4th of July

Pledge of Allegiance by Red Skelton

As a schoolboy, one of Red Skelton's teachers explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down, and eventually recorded, his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own.

I - Me, an individual, a committee of one.

Pledge - Dedicate all of my worldly good to give without self-pity.

Allegiance - My love and my devotion.

To the Flag - Our standard; Old Glory; a symbol of Courage; and wherever she waves there is respect, because your loyalty has given her a dignity that shouts, Freedom is everybody's job.

of the United - That means that we have all come together.

States - Individual communities that have united into forty-eight great states. Forty-eight individual communities with pride and dignity and purpose. All divided by imaginary boundaries, yet united to a common cause, and that is love of country, of America..

And to the Republic - A Republic - a sovereign state in which power is invested in the representatives chosen by the people to govern. And the government is the people; and it's from the people to the leaders, not from the leaders to the people.

For which it stands

One Nation One Nation - meaning, so blessed by God.

Indivisible - Incapable of being divided.

With Liberty - Which is Freedom; the right of power for one to live his own life, without fears, threats, or any sort of retaliation.

And Justice - The principle, and qualities, of dealing fairly with others.

For All - For All - that means, boys and girls, it's as much your country as it is mine.

Now, let me hear you recite the Pledge of Allegiance:

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, for which it stands; one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Since I was a small boy, two states have been added to our country, and two words have been added to the Pledge of Allegiance: Under God.

God Bless America!

July 1

“The Fruit of the Spirit”
Love is the Christlike reaction to people’s malice.
Joy is the Christlike reaction to depressing circumstances.
Peace is the Christlike reaction to troubles, threats and invitations to anxiety.
Patience is the Christlike reaction to all that is maddening.
Kindness is the Christlike reaction to all that are unkind.
Goodness is the Christlike reaction to bad people and had behavior.
Faithfulness and gentleness are the Christlike reactions to lies and fury.
Self-control is the Christlike reaction to every situation that goads you to lose your cool and hit out.


Christian motto: I'm going to Heaven, having a great time doing it, and want to take as many with me as possible.

"What can I do today that I would be proud to look back on at the end of my life?" -- Unknown

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs--jolted by every pebble in the road." -- Henry Ward Beecher

A New Kingdom Coming
John Wycliffe had a vision of a Bible in the common English tongue. But dogmatists anchored to the past killed him for it. John Huss dreamed a dream of a responsible Christian life guided by the scriptures. Traditionalists burned him at the stake. Martin Luther was awakened to a new reality of God's grace -- an awakening not shared by contemporaries profiting from the status quo. Consequently, he was hunted for years for revealing an exciting and preferable future. A kingdom was coming and the powers of the past could not prevail against it.
What is the difference between a nicely dressed man on a tricycle and a poorly dressed man on a bicycle? A tire.

"The world is a great mirror. It reflects back to you what you are. If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful, the world will prove loving and friendly and helpful to you. The world is what you are." -- Thomas Dreier

"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it's on ... a football field, in an army or in an office." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved." -- Helen Keller

"Without personal growth the best we can achieve is infantile relationships." -- Terry George

If you hold your thumb at arms length toward the sky, there are more than 250,000 galaxies behind the space of you thumbnail.

"One kid leading another kid to the foot of the cross for a life-changing encounter with Jesus is one of the most prolific and effective means of evangelism in the nation."
- George Barna

"Don't tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." - George Patton

"We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them." - Albert Einstein

He who made us also remade us. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Shoes
As Gandhi stepped aboard a train one day, one of his shoes slipped off and landed on the track. He was unable to retrieve it as the train was moving. To the amazement of his companions, Gandhi calmly took off his other shoe and threw it back along the track to land close to the first. Asked by a fellow passenger why he did so, Gandhi smiled. "The poor man who finds the shoes lying on the track," he replied, "will now have a pair he can use."

God will Never......
The will of God will never take you,
Where the grace of God cannot keep you.
Where the arms of God cannot support you,
Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs,
Where the power of God cannot endow you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the spirit of God cannot work through you,
Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you,
Where the army of God cannot protect you,
Where the hands of God cannot mold you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the love of God cannot enfold you,
Where the mercies of God cannot sustain you,
Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears,
Where the authority of God cannot overrule for you.

