FROM OUT OUR WAY

Friday, October 31, 2008

From an economic outlook—things are looking pretty good around Phoenix and Scottsdale.

We just ate lunch at In N Out Burger and it was packed out.

We went over to Sprout’s and you could hardly move around there were so many people shopping

I stopped by the pharmacy and everything seemed to be moving smoothly—nobody was complaining about their health care program.

On the way home I saw many houses decorated for Halloween. Looks like a lot of candy will be given out tonight.

All of our neighbors except two have three cars in their garages and the others have two.

We all have professionally landscaped front yards and pools in our back yards.

We’re going out for dinner at On the Border Resturant tonight and then coming home and giving away candy.

Yea, it looks a lot better around here than it did in that two room house I was born in. And our master bath, second bath and powder room certianly look a lot better than that old out house.

Did I mention I have been working since I was in the Ninth Grade?

TRUE LOVE

TRUE LOVE IS
READY TO WARN,
REPROVE,
CONFRONT, OR
ADMONISH WHEN
NECESSARY.
-John Ortberg

HE KNOWS MY NAME

Thursday, October 30, 2008

Yesterday was one of those days. I was in a grumpy mood--the whole "state of affairs" was getting me down.

Today, I have decided to take the advice I give to others. Today, I'm looking up to Him. Please listen to these words sung by Paul Balooche. They will help what ails you.

GRUMPY OLD MAN

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Ok, I admit it. I’m a grumpy old man—at least today I am.

It’s a beautiful day here in Arizona and I should be glowing. But I’m not. I’m grumpy!

I don’t like:

The news that Obama wants to take what little money I have and give it to non tax payers who are so lazy they wouldn’t hit a snake if it was about to bite them.

The news that the L.A. times has a video of Obama at a meeting with known terrorists and they won’t release it.

The news that there is voter fraud going on and a lot more expected on Election Day and nothing is being done about it.

The news that John McCain doesn’t want to talk about “Reverend” Wright and his influence on Obama, which to me, is one of the biggest issues in this election.

The fact that colleges and universities all over the world are filled with liberal, atheistic professors.

The fact that the media, all except Fox News, is “in bed with Obama” and that they are doing everything they can to see that he wins and McCain loses.

There’s more—much more, but I can’t go on with this, it’s breaking me up. I gotta go get a diet coke and try to calm down. I’m getting distressingly cynical!

2008--WOMEN STANDING STRONG

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Too many men who are supposed to be leaders are nothing but wimps.

I say, turn leadership over to women—they can get the job done.

Sarah Palin is one tough lady who isn’t willing to put up with the good ol’ boy fraternity. She’s a leader.

Elizabeth Hasselbeck is tough enough to appear everyday on The View with four liberal idiots. And did you hear her speaking and introducing Sarah Palin on the campaign trail? She’s a leader.

John McCain got pushed around by the women on The View and then his wife, Cindy came on and straightened them out. She’s a leader.

Barbara West of WFTV in Orlando, Florida had the guts to ask Joe Biden tough questions like, “How is Sen. Obama not being a Marxist if he intends to spread the wealth around?” Nobody else in the media has been willing to do this. She’s a leader.

Sheriff Joe Arpaio puts male criminals in jail where they wear pink underwear, and eat green colored boloney. I wish he could have George Bush and his administration, and John McCain and his male staff, in his jail for a few days. Maybe they would come out with a little moxie.

Three cheers for tough and yet feminine women!

A MUST READ

Monday, October 27, 2008

Some are saying they are not going to vote for John McCain because they want to send a message to the Republican Party. This is not the time to do that! Please read the following article before voting. I have borrowed this from another blogger who borrowed it also. I realize it is very long, but please—I beg you, read it all.

