Zero at the bone ...

A narrow fellow in the grass
Occasionally rides;
You may have met him,---did you not,
His notice sudden is.

The grass divides as with a comb
A spotted shaft is seen;
And then it closes at your feet
And opens further on.

He likes a boggy acre,
A floor too cool for corn.
Yet when a child, and barefoot,
I more than once, at morn,

Have passed, I thought, a whip-lash
Unbraiding in the sun,--
When, stooping to secure it,
It wrinkled, and was gone.

Several of nature's people
I know, and they know me;
I feel for them a transport
Of cordiality;

But never met this fellow,
Attended or alone,
Without a tighter breathing,
And zero at the bone.

-Emily Dickinson

"...tighter breathing, and zero at the bone." Me too Emily having encountered my first snake of many years this season. I must always remember to wear gloves and shoes when outside! I must ALWAYS remember...

Our brain. . .

(Sir John Eccles, Nobel Prize for research on the brain.) He describes the brain as: 'A machine that a ghost can operate.' Your brain doesn't think; if it did we would be prisoners of our brain. Our brain is like a computer that we use. There's a ghost in the machine, as they say and the brain is like a computer that we use to interface with this space-time-matter continuum in which our bodies function.

The mind is not a disembodied brain in a vat of chemicals, as in some B-grade horror films. Transplanting a brain into a different body would not preserve the identity of the person. In the words of German neuro-philosopher Thomas Fuchs, "The brain is only an organ, and it is not the brain, but the organism or the living person that has conscious access to the world."

http://www.bioedge.org/index.php/bioethics/bioethics_article/8643/

The cast die...

Quoted from a letter from a Christian martyr in Zimbabwe, quoted in Brennan Manning's (1996) The Signature of Jesus:

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit's power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made - I'm a disciple of his. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees and colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminance, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean in his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer, and I labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions are few, my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the enemy, pander at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go til he comes, give til I drop, preach til all know, and work til he stops me.

What counts?

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts." - Albert Einstein

The cross...

God grades on the Cross, not the curve.

Paul said this to the Ephesians:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:4-5 KJV).

The cross of himself...

When you understand what you see, you will no longer be children. You will know that life is pain, that each of us hangs always upon the cross of himself. And when you know that this is true of every man, woman and child on earth, you will be wiser.

-Whittaker Chambers

Happy Birthday, Ana!

30 years ago today my daughter was born.

As the family tradition we will have a cousins party and shivaree her into adulthood.

At her birth she arrived awake and ready to go.

She loved dog, her gerbils, bunnies, friends, food, brother, her Daddy and Mom.

She loved life.

She skipped up the steps of the bus that carried her to kindergarten.

She skipped across the platform to receive her college diploma.

She is just like that.

She will never skip out of our hearts.

Recession proof. . .

In the Book of Romans are listed all the things we have for free: renewing of our minds, gifts of the Spirit, brotherly love, zeal, rejoicing, hope, patience—and that’s just in a few verses of Chapter 12.

All “without money and without price” (Isaiah 55:1).

Recession-proof.

The moon landing and Vietnam

Exceptional men at exceptional times--please read:
Editorials: A different take on moon landing

My husband, Wayne, was awarded the Navy Achievement Medal for his service beyond the call of duty during the Viet Nam war. His character continues on today in the way he runs his company and respects the people he is in contact with.

With faithful men like these, I stand proud.

Dire Straits

Jewish Feasts or holidays

The ninth of Av ends a three-week season of mourning called Bein Ha'm'tarim . This term means "between the straits" or "dire straits." This commences on the 17th of Tammuz ( July 9 in 2009) which commemorates the sacking of Jerusalem by the Romans. However, priests, Levites and soldiers held out on Temple Mount for three weeks - until 9th Av (July 30 in 2009).

NASA - Total Solar Eclipse of 2009 July 22

Remember why God created the sun, moon and stars:

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years" (Genesis 1:14).

