Peggy Noonan Quote

I wholeheartedly agree!

Columnist Peggy Noonan: "In the late 1980s, Andres Serrano produced 'Piss Christ,' a photograph of a small crucifix submerged in the artist’s urine. That didn’t go over well with a lot of Christians. ... But the protests were peaceful, and no one even dreamed of harming the artist. In the late 1990s it was Chris Ofili, whose painting 'The Holy Virgin Mary' depicted Mary surrounded by pornographic images and smeared with elephant dung. ... There were protests and arguments, the mayor withheld funds, the museum sued him and won. No one ever dreamed of harming the artist. ... A singular feature of extremist Islamists is that they are not at all interested in persuasion. They don’t care about winning you over, only about making you submit. They want to menace and threaten. They want to frighten. They enjoy posing with the severed head. It is the West’s job not to be overcome by fear, not to give an inch. Steady is the word."

New Website

     Well, it's published!  I still need to do some work on it and will have to add material once the schedules have been finalized and the Parade Route determined, but here is the address of our new Heritage Days website:  martinsvilleheritagedays.com.  Right now you have to click on the name at the top but that will soon change.
      I am pleased that it is readable and will help get info out about the Festival and new Draft Horse Show.  Now to fine tune it.

Exciting News for Heritage Days!

      We found out Thursday that Brocton is not going to hold their Draft Horse, Mule & Pony Show anymore.  In the past it has been held the first weekend of June and has been widely attended. Rodney Wood, who has spearheaded the show, said he is ready to retire and there is no one who wants to take it over.  Therefore, he has said he will advise us and help in any way he can if we want to move it to Martinsville as a part of our Heritage Days Festival.  We are very excited about this!  It fits in so well with our theme and will be a wonderful addition, so we are busy planning the show to fit our Heritage Days schedule.  We are also encouraging the Horse Show participants to be in our Equine Parade so we are expecting the parade to be exceptional this year.
      The Martinsville Fairgrounds will be a perfect place to hold the Horse Show.  Since Heritage Days will be held at the Linn Park/Amphitheater/Veteran's Park we will run trams between the two facilities for those who want to participate in both.
      So today I am working on a new website for the Festival and the Horse Show.  When it is finished it can be found at martinvilleheritagedays.com.  I'm not sure how long it will take me to finish it because I decided to try a webhosting site to create the website instead of Blogger where I created this one and the one for the Linn Park Amphitheater.   In a few days if you are interested, check the website to see some of the great things that will be happening at Heritage Days.
      And wish me luck--or better yet--say a prayer--that I can figure out how to finish the website. I enjoy learning new things but sometimes I get a little frustrated :o) in the process.

The Things Which Make For Peace by Francis Frangipane

     This is an excellent article by Francis Frangipane.  We must put aside our differences and come together in prayer seeking the Father's will as the body--each part contributing to the whole--instead of acting as if our church is the whole body.  Prayer from body who comes together in unity is the key to revival.

The Things Which Make for Peace "When He approached, He saw the city and wept over it" (Luke 19:41). If Jesus came today and gazed upon the divisions and lack of prayer in His Church, would tears flood His eyes, even as He once wept over Jerusalem? Even now I believe the Lord's hands are extended in love toward the Church in our cities. Knowing we cannot win the citywide war as isolated, individual congregations, Christ longs to unite us. Unity in the born-again church is not a casual reflection in Christ's heart. He said, "How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!" (Luke 13:34). Please hear the compassion in the Lord's heart. He pleaded, "How often I wanted to gather your children together." Time and again He has called us to humble ourselves, and in united prayer, allow Him to heal our land. But He chastened, "You would not have it!" The lack of blessing in many of our cities is not only because of the sins of the world. A number of our problems are because we as the Church have been focused our own agendas and programs. Maybe we are waiting for God to do something to unite us. Perhaps we are waiting for revival before we truly obey Him. We must see that revival follows obedience, not obedience after revival. The question is not, will there be revival? Rather, the question is this: When will we unite as pastors and intercessors -- even as just a group of two or three -- and engage in humility and prayer that revival might come? The Hour of Our Visitation Even in the midst of our fallen condition, and even as many are warning of impending judgments, the Lord repeats to us what He said to Jerusalem: "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace!" (Luke 19:42). There are things that make for peace, even in our cities and in our generation. When Jesus spoke these words, Jerusalem was soon to be destroyed! Yet even with the possibility of coming destruction, He said there were things that would turn the city from evil and bring it into peace. What were those things? We can see them more clearly if we note that immediately after Jesus warned Jerusalem of her fate, He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were selling wares, saying to them, "It is written, 'And My house shall be a house of prayer' ['for all the nations,' Mark 11:17], but you have made it a robbers' den" (Luke 19:46). Jesus rebuked the Jews because they had turned the focus of His Father's house from prayer and intercession, reducing it into a house of merchandise. It certainly is not wrong to present programs or spiritual training resources, but we must be careful to keep our focus on the main things, those things that make for peace that, under the anointing of the Lord, can help see our cities turned to God and redeemed.  Remember, our cities are not worse than ancient Nineveh. When the people of Nineveh humbled themselves, repented and prayed, destruction was averted. The House of Prayer Jesus is seeking to bring His Church to the place where, even in the midst of our programs and church development, we become a house of prayer. The Lord will test the endurance of this newly praying Church, but the power of God will ultimately be released in the cities of prayer. The extraordinary presence of the living Christ will make miracles seem ordinary. Faith will once again rest on the demonstration of the Spirit and not upon the wisdom of man; multitudes will be genuinely saved. You see, there are things that make for peace. Pastors and their congregations must be healed of the insecurities that have kept them isolated from each other. God has wonderful, awesome plans for our cities. But the substructure of these "things which make for peace" is the born-again church becoming a house of prayer.

