The Senility Prayer -- Getting Older

God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones that I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.
Now that I'm 'older' here are 16 things I've discovered:

1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it.
   
2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and All Bran.
   
3. I finally got my head together; now my body is falling apart.
   
4. Funny, I don't remember being absent minded...
   
5. All reports are in; life is now officially unfair.
   
6. If all is not lost, where is it?
   
7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
   
8. Some days you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant.
   
9. I wish the buck stopped here; I sure could use a few...
   
10. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere.
    
11. The only time the world beats a path to your door is when you're in the bathroom.
    
12. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.
    
13. When I'm finally holding all the cards, why does everyone decide to play chess?
    
14. It's not hard to meet expenses... they're everywhere.
    
15. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
    
16. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter. I go somewhere to get something and then wonder what I'm here after.
    

I CAN'T REMEMBER IF I TOLD YOU THIS BEFORE OR NOT, AND DOUBT IF YOU CAN EITHER.

Things you're glad you didn't hear during surgery . . . .

I have listened to doctors over the years share the news with family members about a loved one who has just come through surgery. I also have had my share of those these last few years and even remember telling the doctor not to start the surgery until I went to sleep only to wake up in the recovery room. I can barely remember hearing the doctor and his assistants talking in the operating room, but in saying that I am glad I did not hear some of these things while I was lying on the operating table. These are things you're glad you didn't hear during surgery.

-Wait a minute, if that's his spleen, then what's this?


-Hand me that...uh...that uh...thingie.


-Oops! Hey, has anyone ever survived 500ml of this stuff before?


-Could you stop that thing from beating? It's bothering my concentration.

-What's this doing here?


-I hate it when they're missing stuff in here.


-Somebody call the janitor -- we're going to need a mop.

-I sure wish I had my glasses.


-Well folks, this will be an experiment for us all.


-Oh no! I just lost my Rolex.


-Sterile, shmerile. The floor's clean enough.


-What do you mean he wasn't in for a sex change?!

-Anyone see where I left my scalpel?


-Nurse, did this patient sign the organ donation card?


-What do you mean you want a divorce?!

Sincerity

The Wall Street Journal once printed a little piece titled "Sincerity." It is one of my favorites and reads something like this: 
I wish I were...

-big enough honestly to admit all my shortcomings;

-brilliant enough to accept praise without it making me arrogant;

-tall enough to tower above deceit;

-strong enough to welcome criticism;

-compassionate enough to understand human frailties;

-wise enough to recognize my mistakes;

-humble enough to appreciate greatness;

-staunch enough to stand by my friends;

-human enough to be thoughtful of my neighbor;

-and righteous enough to be devoted to the love of God.

I am really not all that strong. I don't always act with courage. I am certainly not as brilliant as others, as charming or as wise. But today I can be me. And when I lie down tonight, I'll sleep easy knowing it will have been enough.

When I am sincere, there's nothing to hide. I am just me. It's something I can't fake. And if I'm the best me that I can be, then what can I be that is any better?

Butterball Turket Hot-line

Over the years, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line staff have had their share of memorable calls -- inquiries that stand out from the crowd because they're heartwarming or amusing. We asked some of the veteran staff members to tell us their favorites plus, we rounded up a bunch of our own personal favorites from the Talk-Line archives. It's hard to beat the call from a trucker who planned to cook his Thanksgiving turkey on the engine of his truck ("Will it cook faster if I drive faster?"), but some of these come pretty close. Warning: do not attempt to adjust your screen -- these are real incidents, true stories -- from the front lines!
Home alone, a Kentucky woman was in the doghouse when she called the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line. While preparing the turkey, her Chihuahua jumped into the bird's body cavity and couldn't get out. She tried pulling the dog and shaking the bird, but nothing worked. She and the dog became more and more distraught. After calming the woman down, the Talk-Line home economist suggested carefully cutting the opening in the cavity of the turkey wider. It worked and Fido was freed!

Birdie, eagle and turkey? Roasting a turkey doesn't have to interfere with the daily routine, so said a retired Floridian. He called "Turkey Central" for turkey grilling tips while waiting to tee off from the 14th hole.

Taking turkey preparation an extra step, a Virginian wondered, "How do you thaw a fresh turkey?" The Talk-Line staffer explained that fresh turkeys aren't frozen and don't need to be thawed.

Don't wait until the last minute! On Thanksgiving Day, a Georgian woman took the "Be prepared" motto to heart. She had just agreed to host Thanksgiving Dinner and called the Talk-Line a year ahead of time for turkey tips.