July 9, 2009 = 17 Tamuz 5769

July 22, 2009 = 1 Av 5769 - solar eclipse

July 30, 2009 = 9 Av 5769

The Lords Supper

Question Box - The Lords Supper - posted by T B (biblestudytime) - tangle.com

Jesus, God's Son, took my place

I was guilty with nothing to say
And they were coming to take me away
But then a voice from Heaven was heard
It said "Let Him go and take me instead"

I should have been crucified
I should have suffered and died
I should have hung on the cross in disgrace
But Jesus, God's Son, took my place.

Crowns of thorns,
the spear deep in His side
And the pain it should have been mine
The rusty nails were meant for me
Oh yet Christ took them and let me go free.

I should have been crucified
I should have suffered and died
I should have hung on the cross in disgrace
But Jesus, God's Son, took my place

YouTube - I Should Have Been Crucified

Cynical Twain

Mark Twain once said something like this... "Suppose you were a politician. And then suppose you were an idiot. But I repeat myself..."

Building the Third Temple

The Temple Institute, known in Hebrew as Machon HaMikdash (Hebrew: מכון המקדש), is an organization in Israel focusing on the controversial endeavor of re-establishing the Third Temple. Its long-term aim is to build the third Jewish temple on the Temple Mount, on the site currently occupied by the Dome of the Rock, and to reinstate sacrificial worship. It aspires to reach this goal through the study of Temple construction and ritual.

Paradox (Pair of ducks.)

The ability to obey is a gift, but one that I can choose to accept or reject.

I bear the consequences of my choice.

It is a paradox.

I acknowledge that “it is God which worketh in (me) to will and to do of His good pleasure”, but I must still “work out (my) own salvation with fear and trembling”(Philippians 2:13,14).

God’s ways are marvelous.

"O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."(Romans 11:33-36).

Christ alone...

"Therefore as by the offence of one (Adam) judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one (Jesus Christ) the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" (Romans 5:18).

It is so hard for people to believe that God would do this and it would be a free gift.

In our pride we do not want to accept something for nothing; we do not want to admit we are unable to help ourselves. We want somehow to merit salvation -- but God says salvation is a free gift.

If I offer you a gift worth a hundred million dollars, and you insist on paying me a penny, you have insulted me, you have devalued the gift.

Anyone that tries to pay for the gift of salvation, bought with the blood of Christ, insults God.

All religions are an attempt to somehow pay for this gift. All religions are men getting involved in God's gift. It is a denial that Christ alone could do it, and that Christ paid the penalty in full.

Christ alone = free gift unto justification of life.

YouTube - Travis Cottrell - In Christ Alone: "Travis Cottrell - In Christ Alone"

Death on Holiday, again...

News Digest - DailyPress.net | News, Sports, Jobs, Escanaba Information | The Daily Press

July 14, 2009
There were no obituaries Tuesday, July 14...

Divine love . . .

"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned" (Song of Solomon 8:7 KJV).

Many waters, or floods cannot extinguish God's love which is pictured as "coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame" in verse six.

cannot quench = earthly things cannot destroy that which is divine.

"Many waters cannot quench the flame of love, neither can the floods drown it. If a man tried to buy it with everything he owned, he couldn't do it" (TLB).

Can't buy me love...Beatles

"But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Holy Ghost

Furthermore, the Holy Spirit is given so that "we ordinary mortals can become, in a measure, what Jesus himself was: part of God's future arriving in the present; a place where heaven and earth meet; the means of God's kingdom going ahead".

The Spirit is given so that we might "share in the life and continuing work of Jesus himself," and "to begin the work of making God's future real in the present." This Spirit "comes to us from that new world, the world waiting to be born," so that to live as a Christian is "to live by the rules of God's future world, even as we are continuing to live within the present one." Which is why Paul "speaks of the Spirit as the guarantee or down-payment of what is to come." He actually uses the Greek word for "engagement ring," as "a sign in the present for what is to come in the future."
One Cosmos: Timelessness Takes Time

Olivia, our 3 1/2 year old grand-daughter, told me about the Holy Ghost today...we were talking about Jesus being with His Father in heaven for real, but He lives in us too. She then spoke of the Holy Ghost living in us.

Mom and Dad or church-school is doing a great job.