It Is Well - Kristene DiMarco & Bethel Music - You Make Me Brave

This is gorgeous!!

James Maloney: The Year of Promise

I love this word by James Maloney because it is filled with promise as it explains God's promises!

"The Year Of Promise"

James Maloney, Argyle, TX

God's Character

Speaking of possessing our land, in the spiritual sense of a prosperous journey through life (3 John 2), Deuteronomy 11:12 shares insight into the Lord's thoughts concerning His people's inheritance: "...a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year."

This tells me He keeps us in special consideration, nonstop, from year to year. I believe we must see through the eyes of faith(2 Corinthians 4:18) and recognize that each new year is an ending of the "old" and a beginning of the "new." Or more correctly, it's all just a continuation of the "now," since the Lord is ever-present, never changing; from God's eternal perspective, the past, present and future are occurring in the moment.

In a fatherly, loving way the Lord's watchful care over our settings, surroundings and situations never deteriorates, nor does it vacillate. He is intimately involved in our daily lives, year in, year out. He is protective over His work in perfecting our purpose. "Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep" (Psalm 121:4) How many know we are spiritual Israel, and our spiritual land is in His focus, just like it was in the children of Israel's time? It continues into perpetuity.

He is concerned about you: your place of worship, your family, your home, your job—why even your means of transportation is important to the Lord! None of these things escape His sight, and this interest in you is renewed every year. It never wanes; it never changes. You need to understand this is a truth about God's character, and as such it is incapable of changing.

"The Lord will perfect that which concerns me..." (Psalm 138:8) speaks of completion, the termination of a work started—that is: the successful and abounding voyage of your walk through life. He is not planning on leaving you hanging. Rather, every area in your life is in a state of development. We have to get to a place in our relationship with the Lord that we actually believe this in steadfast faith. There is a timetable with a divine design to it concerning your progression in this life—and you are making progress!

Faith is growing; knowledge of God's attributes is expanding. He is perfecting that which concerns us! We are admonished inPhilippians 1:6 to be "...confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ."

"Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly" (Job 8:7). Your growth, development and maturing is pointing to a grand and glorious consummation! Think of this way, if it helps—God puts the brakes on satan so that you can rapidly accelerate forward.

The Year of Promise—Possessing Our Land

"...As your days [are], so shall your strength be" (Deuteronomy 33:25). What this is telling us is that life—the circumstances of our day-to-day living—will not leave us like an empty reservoir, some dry well. No, as the demands of each day are, so shall our inner resources of strength be to make us equal to any situation we face. We can wake up each morning, knowing with assurance that our strength is more than sufficient for the demands of that day.

This is our land of inheritance, and this is our year of promise. We are living in the realm of full supply; you just have to know this is true and trust in the Lord's unwavering faithfulness toward completing the work He has begun in you.This truth is all encompassing for any needs we have. Our strength will be sufficient to face physical struggles, financial strain, spiritual fatigue, mental and emotional distress—the Lord makes sure we are up to the challenge. We don't have to function in raw nerves, you know what I mean?