I sympathize with wanting to send a message to the Republican Party.
But is this the time, when failing to vote for McCain could ultimately remove hundreds of laws limiting abortion at the statewide level—informed consent and parental consent and late term abortion measures? As a physician commenting on my last blog said, prolife physicians and nurses and hospitals could find themselves with a federal mandate to perform abortions, and lose their licenses if they refuse. The Freedom of Choice Act, which Obama promised Planned Parenthood he will sign if elected president (my previous blog has this on video), could ultimately do all this and more. It may also make life very difficult for Pregnancy Resource Centers.
Would John McCain be a great president? I don’t know. Maybe he wouldn’t even be a good president. There are so many claims by both candidates that their words seem like wind to me. I don’t feel like I know a lot. But I do know for certain that one candidate defends the right of the unborn to live, and the other is utterly committed to be sure that it remains legal to kill them. And on THAT issue I know what God says is right and wrong.
Yes, I realize Obama is cool. As I said two blogs ago, I really wanted to vote for him, so I could be cool too. John McCain is not so cool. And he’s a Republican at a time where being a Republican definitely isn’t cool. The question isn’t whether I’d rather have dinner or play golf with Obama or McCain. (I’d choose Obama.) The question isn’t whether I’d like the Republican Party to change. (I would.) I’m not voting for the Republican Party. In one sense I’m not voting mainly for John McCain. I am voting for McCain because it’s my only way in this election to vote for the right of unborn children to live rather than die.
Now, if you think that’s an overstatement, that the difference between the candidates isn’t that great, or they will not influence the future of abortion in this country, I challenge you to look at Obama’s dogged commitment to the legalized killing of unborn children, backed up by his 100% proabortion voting record. And look at McCain’s repeatedly stated commitment, also demonstrated by his voting record, to oppose the legalized killing of children. If you think your presidential vote is not for or against unborn children, you don’t understand the significance of the Freedom of Choice Act or the significance of the balance of power of the Supreme Court with the Obama judges who are certain to be pro-legal-abortion and the McCain judges who are virtually certain to be anti-legal-abortion.
My conversations with fellow Christians who are prolife but are voting for Obama have common themes these days. They always emphasize “Obama is prochoice, not proabortion.” To which I respond, “actually he is pro-legalized-abortion.” This is emphatically true, based on his own words and 100% consistent voting record. It shouldn’t be considered a matter for debate. What politician in the country is more strongly committed to legalized abortion than Obama is? Every radical proabortion group knows this, and everyone of them have been working tirelessly to get him elected.
I’ve heard other prolife people say “I don’t like either candidate, so I’m not voting at all.” Well, ask yourself who you’re willing to punish by not voting. If it’s political parties who will pay, fine, I really don’t care about them. Sure, it would be better not to vote than to vote against God’s children’s right to live. But if instead of abstaining you have a chance to vote for God’s children’s right to live, why would you not do that? (Don’t vote for the man, vote for generations of children who will have a chance to live if he’s elected, even if he’s just a mediocre president in other areas.)
Perhaps that’s why last night I wasn’t thinking about victory celebrations and balloons and confetti, and who will be wearing what, and how cool or uncool the candidates are, and how the winner will look on Inauguration Day. I was on my knees weeping for the unborn children, and for the fact that many Christians are going to vote against them. And others are going to abstain from voting for them. If every prolife Christian voter would vote for unborn children instead of against them, we would elect a prolife president who would not sign FOCA, who would appoint prolife judges instead of proabortion judges, and who would not reverse decades of gains made by the prolife movement. But right now this looks very unlikely.
And though I know it will outrage people for me to say this (and I take no pleasure in that), I believe that the blood of children will be on our hands. Yes, I think that God is already judging this nation for the blood of these children that cries out to Him from the ground (Genesis 4:10). And I believe there will be far worse judgment to come. He has always brought His wrath upon nations that kill their children. Why should He treat us differently? “Since you did not hate bloodshed, bloodshed will pursue you” (Ezekiel 35:6).
Frankly, I just don’t think enough people, Christian or not, fully realize what is at stake in this election. Be mad at the Republicans all you want. Hate big business for what they’ve done to the country. Hate the Democrats for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Despise the leadership who let this happen.
But this election is not about global warming or poverty or alternative fuels or women’s rights or your 401k or the mortgage crisis or anything else. This is about taking the United States to a place we have never been. This is about potentially electing the most liberal, socialist person to ever come this close to the presidency. One who has a public record of supporting the most inhumane abortion practices.
This is not about four years of Obama or McCain. This is about decades ahead of judges and abortion policy.
I realize there are Christians who are saying they are voting their conscience and so they are going to vote third party for the most godly candidate or they are going to write in someone else. It distresses me to see those votes wasted that could prevent the continued slaughter of millions of future children.
I’ve shared before that I said I would never vote for McCain when he won the nomination. But that was before I knew Obama would be the other candidate. I honestly do not know how anyone who believes in life cannot vote for McCain. I don’t care what any other issue is your pet issue. The implications in this election will impact this country for years and years to come.
Despise the Republicans all you want. But think beyond that to what a socialist, extremely liberal, pro-infanticide President with both houses of Congress under Democrat control will mean. Running unchecked for at least two years. If that doesn’t scare the h*ll out of you, I have no idea what would.