The will of God will never take you,
Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears,
Where the Word of God cannot feed you,
Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you,
Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.


In the days of America’s infancy, Alexis de Tocquerville wrote: “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and ample rivers, and it was not there; in the fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness, did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”

The president of the College of New Jersey, the Reverend John Witherspoon (Presbyterian), was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence.
He is too much forgotten in our history books: John Witherspoon had a far-reaching influence on democracy. He had personally taught several of the signers of the document, and nine of them were graduates of the little college over which he presided at Princeton.
When he took up his pen to put his name to the document, Witherspoon declared: "There is a tide in the affairs of men, a spark. We perceive it now before us. To hesitate is to consent to our own slavery. That noble instrument upon the table, that insures immortality to its author, should be subscribed this very morning by every pen in this house. He that will not respond to its accents, and strain every nerve to carry into effect its provisions, is unworthy of the name of free man. For my own part, of property I have some; of reputation, more. That reputation is staked, that property is pledged on the issue of this contest; and although these gray hairs must soon descend into the sepulcher, I would infinitely rather that they descend thither by the hand of the executioner than desert at this crisis the sacred cause of my country."

FREEDOM “THOUGHTS”
**Christianity and patriotism have much in common. It is significant to note that:
Our patriotic hymn, "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," was written by a Baptist clergyman, Samuel Francis Smith.
The Pledge of Allegiance to the flag was written in 1892 by a Baptist minister, Francis Bellamy.
The words, "In God We Trust," carried on all of our coins, are traced to the efforts of the Rev. W. R. Watkinson of Ridleyville, Pennsylvania. His letter of concern, addressed to the Hon. S. P Chase, was dated November 13, 1861. Seven days later Mr. Chase wrote to James Pollock, Director of the U.S. Mint as follows:
"No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins. Will you cause a device to be prepared without delay with a motto expressing in the finest and tersest words possible, this national recognition."


Freedom — what is it? How far does it go? And what are we free from? As we gather to worship on this July 4, we are reminded that long before there was a United States or any country or states, there was and is Almighty God. It is the freedom we have in Him that allows all other things to exist and be what they are. What is this freedom? The prison bars of our sin have been opened by Christ, and we are forgiven and free to live the life of a child of God. Any other life is still in prison and that is what we need to tell our world today! Those who live in Christ are not tyrants, they are not law-breakers. Instead they are ready to share the love, mercy, grace, and compassion of Jesus to make their home, their community, and their country a better place in which to live!

Today is a celebration of freedom! In Christ we are free from the bondage of sin and live under the blessings of God and His unending mercy and grace. As Americans, we are free from tyranny and oppression, given certain unalienable rights as citizens of the United States. As we gather to celebrate these freedoms, we must never lose sight of the fact that America IS you and me! We are a line of people who have willingly paid the price to preserve and protect our nation’s freedom. We have been blessed as no other nation on earth. Yet we must be cautious of our pride in such accomplishments for our trust must not and cannot rest in our own strength. One of our greatest freedom fighters, President Abraham Lincoln, said over a century ago that it was the duty of nations and individuals to “recognize the sublime truth announced in the Holy Scriptures and proved by all history, that those nations only are blessed who God is the Lord.”

**Freedom comes by filling your mind with God's thoughts. -- Erwin W. Lutzer (1941- )
**Men must be governed by God or they will be ruled by tyrants. -- William Penn (1644-1718)
**Proclaim liberty throughout all the inhabitants thereof. -- -Leviticus 25:10, inscription on the Liberty Bell at Philadelphia
**The God who gave us life, gave us liberty at the same time. -- Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
**The principles of the Bible are the groundwork of human freedom. -- Horace Greeley (1811-1872)

"Ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it." -- Lou Holtz

June 24, 2007

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
I have found the paradox
that if I love until it hurts,
then there is no hurt,
only more love. ......Mother Teresa

"Yes, my confidence as a preacher is in the power of God's Word. That's one of the most exciting things about preaching. It's not because we like to lecture. It's not because people are staring at us and waiting for us to say something. It's because we are driven by the conviction that God's truth, that those truths recorded in human language, have the potential to transform people's lives. And that's the most exciting thing, isn't it? When you proclaim that and you see God work through it? That's what gets you hooked. And once you're hooked, you never go back." - John Koessler, in Getting Gold From the Text

“The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not, 'What a lovely sermon!' but 'I will do something.'” - Billy Graham

"You don't hit bottom ... you hit God." - Tess character from the Touched by an Angel television show

"The decision to grow always involves a choice between risk and comfort." - John Ortberg

Independence Day in the United States commemorates the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was not an official national holiday until 1941.