"But what about my circumstances?" you may be asking. It might seem you've been waiting for this manifestation of truth and strength in your life for years. I don't demean anything someone may be going through. God knows these past couple years have been the most difficult of my adult life, hands down. If anything, it's made me more sympathetic to the difficulties others face.

But it doesn't change what the Word of God says, "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us" (2 Corinthians 1:20). While we are waiting to receive the answers (and they are coming!) the Lord is teaching us valuable lessons in trust and reliance upon Him—to encourage our faith, not to make us miserable.

I'm not sure why so many Christians seem to think that God wants us to be wretched, that He creates these circumstances to wear us down, so that He knows we really love Him. That's a very strange philosophy. Look, folks, God doesn't need you to be in a right, hot mess to prove your devotion to Him. It serves His purposes better for you to be thriving, not trampled; "For He does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men"(Lamentations 3:33).

We need to understand it's not our environment trying us in these instances; it's the Word of God. (Notice I used "trying" not "torturing." There is a distinct difference. To try something means to purify it, to refine it.) Look at Joseph. Psalm 105:19says, "Until the time that his word came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him." Twelve long years, in fact. But the word was fulfilled, and Joseph was a better man for it, being raised to second in the land of Egypt, put into a position to save his entire family—even the ones who created the circumstances of those twelve years.

It's not our adverse conditions that test us—rather, it is the very promises of God themselves. And that makes it worthwhile, because we know the promises will bear out. In the waiting of their fulfillment, we learn to trust that God is true to His Word, and we will see the manifestation of what we are seeking.

The difference here is that our situations can change. God's promises cannot. If it were the circumstances doing the testing, we'd be up the proverbial creek. But because we know God's Word is true, it will produce what it promises to produce. So, "Trust your promises, not your circumstances," is what I'm trying to say. We have a choice in what we focus our attention on.

The School of Trust

You have to know, "...There will be a fulfillment of those things which were told [you] from the Lord" (Luke 1:45). Do you believe that? I mean, really believe that? Standing on a promise of the Lord's is not wishful thinking, no matter what you're facing. You know, the test of the validity of a promise is in its performance, right?

If the promise is made true, it was a true promise. Makes sense. God's promises carry their own assurance of fulfillment because,"God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19).

This is either true or it is not. There is no gray area here. This isn't a "sometimes" thing—it's every day of every year, and it never changes. This is why each of us is told to, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6). That word "direct" means "to make smooth and straight." God's not trying to make you trip and fall—He is paving the way for you to zoom ahead! But this is a process, isn't it?

Look, the Father knows it's harder to wait than to move, and it's easier to run than to stand still. That's why God is laying out your path, right? So you can move forward.

But the waiting part, though difficult, is just as necessary. Perhaps even more so. Waiting for an answer that seems unnecessarily delayed is an opportunity for the Lord to provide instruction, correction—course adjustments, so that you don't trip and break your ankle, you know? The fact of the matter is while we are waiting, the Lord knows He has our attention. That's not a bad thing.

This is good news because, "...He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness, because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth" (Romans 9:28). Those words "short work" can be rendered: "to cut a thing quickly and succinctly to make it smaller." Picture a pair of super sharp scissors expertly cutting a lock of hair. Snip, snip. Done. A quick work.

As we learn to trust in the Lord's goodness and speedy faithfulness, we can begin to see this is our year of promise—we will possess our land! Trust in the Lord that He has your best interests at heart, and He will complete what He's started. Keep your eyes on Him, not what you're going through, and you will have your breakthrough.

James Maloney, President
Voice of the Dove Company International
Website: voiceofthedovecompany.com
Email: contact@votdc.com

3 Common Traits of Youth Who Don’t Leave the Church by Jon Nielson

      You can read the following article on Faithit.com.   I recently discovered this website, which says about itself: Our mission is to go through the never-ending sea of information on the Internet to uncover the most important faith-based stories and give them massive attention. 

      Obviously, you can find hundreds of different articles and videos on the website.  This one attempts to answer why kids leave the church once they are grown.  It is a persuasive argument for change in our youth programs.