Happy Thanksgiving, President Obama! A Southern woman called to comment, "On Thanksgiving Day, the Butterball Turkey Talk-Line is more important than the President. He can take the day off, but the Talk- Line staff can't." (The Butterball Turkey Talk-Line is open Thanksgiving Day, 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Central Standard Time.)

Tofu turkey? No matter how you slice it, Thanksgiving just isn't Thanksgiving without turkey. A restaurant owner in California wanted to know how to roast a turkey for a vegetarian menu.

White meat, anyone? A West Coast woman took turkey preparation to extremes by scrubbing her bird with bleach. Afterward, she called the Talk-Line to find out how to clean off the bleach. To her dismay, she was advised to dispose of the turkey.

A young girl called on behalf of her mother who needed roasting advice. To provide approximate roasting times, the home economist asked what size the turkey was. Without asking her mother the little girl paused, then replied, "Medium."

A novice turkey-cooking chef wanted to know if the yellow netting and wrapper around the turkey should be removed before roasting. Envisioning a melted plastic turkey blob, the home economist responded, "Yes," then offered complete roasting directions.

Thanksgiving Dinner on the run. A woman called 1-800-323-4848 to find out how long it would take to roast her turkey. To answer the question, the Talk-Line home economist asked how much the bird weighed. The woman responded, "I don't know, it's still running around outside."

Take A Moment To Give Thanks

Lord Jesus:
We thank thee for food and remember the hungry.
We thank thee for health and remember the sick.
We thank thee for friends and remember the friendless.
We thank thee for freedom and remember the enslaved.
May these remembrances stir us to service,
that thy gifts to us may be used for others.

Amen.

Since today is Thanksgiving, take just a moment to reflect upon all of the things for which you are thankful.

-How's your health? Not so good? Well, thank God you've lived this long. A lot of people haven't. You're hurting? Thousands -- maybe millions -- are hurting even more.

-If you awakened this morning able to hear the birds sing, use your vocal cords to utter human sounds, walk to the breakfast table on two good legs, and read the newspaper with two good eyes, praise the Lord! A lot of people couldn't.

-How's your pocketbook? Thin? Well, most of the world is a lot poorer. No pensions, no welfare. No food stamps, no Social Security. In fact, one-third of the people in the world will go to bed hungry tonight.

-Are you lonely? The way to have a friend is to be one. If nobody calls you, pick up the phone and call someone.

-Are you concerned about our country's future? Hooray! Our system has been saved by such concern. Our country may not be a rose garden, but neither is it a patch of weeds.

Freedom rings! Look and listen. You can worship at the church of your choice, cast a secret ballot, and you can even criticize your government without fearing a knock on the head or a knock on the door at midnight. And if you want to live under a different system, you are free to go. There are no walls or fences -- nothing to keep you here.

A final thought: Want an instant high? The surest cure for the holiday blues is doing something nice for someone. Why not call a person who lives alone and invite him or her to share dinner?

Better yet, call and say, "I'm coming to get you, and I'll see that you get home." (Some older people don't drive, and those who do may not like to be behind the wheel after dark.)

Try it and give thanks for everything He has blessed you with.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Marriage Instructions

MARRIAGE EXPECTATIONS:   A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.   A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change and she does.

MARRIAGE DECISIONS:   Men marry because they are tired.   Women marry because they are curious.   Both are disappointed.

MARRIAGE AND THE FUTURE:   A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband,   A man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

CHILDREN:   A woman knows all about her children. She knows about dentist appointments and romances, best friends, favorite foods, secret fears and hopes and dreams.   A man is vaguely aware of some short people living in the house.

SUCCESS:   A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.   A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

STYLE: Men wake up as good-looking as they went to bed. Women somehow deteriorate during the night.

MONEY MANAGEMENT: A man is a person who will pay two dollars for a one dollar item he wants.   A woman will pay one dollar for a two dollar item that she doesn't want.

THE BATTLE:   A woman always has the last word in any argument.   Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.

MEMORIES:   A woman will always cherish the memory of the man who wanted to marry her.   A man cherishes the memory of the woman who he didn't marry.

MISTAKES:   Any married man should forget his mistakes - no use two people remembering the same thing.

UNDERSTANDING WOMEN:   There are two times when a man doesn't understand a woman - before marriage and after marriage.

WHAT A WOMAN WANTS:   Only two things are necessary to keep one's wife happy...   One is to let her think she is having her own way.   The other is to let her have it.

LONGEVITY:   Married men live longer than single men, but married men are a lot more willing to die.

HAPPINESS:   To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little.   To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.

Truths From Little Children

No matter how hard you try, you can't baptize cats.

When your mom is mad at your dad, don't let her brush your hair.