Rainbow

You know when you empty the rug shampooer and see all the dirty (filthy) water...and you go ewwwwwwww! Well, now you can vacuum and have the same experience. Never heard of a Rainbow vacuum? Neither did I until a friend dropped off his for me to try.Sad. That's what it was when I pulled off the cover and saw all Bailee's (Pembroke Corgi) hair and the filthy water...ewwwwwww! And this from a freshly vacuumed carpet that I had just done with my vacuum.

Rainbow, series E...Google it...they won't give you a price, but I know it is pricy...$1,500.00 range, I think.But maybe you suffer from allergies...this might be just the cleaning vacuum you really, really need...so, putting this information out for you.The vacuum uses water in a lower tank...my friend put in a bit of Pine-Sol with the water...then just vacuum. No wet floor, but dirt and hair get sucked into the water...and the air is Pine-Sol fresh. Ahhhhh!

John Calvin 500th

I'd wish him a happy birthday, except that:

1) He probably wouldn't want that; and,

2) My wishes have no effect on whether his birthday would be happy; if God predestined him to have a happy birthday today, then he will be happy, no matter what, and if God predestined it to be dour, austere, and a wee bit racked with guilt - quite likely for a Calvinist - then it will be the worst day ever and wishing him a happy birthday would be blasphemous as directly contrary to God's will...

This is supposed to be a little bit of a joke, or a simplification of Calvinism, if you will. To read a bit of indepth thinking on Calvin go to the link below.

Marvin Olasky offers Three Cheers for John Calvin.

WORLD Magazine | Community | Blog Archive | Liberty’s champion

Fish & Chips

Down is Up, Unfair is Fair and Ignorance is Bliss by Victoria Jackson:

I woke up in the middle of the night and realized the trick.

You see, evil doesn’t just show up. It disguises itself as something nice; so you’ll let it in.

It tricks you.

Murdering babies is called Pro-Choice.

Unfair Censorship is called The Fairness Doctrine.

Outlandish Taxes and the Death of Freedom is called Cap & Trade.

Sounds like Fish & Chips.

L.:

Isaiah the prophet has some strong words about "straight talkin'"...

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:18-25). Read the whole reference and be thankful that we are living in the age of God's grace, when He is holding back His wrath, and that we are not Israel, (His people) in Isaiah's time.

But, don't be ignorant, as Paul says, there is a time of judgment coming on the evils of this world, "wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God" (Romans 2:5).

How grateful, and with my inner-man bowed, I am to our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ, who took upon Himself the wrath of a just God, at the cross, so I do not have to suffer this wrath.

I rejoice in 2 Cor. 5:21, "For He (God the Father) made Him (God the Son, Jesus Christ) to be sin for us (me and you too), who knew no sin (the only totally righteous man); that we (me and you) might be made the righteousness of God in Him (Jesus Christ)".

And every heart in Christ responds with great joy, "Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name" (Psalm 103:1).

Jesus is altogether lovely...

YouTube - Here I Am To Worship

Marvelled = v., be moved by wonder...

Love the ones you can. Touch the ones you can reach. Let the others go. Like that wise man who could perform no miracles in Nazareth.

"And He could there do no mighty work, save that He laid His hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And He marvelled because of their unbelief" (Mark 6: 5).

Fulness of joy...

"Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore" (Psalm 16:11).

Jesus Christ today is seated at God's right hand where there is fullness of joy. He is our forerunner, and all His people who trust in Him follow Him through His death and resurrection into God's own presence.

True patriotism

From John Newton's Letters:

When our Lord Jesus was upon earth, He refused to get involved in disputes or politics, "Friend, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?" Luke 12:14. "My kingdom is not of this world! If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight!" John 18:36. God's children belong to a kingdom which is not of this world; they are strangers and pilgrims upon earth, and a part of their Scriptural character is, that they are the "quiet in the land." Psalm 35:19.

Satan has many contrivances to amuse people, and to divert their thoughts from their real danger!

My prayer to God is--that He may induce you to employ the talents He has given you, in pointing out sin as the great cause and source of every existing evil; and to engage those who love and fear Him, to sigh and cry for our abounding abominations, and to stand in the breach, by prayer, that God's wrath may yet be averted, and our national mercies prolonged!