3 Common Traits of Youth Who Don’t Leave the Church by Jon Nielson

“What do we do about our kids?” The group of parents sat together in my office, wiping their eyes. I’m a high school pastor, but for once, they weren’t talking about 16-year-olds drinking and partying. Each had a story to tell about a “good Christian” child, raised in their home and in our church, who had walked away from the faith during the college years. These children had come through our church’s youth program, gone on short-term mission trips, and served in several different ministries during their teenage years. Now they didn’t want anything to do with it anymore. And, somehow, these mothers’ ideas for our church to send college students “care packages” during their freshman year to help them feel connected to the church didn’t strike me as a solution with quite enough depth.

The daunting statistics about church-going youth keep rolling in. Panic ensues. What are we doing wrong in our churches? In our youth ministries?

It’s hard to sort through the various reports and find the real story. And there is no one easy solution for bringing all of those “lost” kids back into the church, other than continuing to pray for them and speaking the gospel into their lives. However, we can all look at the 20-somethings in our churches who are engaged and involved in ministry. What is it that sets apart the kids who stay in the church? Here are just a few observations I have made about such kids, with a few applications for those of us serving in youth ministry.

1. They are converted.

The Apostle Paul, interestingly enough, doesn’t use phrases like “nominal Christian” or “pretty good kid.” The Bible doesn’t seem to mess around with platitudes like: “Yeah, it’s a shame he did that, but he’s got a good heart.” When we listen to the witness of Scripture, particularly on the topic of conversion, we find that there is very little wiggle room. Listen to these words: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17) We youth pastors need to get back to understanding salvation as what it really is: a miracle that comes from the glorious power of God through the working of the Holy Spirit.

We need to stop talking about “good kids.” We need to stop being pleased with attendance at youth group and fun retreats. We need to start getting on our knees and praying that the Holy Spirit will do miraculous saving work in the hearts of our students as the Word of God speaks to them. In short, we need to get back to a focus on conversion. How many of us are preaching to “unconverted evangelicals”? Youth pastors, we need to preach, teach, and talk—all the while praying fervently for the miraculous work of regeneration to occur in the hearts and souls of our students by the power of the Holy Spirit! When that happens—when the “old goes” and the “new comes”—it will not be iffy. We will not be dealing with a group of “nominal Christians.” We will be ready to teach, disciple, and equip a generation of future church leaders—“new creations”!—who are hungry to know and speak God’s Word. It is converted students who go on to love Jesus and serve the church.

2. They have been equipped, not entertained.

Recently, we had “man day” with some of the guys in our youth group. We began with an hour of basketball at the local park, moved to an intense game of 16” (“Chicago Style”) softball, and finished the afternoon by gorging ourselves on meaty pizzas and 2-liters of soda. I am not against fun (or gross, depending on your opinion of the afternoon I just described) things in youth ministry. But youth pastors especially need to keep repeating the words of Ephesians 4:11-12 to themselves: “[Christ] gave…the teachers to equip the saints for the work of the ministry, for building up the body of Christ.” Christ gives us—teachers—to the church, not for entertainment, encouragement, examples, or even friendship primarily. He gives us to the church to “equip” the saints to do gospel ministry in order that the church of Christ may be built up.

If I have not equipped the students in my ministry to share the gospel, disciple a younger believer, and lead a Bible study, then I have not fulfilled my calling to them, no matter how good my sermons have been. We pray for conversion; that is all we can do, for it is entirely a gracious gift of God. But after conversion, it is our Christ-given duty to help fan into flame a faith that serves, leads, teaches, and grows. If our students leave high school without Bible-reading habits, Bible-study skills, and strong examples of discipleship and prayer, we have lost them. We have entertained, not equipped them…and it may indeed be time to panic!

Forget your youth programs for a second. Are we sending out from our ministries the kind of students who will show up to college in a different state, join a church, and begin doing the work of gospel ministry there without ever being asked? Are we equipping them to that end, or are we merely giving them a good time while they’re with us? We don’t need youth group junkies; we need to be growing churchmen and churchwomen who are equipped to teach, lead, and serve. Put your youth ministry strategies aside as you look at that 16-year-old young man and ask: “How can I spend four years with this kid, helping him become the best church deacon and sixth-grade Sunday school class teacher he can be, ten years down the road?”

