BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE ? ?

Are the Best Things in Life really FREE?

The reason some might question that statement is - - that in every case somebody pays. Some might receive it and it would appear to be free but someone has to pay.

For example a million dollars worth of Viagra was given to the poor who couldn’t afford it, because a man named Ace Greenberg paid for it. He is the chairman of Bear Stearns and company. This started a rumor that the poor had to create new signs; “Will work for food and Viagra.”

What about free education? Not much need to comment on that, even home schooling comes at a cost.

Sunshine, in order to see it you must pay for the clean air, other wise you end with photochemical smog and that will help you die sooner.

Water, lets see I just got my water bill.

Just about everything comes with a price, and if you don’t pay someone else will have to.

The moon is being sold. There are still some lots for sale should you want one.

The tale of Robin Hood is interesting; the Sheriff of Nottingham goes out to the merchants and takes much of their money, whereupon Robin Hood takes it away from the Sheriff and gives it to the poor. Robin Hood’s plan was to take the merchants money and give it to the poor, and they would then buy goods from the merchants. That way the merchants would get their money back, until the sheriff returns to get it again.

Whether food stamps, low cost housing, welfare, or stimulus for the bankers, bailout or down payments, cash for clunkers programs, etc, someone must pay.

Some might say without thinking it through, that salvation is free…..someone had to pay.

In reality nothing is free, there is a price attached to everything.

Most if not all things are paid for from the income pie of the working man. Guess who decides how the pie is sliced up? A big slice goes to those who rule over us who in turn slice it into hundreds of smaller pieces. Another slice goes to the local tax collectors who in turn slice it up into many tiny slices. Another generous slice goes to those who supply needed services, and who it turn slice that slice into many more pieces. There are others who take the crumbs that fall through the cracks and last of all, what is left belongs to the person who labored and earned the pie in the first place. Unless …… one of the aforementioned, decides they want more of the pie that is left and in that case the laborer must do more with less.

And to be sure, the best things in life are free, to some, but someone will pay. And what happens when we can pay no more?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGNhU&feature=related

SECOND HAND SMOKE

Secondhand smoke doesn't just impact a person in the future. It can cause problems right now, like affecting someone's sports performance or ability to be physically active.

The above explanation of the effects of second hand smoke should cause people to think about their health, and the health of others.

Up to my teen years I smoked a lot of second hand smoke, for most of my family smoked and used all the usual forms of tobacco.

The church I attended looked down upon any form of tobacco and that included using snuff and chewing tobacco. While I did smoke a little B.C (before church) but I quit, and as far as chewing tobacco, that nasty stuff had never been a problem for me.

Our president has championed both cigarettes and beer which fits right in with the Washington crowd. As an alcohol and drug user in college, he has a well rounded experiential knowledge of that life style. He is slow to condemn it partially because as with all politicians, that is part of his voter base.

Now if he and his fellow democrats wish to smoke, so be it. What I object to is what he is smoking and the second hand effect it has on me.

He is blowing his smoke over the land by: His deficit spending, his health plan, his involvement in saving the union jobs at GM, his refusal to close our borders to law breakers, his demeaning of Christianity, his tax increases, his obsession to drive more companies and jobs overseas, the misnomer of cap and trade, the establishment of providing housing for all people (This is in the works,) and on and on.

It’s the smoking gun in his hand that causes people to fear, for he has shot down the will of the people in many areas already and is working on the rest.

The second hand smoke from what these tyrants in Washington are smoking to satisfy their addiction, is taking my breath.

Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIN8MmMloZE

FULL OF IT

Like the rest of you, when I was young I was full of it, and I was full of ALL of it. That seems to be the easiest way to say it.

Like you, I was irrepressible, in plainer language, a wild hair, hard to control, even when I was forced by threats to sit; I had the attitude of, “I’m still standing up on the inside.”

After I got some of my idiotism brought under control (Got some sense slapped into me,) I began to direct some of this energy to productive areas and was able to make a living using these resolves.

When everything is going your way it is surprising how little of GOD’S resources you need, or at least that can be your mind set. I am not talking about those who have not received Christ as savior; I’m speaking of the beloved in Christ. It takes real effort to humble yourself and feel dependent on GOD when you have everything under control, and the good times are here, or am I missing something?

Now I have good news, well just let me say I have some news for you; help is on its way! As time goes by you will find out that you will need to come to rely on HIM more than you once did in the past.

When your kids begin to grow up and assert themselves, when they get their truth from peers who don’t have it together, then all you can do is hope and pray.

When health begins to slip and working days are past you find yourself emptied out and all you have left is GOD to depend on, it becomes much easier to be humble. If one has practiced this dependence on HIM through life even in a small measure it will be easier to “Cast all your care on HIM” in this time of need.

The rain falls upon the just and the unjust, and sometimes it “Comes in like a flood,” As long as we are in this world we are subject to the system of the world, and we must, even in the good times commit our way unto the LORD, and then we stand ready to deal with what is our lot.

The old saying “practice the presence of the LORD” will sit well with you when “trials come a knocking.”