LEARNING TO ATTEND TO PEOPLE

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The work of love is the work of paying attention. Love notices. Love listens. Love remembers. When is her birthday? What kind of coffee does he like? What is his favorite movie? Love is in the details.

Deborah Tanner writes a wonderful story about her great-aunt: For many years her aunt was a widow but then in her seventies she had a love affair. Obese, balding, her hands and legs misshapen by arthritis, she did not fit the stereotype of a woman romantically loved. But she was—by a man, also in his seventies, who lived in a nursing home but occasionally spent time with her. In trying to tell what this relationship meant to her she told of an evening when she had dinner out with friends. When she returned home her male friend called and she told him about the dinner. He listened with interest and asked her, “What did you wear?” When she told this, she began to cry: “Do you know how many years it’s been since anyone asked me what I wore?”

When she said this, she was saying that it had been years since anyone cared deeply—intimately—about her.

If you want to do the work of God, pay attention to people. Notice them. Especially notice the people nobody else notices. When you pay attention to someone, when you focus totally on them, you say, “You are the most important thing in my world right now.”

God pays close attention to us. Even the hairs of are head are numbered. God notices things your mother has never even thought about. And when we live in the love of God, we begin to pay attention to people the way God pays attention to us.

(Selected and adapted from John Ortberg’s splendid book, Love Beyond Reason)

MY HELP COMES FROM THE LORD

It’s Saturday morning and I have just been watching the news on television.

It’s all about the economy. The people talking are leaders in this field and they all agree that we are in trouble. However, they do not know what the answer is. They offer no help!

I like what the author of Psalm 121 said. He said he looked up!

“I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you
will not slumber.”
--Psalm 121:1-3

PEOPLE AND THINGS

Friday, October 24, 2008

PEOPLE AND THINGS I'VE HAD TOO MUCH OF:
Liberal Judges
Liberal college professors
The mainstream media and all liberal journalists.
Congress
The election campaigns—both of them.
The hypocrisy of all politicians.
Spin! Things like, there is no sin in D.C. just “unfortunate mistakes.”
Hollywood
Bill Maher, Michael Moore, Katie Couric, Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, and The View.


PEOPLE AND THINGS I CAN’T GET ENOUGH OF:
My wife, son and daughter.
The Bible.
Good books.
Good preaching.
The great old hymns and some of the better praise and worship music..
Writers: John Ortberg, Ken Gire, Philip Yancy.
Pie. Ice cream and almost anything in the “comfort food” category.
Autumn in Arizona.

TICK TEST

Thursday, October 23, 2008

I hate it when people forward bogus warnings, and I have even done it myself a couple times unintentionally... but this one is real, and it's important. So please send this warning to everyone on your e-mail list.

If someone comes to your front door saying they are checking for ticks due to the warm weather and asks you to take your clothes off and dance around with your arms up, DO NOT DO IT!! THIS IS A SCAM!! They only want to see you naked.

I wish I'd gotten this yesterday. I feel so stupid

TRIVIAL PURSUIT

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Trivial pursuit is a frustrating game.

But since it’s just a game—it’s nothing to get too excited about.

But trivial pursuit as a way of life is something to ponder and ask, “Why?”

I recently re-read Viktor Fankl’s book, Man’s Search for Meaning in which he said that one of the most demeaning and even damaging aspects of life in concentration camps was the assignment of meaningless tasks, such as moving piles of dirt endlessly from one site to another for no purpose at all. He wrote that he could survive any “how,” as long as there was a “why.”

We pursue great food, great sex, fame, wealth, power and for the most part we attain these things—but not satisfaction.