If your sister hits you, don't hit her back. They always catch the second person.

Never ask your 3-year old brother to hold a tomato.

You can't trust dogs to watch your food.

Reading what people write on desks can teach you a lot.

Don't sneeze when someone is cutting your hair.

Dogs still have bad breath even after eating a tic tac.

Never hold a Dustbuster and a cat at the same time.

School lunches stick to the wall.

You can't hide a piece of broccoli in a glass of milk.

Don't wear polka-dot underwear under white shorts.

The best place to be when your sad is in Grandma's lap.

Moms get mad when you cut your own bangs.

Never put chewed gum in your pocket without a wrapper

Moms gets even madder when you let your friend cut your bangs.

Putting crayons in the microwave or the clothes dryer is a no-no.

It's not a good idea to shine the bathroom floor with Vaseline.

You can never put toothpaste back in the tube.

[ Author Unknown -- from 'Aiken Drum' (AIKENSLongJoke@topica.com) ]

Shot By A Turkey

Larry Lands Sr. suffered a shotgun wound to one of his legs. The assailant was a dead turkey.

Larry Sr. and his son, Larry Jr., had been out poaching in Washington County, Missouri, when Larry Jr. spotted an eastern wild turkey.

After successfully calling the bird in to his range, Larry Jr. shot the bird. It was not yet the season for wild turkey hunts, so Larry Jr. had to hurry up and bag the bird as fast as he could, tossing the prize into the trunk of their car, along with his semi-automatic shotgun.

After several minutes of sounds coming from the trunk of the car, the Lands duo stopped their car to investigate. (For those of you unaware of the neurological phenomenon of fowl, turkeys, much like chickens, have an pseudo-active nervous system which can last many minutes even after the body has died.)

Upon opening the trunk of the car, they saw the turkey, standing on its own two feet, flapping its wings and obviously reacting in the way that dying birds behave.

Unsure of what to do, they slammed shut the trunk of the car, at which point the turkey slipped onto the shotgun's trigger, discharging a round through the body of the car, and lodging itself into the leg of Mr. Lands Sr.

The moral of the story? Always unload or fully discharge your shotgun after use, leave the safety on, and for heaven's sake, beware of the dying bird!

Advise To Our Younger Selves

All of us at some point in our lives have wished that we could write a letter to our younger selves. We have wished we could pass on the wisdom we have learned and help them to avoid some of the pain and struggles that we have gone through. I think that my own advice to the younger me would be quite simple. This is what I would say.

Wake up earlier more often and take the time to watch the sun rising over the hills. Bend down to smell the flowers in the Spring. Swim more in the Summer. Play in the Fall leaves. Make snow angels every Winter. Turn the TV off in the afternoon and go play with your dogs instead. Don’t rush through those Sunday family dinners. Savor every bite of food and joy in them. Tell your Mom and Grandma you love them everyday and hug them every chance you can. . Don’t complain about chopping wood with your Dad. Enjoy every moment you have with him. And don’t argue so much with your brothers. Life is too short to spend being miserable.

Stop being so shy. Other people are just like you inside. Smile more. Laugh a lot. Sing often. They are joy creators. Share a kind word every chance you get. Give your inner goodness to everyone. Don’t worry about the future. Instead enjoy this day God has given you. Make the time to play with your young children. One day you will blink and they will be as big as you are. Quit wishing you were rich in money. Yet. rejoice at being rich in heart. Realize that happiness is simple. It is we who are complicated. Know in your heart that God loves you just as you are. Know in your heart that you can love too. Then go out and share your love with the world. When you do you will have the joy you have always longed for.

How I wish I could give this advice to the younger me, but I can’t. He probably wouldn’t have listened anyway. Still, it isn’t too late to follow this advice today and that is all that matters.

If College Students Wrote The Bible

• The Last Supper would have been eaten the next morning -- cold.
  
• The Ten Commandments would actually be only five -- double-spaced and written in a large font.
  
• A new edition would be published every two years in order to limit reselling.
  
• Forbidden fruit would have been eaten because it wasn't cafeteria food.
  
• Paul's letter to the Romans would become Paul's email to abuse@romans.gov.
  
• The reason Cain killed Abel: they were roommates.
  
• The reason why Moses and followers walked in the desert for 40 years: they didn't want to ask directions and look like freshmen.
  
• Instead of God creating the world in six days and resting on the seventh, He would have put it off until the night before it was due and then pulled an all-nighter.

HOW TO KEEP A HEALTHY LEVEL OF INSANITY

1. At lunch time, sit in your parked car with sunglasses on and point a hair dryer at passing cars. See if they slow down.
   