This, I think, is true patriotism--the best way in which people in private life may serve their country.

I consider the ungodly as saws and hammers in the hand of the Lord. So far as they are His instruments, they will succeed--but not an inch further! Their wrath shall praise Him, and be subservient to His designs!

If our lot is so cast that we can exercise our ministry free from stripes, fines, imprisonments, and death--it is more than the gospel has promised to us! If Christians were quiet when under the cruel governments of Nero and other wicked persecutors, when they were hunted down like wild beasts--then we ought to be not only quiet but very thankful now! It was then accounted an honor to suffer for Christ and the 'offence of the cross'!

Those are to be greatly pitied, who boast of their 'liberty'--and yet they do not consider that they are in the most deplorable bondage as the slaves of sin and Satan, under the curse of God's law and His eternal wrath! Oh! for a voice to reach their hearts, that they may know their true and dreadful state--and seek deliverance from their horrific thraldom! May you and I labor to direct them to the one thing, which is absolutely needful, and abundantly sufficient.

How crucial then, is it for me--to be found watching, with my lamp burning, diligently engaged in my proper calling! For the Lord has not called me to set governments right--but to preach the gospel, to proclaim the glory of His name, and to endeavor to win souls! "Let the dead bury their own dead--but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God!" Luke 9:60. Happy is that servant, whom his Master finds so doing, when He returns!

Israel

Israel's symbol: The Burning Bush (Exodus 3:1-6)



Israel is the major topic of Bible prophecy, mentioned more than 2,900 times, nearly twice as many times as her Messiah. Without Israel there would be no Messiah and no salvation for anyone, Jew or Gentile.

Irises

Vincent VanGogh

Our mind . . .

We are spirit beings living in a body, and I don't think very many scientists today doubt that. Wilder Penfield, one of the world's top neurosurgeon experts on the brain, says that the mind is something separate and distinct from the brain. The mind is non physical and it programs the brain and the brain is like a computer that the mind uses to operate the body.

"And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2).

How do we renew our minds? By the reading and the studying of Scripture..."Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom" (Colossians 3:16).

A baby

A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on.
- Carl Sandburg



So, once again God has entrusted Wayne and I with the wonder of a grandbaby. Our world goes on.

At Christmastime.

A gift.

Baby Caref.

Greatness

Lincoln’s last words are said by some to have been of his desire to travel to the Holy Land, once his term was over. We shall walk the sacred paths of our Lord, he said. We shall go up to Jeru…

Jesus on the cross cried out, “Father, why have you forsaken me?” Didn’t he know?

If we strive for what is truly right, and fail, still we have undone to some degree the curse laid upon creation in Eden. We cannot rescind the law of entropy, but we can fight for order and intelligence in our own small corner of the world. More than this can no man rightly hope for. Mighty towers will fall, their only trace found as dust and wind. To rule in the world is to fail. A man's only kingdom is his own heart.

FORGOTTEN PROPHETS: "Greatness"

Michael, John and Me

WORLD Magazine | Community | Blog Archive | Step on those tracks

Christianity is a Person...

Written by Andrée Seu June 25, 7:31 AM

I am scheduled to have an MRI for a suspicious mammogram.

It clears the sinuses.

What it does for me in particular is cause me to lose total interest, very suddenly, in any notion of Christianity as a good moral code or religion.

As the preacher Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981) wrote in Authentic Christianity:
“The fundamental thing is that Christianity is about Jesus. . . . Christianity is not a teaching—it is a person. . . . The Lord Jesus Christ was the theme of the preaching of the early church. . . . This is the tragic thing that has been forgotten at the present time. ‘What we need,’ people say, ‘is the application of his teaching.’ But it is not. What you need is to know him and to come into relationship with him. . . .”

That is what the Apostle to the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul, expresses so many times in his letters to the saints:

To the Corinthians: "For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

To the Philippians: "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ" (Philippians 3:7-8).

To the Ephesians: "But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted...edifying of itself in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16).

To the Galatians: "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" (Galatians 6:14).

Palace of memories...