The writer of Ecclesiastes looked for happiness in all this “stuff” and more. He called it trivial pursuit. Well, those were not his exact words, but that’s what he meant.

Maybe it’s time we pause occasionally to ask, “WHY?”

STAND FOR SOMETHING

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

We live in a day and time when it seems that nobody stands for anything. I came from a time when almost everybody I knew stood up for what he or she believed in. People had character and guts. They knew what they believed and they were willing, if necessary, to die for what they stood for. I know many who do not like what they see coming out of Hollywood, the universities and colleges. They don’t like the fact that the name of God cannot even be mentioned in these places without ridicule and in some cases breaking the law. Abortionists are killing babies by the millions, the definition of marriage is being changed and we are rapidly becoming a socialistic nation. But not many are willing to stand up against these things.

Consider the words of Winston Churchill as he spoke with passion and conviction to the English people in the dark summer of 1940: "Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known or cared for, will sink in to the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.’

And finally reflect on the words of pastor Martin Niemoller: "In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up became I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."

I cry out, in the name of heaven STAND FOR SOMETHING!

CHARACTER JUST DOESN'T MATTER ANYMORE

Monday, October 20, 2008

I never thought I would live to see the day when character didn’t matter to the majority of people.

Oh sure, it still matters to a few—it always will. But does it matter to the majority? Absolutely not!

Here’s the test: If character matters, the choice is clear. McCain will be our next President.

If character doesn’t matter, Obama will be the next President.

All of my life I have believed, taught, and tried to live out the message in my life, that character matters. I still believe it does.

Why do I believe it doesn’t matter to the majority? Because you can bring up one crappy thing after another about Obama, his decisions, his associations and his socialistic worldview in general, and it just doesn’t make any difference to the majority—not even Christians.

How sad!

GO TO CHURCH. YOU'LL BE GLAD YOU DID.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

A man and his wife had just moved into their retirement home. The first Sunday after they moved in they decided to forsake an old habit and not go to church. Instead they took a long morning walk, and then they decided to take a shower before going out to breakfast. While her husband was in the shower, the wife sat on the screened-in- porch and read. As she was sitting there a snake crawled across the floor. She screamed for her husband. Girding a towel about his loins and arming himself with a broomstick, he went forth like Sylvester Stallone to dispatch the unfortunate monster.

The snake beat a hasty retreat under the sofa. He poked the broomstick around to drive it out into the open. All the noise awoke the family dog and he came in to see what was going on. The dog touched his wet nose to the exposed backside of the stooped-over husband. The husband assumed the snake had crawled out and had bitten him. He jumped up, grabbed the spot, emitted a strangled cry of horror and fainted dead away.

The wife assumed that the excitement had caused him to have a heart attack and she called 911. The paramedics arrived promptly, resuscitated the husband, and gave him an injection to calm him. Then they placed him on a stretcher to carry him to the ambulance.
As they picked him up the snake crawled across the foot of one of the paramedics. When this happened he jumped and tripped over an end table. He dropped his end of the stretcher and fell on the husband, breaking his leg.

The moral of this story is that going to church on Sunday mornings can save you a lot of trouble.

(Adapted from a story told by John William Smith in his book My Mother’s Favorite Song)

GETTING CAUGHT

Sometimes we need to get caught in order to learn.

This is a fact of life and a great truth that it takes some of us a life time to learn.

From the earliest age to the oldest we seem to blunder along doing dumb stuff.

Some of us, sometimes, discover what dumb things we are doing and quit before we get caught.

But alas, the majority of us need to get caught in order to learn.

Here’s to hoping we all get caught before it’s too late. I’m especially praying this happens to our leaders in government.

IN DIRTY CLOTHES AND SMELLING LIKE A PIG

Friday, October 17, 2008

We call him the prodigal son. His story is told in Luke 15.

This is one of my favorite stories in the New Testament. It tells of separation from home, sin, failure, repentance, and a fantastic homecoming.

Have you ever been in the “far country?” You remember. You turned your back upon everything and ran away to a “better life” in a “better place” far from everything you had ever known. However, you may have changed your worldview and your lifestyle without ever leaving home physically.

And then one day you “wake up” and remember that it wasn’t all that bad back home. You get up out of the pig pen you are in, scrape yourself off and head back home.