2. Page yourself over the intercom. Don't disguise your voice.
   
3. Insist that your email address is: Xena-Warrior-Princess@companyname.com
   
4. Every time someone asks you to do something, ask if they want fries with that.
   
5. Encourage your colleagues to join you in a little synchronized chair dancing.
   
6. Put your garbage can on your desk and label it "IN".
   
7. Develop an unnatural fear of staplers.
   
8. Put decaf in the coffee maker for 3 weeks. Once everyone has gotten over their caffeine addictions, switch to espresso.
   
9. In the memo field of all your checks, write 'wouldn't you like to know'.
   
10. Reply to everything someone says with, "That's what you think."
    
11. Finish all your sentences with "In accordance with the prophecy."
    
12. Adjust the tint on your monitor so that the brightness level lights up the entire work area. Insist to others that you like it that way.
    
13. Dont use any punctuation
    
14. As often as possible, skip rather than walk.
    
15. Ask people what sex they are. Laugh hysterically after they answer.
    
16. Specify that your drive-through order is "to go."
    
17. Sing along at the opera.
    
18. Go to a poetry recital and ask why the poems don't rhyme.
    
19. Find out where your boss shops and buy exactly the same outfits. Wear them one day after your boss does. (This is especially effective if your boss is of the opposite gender.)
    
20. Send e-mail to the rest of the company to tell them what you're doing. For example, "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the bathroom, in Stall #3."
    
21. Put mosquito netting around your cubicle. Play a tape of jungle sounds all day.
    
22. Five days in advance, tell your friends you can't attend their party because you're not in the mood.
    
23. Call the psychic hotline and don't say anything...
    
24. Have your coworkers address you by your wrestling name, Bad News.
    
25. When the money comes out of the ATM, scream "I Won!" "I Won!" "3rd time this week!!!"
    
26. When leaving the zoo, start running towards the parking lot, yelling "Run for your lives, they're loose!"
    
27. Tell your boss, "It's not the voices in my head that bother me, its the voices in your head that do."
    
28. Tell your children over dinner: "Due to the economy, we are going to have to let one of you go."
    
29. Every time you see a broom, yell "Honey, your mother is here!"
    

And the final way to keep a healthy level of insanity....

Send this to everyone in your address book, even if they sent it to you - it's worth the laughter!

Somebody Knows More Than God-Or Did They?

I talked with a Ministry friend of mine yesterday who shared an interesting story with me about one of my former members in Union where I pastored for 13 years. She was tending to his sick mother and found out he was a Church of God pastor. My name came up in the conversation and she shared that I had received her family into the church as members during my pastorate. I had only pastored their family for a few years, but she made the statement that I probably stayed too long at the church or that I should have left a couple of years earlier. He corrected her with kindness saying that nobody but God really knows how many years a man or woman in ministry should stay at a place God has put them and she quickly corrected her statement. He just tried to remind her that nobody knows what God's will is for a person, but God and that person.

If somebody knew more than God I sure wish they would told me that I should have moved in 2008 rather than in 2010. Here's what it would have saved me:

-Several hundred dollars that Becky and I put into the building program to help build the Family Life Center.

-Long hours of labor, cleaning, preparing and planning to get the FLC up, finished, and running along with buying equipment and getting donations to help defray the costs.

-Hours of heartbreak having to bury two of my dearest members and seeing others I loved and pastored for so long suffer and go through physical and finanical hardship.

-Oh yes, and I would never have been able to take the one that spoke these words into the fellowship of the church.

The hardest thing in the world is to leave people you love and a community that you have served in for years. I had only inquired about moving once in my 13 years there and turned down many offers during that time. I thought I would be there for life. But God did have other plans and when He spoke to me, I knew it was time.

I hope you can guess by now I'm just having a little fun with this, but it did really bother me that somebody implied that knew more about God's will for my life than I did. So on that note I say to all of you who think you have heard from God about somebody else find out what He wants for you first. He might just tell you to mind your own business.

Humor Week-Men's Rules

1. The floor is considered an acceptable clothing storage location.
   
2. Never ask me to purchase feminine products. Assume that I will come home with the wrong thing.
   
3. When we are watching your show and I change the channels during a commercial, do not hassle me that the commercials have probably finished, and to change the channel back. I always know when the timing is right. Also, when we are channel surfing do not ask me to go back, there was a good reason why I skipped it.
   
4. If you need help with the laundry, I am more than willing to carry it from the bedroom to the washer. In my mind this is half the chore and I am now free to return to the couch.
   
5. If I mention that a male friend of mine is allowed to do something it is not necessary for you to call his wife/girlfriend to discuss it.
   