3. Their parents preached the gospel to them.

As a youth pastor, I can’t do all this. All this equipping that I’m talking about is utterly beyond my limited capabilities. It is impossible for me to bring conversion, of course, but it is also impossible for me to have an equipping ministry that sends out vibrant churchmen and churchwomen if my ministry is not being reinforced tenfold in the students’ homes. The common thread that binds together almost every ministry-minded 20-something that I know is abundantly clear: a home where the gospel was not peripheral but absolutely central. The 20-somethings who are serving, leading, and driving the ministries at our church were kids whose parents made them go to church. They are kids whose parents punished them and held them accountable when they were rebellious. They are kids whose parents read the Bible around the dinner table every night. And they are kids whose parents were tough but who ultimately operated from a framework of grace that held up the cross of Jesus as the basis for peace with God and forgiveness toward one another.

This is not a formula! Kids from wonderful gospel-centered homes leave the church; people from messed-up family backgrounds find eternal life in Jesus and have beautiful marriages and families. But it’s also not a crapshoot. In general, children who are led in their faith during their growing-up years by parents who love Jesus vibrantly, serve their church actively, and saturate their home with the gospel completely, grow up to love Jesus and the church. The words of Proverbs 22:6 do not constitute a formula that is true 100 percent of the time, but they do provide us with a principle that comes from the gracious plan of God, the God who delights to see his gracious Word passed from generation to generation: “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Youth pastors, pray with all your might for true conversion; that is God’s work. Equip the saints for the work of the ministry; that is your work. Parents, preach the gospel and live the gospel for your children; our work depends on you.

Jon Nielson is the college pastor at College Church in Wheaton, Illinois. He blogs at Something More Sure.  

Sharpton Must Go -- Mychal Massie's Column Today

   I totally agree with Mychal Massie--again--as usual!  Al Sharpton is a disgrace.  How can he call himself 'reverend'?  He surely has never read the Bible or he would be afraid to do the divisive things he does while claiming to be a minister of the Lord.  Mychal has a great idea which I have highlighted in yellow in case you don't have time to read the whole article. So lets help him out by forwarding the idea to friends, family, etc.   Maybe we can make a difference.

Sharpton Must Go

by Mychal Massie on January 6, 2015 in Daily Rant, Race & Politics 

It is time for Al Sharpton to go, and I’m not talking about him going to Hades, he is handling that eventuality quite well on his own.

Sharpton’s MSNBC bio reads in part, “With over 40 years of experience as a community leader, politician, minister and advocate, [he] is one of America’s most-renowned civil rights leaders. Sharpton’s highly visible career began at the tender age of four when he preached his first sermon.” (PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton; msnbc.com)

Sharpton is no Civil Rights leader. He is a liar, a criminal, a snitch, and an inciter of violence, and racial animus. Booker T. Washington, Dr. Martin Luther King, and Senator Everett Dirksen, R. IL were Civil Rights leaders. They worked to elevate America; Sharpton works to embroil America in a zeitgeist of racial division.

Sharpton’s legacy to date includes Tawana Brawley. Sharpton’s wanton lies signaled a rapacious mentality and a willingness to falsely malign individuals and an entire city if it helped elevate him. He falsely accused six white men of raping Brawley, writing racial epithets on her body and smearing feces on her. Despite Sharpton being proven an unmitigated liar in the Brawley case, he has never apologized for his blatant lies or so much as offered a single explanation for his lies.

Sharpton’s so-called activism includes Freddie’s Fashion Mart where his baneful histrionics led to a black gunman entering the store and indiscriminately shooting customers and setting the store on fire. He has also repeatedly encouraged vitriol against Jewish groups in New York.

Sharpton has forged his career on inciting racial discord at every opportunity.

But for all of Sharpton’s lies and his inciting shootings and mayhem, his fallacious accusations and maligning of law enforcement in Ferguson, MO and New York has led to the murders of two members of NY Police Department and numerous other police shootings across the country as retribution for the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The law enforcement officers involved in the deaths of Brown and Garner were found innocent of wrongdoing, just as George Zimmerman was found justified in his shooting death of Trayvon Martin.

But Sharpton doesn’t believe in the rule of law; he believes in fomenting insurrection. And yet, MSNBC continues to air his pathetic excuse for intellectual programming.

MSNBC may see nothing wrong with showcasing a person who has been and FBI snitch against the mobsters for whom he was allegedly selling cocaine. MSNBC may not have a problem with showcasing a reprehensible liar and inciter of violence, but I am certain that with persuasion, the sponsors of his show will see otherwise.

I’m asking that every member of law enforcement, their families, friends, and anyone connected in any way to law enforcement to join in refusing to spend one cent of your money on any products made, sold, distributed, and/or associated with Sharpton’s sponsors.