When you turn down the road that leads home your dad (or maybe your mother or both) come running down that road with outstretched arms. The sun comes out; a cool breeze blows across your brow. You fall into his/her arms. You are home.

You’re wearing dirty clothes, you smell like a pig, but it’s alright. You can sit down at the table and dig in. They’re throwing a party just for you. Why? Why would they do this?

Because the father/mother loves you and that’s all that matters. YOU’RE HOME!

ONE FLEW OVER THE COOKOO'S NEST

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Most people just get their teeth cleaned when they visit their dental hygienist.

Not me. I get the “works.”

Today I had a debate with her, was told I look like John McCain, and got my picture taken on her cell phone.

The debate started when she told me it was time for a complete checkup and I told her I did that last time I was in. We went around and around. I won the debate.

She then told me I wasn’t billed enough last time. I said, “Ok, just clean my teeth and let me go home.”

Then she said, “You look like John McCain. Anybody ever tell you that?”

I said, “ahh, ohhh, uggh, eee, ahh, ahh.” When she took the instruments out I said, “No.”

She said, “Well you do and I’m going to take your picture. We can make some money off this.”

I said, “Whatever!”

GOD IN THE DAILY AND ORDINARY

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I like what Richard Foster said about the discovery of God.

“The discovery of God lies in the daily and the ordinary, not in the spectacular and the heroic. If we cannot find God in the routines of home and shop, then we will not find him at all. Ours is to be a symphonic piety in which all the activities of work and play and family and worship and sex and sleep are the holy habitats of the eternal.”
Richard Foster, Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home

GOING OUTSIDE TO WORK

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

If you ask, “What’s so great about going outside to work?”

I respond, “Going outside to do anything in the desert is big news.”

Oh yes, the sun is shining brightly, as usual, but the temperature is a nice 57 degrees at 8:30 A.M.

We are now moving into the season that sees people from all over the country pouring into our state. Most of them come from the “cold country.” We call them “snow birds.”

Oh yes, they crowd our streets and freeways. They usually do not know where they are going and so they drive very slowly and irritate the locals. They cause long waiting lines at all of the restaurants. And they also eat slowly and deliberately. In other words—they don’t get in and get out.

The population will increase even more around spring training time. But we also know that soon after spring training they will be packing up and leaving. They want to get back to what they call “God’s country” before “Hell” sets in here.

Yep, I’m going outside to work. This is a great time to be alive in the desert!

LOW TRUST IS EVERYWHERE

Monday, October 13, 2008

George H. W. Bush used to go around asking, “Who do you trust?”

The answer? Very few!

What led to this? Greed, materialism, fraud, falsification and duplicity.

“Falsification and fraud are highly destructive to free-market capitalism and, more broadly, to the underpinnings of our society…our market system depends critically on trust—trust in the word of our colleagues and trust in the word of those with whom we do business." Alan Greenspan, Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve

Trust? Did he say our market system depends critically on trust?

I KNOW MY REDEEMER LIVES

Saturday, October 11, 2008

There are many wonderful black preachers of the gospel. Jeremiah Wright is not one of them! He doesn't preach the gospel of Jesus Christ he preaches black liberation theology. The message Nicole Mullen sings is a "good news" message that needs to be heard by all. She is a beautiful young lady with a beautiful voice and a wonderful message. I hope you will listen to it.

WHAT YOU SAY AND WHEN YOU SAY IT

If you are going to minister to someone you must pay close attention to the state they are in. The answer to the toughest questions, even if they are theologically correct, may actually be hurtful, if delivered at the wrong time. I learned this from Marjorie Suchocki by reading it in Darryl Tippens’ excellent book, Pilgrim Heart.

Suchocki emphasized that some answers are good only in the “daytime,” while others answers are good in the “night.” If a person is in profound pain, an argument that “explains” the suffering (a “daytime” answer) may do little good and potentially much harm.

We need to pray for guidance to say the right thing at the right time or we are going to do more harm than good.

GOD ALONE

Friday, October 10, 2008

In times like these we can't depend on anybody or anything but God! Hopefully this is not a new thought to you--but even if it is, grab His hand and hang on!