6. If you don't like the way I am driving, close your eyes. And I would appreciate it if you would refrain from making that reverse inhaling alarmed noise. I haven't hit anything yet and if I do it will be your fault.
   
7. I go clothes shopping to buy, never to look.
   
8. Just tell me what you want me to wear before I get dressed. And remember that this takes me less than ten minutes no matter what the occasion is. After all, I am getting dressed, not getting ready.
   
9. Don't ask me if I prefer one outfit over another or if a certain accessory should be worn or not. I consider this a no win situation and would rather just wait for you to get dressed while watching TV.
   
10. If you want me to put the seat down when I am finished then you should leave the seat up when you are finished. It's only fair.
    
11. I will cook anything as long as it is on the BBQ.
    
12. Yelling to me across the house sounds exactly like stadium crowd background noise to me. I am not ignoring you.

Humor Week-If You Love Somebody

1. THE ORIGINAL VERSION:
   If you love something,
   Set it free...
   If it comes back, it's yours,
   If it doesn't, it never was yours....
   
2. THE PESSIMIST VERSION:
   If you love somebody,
   Set her free ...
   If she ever comes back, she's yours,
   If she doesn't, well, as expected, she never was.
   
3. THE OPTIMIST VERSION:
   If you love somebody,
   Set her free ...
   Don't worry, she will come back.
   
4. THE SUSPICIOUS VERSION:
   If you love somebody,
   Set her free ...
   If she ever comes back, ask her why.
   
5. THE IMPATIENT VERSION:
   If you love somebody,
   Set her free ...
   If she doesn't comes back within some time limit,
   forget her.
   
6. THE PATIENT VERSION:
   If you love somebody,
   Set her free ...
   If she doesn't come back, continue to wait
   until she comes back ...
   
7. THE PLAYFUL VERSION:
   If you love somebody,
   Set her free ...
   * If she comes back, and if you love her still,
   set her free again, repeat *
   
8. THE LAWYER'S VERSION:
   If you love somebody,
   Set her free...
   Clause 1a of Paragraph 13a-1 in the second
   amendment of the Matrimonial Freedom Act clearly states that...
   
9. THE STATISTICIAN'S VERSION::
   If you love somebody,
   Set her free...
   If she loves you, the probability of her coming back is high
   If she doesn't, your relationship was improbable anyway.
   
10. THE POSSESSIVE VERSION:
    If you love somebody
    don't ever set her free.
    
11. THE MBA VERSION:
    If you love somebody
    set her free...
    instantaneously...
    and look for others simultaneously.
    
12. THE PSYCHOLOGIST'S VERSION:
    If you love somebody
    set her free...
    If she comes back, her super ego is dominant
    If she doesn't come, back her id is supreme
    If she doesn't go, she must be crazy.
    
13. THE FINANCE EXPERT VERSION:
    If you love somebody
    set her free...
    If she comes back, its time to look for fresh loans.
    If she doesn't, write her off as an asset gone bad.
    
14. THE MARKETING VERSION:
    If you love somebody
    set her free...
    If she comes back, she has brand loyalty
    If she doesn't, reposition the brand in new markets.

Humor Week-10 Signs Your Husband Hates Shopping

Here Are 10 Signs That Your Guy Hates Going Shopping With You.

1. You catch him staring into the store's security cameras, waving his arms in the air and mouthing:   "Help me!"
   
2. In the last year of hitting the mall together, he's gained 20 pounds trying to self-medicate on cheese fries from the food court.
   
3. He sleeps like a baby . . . in Victoria's Secret.
   
4. The store's lounge area has turned into a therapy circle for men, with your Guy acting as moderator.
   
5. You catch him shooting the breeze about baseball and trying to place an eighth-inning bet . . . with a mannequin.
   
6. On trips to the shopping outlets,he routinely grabs the arms of little boys and shouts " run for your life, child, before it's too late"
   
7. When you suggest he bring a magazine to read to pass the time, he lugs an entire year's worth of back issues.
   
8. The saleswoman at the cosmetics counter has complained that your man is a little to fond of "smelling" the nail polish testers.
   
9. He starts shoplifting  in an attempt to "spice things up"
   
10. You hand him a pair of khakis you think might look good on him, and he absentmindedly fashions then into a noose.

Humor Week-Famous Last Words

1. "Are you sure the power is off?"
   
2. "Don't be so superstitious."
   
3. "He's probably just hibernating."
   
4. "I can do that with my eyes closed."
   
5. "I wonder where the mother bear is?"
   
6. "I'll get a world record for this."
   
7. "I'll hold it and you light the fuse."
   
8. "And that one over there, the red flashing
   one, what does that mean?"
   
