THE RECORD

"God told me to write down in a book what the people
are like, so that there would be a permanent record
of how evil they are.  They are always rebelling against
God, always lying, always refusing to listen to the LORD's
teachings.  They tell the prophets to keep quiet.  They say,
'Don't talk to us about what's right.  Tell us what we want
to hear.  Let us keep our illusions.  Get out of our way and
stop blocking our path.  We don't want to hear about your
holy God of Israel.'  
But this is what the holy God of Israel says: 'You ignore 
what I tell you and rely on violence and deceit.  You are
guilty.  You are like a high wall with a crack running
down it; suddenly you will collapse.  You will be shattered
like a clay pot, so badly broken that there is no piece big
enough to pick up hot coals with or to dip water from a 
cistern ...... And yet the LORD is waiting to be merciful to
you.  He is ready to take pity on you because he always
does what is right.  Happy are those who put their trust
in the LORD.'
(Isaiah 30:8-15,18 GNT)

************************

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ORIGIN OF THE BRIER

Any intellectual can tell you that EVERYTHING came from nothing.

To acknowledge that there was "something" or "someone", is to 

acknowledge something that intellectuals do not want to acknowledge.

So,

seven hundred billion trillion years ago.  That is to get your attention.

The trend today is to increase the length of time of evolution to appear

more authentic. Even in my short life time, I've seen a great increase in

 the time line of the evelutionary scale.  Any evelutionist can tell you that 

years are cheap.  Just like "Brownie points", free.  So just throw them

around.  You did not pay for them.

Consequently, to be more authentic, I'll top them.

Once upon a time enough nothing compressed together to become 

"something".  This "something" eventually evolved into a neutron and/or

 electron.  These collided starting a chain reaction producing more 

"something".

Some of this "something" eventually evolved into a substance similar 

to edible kelp (Alaria esculenta) but this was Alaria esculentapee.

After a few million more years the Alaria esculentapee multiplied 

to the point where some sloshed out of the soupy slop onto the dry 

land that was developing and hung on a rock that was to be evolved

shortly.

This Alaria esculentapee  hanging on a rock began to dry out,
and take on a new form from the sun, which happened to form
by then from some other "something", forming a new substance
similar to rock tripe (Umbilicaria).  However, this was not
Umbilicaria, but Umbilicariaous.

*****************
A note about these photos for any photographers out there.
The photo above (no. 4) was taken out in the sun.  It did not
work well as you can see.  It is not the camera's fault.  All the
rest were taken on a large rock in the shade.

The point of interest.
The first four photos (That includes the one out in the sun.)
were taken with an old 2MP Nikon coolpix 2500.  I bought
 it on eBay for $6.50 plus shipping.  You read that right.
You can buy them almost any time for $10.00 to $25.00.

The next four photos were taken on the same rock with
a brand new 16MP Kodak five minutes later.
You figure it out.

*******************

This is where the trouble began because the baby dinosaurs,  (The 

extinct dinosaur "herbivorous")  Loved the stuff, i.e., Umbilicariaous.

They ravished the Umbilicariaous putting it on the endangered species

list.

In order to survive, Umbilicariaous decided something had to be done.

Consequently there was a collective meeting of the remaining Umbilicariaous

with mother nature.

Due to the urgency of the situation many suggestions were made.

But to the Umbilicariaous the most suitable solution was to evolve

into something that was not palatable to the baby dinosaurs.  The

decision was made to evolve into something long, stringy and 

sticky - thus the thorns.

This only took a few million years to do.  Had some not hidden under

a rock before the evolution was complete, all would have been lost.

But thank God, some was able to make it with out being devoured

by baby dinosaurs.  So we now have the brier.

TODAY'S PROMISE

"LORD, you are my God;
I will honor you and praise your name.
You have done amazing things;
you have faithfully carried out the plans
you made long ago."

 and
 "The poor and the helpless have fled to you
and have been safe in times of trouble."
(Isaiah 25:1 & 4 TEV)

******************

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNT)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

MY REFUGE

"God is our shelter and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
So we will not be afraid,
even if the earth is shaken and 
the mountains fall into the ocean depths;
even if the seas roar and rage,
and the hills are shaken by the violence.
(Psalms 46:1-3 GNT)

************************

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Updated King James Version.

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REAPING FROM READING

REAPING FROM READING

I do not read as well as you do.  But I have learned 

to read a little bit.  And over the years there have been

so many things that; encourage, inspire, motivate, or

even warn me, that I feel compelled to share some of

it with you.