Sharpton’s pernicious hebephrenia pursuant to the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner is undeniably responsible for blacks nationwide taking up arms against law enforcement. Do the sponsors of his show want to be associated with the person responsible for police officers nationwide being shot and killed?

I am specifically asking New York law enforcement to join in condemnation of the vicious marplot whose actions have directly led to NYPD Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. Add to Officers Liu and Ramos who were ambushed and assassinated, those officers who were shot in Florida, California, and other states. Add to Liu and Ramos those officers who are now living under literal death threats even as they work to protect our communities.

If law enforcement across the country and even around the world joins in the boycott of Sharpton’s sponsors, MSNBC will have no choice but to divest themselves of him. Boycotting Sharpton’s sponsors will also make other companies wary of doing business with him.

Sharpton has made a lifelong career out of knowingly lying and inciting death, mayhem and racial unrest. By joining together and by committing to boycott companies associated with Sharpton, we have the opportunity to silence one of America’s most malicious race mongers.

Sharpton is not untouchable. He is a gutless coward who hides behind tinted glass and MSNBC. And it is time for us to send him to the ash heaps of history.

Numbers and Promises

    I have always loved numbers.  I love the symmetry and repetition when they line up on digital clocks, like 11:11 or 3:33, or room numbers like 323 or 232 or 777 are significant to me, or months and days of the month that line up with years. I added the date of publication of my first cookbook as 11-11-11. Weird, isn't it? Or are you fascinated with numbers, too?
     Today is one of those days:  1-5-15.  Did you know 5 is the number for 'grace'?  And of course 1 is the number for God so see how special today is--double grace from God?  I always expect good things on days like this.
     Actually, I expect good things everyday because God has given such precious promises to us, His children.  Here are a few that I love. There are so many more to list that I could go on and on.  Maybe I will post more in the future.  Maybe on 1-15-15  :o)

•  He said he is "able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us."  
•  He said, "All things work together for good to those who love Him, who are called according to His purposes."  
• He said, "The things that are impossible with man are possible with God."  
• He said, "I will keep you in perfect peace if your mind is stayed on Me."  
• He said, "Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers." 
• He said, " For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." 
•  He said, "Call on Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things you do not know."
• He said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."
• He said, "And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear."
• He said, "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive." 
• He said, "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
• He said, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 

Doesn't it encourage you just to read those words from Him? Or to see numbers that represent Him?  It certainly does me!

Jesus Calling, January 4

    Today God had another great reminder for me through the Jesus Calling devotional by Sarah Young.  Maybe it will encourage you, too.

January 4

        I WANT YOU TO LEARN A NEW HABIT. Try saying, "I trust You, Jesus" in response to whatever happens to you.  If there is time, think about who I AM in all My Power and Glory; ponder also the depth and breadth of My Love for you.
       This simple practice will help you see Me in every situation, acknowledging My sovereign control over the universe.  When you view events from this perspective--through the Light of My universal Presence--fear loses its grip on you.  Adverse circumstances become growth opportunities when you affirm your trust in Me no matter what.  You receive blessings gratefully, realizing they flow directly from My hand of grace.  Your continual assertion of trusting Me will strengthen our relationship and keep you close to Me.

        Scriptures included in the meditation:  Psalm 63:2; Isaiah 40:10-11; Psalm 139:7-10

Graham Cooke's "Keys to Brilliant Focus"

     One of the devotionals I have been using in my daily quiet time is Graham Cooke's Keys to Brilliant Focus which has 52 short meditations to reflect upon.  Today I read number 42 which was longer than normal--about 3 pages--but so rich in inspiration and truth!  I am posting some of the thoughts that struck me this morning.  If I could remember to see my life in this light I would be excited for problems because I would realize they are all opportunities to grow in likeness to God.

"The key to every circumstance is presence.  The key to presence is focus on the aspect of God's nature that He wants to develop in us through the situation in hand."