9. "I'm making a citizen's arrest."
   
10. "It's fireproof."
    
11. "It's strong enough for both of us."
    
12. "I've done this before."
    
13. "I've seen this done on TV."
    
14. "Let it down slowly."
    
15. "Nice doggie."
    
16. "Now watch this..."
    
17. "Pull the pin and count to what?"
    
18. "Rat poison only kills rats."
    
19. "So, you're a cannibal..."
    
20. "Listen, I'm taking a course in chemistry,
    I know what I'm doing."
    
21. "That's odd..."
    
22. "These are the good kind of mushrooms."
    
23. "This doesn't taste right."
    
24. "What does this button do?"
    
25. "Which wire was I supposed to cut?"

Can America Be Saved Again? (Part 2)

America’s future will be determined by the basic decisions that we as a people make concerning the fundamental issue of what constitutes reality, what we recognize as truth. And this is where we come in!

While the Body of Christ can and should be a restrainer of evil, we must recognize that we are not going to change the course of this world. Too often we have forgotten--if we have known at all--what the Bible actually says about the society in which we live:

Galatians 1:4 "[Christ] gave himself for our sins, THAT HE MIGHT DELIVER US FROM THIS PRESENT EVIL WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD AND OUR FATHER."
James 4:4 " ...KNOW YE NOT THAT THE FRIENDSHIP OF THE WORLD IS ENMITY WITH GOD? WHOSOEVER THEREFORE WILL BE A FRIEND OF THE WORLD IS THE ENEMY OF GOD."
I John 5:19 " ...THE WHOLE WORLD LIETH IN WICKEDNESS."

Ephesians 2:2 "...in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience."

1 Corinthians 2:12 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God..." 
Galatians 6:14 "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom THE WORLD IS CRUCIFIED UNTO ME, AND I UNTO THE WORLD."

The Body of Christ is not here to reform the world system, solve the problems facing society, inaugurate social justice, etc. While true believers can and should have a powerful impact for good wherever they are, we are not going to improve the world system about us. In fact, part of our task is to testify to the fact that the world is not going to be made acceptable to God but rather as the age progresses will grow worse, morally and spiritually, until Christ comes to put down man’s rebellion and establish His reign.

The Church is here to save men out of this world system, to deliver men from "the present evil world." This is the way to make our ministry relevant to the realities of our time. We are not here to save the wreck man has made of society. We are here to save perishing souls from the wreck doomed to destruction.

Tragically, when needed most the Church has become totally irrelevant and ineffectual in the culture of our day as it flounders in confusion. Seemingly aware of its impotence, movements abound to seek social and political power in order to gain attention to causes dear it. Yet for all the effort in everything from political action to new, contemporary methodologies, the world about us rushes forward largely untouched by the truth deposited in our care.

Why is this? What is the problem? Answers abound: lack of prayer, absence of real separated living, indifference to the lost and the task of world evangelism, disregard of the felt needs of those about us, etc. But wait: These are really the symptoms, the results. What is the core cause? It isn’t really that difficult to identify.

Departure from God’s message and program for our day as revealed through the epistles of Paul--this is the real root of the trouble. My friend, just as it was departure from Moses’ law that constantly got Israel into trouble, with the Church it has been departure from Pauline truth. Just as surely as the dispensation of the law was committed to Moses, so surely was the dispensation of grace committed to Paul (Ephesians 3:1-9).

Only when the Church returns to God's program for today will it be able to fulfill its true role as "the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Timothy 3:15). This is the true path to the revival so desparately needed and the only avenue that can lead to another genuine spiritual awakening for our nation.

Will America be saved? We do not know. Can America be saved? YES! But not without a basic change in course.

America does indeed stand at the crossroads. Decisions made during the next few years will set the course for our nation's future well into the 21st century. A spiritually healthy, vibrant Church has a vital part to play. This is where those of us who rejoice in the rightly divided Word fit in, for only by recognizing God’s program for today will the Church be up to the task.

The Body of Christ, of course, belongs to the Lord and in the wider sense is His responsibility. Each of us, however, has a part to play in its functioning. It is true that there is much we cannot do, but the fact remains that there is much we can and should be doing.

The greatest single thing you and I as believers can do for our generation, for our nation, is to have Christ live through us in our own everyday lives. As we study God's Word and learn sound doctrine, as we testify of Christ and live in obedience to Him, the Word takes root in our hearts and produces genuine spiritual growth.

When Christ lives through us personally, our families will be impacted; as He lives through our families, our communities will be impacted; as He lives in our communities, our state, nation and world will be touched by truth.

