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. 12 “He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 “He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 “He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. 15 “He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. 16 “He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. 17 “He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. 18 “Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

I think it would help to remember our past as we look to our future. Back then, it was King George, now it's King Big Government. But there was courage and hope then, and there is courage and hope now.

In writing this, I would like to say that it's good that those old wounds between Great Britain and America have long ago healed. Since then, we've fought many battles together. I personally will never forget on 9/11/01, I think it was during the changing of the guard, but not sure; anyway, they played "The Star Spangled Banner". How classy is that?!

kdr

Monday, March 23, 2009

SPY CAMERA

I got the idea a few weeks ago to set up a wildlife camera down at the pond. I just wanted to see what's going on down there. Plus, there had been a few killings over the past several months (mostly ducks and chickens). I just wanted to see who's down at the pond.



Of course Opal set off the camera. She loves to walk between the pond and the barn on a daily basis. She does fly....but prefers to walk.


I was surprised to get a photo of this crane.



Then there's the culprit..........


RACCOON!


Well I guess that's that! Raccoons are notorious for killing ducks and chickens.





WAS IT A MORNING LIKE THIS

'>

I first heard this song at an outdoors sunrise service in the 9o's. I was taken with the idea of the earth itself rejoicing that Jesus had risen. kdr

Saturday, March 21, 2009

A Poem By Helen Keller

"They took away what should have been my eyes,
(But I remembered Milton's Paradise).

They took away what should have been my ears,
(Beethoven came and wiped away my tears).

They took away what should have been my tongue,
(But I had talked with God when I was young).

He would not let them take away my soul--
Possessing that, I still possess the whole."


kdr

Friday, March 20, 2009

LAZY WITH THE BLOGS

So we've been really busy this week.............and lazy about doing blogs.

Work picked up this week for us. Nice! The weather has been wonderful.

I haven't paid too much attention to what's going on in Washington D.C. .......I could guess though......'spend money....blah blah blah.......it's Bush's fault....blah blah blah.....pork......blah blah blah'. I have missed watching Glenn Beck. I was wondering one thing today......I heard on the news that P.B.O. (President Barack Obama) was figuring out the budget all the way to 2019. How can that be? Even if he gets re-elected he'll be out by 2016 (or so). Unless.....he's planning on doing the Chavez thing...do away with term limits. Anyways.....even if P.B.O. gets two terms...how can he control the budget that long. Plus! How can congress do that as well. Hopefully most of those guys will be out next year or the voting cycles after. Shouldn't they budget the gubment this year only?!?! Somebody explain that to me!

Enough of that........

This week has been good. It seems as though there is never enough time in the day to do all that I want to do. Especially now that the sun's setting after 7pm now. The farm animals are loving the spring weather.... the new grass...... warm sun.

Get out and enjoy these beautiful spring days!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

O DANNY BOY



AS ONLY THEY CAN DO IT......

IN HONOUR OF ST. PATRICK

Sunday, March 15, 2009

"Seek the Lord and live..."

This is a quote from the Spring 2002 issue of The Morning Star Journal by Rick Joyner:

"Resistance to change is one of our most deadly enemies. This is often called 'the tyranny of the familiar' that compels us to derive our security from our environment rather than from our living relationship with the Lord. That is why we are warned in Amos 5:5-6:

' But do not seek Bethel, nor enter Gilgal, nor pass over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nothing. Seek the Lord and live...'

All three of these places were where Israel experienced previous visitations from the Lord. He was saying by this not to seek the places where He visited in the past, but seek the person of the Lord."

There are so many changes effecting me right now; from personal relationships to national issues. I don't think that most of the changes taking place in the government are good ones. I believe that the ones in my relationships are for the ultimate good. But whether are not they are good; they are all hard.

When I read the letter from Rick, I began to realize just how very much I derived my own security from my environment instead of my relationship with the Lord. I have to determine daily to "seek the Lord and live..."

kdr

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Okra


Every spring my dad plants a garden and okra is always included. We were wondering where it came from. We found that it originated in Ethiopia. It was exported from there to Egypt via the Nile River. It was carried into Spain by the Moors; then from Spain to France. When the French settled Louisiana, they brought it with them.

I help in the garden every year. But I usually stay away from the okra. It is very prickly and causes me to itch and sting. If I do gather it, I wear long sleeves and gloves.

This year, my sister and her family are going to come and help plant the garden. I'm really looking forward to it. Maybe we'll grill out and make ice cream!

kdr


Monday, March 09, 2009

Each In His Own Tongue by William Herbert Carruth



A fire mist and a planet,
A crystal and a cell,
A jellyfish and a saurian,
And caves where the cave men dwell;
Then a sense of law and beauty,
And a face turned from the clod —
Some call it Evolution,
And others call it God.

A haze on the far horizon,
The infinite, tender sky,
The ripe, rich tint of the cornfields,
And the wild geese sailing high;
And all over upland and lowland
The charm of the goldenrod —
Some of us call it Autumn,
And others call it God.

Like tides on a crescent sea beach,
When the moon is new and thin,
Into our hearts high yearnings
Come welling and surging in;
Come from the mystic ocean,
Whose rim no foot has trod —
Some of us call it Longing,
And others call it God.

A picket frozen on duty,
A mother starved for her brood,
Socrates drinking the hemlock,
And Jesus on the rood;
And millions who, humble and nameless,
The straight, hard pathway plod —
Some call it Consecration,
And others call it God.