Mrs Rosalind Goforth in her book,

Jonathan Goforth

mentions how she had an opportunity to see

Jonathan's Bible before they were married.

"Jonathan Goforth was called out of the room.

As he rose, he placed his Bible on the chair.  

Something happened then which I could never

explain, nor try to excuse.  Suddenly, I stepped

past four or five people, took up his Bible and 

returned to my seat.  Rapidly I turned the leaves

and found the book worn almost to shreds in parts

and marked from cover to cover.  I quickly returned

it to the chair, and returning to my seat, I tried

to look very innocent.  As I sat there, I said to 

myself, 'That is the man I would like to mary!'"

p.9

"He would never borrow, nor ever go in debt,

and God always honored His servant's trust in him."

p.106

TODAY'S PROMISE

"But the LORD says,
'Do not cling to events of the past
or dwell on what happened long ago.
Watch for the new thing I am going to do.'"
(Isaiah 43:18, 19a GNT)

******************

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNT)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

LESSON OF THE LITTLE ENGINE

The picture is a portable generator.

[Was a portable generator???]

The rest of it is over on the bench.

It was brought into the shop because it would not start.

I just hope the man brought it to the right place.

Trying to find parts for this thing has taken some real

research.  (Yes, even with a downloaded manual.)  It 

is beginning to appear that the generator is a product of

a factory over in China.  Thus far I have been able to 

find this basic generator, with slight differences in 

configuration or size, with more than one dozen brand 

names, and even no name.  And in several colors; Red, 

Blue, Yellow and Black.

Hey!  Just like people.  One manufacture.  God.

But a lot of different configurations and sizes.  And

distributed to a lot of different places.

It will not start because there is insufficient compression.  And,

the loss of compression is due to the abnormal wear (scuffing)

on the piston and rings.  You can see the scuffing areas on the

piston.  See the dark area at the lower left, and the larger one

in the upper right of the piston.  Also there are two smaller

ones on the other side of the piston.

In this photo you can see the scuffing even on the rings.

To get this detail I reverted to an old 2 MP Nikon CoolPix

950 camera on the shelf.  See, old stuff can still be used.

You will note that the original factory machining marks are 

still on the piston.  You can even still see the knurling from

the factory.   If this were a car, it would be a low milage car

with just several thousand miles on it.

Why the premature wear?

Was it a poor product?  No, in fact after reviewing the evidence

I have gained a lot of respect for this little engine.  You see the 

owner thought it was a four cycle or four stroke engine.  So he

did not put oil in the gas.  But, it was a two cycle engine.  So the

poor little engine did not have any lubrication during the ice storm

when he used it.

What's the point?

God made us to live in relationship to him.  He wants to dwell

in us.  If we do not have a relationship with him and his Spirit

dwelling in us -  we are going to be "trashed" too.  Just like 

this little engine with out oiling.

LOVING MONEY

"If you love money, you will never be satisfied;
if you long to be rich, you will never get all you want,
It is useless.
The richer you are, the more mouths you have to feed.
All you gain is the knowledge that you are rich.
Workers may or may not have enough to eat,
but at least they can get a good night's sleep.
The rich, however, have so much that they 
stay awake worrying."
(Ecclesiastes 5:11, 12 TEV)

************************

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Updated King James Version.

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REAPING FROM READING

REAPING FROM READING

I do not read as well as you do.  But I have learned 

to read a little bit.  And over the years there have been

so many things that; encourage, inspire, motivate, or

even warn me, that I feel compelled to share some of

it with you.

In David Wilkerson's book,
AMERICA'S LAST CALL,
is a paragraph on p.115
that cut's close home.
It regards the Church in America.

"Today God sees prosperity and abundance pulling
his bride away from him.  She's growing more and 
more earthbound- richer, more comfortable, less
mindful of Christ  And now the Lord must move
quickly to wean her back to himself.  How will he
do this?  First, he'll remove everything that has 
preoccupied her time and attention.  he declares,
'All of this wealth may have been a blessing to my
bride at one time.  But now there's so much garbage
in my church, the only way to get her clean is to
rid her of all these worldly possessions!'" 



OUCH!

TODAY'S PROMISE

"My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments;
for length of days and years of life
and abundant welfare will they give you.
Let not loyalty and faithfulness forsake you;
bind them about your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and man."
(Proverbs 3:1-4 RSV)

****************

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNT)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

THE WAY TO A MAN'S HEART

This little girl taught this old man something.