And it is the understanding of the message of God’s grace to us in Christ that will motivate and empower us in reaching out in every possible way to every possible person with the good news we have to proclaim. For the lost we have unconditional love and forgiveness in Christ to freely offer. For believers ensnared in religious bondage we have the freedom and purpose of "Christ in you the hope of glory." For all those bound by sin's fetters we have deliverance and victory in Christ. For those whose hearts desire to serve the Lord we have the Word of His grace which is able to produce the godly edification that results in a maximum capacity for service.

We have an unprecedented opportunity to be engaged in the real work of the minsitry--to expose and win people to Christ, build them in the faith, train them to minister effectively and then send them to repeat the cycle of spiritual reproduction with others.

As you walk by faith in obedience to God’s Word to us, as you live godly in Christ Jesus in the details of your daily life, God is active in your world! May the love of Christ constrain us all to so live that others may know the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. This is what our generation, our nation, our world needs most!

Can America Be Saved Again? (Part 1)

Proverbs 14:34, "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."

The reproach (disgrace and shame) openly being manifested in America today is indicative of the fact that we are quickly becoming a people without God. Frankly, what this means is that the continued existence of our country is at stake. It may be that God usually judges individuals at the end of time, but the Bible clearly teaches that He judges nations in time. In Romans 1, the apostle Paul gives the four step decline in the history of a people that forgets God:

(1) A nation rejects God.

(2) It turns to false religion.

(3) It becomes bogged down in immorality and violence.

(4) God then judges it.

“Oh, that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence” (Isa. 64:1, KJV).

Despite the downward spiral in the spiritual condition of our nation, there is good reason for Christians to hope that God may grant a sovereign, widespread revival of grace and righteousness in our land. After all, God is still in absolute control of the affairs of this world. Time after time throughout history, usually when circumstances have been the darkest, God has burst upon the scene and caused gospel light to shine in gross darkness. Then multitudes are suddenly turned from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God’s dear Son, and nations are born in a day.

However, if hope for a national revival is to be realized, we must face the fact that America is not too young to be destroyed. On the contrary, she could be too wicked to be spared without a divine invasion from heaven. Given an honest assessment of the spiritual condition of America, on what basis can the church genuinely hope for national revival?

God Is Still Gracious

One reason for hope is that God is still a gracious and merciful God. Where sin abounds, grace can still much more abound. Nothing of itself--national sin and scandal, political corruption, abortion, liberalism or lukewarmness in the church, compromise, prayerlessness, increasing pluralism, or doctrinal laxity--nothing can stand when God chooses to act in answer to the prayers of His people.

In Isaiah 63:15, the prophet is pleads for God’s mercy when he prays, “Look down from heaven, and behold from the habitation of thy holiness and thy glory: where is thy zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies . . . are they restrained?” Clearly, mercy in this case was ill-deserved and unearned. Yet every revival is the result of God’s mercy and grace, not the result of the perfect obedience of God’s people.

The fact that revival is based on God’s sovereignty and merciful kindness does not make Him any less holy or righteous. God is perfectly balanced in all His attributes. Nevertheless, He particularly loves to show mercy.

In Exodus 33, Moses cried out for God to reveal His glory. God responded by saying, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee . . . ;and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy” (v. 19). In the next chapter, God reiterates His merciful character, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth”(34:6). God does not delight in the death of the wicked; it is His judgment, not His grace, that is called His “strange work” (Isa. 28:21).

God’s grace has always been glorified by the powerful dispensing of saving power. It was grace that Jonah resisted when God purposed to save the entire city of Nineveh. Jonah hated the idea that God would have mercy on the enemies of Israel. Knowing the gracious character of God, Jonah suspected that God was sending him to the pagan Ninevites to do what he believed was a wasteful and wrong thing--to show grace to a group of people other than Israel. Not being able to stomach the broadness of God’s love, Jonah fled to Tarshish because he did not want Jehovah to have mercy on anyone except the Jews.

Think of all that Jonah experienced and saw of divine grace in less than a week’s time! He resisted all the way into the whale’s belly, and he tasted undeserved deliverance himself when the whale became God’s means of grace in his own life. He then preached God’s message begrudgingly to Nineveh and saw God save the whole city through one simple sermon. It is almost unbelievable that it is said of Jonah, “But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry” (Jonah 4:1).

Jonah knew Nineveh deserved to be judged, and that is what he wanted. His sense of justice demanded that Nineveh not be given mercy. Yet God explained His actions to Jonah in the aftermath of Nineveh’s repentance in terms of His merciful character: “Should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?” (Jonah 4:11). The fact is the only thing either Nineveh or Jonah deserved was judgment, but the only thing God gave to both was His

amazing grace.