• Higher Education May Not Be Religion's Enemy
In a recent study by the University of Texas at Austin, it was found that college students are less likely to abandon their faith than those who never pursued a college degree. The research, according to christianpost.com, also found that those who never attended college had the highest rates of decline in church attendance (76%), also placed diminished importance on religion (24%) and disaffiliated from religion (20%). Students who earned at least a bachelor's degree, on the other hand, had the lowest rates on those three factors with 59 percent indicating decreased church attendance and 15 percent placing less importance on religion and disaffiliating from religion.

• Most Americans Want a Religious President
American voters want a religious person to be president, according to a poll released last week by the Sacred Heart University Polling Institute. Over half of all respondents with an opinion (61%) believe a presidential candidate should be religious, while 39 percent do not. A majority of Americans (66%) said the candidates' specific religious affiliation is not relevant to their voting decision, while 28 percent — representing approximately 34 million people — do consider a candidate's specific religious affiliation. Most of the rest (6%) responded they were unsure if a candidate's specific religious connection influences their vote.


There are three things that only God knows: the beginning of things, the cause of things and the end of things. - Welsh Proverb

The forgetful servant –
The life of a servant requires a kind of forgetfulness,
the ability to forget our own needs in the process of
tending to someone else's. Look to the needs of others,
and trust God to supply your own needs. (Philippians 4:19)

"The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four Americans is suffering from some form of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they are okay, then it's you."

How you choose to respond each moment to the movie of life determines how you see the next frame, and the next, and eventually how you feel when the movie ends." Doc Childre

An unshaven, unkempt man approached a well-dressed woman shopping on Rodeo Drive and said, “I haven’t eaten anything in four days.”
She looked at him and said, “Man, I wish I had your willpower.”

Comfort food. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The term comfort food refers to any food or drink to which one habitually turns for temporary respite, security or special reward. The reasons that something becomes a comfort food are diverse but include the food’s familiarity, simplicity and/or pleasant associations. Small children often seem to latch on to a specific food or drink (in a way similar to a security blanket) and will repeatedly request it in high-stress situations. Adults, however, are certainly not exempt.
A substantial majority of comfort foods are composed largely of simple or complex carbohydrate, such as sugar, rice, refined wheat and so on. It has been postulated that such foods induce an opiatelike effect in the brain, which may account for their soothing nature.
The term comfort food was added to the Webster’s Dictionary in 1972.
When sick, or tired, or far from home, everyone seems to yearn for the gastronomic equivalent of a warm sweater, a kiss on the forehead, a favorite blanket. Macaroni and cheese might mean comfort to you. Or perhaps your source of succor is beef stew or udon noodles. We asked acclaimed chefs and food writers to share their favorite comfort foods and discovered that even people who have sampled the world’s culinary delights return to simple, hearty fare when they crave comfort.
Marketing professor Brian Wansink has discovered there is a gender difference in the selection of “comfort” foods.
Perhaps men are from Mars and women from Venus, at least in the eating department. When it comes to foods that bring them psychological comfort, men like hearty meals, while women look for snacks that require little or no preparation, though they may cause pangs of guilt.
Cornell University researchers have found strong gender trends in comfort food consumption. Women tend to comfort-eat when they are experiencing negative effects — loneliness, depression, guilt and stress. They tend to turn to the classic comfort foods that are higher in sugar and fat. Think chocolate. Ice cream. Brownies. Men, however, tend to eat comfort food in response to positive emotions, favoring slightly healthier foods like soups, pastas or steaks.
Illinois researchers suspect that these gender trends hold up because men turn to the foods that Mom made when they were kids. In contrast, researcher Brian Wansink notes that “because adult females are not generally accustomed to having hot food prepared for them and as children saw the female as the primary food preparer, they tend to gain psychological comfort from less labor-intensive foods such as chocolate, candy and ice cream.”