"We lead with His nature.  The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control…  The fruit of the Spirit is the very definition of presence…the first line of defense in warfare…"

"We live in the fruit of the Spriit that is assigned to the problem; not the problem itself…"

"When we focus on God's nature as our first response to everything, we receive the key that opens up the circumstance to God's blessing and favor.  We are in Him learning how to persist in His nature, rather than to persevere in the situation.  Continuing in primary pupose puts us above the circumstance. We overcome when our goal to become like God is grather than our need for resolution of the problem…"

"All the most wonderful things of God come to us via testing…The best way to live is to be focused on the nature of God as the goal of everything.  Do not stray from primary purpose, which is to become conformed to the image of Jesus.  Cultivating His nature is one of the primary keys of the Kingdom…"
The real test is not the resolution of the situation (that's the by-product); it is the development [in us] of God's nature in the fruit of the Spirit…" 

Why Not Promote On Our Heroes?

        This is true of all of us.  How many names of the men who have sacrificed their lives for our country do we know?  Shame on the mainstream media for helping Obama, Holder, Sharpton, Jackson & Farrakhan stir up racial hatred.  They have exploited the death of these thugs, while ignoring those heros who have given their lives so these people, who hate our country, can exercise their freedom of speech to poison the minds of so many!

Pastor Stephen Nash encourages us with words of hope for the New Year

      Happy New Year!  

     I, too, believe there is reason to hope.  God is not finished with us yet and nothing is impossible for Him.  Praise His glorious Name!

Pastor Stephen Nash says it well, I think, so I'm posting today's column from The Daily Rant.

Hope for the New Year

by Pastor Stephan Nash on January 1, 2015 in Faith & Family,Pastor Stephen Nash 

How many reading this article have a genuine hope for 2015? I guess it depends on one’s perspective. Could it be that attitudes and perspectives, carried over from the previous year, have a great bearing on how we look into the future? Some may think that having a republican controlled Congress will solve many of the nation’s ills. I’m not so sure about that. Too many times I have become a bit disillusioned by hopeful politicians who promised great reforms.

No man or woman can straighten up the mess we have gotten ourselves into. Therefore, our hope must be redirected to someone who has promised and can deliver for the coming New Year! How about Isaiah 43:19 where the Lord has this to say: “See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” That sounds refreshing to me. We could use those “streams in the desert!”

Some may think that God is done with us. He has given us plenty of time and opportunity to get it together and repent of our wrongdoings. We have been unfaithful and rebellious like many others who have gone before us. Still, I hear the voice of the weeping prophet, Jeremiah, in Lam. 3:22-23: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is His faithfulness!”

What about all the lawless, wicked, evil and hateful people who take advantage of the defenseless innocents? This world is not a just place; there is no fairness in any land. Psalm 31:23-24: “Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full.  Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord!”

But it is hard to change my attitude that always seems to bring me down as well as those around me. I’m tired of always being so negative! Ephesians 4:22-24: “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires (thoughts);  to be made new in the attitude of your minds;  and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

These leaders will never change. They are corrupt and that’s just the way it is with most all of them! Proverbs 21:1: “The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord. Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.” And then there is Ezekiel 11:19: “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a soft heart.”

You’re probably thinking by now, “Pastor, you must be kidding me. You’re quite the dreamer!” You may be correct, but I can tell you, God did that in my own heart and life. I was much worse than most of the bad people you may be thinking about. As John Wesley said, “But for the grace of God, there go I!” I am hopeful, but that is what the New Year is all about, isn’t it? If we cannot hope for a better tomorrow, we are to be pitied. I have to hope as Micah did in 7:7: “But as for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me.”

Can you dig deep and search hard for better days ahead? Can you grab hold of just a glimmer of hope for 2015? Is there a way to see through all the fog of despondency? My friend, hold on to Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Hope has with it the condition that we willingly decide to take God at His Word. As Peter said, “Where else have we to turn, for He has the words of eternal life!” As the cliché says, “Go with God!” Begin this New Year a different way this time. Efforts to make resolutions we never keep, and simply “hope for the best,” has not worked in the past and won’t work for today. Surrender your entire will to God and He will give you a brighter outlook for 2015!

The Bitter Truth About Sugar by Dr. Mercola

    This is a great time to be reading this article which is posted on Dr. Mercola's site because most of us are making New Year's resolutions to eat better.  This is added encouragement to stop the sugar consumption.  But don't be fooled into thinking that using a sugar substitute is a good alternative because it is even worse than sugar.  See earlier blogposts on Jan. 21, 30 and Nov. 11, 2013 on aspartame and Dec. 13, 2013 on Splenda for information on their effects on your body.  The solution is to stop consuming sugar (and white flour which is turned into sugar) so that our bodies can recover.

