A BIT OF HUMOR

A wise old gentleman retired and purchased a modest home in the summer near a 
junior high school. He spent the first few weeks of his retirement in peace and 
contentment. 

Then a new school year began. The very next afternoon three young boys full of 
youthful afterschool enthusiasm came down his street beating merrily on every 
trash can they encountered. The crashing percussion continued day after day, 
until finally the wise old man decided it was time to take some action. 

The next afternoon, he walked out to meet the young percussionists as they 
banged their way down the street. Stopping them, he said, "You kids are a lot of 
fun. I like to see you express your exuberance like that. I used to do the same 
thing when I was your age. Will you do me a favor? I'll give you each a dollar 
if you'll promise to come around every day and do your thing." 

The kids were elated and continued to do a bang-up job on the trash cans. A few 
days later, the wily retiree approached them again as they drummed their way 
down the street. "Look" he said, "I haven't received my Social Security 
(pension) check yet, so I'm not going to be able to give you more than 25 cents. 
Will that be okay?" 

"A lousy quarter?!" the drum leader exclaimed. "If you think we're going to 
waste our time beating these cans around for a quarter, you're nuts! No way, 
mister. We quit!" 

And the old man enjoyed peace and serenity for the rest of his days.

============================

Talk is cheap, until you hire a lawyer. 

=======================================

MIKEYSFUNNIES.COM

Read Full Post »

PUT A ZIPPER ON YOUR MOUTH AND LEARN TO LISTEN

PUT A ZIPPER ON YOUR MOUTH AND LEARNTO LISTEN

Zipper Mouth

WRITTEN BY DR.VIRGINIA MORGAN

Learning to listen to others requires muchdiscipline, and discipline requires patience.  We have gotten so use to babbling that we forgot how to listen and understand what others are saying.  Now if you understood anything about those first two sentences, and are ready to listen to the words that are being  to spoken you today, you might be able to walk in the newest of life and find much morejoy, peace, contentment and happiness in your relationships.

Our mouth and that little thing called ourtongue gets us into a world of trouble at times.  If we would put a zipper on our mouthand be swift to listen and slow to speak, we can transform our lives in ways unimaginable at other times.  For believers, this is a lesson you must practice daily.  For non-believers, you must seek the Lord for guidance and salvation in order to begin the process, because God‘s perfect law must be put into practice in our speech.  Why? Because God’s law is truth, and the law sets people free.  It is only in obeying God that true freedom can be found.  As Christian’s, we are saved by God’s grace, and salvation frees us from sin‘s control, speaking and not listen.  As believers we are free to live as God created us to live.  Of course, this does not mean that we are free to do as we please.

This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Czech Wikipedia for th week, 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Now let us clearly understand this one truth, and that is, we must be swift to listen andslow to speak.  The expression be quick to listen is a beautiful way of capturing the idea of active listening as it is taught in(James 1:19).  James explains to us that we are not simply to refrain from speaking; we are to be ready and willing to listen.  This “quick” listening is obviously to be done with discernment.  We are to check what we hear with God’s word.  If we don’t listen both carefully and quickly, we are liable to be led into all kinds of false teaching and error.

Quick to listen and slow to speak should be taken together as sides of the same coin.  Slowness in speaking means speaking withhumility and patience, not with hasty words or nonstop babbling.  Constraint talking keeps a person from being able to hear.  Wisdom is not always having something to say, it involves listening carefully, consideringprayerfully, and speaking quietly.  When wetalk too much and listen too little, we communicate to others that we think our ideas are much more important than theirs.  James wisely advises us to reverse this process.  We need to put a mental stopwatch on our conversations and keep track of how much we talk and how much we listen.  When people talk to us, do they feel that their viewpoints and ideas have value?

Putting a zipper on one’s mouth and learning to listen requires the same set of skills as an athlete.  In order for an athlete to achieve greatest he must persevere in training in order to improve their abilitiesand endurance for competition, so do we, in order to persevere in spiritual training our senses need to be swift to listen and slow to speak, as we patiently endure testing that will bring maturity andcompleteness.