Once during Queen Victoria’s reign, she heard that the wife of a common laborer had lost her baby. Having experienced deep sorrow herself, she felt moved to express her sympathy. So she called on the bereaved woman one day and spent some time with her.
After she left, the neighbors asked what the queen had said. “Nothing,” replied the grieving mother. “She simply put her hands on mine, and we silently wept together.”

Signs to Hang in your Office
* I can please only one person per day, and today is not your day. Tomorrow isn't looking too good either.
* I don't have an attitude problem. You have a perception problem.
* I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by.
* If swimming is so good for your figure, how do you explain whales?
* My Reality Check bounced.
* I have not yet begun to procrastinate.
* I don't suffer from stress. I'm just a carrier.
* Tell me what you need, and I'll tell you how to get along without it.
* Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.
* Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
* Someday we'll look back on all this and plow into a parked car.
* "Work spares us from three great evils: Boredom, Vice and Need." -- Voltaire
* "Our goal should not be to be employed, but to be employable." -- Patricia Fripp
* "Discipline is the foundation upon which all success is built. Lack of discipline inevitably leads to failure." -- Jim Rohn
* "I've never known a man worth his salt who in the long run, deep down in his heart, didn't appreciate the grind, the discipline...I firmly believe that any man's finest hour -
this greatest fulfillment to all he holds dear - is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle, victorious." -- Vince Lombardi
* "You do what you have to do, to do what you want to do." -- Patricia Fripp


One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.
So he invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement, he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!
Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

"Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it. No involvement, no commitment." -- Stephen Covey

"Help those who deserve it, not just those who need it. Life responds to deserve not need." -- Jim Rohn
"You can't fly a kite unless you go against the wind and have a weight to keep it from turning somersaults. The same with man. No man will succeed unless he is ready to face and overcome difficulties and is prepared to assume responsibilities." -- William J. H. Boetcker

"Welcome difficulties and obstacles as valuable steps in the ladder to success." -- Brian Tracy

June 17, 2007

"How blessed are the children, Who in their father see, The tender father-love of God, And find their way to Thee " -- Unknown

Someone has observed that in state penitentiaries prisoners frequently request "Happy Mother's Day" cards. They almost never ask for "Happy Father's day" cards. I wonder why that would be?

Okay, dad, let's be realistic. When it comes to comparing dads with moms, there is no comparison. For instance, consumers are expected to spend $98.34 this year on dad; they spent $139.14 on mom.
Father's Day is most popular in the Midwest (77.1% celebrate), less so in the West (74.4%). Roughly 70 percent of dads will get a greeting card. (Source: Natl. Retail Federation. Greeting Card Assn. USAToday)
What makes Father's Day so "priceless" is the number of dads in our great country. There are approximately 64.3 million fathers in our nation. An estimated 26.5 million of those dads are married with children under the age of 18 — millions who have the "priceless" opportunity to influence their children and direct their lives properly.
The challenge comes, however, when each dad must decide how involved he will be in his child's life. That decision is "priceless."
a Father's Day message has an emphasis on three things.
1. Fathering must be intentional. Parenting of any value does not leave the results to chance. Dads must take seriously the development of their family.
2. Fathering must be patient and loving. Dads need to be involved. That means we are called to show love in such a way that our children can model our behavior. Showing love to their mom is a great start — loving them is "priceless."
3. Fathering must be spiritual. For a child to properly develop as a whole person, he or she needs a dad with biblical values, and one who puts into practice his faith. Statistics prove that families with godly dads, in the end, have a better result. Bottom line: "Dad" — you're priceless!!

• Barna: Atheists, Agnostics and Christians
Atheists — who have determined there is no God — and Agnostics — who doubt His existence — are adopting a more aggressive, intentional effort to discredit the notion that God exists and to critique people of faith. A new survey by The Barna Group points out that most atheists and agnostics (56%) agree with the idea that radical Christianity is just as threatening in America as is radical Islam. In size, the "no-faith" group represents about one out of every 11 Americans (9%). However, in a nation of more than 220 million adults, that comprises roughly 20 million people.