She is one of my great grandchildren.

At the time this picture was taken -

grandpa would have done anything in the world 

for that girl.  Well! if he could, and it was not
bad for her.

That is why I am still taking care of the rabbit.

Was it because she was pretty?  

No.

Was it because she has red hair?

No.  I don't care for red hair.

Was it because she has freckles?

No.  I don't particularly care for them.

I do not know how to put it into words.

But it was something about that helpless, trusting,

submissiveness that would just get ahold of

my heart.  And I could not help my self.

She was about nine years old at the time of the 

photo.  Today, she is several years older.

And today - she would have to pry it out of me.

All because of her change in attitudes as she is

nearer to being a teenager.

And perhaps, because I am catching on.
[Yes, we still get along fine and sometimes
do things together.]

When I begin to think about the difference,
it gave me a whole new understanding of a
passage of Scripture in 1st Peter.

I must first confess that like some other guys,
the more paint I see slopped on a woman,
and the more shinny stuff I see hanging on
her, the more I realize - she is trying to
hide something.
[I just wish my wife would catch on.]

With this in mind consider the passage of
Scripture that I am now understanding better.
1st. Peter 3:1- 6 TEV.

"In the same way you wives must submit yourselves
to your husbands, so that if any of them do not believe
God's word, your conduct will win them over to believe.
It will not be necessary for you to say a word, because
they will see how pure and reverent your conduct is.
You should not use outward aids to make yourselves
beautiful, such as the way you fix your hair, or the
jewelry you put on, or the dresses you wear.
Instead, your beauty should consist of your true inner
self, the ageless beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit,
which is of the greatest value in in God's sight.
For the devout women of the past who placed their
hope in God used to make themselves beautiful by
submitting themselves to their husbands.  Sarah was
like that; she obeyed Abraham and called him her master...." 

GOD'S CALL

"Turn to the LORD and pray to him,
now that he is near.
Let the wicked leave their way of life
and change their way of thinking.
Let them turn to the LORD our God;
he is merciful and quick to forgive."
(Isaiah 55:6,7 GNT)

************************

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Updated King James Version.

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YOU ARE FULL OF IT

YOUR ARE FULL OF IT.

I AM FULL OF IT.

WE ARE ALL FULL OF IT.

FULL OF WHAT?????

WELL!

Just listen to your mouth.

What you talk about all day is what you are full of.

"For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.

(Matthew 12:34 TEV)

Let's just hope that what comes out of our mouth is

pleasing to God.

Because:

"Your words will be used to judge you--

to declare you either innocent or guilty."

(Matthew 12:37 TEV)

TODAY'S PROMISE

"I alone know the plans I have for you,

plans to bring you prosperity and not

disaster, plans to bring about the

future you hope for."

(Jeremiah 29:11 TEV)

******************

"The promises of the Lord can be trusted;

they are as genuine as silver refined

seven times in the furnace."

(Psalms 12:6 GNT)

1. Meditate on God's Promises.

2. Plead the Promises at the throne of Grace.

3. Act in Faith that God Will Perform His Promises.

(William Gurnall)

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

This is one amazing little girl.

This little girl is going to be a country and western singer.

I know, because she told me so.

This little girl is going to be an actress.

I know, because she told me so.

This little girl is going to be a writer.

I know, because she told me so.

I do not know what other accomplishments this young 

lady is going to have in life.  She has not shared 

them with me, at least yet.

But at my age I have learned that LIFE

GETS IN THE WAY of accomplishments.

It was James M. Barrie who said;

"The life of every man is a diary in which he  means

to write one story, and writes another; and his 

humblest hour is when he compares the volume as

it is with what he hoped to make it."

We are taught to set goals and make plans to 

meet these goals.  This is good.  However,

there are some facts we must understand.

"A man's mind plans his way,

but the LORD directs his steps."

And,

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man,

but it is the purpose of the LORD that will

be established."

(Proverbs 16:9 & 19:21 RSV)

In light of this,

would we not do well to consult with God

about our goals and plans?

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart,

and do not rely on your own insight.

In all your ways acknowledge him,

and he will make straight your paths."

And,

"Commit your work to the LORD,

and your plans will be established."

(Proverbs 3:5,6 & 16:3 RSV)

"May he grant you your heart's desire,

and fulfil all your plans!"

(Psalms 20:4 RSV)