“You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body.” - C. S. Lewis

Live long enough and your body slowly betrays you and sometimes takes your mind and soul with it.

If you knew to a dead, solid certainty that you were never going to be released from your room until you were released, at long last, from your body, what would you do? If you were a sane man, just what would you, at long last, do?

I don't know about you, but I would figure a way out and if that way out was only deeper in, that's where I'd go. I'd go deep into my palace of memories and I'd use all my energy to construct a world inside that was made of the most vivid moments of all the years I'd lived.

The Centenarian: Arthur Warner McNair @ AMERICAN DIGEST

L:
It seems Mother has gone deep into her palace of memories. It must be quite a place constructed over 91 years of life.

Meekness and gentleness...

A yoke




Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ (Paul writing to the Corinthians, 2 Cor. 10:1.)

Jesus calls:
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.(Matthew 11:28-30).

Have you found Him so?

LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED

There has been one in this world called Jesus of Nazareth, and it is he who says to you, "Let not your heart be troubled...believe in me," which means, "Come to me, tell me your troubles, tell me all about your difficulty about God, the difficulty of prayer, the difficulty about your weak will and failure." I do not care what it is that makes you restless and ill at ease. it may be the possibility of war, it may be illness, it may be business troubles, it may be your own weakness morally in the realm of your will--whatever it is, whatever is troubling and making you unhappy, go to him about it. He is the one who loved you enough to die for you. He said, "come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest". There is no need for you to be unhappy and restless. Believe in Christ. Believe in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ who came on earth to deliver you from that very thing and who has removed every barrier between you and God and who can give you rest and peace here and now. -Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Don't default on eternal life...

The Technium: Triumph of the Default

Defaults also remind us of another truth. By definition a default works when we — the user or consumer or citizen — do nothing.

But doing nothing is not neutral, since it triggers a default bias. That means that "no choice" is a choice itself. There's is no neutral, even, or especially, in non action.

Despite the claims of many, technology is never neutral. Even when you don't choose what to do with it, it chooses. A system acquires a definite drift and clear momentum from those inherent biases, whether or not we act upon them.


L comments:

The default of this world system is encapsulated as "this evil age"...
"with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved" (2 Thessalonians 2:19).

Don't default on eternal life. Seek the truth of Jesus Christ.

Wisdom

Men have never been so educated, but wisdom, even as an idea, has conspicuously vanished from the world.
-Whittaker Chambers (4/1/1901 – 7/9/1961)


Jesus Christ is our wisdom in this unwise world of men...He is rejected today but wise men still seek Him...

"...Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:3).

"Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice or understanding; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of His mouth cometh knowledge and understanding" (Proverbs 2).

Chambers' book Witness begs reading by anyone interested in freedom.
In 1984, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Chambers the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for his contribution to "the century's epic struggle between freedom and totalitarianism."

L comments:
Witness is one of my top reading recommendations. Chambers speaks much about the soul. It is well worth the reading.

A grand adventure

One Cosmos
Hurtling Toward History's Denoument?

I'd think a conservative Christian would feel blessed and honored to participate in this phase of Gods grand drama!

Some of us are! Honest!

Every week, every day, every minute, virtually, a Grand Adventure!

But we do have to live in the world as it is presently constituted, we do have to "take sides", we do have to experience the nit and grit of human emotions, some of which may include a momentary righteous anger and disgust, and yes, an occasional gloom.

Father

Meet Joe Black

Obituaries
> News Digest > Obituaries
There were no obituary reports on June 19, 2009

Death is again on holiday in Escanaba, Michigan.

In Escanaba Mother is quietly waiting for God's call and is surprised to wake up when another day dawns.

"O death, where is thy sting?" (2 Cor. 15:55).

I find myself singing: "Swing low, sweet chariot, comin' fo' to carry Mother home."

Jesus said whosoever believes in Me shall never die. Mother is looking to leave her body and enter eternal life with Him.

God's Son, Jesus Christ . . .

"...upholding ALL things by the word of His power,

when He had by Himself purged our sins,

sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Hebrews 1:3).