The Bitter Truth About Sugar

December 31, 2014 | 

Visit the Mercola Video Library

By Dr. Mercola

Dr. Robert Lustig, a Professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at UC San Francisco, has been on the forefront of the movement to educate people about the health hazards of sugar and fructose in particular, for a number of years now.

In the video above, he discusses how low-fat recommendations have led to a dramatic increase in sugar consumption, and it is in fact sugar, not fat, that drives heart disease.

Excess sugar is also a primary factor in countless other chronic disease states. This is a topic he delves into in-depth in his new book, Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease.

The excessive amount of “stealth” sugar in processed foods has quite literally become the backbone that supports America’s disease care business.

According to the Credit Suisse Research Institute’s 2013 study1 “Sugar: Consumption at a Crossroads,” up to 40 percent of US healthcare expenditures are for diseases directly related to the overconsumption of sugar! 

Sugar Masquerading as Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner...

A major problem with processed food is that when you look at the label, you have no way of knowing how much of the sugar is natural to the food itself, versus the sugar that was added.  

Even foods that are typically considered “healthy” can contain shocking amounts of added sugar or fructose, typically in the form of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS).

Clinical trials have shown that those who consume HFCS tend to develop higher risk factors for cardiovascular disease within as little as two weeks, so if I had to pick out the worst culprit among sugars, it would be fructose.

According to Dr. Lustig, it’s important to distinguish between natural food-based sugars versus added sugar.

For example, he notes that a small serving cup of plain yogurt has about seven grams of sugar in the form of lactose, a natural sugar found in dairy, which does not cause any major harm.

A fruit flavored yogurt on the other hand, contains about 19 grams of sugar, 12 grams of which is added sugar. This equates to eating a small cup of plain yoghurt with a bowl of Frosted Corn Flakes.

According to Dr. Lustig, we “abdicated rational nutrition when we went to processed foods.” The low-fat craze has been particularly harmful, because when the food industry removed the fat, they had to put lots of sugar in. Without either fat or sugar, the food is unpalatable and no one would buy it.

We now know that good nutrition includes healthy fat, and quite a bit of it, and that sugar is a primary driver of chronic inflammation and related health problems, including obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.

In short, by removing fat and adding sugar, the processed food industry has created a smorgasbord of made to order disease... Besides enormous amounts of sugar, processed foods are also loaded with ingredients that have been banned in other countries, such as trans fats, artificial sweeteners, genetically engineered ingredients, and glyphosate.

Soda Companies’ Secret Business-Building Strategy—Soda Increases Thirst!    

Continue reading here.

Myers Briggs Personality Indicators

       Have you ever taken the Myers Briggs personality test?  Country Guy & I took it a couple of times probably 30 or more years ago.  If you aren't familiar with the test, answers to questions are sorted into 4 categories: Introverted(I)/Extroverted(E), Sensing(S)/Intuitive(N), Thinking(T)/Feeling(F) and Judging(J)/Perceptive(P) and then combined into 16 combinations of these categories.
      My results indicated I was an INFJ.  Country Guy was an ISTP.  Once I realized we only had the "I" in common I began to understand many of our conflicts.  It was really an eye-opener for me!  I had thought we were very much alike but it became apparent we had the same values but went about making decisions in entirely different ways.  Before the test I had thought the things I found irritating about him were choices he was making--probably to irritate me.  :o)  He wouldn't make a decision until it absolutely had to be made.  I, on the other hand, wanted it made immediately so I could begin making plans.  The test revealed those characteristics were part of our personality and the way we processed things.  I was a J.  One of the descriptions of a J is that they like decisions to be made and consider a bad decision is better than no decision at all.  Country Guy was a P.  P's are described as wanting to keep their options open.  Once I saw this I began realizing how good it was (even though frustrating) that we looked at things from different perspectives.  There was much more balance in our relationship than there could have been if we saw things exactly the same.
       I was discussing this test with our granddaughter last week so I decided to see if there was a free test online to help her discover a little more about herself.  I found one at 16personalities.com.  Once you get the results of your test some excellent information is included about each personality.  It is amazing to me how someone figured this out in such an accurate way that I feel understood and understand myself better as I read the description of my personality.  I took the test again once our granddaughter had taken it to see if my personality had changed over the years.  (Is that possible?  I don't know.)  It hadn't.
      If you are curious and decide to take the test I would love to hear the results or insights you receive from taking it.  It is so fascinating to me--but then that curiosity is part of my personality! I love it!