"It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference." - Tom Brokaw

During the year ending in September 2006 about 30.1 percent of women and 23.0 percent of men did volunteer work. People who were between the ages of 35 to 54 were the most likely age group to volunteer (31.2 percent), and people in their 20s were the least likely (17.8) percent. The age group with the largest decline in volunteerism from 2005 to 2006 was high school students (33.5 to 28.8 percent). - Source: U.S. Department of Labor

"God has someone for each ministry he initiates, so don't force pieces into the wrong slots by not doing your homework. Guard yourself from the temptation to fill a position with a warm body." - Wayne Cordeiro, Doing Church as a Team (Regal, 2004)

"Whatever comes our way, whatever battle we have raging inside us, we always have a choice. ... It's the choices that make us who we are, and we can always choose to do what's right." - Peter Parker in Spiderman 3

My Dad's Hands
Bedtime came, we were settling down,
I was holding one of my lads.
As I grasped him so tight, I saw a strange sight:
My hands. . .they looked like my dad's!

I remember them well, those old gnarled hooks,
there was always a cracked nail or two.
And thanks to a hammer that strayed from its mark,
his thumb was a beautiful blue!

They were rough, I remember, incredibly tough,
as strong as a carpenter's vice.
But holding a scared little boy at night,
they seemed to me awfully nice!

The sight of those hands - how impressive it was
in the eyes of his little boy.
Other dads' hands were cleaner, it seemed
(the effects of their office employ).

I gave little thought in my formative years
of the reason for Dad's raspy mitts:
The love in the toil, the dirt and the oil,
rusty plumbing that gave those hands fits!

Thinking back, misty-eyed, and thinking ahead,
when one day my time is done.
The torch of love in my own wrinkled hands
will pass on to the hands of my son.

I don't mind the bruises, the scars here and there
or the hammer that just seemed to slip.
I want most of all when my son takes my hand,
to feel that love lies in the grip.


"Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither." -- C.S. Lewis

"If a nation values anything more than freedom, it will lose its freedom; and the irony of it is that if it is comfort or money that it values more, it will lose that too." -- W. Somerset Maugham

"Do not blame anybody else for your mistakes and failures." -- Bernard Baruch

"You life is a gift from God. What you make of it is your presentation back to God."

"Kind words can be short, but their echoes are endless." -- Mother Teresa

"Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you." -- Oscar Wilde

"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." – John Quincy Adams

"Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom, and then lost it, have never known it again." -- Ronald Reagan

The wurst new flavors you can imagine... Hoping to spice up their summer business, German butchers have introduced a new line of exotic-tasting sausages with flavors ranging from kiwi, maraschino cherry, lemon and even aloe vera.
The wide variety of new ingredients may seem like heresy to what is for many ordinary Germans the national dish. But for others the new flavors may help negate stagnant demand for the greasy Bratwurst you can find on almost any street corner.
Berlin butcher Uwe Buenger has developed a "chili-honey" Bratwurst while rival Dankert has come up with a "kiwi wurst" that also includes pineapples and maraschino cherries, Bild newspaper reported Tuesday.
For sausage connoisseurs, there is also the "Truefflebratwurst" that includes truffle, a fungus spiced with black and white pepper. Other sausages in Berlin are made of lamb, ginger, parsley, cardamom and edible blossoms.


A father is a man who expects his children to be as good as he meant to be. --Carolyn Coats, Things Your Dad Always Told You But You Didn't Want To Hear

A man ought to live so that everybody knows he is a Christian . . . and most of all, his family ought to know.--D. L. Moody

* The man who finds a good woman, should show his son how to avoid a bad one
* (Proverbs 2, 5, 6, 7, 9)
* Thank God for fathers who not only gave us life but taught us what to do with it.
* Make a list of the special things you remember about your own dad, whether he's living or not. Then go back and take special note of the things from your list that you see in your own life. What does that say to you about influence? (Is it too late to thank him?)

While my friend was working as a receptionist for an eye surgeon, a very angry woman stormed up to her desk.. "Someone stole my wig while I was having surgery yesterday," she complained. The doctor came out and tried to calm her down. "I assure you that no one on my staff would have done such a thing," he said. "Why do you think it was taken here?"
"After the operation, I noticed the wig I was wearing was cheap-looking and ugly."
"I think" explained the surgeon gently, "that means your cataract operation was a success."

No one told any better golf stories than Bob Hope. "Jerry Ford was the first person to make golf a contact sport. When he yelled, 'Fore!', you never knew if he was telling people to get out of the way or predicting how many spectators he was going to hit."