We must come to a point in our lives where we know that God’s long term goal for us is maturity andcompleteness, but his eternal goal for us is the crown of life, a rich expression of hope.  We can only arrive at this point we learn to be obedient to the word of God.  Know the truth and the truth will set youfree.  Be swift to listen and slow to speak.  PUT A ZIPPER ON YOUR MOUTH AND LEARN TO LISTEN!

http://vineandbranchworldministries.com/2013/05/21/put-a-zipper-on-your-mouth-and-learn-to-listen-2/

Read Full Post »

LEADERS IN AMERICA NEED TO DEVELOP THE COURAGE AND STRENGTH OF THEIR CONVICTION TO LEAD THIS NATION

 LEADERS IN AMERICA NEED TO DEVELOP THE COURAGE AND STRENGTH OF THEIR CONVICTION TO LEAD THIS NATION

LEADERSHIP IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM (PHOTO BY PASTOR DAVIS)

In America today, our nation seems to be at a cross road.  We the people elected our individual Representatives from districts in which we live in and sent them to the Nation Capital to join hands with other Representatives from all around the country to become a team of one and lead our Nation in all areas of life as the people’s Representative.  Now we see that theses Representatives have become a body of separative individuals during their own thing with no concern about the people they were elected to represent.

Leadership takes real courage and it takes the strength of ones’ convention to be a bold, strong and courageous leader in difficult times.  Now the question I will ask is simply this, “Where are our elected leaders today?”  

I understand that Leadership is hard work, and in order for any leader to lead a great nation such as this one, he are she  must be strong, have a sound moral character, and develop the courage and strengthof their conviction to do what’s right and show themselves to be the leader the people deserve.  A great number of today’s business leaders, government leaders as well as our spiritual leaders seem to bemorally corrupt and are standing in opposition of what is truly needed in a leader to lead the people out of the wilderness that we now find ourselves in.  Now pause for a moment and watch this short video clip of a true story of courage, compassion and real leadership.

TO SEE VIDEO  http://vineandbranchworldministries.com/2013/05/15/leaders-in-america-need-to-develop-the-courage-and-strength-of-their-conviction-to-lead-this-nation/

We live in the greatest country on the face of this universe, however, we find ourselves falling behind many smaller nations in the way they are developing their young people to become great leaders in their own right.  Our education system, the system that is designed to develop the leadership that can truly accomplish great task is falling apart due mainly to our current crop of leaders that are lacking in theirstrength of courage, to properly fund and develop the type of education system that is now needed in times of trials and tribulation to help develop a new generation of leadership.

Real leaders need real courage to make the tough decisions they will faced every day.  They need to stand on the word of God, and stop being like the motion of the ocean, always going back and forth.  They need to learn how to trust and stand on the word of God.  Know in their hearts that God’s word will never fail them.  Learn to believe without any doubt that they can be assured of good success when they fill their hearts and minds with God’s Word and obey it.

Now listen to how God gave his word to his servant Joshua.  He said to Joshua, “Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lordyour God will be with you wherever you go.”  (Joshua 1:9 NIV)  These are the words that every leader or wanted to be leader should study and meditate on day and night.

Let me share with you the true leadership and success of Joshua, God’s Servant as he chose to obeyGod, trust God, lean and depend on God and God created in him one of the world’s great military leaders of all times.  You too can become a Joshua.

Joshua faced crisis in his leadership role, just like many of the crisis we face in our leadership roles today.  Not only did he have to contend with the military powers rooted in the Promised Land, but he also had to face them with an untrained band of nomadic shepherds.

God realized Joshua’s need for courage and gave him guidance that would strengthen his faith.

First, he reminded Joshua of his faithfulness to keep all of his promises.  God had pledged to give the land to his people and he would fulfill that pledge.  Joshua’s success did not rest on a military strategyor well trained army, but on the faithfulness of God.

Second, God commanded Joshua to meditate on his words that Moses recorded in the five books of thePentateuch.  The “Book of the Law” would give the wisdom and encouragement Joshua would need to courageously lead the nation.

Third, God promised to be personally present with Joshua.  No matter how intimidating the enemy or how rebellious the people, Joshua would not have to face them alone.  God would always be at his side.

The same sources of courage that empowered Joshua are available today for any leader who will accept them.  When faced with a risky business decision, the godly leader will look to God in prayer and to God’s revealed Word for the perspective and courage needed to make the right choice.  What situation are you now facing that requires courageous leadership and risk taking?  Let God’s words toJoshua supply you with the courage you need.

Now as we conclude this lesson for today, it is our hope that it will ignite the spark needed for you as aleader to be strong and courageous, take the word of God on leadership serious and do what’s right and pleasing in God sight.  We as the children of God and America need strong and courageous leaders.  Leaders who are willing to put Country first and come boldly before the throne of grace and speak truth to power, be a real leader by developing the strength of courage and the conviction of yourcharacter and lead this country in the right direction.