Sunday, March 08, 2009

A THOUGHT OR TWO

ROMANS 8:

35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 Just as it is written,“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You know....God really knows what He's doing.


I've been thinking on these verses all day today. I believe that God's plans and purposes are eternal. He is working through all of this economic turmoil.....shaking all that can be shook. That includes me! There's a shaking going on in my life right now.....really in my family. But I know deep in my heart it'll be fine. Why? Nothing can separate us from the love of God. You either believe it or you don't. That's what I tell myself. You either walk in faith or fear. My thoughts lately have been on the state of our nation and the direction we're heading...as are most people. Regardless of what comes out of D.C........I have to keep my focus centered on God.


My hopes are that the events that are taking place now will cause us (as a nation) to redirect our focus and values toward God. I know that regardless of what happens God's love will never change for us.....but I also know that chastisement comes out of love too.


Revelation 3:

14 “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. 20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

Thursday, March 05, 2009

FUNNY STORY

A Minneapolis couple decided to go to Florida to thaw out during a particularly icy winter. They planned to stay at the same hotel where they spent their honeymoon 20 years earlier. Because of hectic schedules, it was difficult to coordinate their travel schedules. So, the husband left Minnesota and flew to Florida on Thursday, with his wife flying down the following day.
The husband checked into the hotel. There was a computer in his room. He decided to send an email to his wife. However, he accidentally left out one letter in her email address, and without realizing his error, he sent the email.



Meanwhile, somewhere in Houston, a widow had just returned home from her husband’s funeral. He was a minister who was called home to glory following a heart attack. The widow decided to check her email expecting messages from family and friends. After reading the first message, she screamed and fainted. The widow’s son rushed into the room, found his mother on the floor passed out.



He looked at the computer which read:


To: My Loving WifeSubject: I’ve ArrivedDate: March 2, 2009


I know you’re surprised to hear from me. They have computers here now and you are allowed to send emails to your loved ones. I’ve just arrived and have been checked in. I’ve seen that everything has been prepared for your arrival tomorrow. Looking forward to seeing you then!!!!
Hope your journey is as uneventful as mine was.



P.S. Sure is freaking hot down here!!!!

WAITING by John Burroughs

Serene, I fold my hands and wait,
Nor care for wind, nor tide, nor sea;
I rave no more 'gainst time or fate,
For lo! my own shall come to me.
I stay my haste, I make delays,
For what avails this eager pace?
I stand amid the eternal ways,
And what is mine shall know my face.
Asleep, awake, by night or day,
The friends I seek are seeking me;
No wind can drive my bark astray,
Nor change the tide of destiny.
What matter if I stand alone?
I wait with joy the coming years;
My heart shall reap where it hath sown,
And garner up its fruit of tears.
The waters know their own and draw
The brook that springs in yonder height;
So flows the good with equal law
Unto the soul of pure delight.
The stars come nightly to the sky;
The tidal wave unto the sea;
Nor time, nor space, nor deep, nor high,
Can keep my own away from me.




Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Integrity and Humility

The following is from a book by Rick Joyner entitled, "Leadership, Mangement and the Five Essentials for Success".


"Integrity is more than just being honest, it is doing what is right...Even the greatest leaders make mistakes. The better the leader you are the more costly and visible your mistakes will be. Recovering from mistakes is an important test of true leadership ability. Complete recovery will not take place without accepting such mistakes and taking responsibility for them. The greatest leaders learn to turn their failures into opportunities for achievement and victory. In many cases failures will turn into the best opportunities for victory. Wellington, Napoleon and Lee accomplished some of their greatest victories because of their ability to turn their enemy's achievements into traps for defeating them. The Japanese used defeat in war as a springboard for economic victory in peacetime. Vision and leadership can turn the worst catastrophe into opportunity.

To his credit General Lee never blamed anyone but himself for the defeat at Gettysburg. His subordinates failed him a number of times in that battle; the compounded effect of these failures led him to make the desparate decision that led to defeat. But Lee never mentioned any of his subordinates' failures. After the war when one of these generals publicly and bitterly blamed Lee for the defeat, Lee agreed with him. This humilty endeared Lee to the entire world; he actually became the most respected man in the nation after the war. His humility soon caused even his worst critics to acknowledge him as one of the great men of their times."

Hope and Simplicity...


This is another passage from the writings of Rick Joyner. His website has a word of the week. It's entitled "Discerning the Times". I think it currently has 19 parts. I don't recall which one this is from.

"As things tend to get increasingly complicated in the world, one of the ways that we can be a light is to keep the simplicity of devotion to Christ. He is the answer to every problem we have. The ultimate witness of the gospel of the Kingdom is that the King is coming and He will fix everything.
Don't ever forget that, and it is just as good a promise for our personal lives as it is for the world. Even if we are in a mess because of our own foolishness, greed, or any other sin, the world likewise is in its mess for the same reasons. He did not come to condemn, but to save."


kdr

Tuesday, March 03, 2009

If...by Rudyard Kipling

If

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
but make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!

THE MORE YOU KNOW

.........the less you really know.

That's definitely the case with me. I had one of those moments Sunday where I came to the end of my wits and decided that I don't know a thing.

But I'm cool with that.

There is such a depth and richness to God and the bible.

ROMANS 11:33
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!

AIN'T THAT THE TRUTH!