So What CAN We Eat?
Can't eat beef... mad cow and e-coli
Can't eat chicken... bird flu
Can't eat eggs... again, bird flu
Can't eat pork...fears that bird flu will infect piggies
Can't eat fish...heavy metals in the water has poisoned their meat
Can't eat fruits and veggies....... insecticides and herbicides
Hmmmm! I believe that leaves chocolate!

June 10

A pastor was giving a lesson to a group of children on the 23rd Psalm. He noticed that one of the little boys seemed disquieted by the phrase "Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life..."
"What's wrong with that, Johnny?" the pastor asked.
"Well," answered Johnny, "I understand about having goodness and mercy, for God is good. But I'm not sure I'd like Shirley following me around all the time."

My bathroom scales are also beginning to show signs of inflation.

I was getting to the point of my conversation when suddenly my train of thought pulled out of the station, leaving me on the platform.


WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR CHILDREN and/or grandchildren?
It is very difficult not to get caught up in the adventures and consequences of Hollywood's "bad girls." The names Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie dominate news shows, newspapers and magazines. These young ladies, all under the age of 26, have become famous more for their misdeeds than their accomplishments. It has been said, "Fame, money and power change everything." Would you agree?
It is also a sad commentary on our society when the young ladies mentioned above become the role models for pre-teen and teenage girls around the world. Paris Hilton was in jail (apparently now under house arrest), Lindsay Lohan is in re-hab, Nicole Richie is fighting to stay out of jail, and Britney Spears, the mother of two, is saying she has hit bottom ... and yet they are role models? Go figure.
In a USAToday survey taken last weekend, people said money, fame and the negative influence of Hollywood had more to do with their bad behavior than parents doing a poor job. I wonder? I believe parents matter and they matter a lot. I also would think the parents of the four troubled ladies are heartsick at what they see.
I wish the following for children:
* I want them to experience unconditional love, but with limits and parameters.
* I want them to grow under Christian influence. I want them to model their parents' values.
* I want their fathers to be their heroes, not some rock star or movie celebrity.
* I also want for them good guidance from their moms on what they wear, and how they look in public. Sometimes, parents must say "no" regardless of the reaction.
* I want for children open communication. I want them to be able to discuss anything with their parents.
* I also want them to understand the value of a dollar.
* I want for them friends who have good morals themselves, and good parental influence.
* I don't want our children to think Britney, Lindsay, Nicole and Paris are "cool." I love them too much.
What do you want for your children?
Be blessed and be a blessing.

Interest in Religion Increases on Campus
"There is probably more active religious life now [on campus] than there has been in 100 years," notes Harvard Professor Gomes, the university preacher. Gomes remembers when religious people on campus felt under siege or were seen as not very bright. No longer. Today on campuses across the nation, including Harvard and Berkeley, chaplains and professors are seeing more interest in religion and spirituality than at any time they can remember. At the University of California at Berkeley, alone, there are now more than 50 Christian organizations and student attendance at nearby churches has increased significantly, reports The New York Times.

"In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering." - Howard Hendricks


How Peas Will Kill You
- Nearly ALL sick people have eaten PEAS (obviously then, the effects are cumulative).
- An estimated 99.9% of all people who die from cancer or heart attacks have eaten PEAS.
- Another 99.9% of people involved in auto accidents ate PEAS within 60-days before the accident.
- Some 93.1% of juvenile delinquents come from homes where PEAS were served frequently.
- Among people born in 1839 who later dined on PEAS, there has been a 100% mortality rate.
- All PEA-eaters born between 1900-1910 have wrinkled skin, have lost most of their teeth, have brittle bones and failing eyesight (provided, of course, that eating PEAS hasn't already *killed* them).

"The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose." - C.S. Lewis

There are more than 2.35 million Muslims in the United States. Two-thirds of the adult Muslims in the United States were born overseas. - Source: Time magazine (June 4, 2007)

"Men, our children are more important than our work. They are more important than our days on the golf course or hours in front of the television. The legacy we leave is not how much money we earned or what level of status we received. The legacy we leave is our children. Take delight in them. Have joy in them. Laugh with them." - Thom S. Rainer, from Raising Dad (B & H Publishing, 2007)

"Television is an invention that permits you to be entertained in your living room by people you would not have in your home." -- David Frost, The Chicago Tribune