We minister to you today from a position of peace, purpose, power and prosperity.  I remain your brother in CHRIST JESUS, PASTOR DAVIS/MASTER TEACHER!

http://vineandbranchworldministries.com/2013/05/15/leaders-in-america-need-to-develop-the-courage-and-strength-of-their-conviction-to-lead-this-nation/

Read Full Post »

PROVERBS 3:11-12 BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY

My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.

– Proverbs 3:11-12 (NIV)

Today’s commentary
by Dave Whitehead, Senior Pastor, GraceNYC.org

God has a purpose for every trial that you and I go through. Because of the work of Jesus upon the cross, we are not set up for judgment but for growth, even if the struggles that we face are great. This may cut against the grain of our quest for comfort and convenience, but God is interested in more than having us feel good about ourselves—He is a faithful and loving father who delights in bringing us into what He has made us to be and do

DAILYBIBLEVERSE.ORG

Read Full Post »

ROSE AND LINDA’S JOURNAL EXCUSE ME LORD, YOU NEED TO CHANGE WITH THE TIMES

[ OR LISTEN TO THE FLESH TALKING]

Yes the times have changed, we are no longer living in the dark ages.  As much as we respect and reverence You Lord, in this day and age we need to be policality correct.  We have freedom of choice to live our lifes the way we want.  Not only us but everyone has the freedom to do as they wish, to make themselves happy.  You did create us the way we are, didn’t You?

That does sound totally stupid doesn’t it?  Or does it?  We claim to know and love God, to follow His teachings, well as long as they line up with what we think is right.

What should be happening in our lifes, in our walk, with the Lord, is an awareness that we need to line up with Him, not Him with us.

God is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  He does not change, He does not have it wrong.

We want to pick and choose what we will be obedient to.  It is no different then sitting down with Ten Commandments and saying okay Lord today I will follow 3, 4, 7, 8 and 10.  The rest I do not agree with so I will not follow them.

This is nothing but our flesh speaking.  Remember the flesh, that part of you that lived in the world and sought something better.  Now being saved, having found the freedom and peace that God gives us by Himself becoming flesh and dying on the cross so that we could have said freedom, NOW we want to play it by our own rules.  Only agreeing with that which we want to agree.

God this wonderful creator, the only creator, who became Jesus Christ to save us, left the Holy Spirit within us to guide us, Yes we want to change Him.  What fools we are.

Oh Lord help us to surrender this flesh,  it ideals and views, to walk in Your Word, according to Your truths, which cannot and will not be changed.  To know Lord that You and only You are Right and Just.  To yield to Your path and not our own desires.  Bring our flesh under subjection, Lord, let us line up with You and only You, the Light of the World, and not the ways of this earth.  In Jesus Name Amen. So Be It.

God Bless

recj/LJG

Read Full Post »

A BIT OF HUMOR

THINGS TO LEARN FROM A DOG

~ Never pass up the opportunity to go for a joyride.

~ Allow the experience of fresh air and the wind in your face to be pure 
ecstasy.

~ When loved ones come home, always run to greet them.

~ When it's in your best interest, practice obedience.

~ Let others know when they've invaded your territory.

~ Take naps and stretch before rising.

~ Run, romp and play daily.

~ Eat with gusto and enthusiasm.

~ Be loyal.

~ Never pretend to be something you're not.

~ If what you want lies buried, dig until you find it.

~ When someone is having a bad day, be silent, sit close by and nuzzle them 
gently.

~ Thrive on attention and let people touch you.

~ Avoid biting when a simple growl will do.

~ On hot days, drink lots of water and lay under a shady tree.

~ When you're happy, dance around and wag your entire body.

~ No matter how often you're scolded, don't buy into the guilt thing and pout. 
Run right back and make friends.

~ Bond with your pack.

~ Delight in the simple joy of a long walk.

============================

You can't change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying over the 
future.

=======================================

MIKEYSFUNNIES.COM

Read Full Post »

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE DAY

Romans 8:37

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

I have always found it interesting how many Christians have this verse memorized yet exclude the first word “No”, as well as the previous passage (verse 36): “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” So let me pose a question: “How can sheep to be slaughtered be more than conquerors?” The answer: Because we receive assistance from another (Jesus), who gets the victory for us and never lets us experience defeat. We just have to remember — the victory belongs to Jesus — not to us.

One might then ask, “What is our purpose? Aren’t we to be soldiers for Jesus? Aren’t we to bring salt and light to the world (Matthew 5:13-16)?” The other day my wife and I went out for lunch. I ordered soup and a salad. When the soup came, after one taste I thought it needed a little more salt. So I grabbed the salt shaker to give it a sprinkle. Instead the top came off and the entire contents spilled into my bowl. A little salt is perfect; too much salt, and it ruins the soup. The same is true of light. A little light illuminates the room; too much light and it becomes blindingly uncomfortable. We Christians should pay attention as we bring salt and light into the world.