My soul finds rest in God alone;
my salvation comes from him.
He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.
Psalm 62:1-2

HOW WE GOT IN THE MESS WE ARE IN

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Ben Stein is worth listening to even when you strongly disagree with him. The following is from his CBS Morning News Commentary. I agree with it and wanted to pass it on to you.

My confession:I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, "Merry Christmas" to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a Church it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away .

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship Nick and Jessica and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where Nick and Jessica came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her "How could God let something like this happen?" (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response.

She said, "I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?"

In light of recent events...terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found recently) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK.

Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with "WE REAP WHAT WE SOW."

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says . Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing?

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.

Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.

My Best Regards .Honestly and respectfully,

Ben Stein

"GOING TO HELL IN A HANDBASKET"

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

This old expression means going to hell easily and rapidly.

That’s exactly what is happening to our great country.

Did I hear you say it’s been that way since the Garden of Eden?

Maybe so! But one thing I know—it’s definitely happening today.

We are being drug down into the black hole of liberalism. It’s happening easily and rapidly.

Down, down, down, we go!

Liberalism is everywhere. It’s on the front page of the newspaper, on the cover of every major publication, it’s the first thing you hear on every television station, it’s the main thing coming out of Hollywood, it’s the major emphasis in our schools and universities, it’s even being preached from many pulpits—it’s everywhere!

Let’s not just stand by and watch this mess. Stand for something! Pray and “fight”.

OCTOBER 5, 1936 WAS A GREAT DAY

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

We took a holiday yesterday (although everyday is a holiday when you are retired) and journeyed up the mountain to the beautiful red rock country of Sedona.

Sunday was Charlotte’s birthday and we were still celebrating on Monday. We wanted to do something special and Sedona is special.

I spent my day yesterday being grateful.

First, I was grateful to God that He looked down on earth on October 5, 1936 and said, “You know, they need somebody special down there that will grow up to bless the lives of many. He made Charlotte!

Second, and long before 1936, He said, “They need a touch of red down there that will take their breath away." He made the red rock country of Sedona, Arizona.

Isn’t God good? We all have so much to be grateful for. The morning news was reporting that people are filled with anxiety about many, many things. But even in this time of crisis let’s not forget how blessed we are. Don’t wait until November 27 to be thankful.

BE THANKFUL EVERY MINUTE OF EVERY DAY!

A LIVING PRAYER

Saturday, October 04, 2008

Jay Leno doesn't usually have someone on his show to perform this type song--but he did this time and I want you to see and hear it. I view it as a sermon in song. Please listen to all of it and give special attention to how Jay and his audience (which is usually a "tough, politically correct" group) respond to Alison Krauss, Union Station and the song. She planted the seed. I trust God to give the increase.

RESPONSIBILITY AND TRUST

"Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him." --Booker T. Washington

THE ONE THING THAT CHANGES EVERYTHING

Friday, October 03, 2008

TRUST! Trust is the one thing that changes everything.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “The moment there is suspicion about a person’s motives, everything he does becomes tainted.”

In our world today, we are facing a crisis of trust. This is true not only in our professional relationships but also in our personal relationships.

Coach Joe Paterno said, “Whether you’re on a sports team, in an office or a member of a family, if you can’t trust one another there’s going to be trouble.”

Trust is truly the one thing that changes everything. And there has never been a time when we need it more.

SARAH AND MICHELLE

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Man, there is a lot of interest in the Palin, Biden, debate tonight.

Many are asking, “Is Sarah ready to be President?”

Not me. I’m asking, “Is Michelle ready to be President?”

Barack said, “Michelle is my chief counsel and adviser. I would never think of making a major decision without her advice.”

Wow! That’s heavy stuff. I want to know, “How good is her judgment?”

Seems to me, she needs to be vetted, debated, investigated and if we treat her like the media has been treating Sarah, she will even have to be castigated. It seems only fair and prudent.

THE SAME LIFE, ALL OVER AGAIN

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

IF YOU were doomed to live the same life over and over again for eternity, would you choose the life you are living now? The question is interesting enough, but I've always thought the point of asking it is really the unspoken, potentially devastating follow-up question. That is, if the answer is no, then why are you living the life you are living now? Stop making excuses, and do something about it.

William Alexander, The $64 Tomato