"Truth is always strong, no matter how weak it looks; and falsehood is always weak, no matter how strong it looks." -- Phillips Brooks

"Solemn prayers, rapturous devotions, are but repeated hypocrisies unless the heart and mind be conformed to them." -- William Law

"A holy life will produce the deepest impression. Lighthouses blow no horns; they only shine." -- Dwight L. Moody

"The gospel is neither a discussion nor a debate. It is an announcement." -- Paul S. Rees

"If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done... Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know which will grow--perhaps it all will." – Solomon, Ecclesiastes 11:4, 6


PERHAPS YOU KNOW SOMEONE LIKE THIS:
I met the strangest man:
He said he believed the Bible, but he never reads it.
He said he loves the church of which he is a member, but he never attends.
He said he believes a man should be honest in money matters, but he never tithes.
He said younger people certainly need the Lord, but he isn't leading them in that direction.
He said the main need of the church is for dedicated Christians, but he isn't one.
He said the church should do more in the way of ministering to other people, but he doesn't help.
He criticized the way the church is "run," but he never participates.
He said he believed in the Second Coming of Christ, but he lives as though Jesus will never return.
He says prayer will change things, but he never prays.
He was a strange man, indeed!

A CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT I will--
Like Paul, forget those things which are behind, and press forward.
Like Abraham, trust implicitly in my God.
Like Enoch, walk in daily fellowship with my heavenly Father.
Like Jehosaphat, prepare my heart to seek God.
Like Moses, choose rather to suffer than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season.
Like Daniel, commune with God at all times.
Like Caleb and Joshua, refuse to be discouraged because of superior numbers.
Like Gideon, advance even though my friends be few.
Like Aaron and Hur, uphold the hands of my pastor and the leaders of my
church with my prayer and support.
Like Andrew, strive to lead my brother to Christ.
Like Stephen, manifest a forgiving spirit toward all who seek my hurt.
And, realizing that I cannot hope to achieve these objectives by my own strength, I will rely upon Christ for "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." --Author Unknown

June 3

"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way." Unknown
Wouldn't you rather live your life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn't, than live your life as if there isn't, and die then find out there is?

How well I have learned that there is no fence to sit on between heaven and hell. There is a deep, wide gulf, a chasm, and in that chasm is no place for any man.”

"A lie may take care of the present, but it has no future."

Don't confuse mere inconveniences with real problems."

"I shall adopt new views as fast as they shall appear to be true views." - Abraham Lincoln

"If you don't like something, change it; if you can't change it, change the way you think about it." -- Mary Engelbreit

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future."

"Do not spend $1000 worth of emotion on a 5-cent trivia."

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours that were given to Helen Keller, Louis Pasteur, Mother Teresa, Thomas Jefferson and Albert Einstein."

Good health questions & answers
Q: I've heard that cardiovascular exercise can prolong life. Is this true?
A: Your heart is only good for so many beats, and that's it, don't waste them away on exercise. Everything wears out eventually. Speeding up your heart will not make you live longer; that's like saying you can extend the life of your car by driving it faster. Want to live longer? Take a nap.
Q: Should I cut down on meat and eat more fruits and vegetables?
A: You must grasp logistical efficiencies. What does a cow eat? Hay and corn. And what are these? Vegetables. So a steak is nothing more than an efficient mechanism of delivering vegetables to your system. Need grain? Eat chicken. Beef is also a good source of field grass (green leafy vegetable). And a pork chop can give you 100% of your recommended daily allowance of vegetable slop.
Q: Is beer or wine bad for me?
A: Look, it goes to the earlier point about fruits and vegetables. As we all know, scientists divide everything in the world into three categories: animal, mineral, and vegetable. We all know that beer and wine are not animal, and they are not on the periodic table of elements, so that only leaves one thing, right? My advice: Have a burger and a beer and enjoy your liquid vegetables.
Q: How can I calculate my body/fat ratio?
A: Well, if you have a body, and you have body fat, your ratio is one to one. If you have two bodies, your ratio is two to one, etc.
Q: What are some of the advantages of participating in a regular exercise program?
A: Can't think of a single one, sorry. My philosophy is: No Pain - Good.
Q: If I stop smoking, will I live longer?
A: Nope. Smoking is a sign of individual expression and peace of mind. If you stop, you'll probably stress yourself to death in record time.
Q: Aren't fried foods bad for you?
A: You're not listening. Foods are fried these days in vegetable oil. In fact, they're permeated in it. How could getting more vegetables be bad for you?
Q: What's the secret to healthy eating?
A: Thicker gravy.
Q: Will sit-ups help prevent me from getting a little soft around the middle?
A: Definitely not! When you exercise a muscle, it gets bigger. You should only be doing sit-ups if you want a bigger stomach.
I hope this has cleared up any misconceptions you may have had.