As sheep we are to be more than conquerors (Jesus does the conquering): salt that’s sprinkled to add flavor and create thirst, and bringers of light to a dark and sin-filled world. However, if we don’t clearly understand what this means, then our Christian experience will be full of frustration and disillusionment. You see, from the world’s point of view we never win. We’re not conquerors; we’re more than conquerors.

Are you on a winning or losing streak? For whose glory do you battle? Yours or the Lord’s? If you recounted your top five victories in life’s battles — how many brought glory to Jesus? Who deserves the credit?

POCKETPOWER.ORG

Read Full Post »

Kermit Gosnell’s America:

What His Trial Really Reveals Albert Mohler, President, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

The doctor is a murderer. The trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell ended with the infamous abortion doctor convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter. The doctor’s abortion clinic, described by a Philadelphia prosecutor as a “house of horrors,” is no more, but the truth revealed in his trial remains. He is not the only one with blood on his hands.

The prosecution of Kermit Gosnell put the entire nation on trial. The doctor was indicted on hundreds of criminal counts, and in addition to the murder and manslaughter convictions he received yesterday, he was also convicted on more than two hundred counts including racketeering, infanticide, and performing abortions that violated Pennsylvania law. Most of those were illegal late-term abortions.

The evidence presented in the trial was gruesome. Investigators told of finding jars filled with parts of dismembered babies. Some of Dr. Gosnell’s co-workers told of seeing the doctor deliver babies alive, then murdering them by snipping their spinal cords with scissors. They told of babies moving their arms and legs and gasping for breath, even making noises as Dr. Gosnell murdered them.

The arrest of Dr. Gosnell in 2011 brought a wave of news coverage. That was not the case with his trial — at least not until public outrage demanded that the press pay more attention. The mainstream media largely ignored the trial, and national attention came only after a concerted effort in social media and on the Internet made inattention to the story nearly impossible.

As Kirsten Powers, writing in USA Today, wrote: “Since the murder trial of Pennsylvania abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell began on March 18, there has been precious little coverage of the case that should be on every news show and front page. The revolting revelations of Gosnell’s former staff, who have been testifying to what they witnessed and did during late-term abortions, should shock anyone with a heart.” She concluded, “The deafening silence of too much of the media, once a force for justice in America, is a disgrace.”

Reluctantly, many major media outlets did start to give the trial attention, but their coverage was often more about the controversy over the coverage of the trial than about the trial itself. A report that appeared in TIME magazine just after Gosnell’s conviction, Kate Pickert and Adam Sorensen argued that “while it wasn’t completely ignored, the Gosnell trial revealed the mainstream media’s hesitancy to swarm a story about a horrifying abortion-related crime.” Later, while arguing that one reason for minimal news coverage of the trial was “the extremely disturbing nature of the crime,” they also acknowledged that “it’s no secret that most journalists are socially liberal.”

This morning, Dr. Gosnell’s murder convictions made the front pages of USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. The story appeared on page A-12 of The New York Times.

Both sides in the nation’s abortion debate agreed that Dr. Gosnell should be convicted and vilified. But pro-abortion forces found themselves continually forced to argue that Dr. Gosnell’s house of horrors was an exception and that abortion is not really at issue in the entire Gosnell trial. They did their best to make that point, but it is an impossible point to make. The babies murdered in Dr. Gosnell’s “clinic” were not visiting a pediatrician. They were born only after so-called “botched abortions.” The entire context was about abortion.

In TIME, Pickert and Sorensen argued that “this was not a case about the morality of legal, late-term abortion.” While the trial was not an open debate about the morality of abortion, that issue is what every thoughtful person recognizes is at stake — which is precisely why the pro-abortion movement had to insist, over and over again, that the morality of abortion is not the issue.

Here is a clue: When you have to argue at every turn that the issue is not abortion, the issue is abortion.

Prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced that they will seek the death penalty for Dr. Gosnell. He now stands convicted of the premeditated and calculated murder of three infants, along with over 200 additional crimes. In his closing argument to the jury, prosecutor Ed Cameron turned to Dr. Gosnell and asked, “Are you human? To med these women up and stick knives in the backs of babies?”

But we must not miss the true meaning of the Gosnell trial. It is true that Dr. Gosnell was found guilty of his crimes — at least the crimes successfully prosecuted in Pennsylvania. But in reality the whole nation was on trial, and we are all guilty.