Peony

A Sensitive Plant in a garden grew,
And the young winds fed it with silver dew.
For love and beauty and delight,
There is no death nor change.

-The Sensitive Plant, Percy Bysshe Shelley


In Canticles the bride is speaking of the One whom she loves, and she describes Him:

"His mouth is most sweet: yea, He is altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, and this is my friend" (Song of Solomon 5:16).

This is speaking of our relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

He is "altogether lovely" and may our hearts be fully immersed in our love to Him - for in (His) love and beauty and delight, there is no death nor change.

Mercy, please...

"Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice." - H.L.Mencken

Hope...

"All hope abandon, ye who enter here!" - Dante Alighieri, Inferno

"For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? - Jesus in Mark 8:36, 37

"Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts..." - Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2:16.

Good hope through grace....hey, that's the name of my blog! May I keep the reality of this hope foremost in my thinking as I live this day and into tomorrow, and into tomorrow's tomorrow, and...

Need to know about this hope? Click on link below for a reason of this hope starting with the acceptance of God's free gift of salvation.
Grace Life Bible Church

Fury

The Furies of Iran @ AMERICAN DIGEST

Who was it who said that the condition of any civilization can be at once appraised by the station of their women?

John Newton

A quote from John Newton @ age 82:

My memory is nearly gone, but I remember 2 things. That I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Savior.


Newton's tombstone reads, "John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, preserved, restored, pardoned, and appointed to preach the faith he had long labored to destroy."

But a far greater testimony outlives Newton in the most famous of the hundreds of hymns he wrote:


Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.

Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come.
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

YouTube - Amazing Grace - Wintley Phipps

Sweetness of the lips...

"The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning" (KJV Proverbs 16:21).

"The wise man is known by his common sense, and a pleasant teacher is the best" (The Living Bible).

Are our lips sweet?

The way...

"...the way of the evil...who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness" (Proverbs 2:13).

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light" (Romans 13:12).

"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them" (Ephesians 5:11).

"Jesus saith, I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me (John 14:6).

Apple Blossom Time

I'LL BE WITH YOU IN APPLE BLOSSOM TIME
(Neville Fleeson / Albert Von Tilzer)

I'll be with you in apple blossom time.
I'll be with you to change your name to mine.
One day in May, I'll come and say
Happy the bride the sun shines on today.
What a wonderful wedding there will be.
What a wonderful day for you and me.
Church bells will chime,
You will be mine,
In apple blossom time.


When a little girl, I would sing this song standing on top of the pump-house overlooking the pasture and the lovely little valley behind our farm. Twenty years later I was married in May but did not remember the seeming harbinger of my wedding day.

The picture was taken early June (nature always a bit slower in the UP) in the orchard of Betsy and Ed's farm next to our place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

YouTube - I'll be with you in apple blossom time-The Andrews Sisters:

All we need is love...

"The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee" (Jeremiah 31:3).

"Remember, O LORD, Thy tender mercies and Thy lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old" (Psalm 25:6).

Prayer - - My Declaration of Dependence.

Praying Ephesians 1:15-23:

Heavenly Father,

In the name of Jesus Christ,

I praise and thank You for all of the spiritual blessings you have given me, in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus .

I thank You for accepting me in the Beloved, and that You have redeemed and forgiven me of all my sins; past, present, and future.

I praise You for abounding toward me in wisdom and foresight as well as revealing the mystery of Your will.

I thank You for giving me an inheritance in Jesus Christ and sealing me with Your Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption.

Open the eyes of my understanding that I might fully comprehend and appreciate the hope of Your calling.

Help me to understand the riches and glory and the exceeding greatness of Your power toward me because I believe that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and rose again in payment of my sin.

Thank You for giving me a position in Your exalted Son.

Amen

Whose servant are you?

"While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage" KJV (2 Peter 2:19).

Contemporary version:

"They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to corrupt habits" - Twentieth Century NT: "for a man is a slave of whatever overpowers him" - Moffatt
(2 Peter 2:19).

Additional verse to cement our thinking:

"Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?" (Romans 6:16)

Mother

Mother is 91 years old. She is now residing in a nursing care facility after a stroke left her unable to care for herself. The stroke happened February 7th of this year. Her heart is not functioning on the upper part and it allowed blood to pool and then clot which moved to her brain.