"Arrogance and rudeness are training wheels on the bicycle of life - for weak people who cannot keep their balance without them." - Laura Teresa Marquez

"The secret to having everything you want out of life is the realization that you really don't want most of the things you think you want." - Bo Bennett

In 1965 47-year-old Francois Raffray made a deal with then 90-year-old Jeanne Calment. He agreed to pay her $500 a month for the rest of her life in exchange for her condo when she died. He paid her that sum for the next 30 years until he died at age 77 in 1995. In all Francois paid more than three times the market value for the condo. She died two years later at age 122, the longest living person in modern history. - Source: Wikipedia & The International Herald Tribune

"Make no mistake about it, this drama and this Kingdom's agenda is at the center of the meaning of cosmic history and your own individual story. Like a grand conductor who calls in the flutes at just the right time, your Father has brought you into the Cosmic Symphony at your unique place in time and space so you can be a vibrant outpost in your sphere of influence. In short, you are here to be an apprentice of the Lord Jesus to learn how to live your life well as part of God's broader purposes. This is your calling, this is your destiny, this is your only chance to have a life of genuine, full human flourishing." - J.P. Moreland, Kingdom Triangle (Zondervan, 2007)

"The more I practice, the luckier I get." - Jerry Barber

THE OX IN THE DITCH
Jesus spoke about the ox in the ditch on the Sabbath. But if your ox gets in the ditch every Sabbath, you should either get rid of the ox or fill up the ditch. --Billy Graham

HEAVEN KNOWS
A sign in front of a church in Austin, Texas, read: "Heaven knows when you were here last."

FACES IN THE CROWD
On any given Sunday, several faces can be spotted in the congregation. For example:
--The Frozen Face. They are trapped in a kind of religious trance. They sit there until that dreadful hour passes because there is not much they can do about it.
--The Frowning Face. Thankfully there are not many of these. But there are a few. They are not about to adopt any attitude other than that of being bored stiff.
--The Faraway Face. They are here, but they are not really here. Their mind is a million miles away. They are preoccupied with many things other than worship.
--The Friendly Face. Thank God for these dear people. They are, by far, the majority. They come with an expectant heart. They pray from the heart. They lift up their hearts to the Lord in praise and worship through their singing.
Why do you come to church? Is it to play or to participate? --Author Unknown


BRING A FRIEND
A potentially dangerous situation has developed in the church sanctuary. The pews, which are as old as the church, have begun to dry out. This loss of moisture, and the subsequent loss of weight, has led to the distinct possibility that they might float free.
This presents the possibility that during worship, a free-floating pew could damage a member or guest. Further, it is believed that even if a member or a guest were able successfully to dodge an oncoming free-floating pew, the evasive action would certainly disrupt the spiritual tranquility of the worshipping dodger.
The problem was brought before a committee in the latter part of last year. The committee first considered using steel cables to anchor the pews to bedrock, which is 247 feet beneath the church. After receiving the cost estimate of $14,912.77 and extensive consultations with engineers, this idea was abandoned. The committee, after deliberating, decided that adding weight to the pews would be a better solution to the problem. The committee considered using brass scrap or lead ingots but they proved to be too expensive. Pig iron was found to be cheaper, but it, like brass and lead, had a certain lifeless quality. The committee searched for a medium density object which was both sparkling and vibrant.
After sifting through all of the possibilities, the committee has opted to use warm bodies to weigh down the pews, and the committee is asking the membership to provide the necessary weight. This can be done by coming to church and, if possible, by bringing a medium density object (in the form of a friend or neighbor) with you.

"I think we need to be constantly reminded that Jesus, by the standards of cultural success models, was a miserable failure." - Gordon MacDonald

"People who get the most done, who make their lives really count for something, are the ones who don't wait around for the perfect mood or moment. If something ought to be done, they get started and keep going."