What the pro-abortion movement fears most is that Americans will pause to consider what this trial really means. It means that Dr. Gosnell would not be on trial for murder if he had killed those three babies while inside their mother’s body. His murder convictions have everything to do with the fact that the abortions were “botched” and the babies were accidentally born alive. Had the abortions been “successful” — even up to the last hours of pregnancy — Dr. Gosnell might have been charged with performing a late-term abortion, but not of murder.

And, speaking of late-term abortions, the abortion rights movement is against all legal restrictions on those as well. They insist on a woman’s unfettered right to an abortion up to the moment of birth.

Even more chillingly, a Planned Parenthood representative recently told a committee of the Florida legislature that even a baby born alive after a failed abortion should have its life or death decided only by its mother and her doctor.

This is America. A nation that has legalized murder in the womb and that now finds itself staring at what abortion really represents. Human dignity cannot survive in a society that insists that a baby inside the womb has no right to live while that same baby, just seconds later, is a murder victim. Respect for human life cannot endure when a baby inside the womb is just a fetus, but when moved only a few centimeters is a full citizen.

The body parts of babies presented as evidence in the Gosnell trial are routinely discarded as “medical waste” outside your local abortion clinic.

What the Gosnell trial revealed is not the exceptional gruesomeness of a single clinic in Philadelphia. It reveals the truth that all Americans are, by our laws, complicit in Dr. Gosnell’s evil. The real scandal is not just the babies murdered outside the womb, but the millions aborted legally — torn apart by blades, suctioned out as waste, poisoned unto death by drugs.

The trial of Dr. Kermit Gosnell revealed the truth about this homicidal doctor and his house of horrors, but it also revealed the moral house of mirrors behind which America hides. Dr. Gosnell is not alone in having the blood of babies on his hands.

I am always glad to hear from readers. Write me at mail@albertmohler.com. Follow regular updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/albertmohler.

Publication date: May 14, 2013

http://www.christianity.com/christian-life/political-and-social-issues/kermit-gosnell-america-what-his-trial-really-reveals.html?p=0

Read Full Post »

HEBREWS 6:10 BIBLE VERSE OF THE DAY

Hebrews 6:10

God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.

Thoughts on today’s verse

So much assurance in such a short verse! God is not unjust — boy is that an understatement. If he produced the atoning sacrifice for our sins, what will he deny us if we seek after him? He will not forget our work and love — an eternal record of the good we have done! When we help our brothers and sisters in Christ, we bless him! We are HIS people!! That’s real motivation to keep on maturing in Christ.

Prayer: God, you are so gracious. Thank you. Words cannot express my joy at hearing such a simple and profound statement describing your virtues. I am so glad I am your child. Through my brother Jesus I pray. Amen.

Visit heartlight.org 

http://www.christianity.com/devotionals/heartlight-daily-verse-phil-ware/heartlight-daily-verse-5-or-18-557910.html

Read Full Post »

ROSE AND LINDA’S JOURNAL DON’T BURY ME WITH SHOES ON MY FEET

This is for all the children out there who do not want to talk about future arrangements for the still living, who shall depart from us some day.  Yeah that is right, we want to talk about how to bury us when we die.

It is important to make arrangements ahead of time.  Decide who shall get what jewelry, the house, the car, and any money.  What to wear, what not to wear.  Some children just do not want to talk about it.

We are going to die, if Jesus doesn’t come first.  Children sit down and have a talk with your parents.  Take notes, write down the desires of your loved ones.  Concerning valuables get it notarized.

Why?  Example:  Mom has always told you her ring goes to sister Sue, but when she passes sister Sarah is there and takes the ring.  She says Mom told her to take it.  Well the nurses heard it also.  The thing is Mom was saying take it,not keep it.  Put these things in writing, then there will be less fighting.

When the family sits down and talks about the arrangements, even those who disagree, know the wishes of the person.

Now for me, do not put any shoes on my feet.  And let the girls be free, after all I am being cremated.  Take my ashes to the far side of Florida, not the Gulf side [the water is to muddy] and drop me in two feet of water so I will go out with the tide.  I do not want anyone to take me home and place me on the mantel, or a shelf.  If you must do something take some marshmallows, Hershey chocolate and graham crackers and over a fire make smores. Write my name on balloons and release them into the air, I prefer black and white.  Last but very important print out the song ‘Let the Circle be Unbroken’ and sing it around the fire.  Laugh about how crazy I was to have you do this, and speak into the wind ‘She did love us, in her own way!’

God Bless

recj/LJG

Read Full Post »