It is important for us to remember that human affairs are never beyond hope until God brings final and irreversible judgment. Until that time, there is always hope. History proves that God has often set the stage with human helplessness, allowing circumstances to become so bad that the only solution is divine deliverance. Then He has moved with sudden and irresistible power.

Why does God send revival where and when it is most undeserved? The answer is simply because He is gracious, and, because He receives glory by pouring mercy out on the wicked. If God had not been “wastefully” and “outrageously” gracious to each of us, where would we be?

Unmovable

1 Corinthians 15:58 "Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord."

A steadfast an unmovable spirit is quite hard to create in the natural because in correct terminology a spirit is not tangible. As an analogy to help you understand a mountain would be considered steadfast an unmovable because it is tangible-physically seen, can be touched, and is incapable of being pushed over.

-You can inflict geographical changes quickly in a mountain by the use of explosives, but you cannot physically lift it up by your own strength or power.

-You can flatten a mountain by the usage of even more powerful forces, but you cannot push it forward or move it by your own strength.

-You can transform the appearance of a mountain instantly by those explosives or slowly by natural means such as erosion, but no matter what changes you will remember seeing it as a mountain.

Paul uses this passage (which embraces four themes) to encourage believers at Corinth and today that we should embrace these four things knowing that the promise of eternity is assured for the believer through the power of the resurrection.

These four things are:

-To be steadfast.

-To be Unmovable.

-Always abounding in the work of the Lord.

-The knowledge that your labors are not in vain.

(1) Supernatural strength gives you the ability to remain steadfast when everything within you says to give up.

We must be absolutely convinced that God will do what he says he will do. He will never leave us or forsake us, but he will stay by our side. When all the trials of life are over, we must believe that the rewards that await us are far greater than the trials we bore.

Ezekiel 18:31 "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"

Colossians 3:8-10 "But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him..."

(2) Unswerving character gives you the desire to become an unmovable object to the attacks and confrontations of the enemy.

We must anchor our souls in the Rock, Jesus Christ and never look back. This world has nothing to offer that can compare with the wondrous blessings of God.

Hebrews 6:18-20 The Message "We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek."

(3) Evangelistic energy and empowered passion gives you the grace, mercy, and courage to keep on doing what's right even when the multitudes tell you to give up or give in.

2 Peter 1:8, 9 "For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins."

Let’s talk about that word abounding for a moment. It is the Greek word per-is-syoo’-o which come from the word per-is-sos’ which means:
1. over and above, more than is necessary,
2. exceeding abundantly, supremely
3. something further, much more than all,
4. superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon

When we do the Lords work, which we all must do, Paul encourages us to go over and above, to do more than is necessary, to do much more then all. Just one glimpse of the glory of Heaven will make the trials and tests of this life fade into nothingness. Just one touch of the Master’s hand and it will be worth it all.

(4) Defying all odds against reaching the vision God has given you to reach.We must remember that this world is not our home and that this is only a temporary home at best. It will soon be destroyed by fire. The only thing that we stand upon is the Word of God.

Hebrews 3:13-14, "But exhort one another daily, while it is called Today; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end…"

I said these words as a message of exhortation to each of you.

-Take hold of the Word of God, your sure guide.

-Hold on to Jesus, your sure foundation.

-Don’t allow the tests and trials of life to draw you off course.

-Don’t allow the deceitfulness of sin to make you doubt God’s power to deliver you and bring you through victoriously.

We are the heirs of salvation! We are heirs and joint heirs with Jesus Christ! If we will be steadfast and unmovable in our faith in Christ, the reward of Heaven awaits and it won’t be long until we see Jesus face to face.

If Money Could

-If money could buy peace, maybe we no longer we hear about the war. But the real fact said that money become the source of conflict and hostility. To get money isn't the few people who tried in a fraudulent manner even fight with each other. Competition in getting the money often comes around us. That's not good for us. Don't let the money influence us doing bad attitude. I hope we all in the right way.

 

-If money could buy love, maybe the world would be in a whole lot better shape than it is today. But again the real facts tell us that money cannot manipulate or create real lasting love. It can purchase artificial acceptance and tolerance, but never cultivate true and lasting love.

 

-If money could really buy joy, then everyone's life would be much happier than it is today. But alas, joy that comes through the purchase and maintenace of things is very fleeting. Earthly things get old and also lose their value.

The conclusion from this hub is we can learn much that money isn't everything for us. The important thing is family, friend, love and god. If we walk in the right way we can find the meaning of life and certainly know that there are many things around us which support our life. Don't ever think that money is a god. I hope you understand. My pray for you all....amen