She is a woman of pioneering strength. Six children raised to adulthood, one husband, who she said was her biggest child, milking cows, preparing the milk for the creamery with pumped water heated on a wood stove, wringer washer heated the same, then clothes hung on the line, garden and canning etc, etc, etc.

Mother was the second child of 14. Her early life was one of caring for children and preparing for necessary food needs. The 8 girls were of healthy stock and some were very beautiful young women. They had dreams and hope for their future. All married and had families.

Today Mother is the oldest of the four living sisters. Her independence taken from her is a hard blow, and she is reeling coming to grips with her dependence on others.

Mother is a woman of faith in Jesus Christ. Her circumstances has obscured the sweet relationship with her Lord, and she is yearning for the communion again. Perhaps it will be when her soul leaves her body and she will be present with her Lord, but my hope is that she will once more find this comfort on this side of glory.

Easy livin'

Let’s just stand on the truth of what God’s Word says, and base our life on that, and not live by circumstances, and by what we can see, and feel, and touch, but let’s live in the reality of what God’s Word says!

Jason's newest Cub's store

clarkstreetsports.com

Located just across from Wrigley Field. If you go to a Cubs game be sure to drop in and say hello to Jason. Buying a tee-shirt is optional. Mention my name...probably won't get you a discount but couldn't hurt. : )

The Inner Man

Praying The Powerful Prayers Of Paul
(my notes from Pastor Bryan Ross message)

“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man" (Ephesians 3:16).

grant = give
riches of His glory = grace never runs out
strengthened = made strong
Spiritual strength with might = power
by His spirit = Holy Spirit
in the inner man = in our soul and spirit;
not in the outward man = our flesh and senses, our temporary tent
unsaved = body, soul and spirit but the spirit is dead
saved = body, soul and spirit is alive unto God

How do we know we are saved?
Essence with essence - God’s spirit with our spirit (2 Corinthians 1:22). “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God“ (Romans 6:16 ).

The power of God is in the transforming message for everyone
to be changed from death unto life.

“For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe" (1Thessalonians 2:13).

Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost (Romans 15:13).

If you had your choice to be healthy, wealthy, and all your wants realized in this present world, or to be “strengthened with all might, according to His (God’s) glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness(Colossians 1:11) in the inner man" -- which would you choose?

Violas

Late Abortionist

FORGOTTEN PROPHETS: "Tuesday, June 02, 2009

It really is a complicated question. Is it murder, killing a late-term abortionist? Of course it is, in the sense that it is unlawful. But the more precise term is assassination. Is it wrong, in that we are told to love our enemies? That Ehud is called a savior of Israel in the Bible, when he assassinated the king of Moab, well, that's Old Testament. Not a cop out. Jesus gives us other commandments, as, to love our enemies. Does this mean, love the enemies of our children? Does this mean, allow enemies to kill our children? -- or any other of the little ones whom Jesus would suffer to come unto him? Are we told to defend the defenseless? I'm sure we are, somewhere, although that may be OT as well -- but uncountermanded.

Do abortionists kill babies? Once we get around the nonsense of defining what a baby is, the answer is, yes, they certainly do kill babies. Young humans, as yet unborn, but human in the sense that an eagle egg is an eagle, and its destruction is a felony. No mystery there, only embarrassment and inconsistency. Human in terms of DNA. Human in terms of the natural course of human development. Human in terms of the fact that it, the fetus, the child, is loved as a child, if it is loved at all.

Abortionists kill babies. So what's the big deal with killing abortionists? Rule of law? Laws must be just to be valid. Religion? God uses fierce warriors of righteousness. Ethics? What higher ethic, than to defend the defenseless. It is a complicated question, but it's not a difficult one. It's just a matter of how we respond to evil.

(Read complete article at above link. J asks profound questions regarding the state of our society. Always remember the Lord Jesus Christ is rejected from this world system, and the adversary (Satan) is the god of this world. Believers are the light of the world, and as it grows darker, our light should shine ever more brightly.)

Olivia