You can say in your heart come on, the LORD and I are ready for you.

So be ready, your adversary is going about seeking to eat you alive, resist him with your faith in GOD.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Dd-69K3YNM&feature=related

ATHEISM, FOOLS AND OTHER ERRORISTS

The Greek word, atheos means “without gods.” Atheists say they do not believe in GOD. Some are passive in their beliefs while others are militant and fight anyone who professes to have an active faith in the living GOD.

The ACLU Is one of the strongest supporters of atheism and they use every legal devise to remove the mention of GOD from every building the public can see.

Of course there are so called agnostics who try to avoid the stigma of being an atheist by saying, “I’m not sure” whether there is a GOD or not. These people are atheists in disguise. It would be helpful if they realized their lost condition. Faith in GOD requires a strong belief in HIM without any reservations. I don’t believe, or I’m not sure just doesn’t cut it with GOD.

If I was an atheist I would thank the GOD (that I don’t believe in), for allowing me to reject HIM and permitting me to be a fool as stated in the bible. Imagine the torment of being an atheist and not being able to express it. God is so gracious as to let them vehemently insult HIM without giving them the fly swatter treatment.

Atheism is an acquired mind set, something they bought into. Satan presented this option and they fell for it, and it’s too complicated to admit they got took in. The task before the atheist is difficult because it is not easy to fight against a non entity. No matter how they try to expunge a GOD who only exists as an idea is a waste of time, and doesn’t make sense, because if he doesn’t exist why bother. The very fact they speak of HIM as GOD or deity gives at least some credence to his existence.

Now we have arrived at their real dilemma which is; he can reject GOD’S salvation, deny his existence, fight against those who do believe, and GOD is willing to let him do that, Carte Blanc rejection.

But there is another issue he must face and that is he cannot reject Satan for he is in the same boat as Satan. He can do his whole act over and over but he can’t by rejection absolve him self from Satan’s hold on him. Because of his union with Satan (Much like the Christians union with Christ) he will suffer the same fate with him. Hoping the grave will free him from this condition is futile.

The only release is that which he rejects. So unless he changes his mind and accepts GOD’S gift it is bye, bye, baby.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv_ZRAAjpS0&feature=related

MINIPULATED LANGUAGE

Bill Clinton’s famous quote; “It depends on what the meaning of IS is.”

In some instances the avoidance of telling the truth is an attempt to manipulate the truth in such a way it seems to say one thing when in reality it is saying something else. It tries to give the impression of speaking truth when in fact the utterance is designed to deceive. Clinton’s statement “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Monica Lewinsky, when in fact he did. He claimed that in a legal sense he did not lie as he only gave a wrong impression. He being a lawyer and a politician he was an expert at manipulating language to his advantage.

Today in everyday life we see similar examples of this being done to disarm standards held for ages.
Adultery, it is now an “Affair” that is justified by the claims of needs not being met within the marriage. Infidelity is looked upon as a means to a desired end and not as unfaithfulness, and because where needs aren’t met, certain rules do not apply. The problem with this theory is; that in GOD’S sight it is a sin against HIM and has answerable consequences.

The word Fornication has become “A relationship.” Two lost souls have found each other and have bonded together and marriage would only spoil it. The timing on the relationship is fluid to the degree it may last for years, months, weeks, days, or as little as 30 minutes, yet all claim it to be a relationship.

Sad to say GOD views it as a sin against HIM and He is offended by it.

Homosexuality, spin the language and you have “Gay”. No matter what you call it GOD will exact a heavy price for this affront to HIS righteousness.

Theft, spin it and you have “getting what is coming to me”.

To injure someone, “they had it coming to them”.

Most every area of life has this form of manipulation and is looked upon as justified by some perverted rhetoric. No matter how you try to view it, GOD is the final authority and there is no spin you can put HIS TRUTH for it is written in stone.

Some say there is no GOD. They believe their words take care of that. The problem for them is their belief in GOD is not a requirement for HIS existence and they can’t eliminate HIM by a pattern of thought. They only think and speak damnation to themselves.

The price for disobedience to GOD is far more than anyone can imagine, no words can express it. But many will experience it.

Manipulated language might make a good computer game where two or more people try to deceive each other by seeming to say something but in reality they are saying something else.

You cannot change truth, for once you abridge it in any way it is not truth but a modified lie only appearing to be truth. With GOD anything other than the truth truly has undesirable consequences.

CHANGE

The American people spoke a year and a half ago, and elected a new president of the U.S.A. One of the planks in his platform was change.

As promised he has instituted multiple changes in the way Americans are now to live. I have felt some resistance to what has happened because change must be a gradual process rather than a carte blanche decision by one person to decree “This is the way, you must walk in it.”

I still remember being at home during childhood, and my mother (most often) would order my daily way. I looked forward to the day when I would be free to make my own decisions.

Today I feel much of my ability to make decisions is being regulated by new laws, not of my making.

I feel this process is somewhat like a doctor, attending a woman who is six months pregnant. He decides that she has been pregnant long enough and decides to induce labor. Whether the preemie lives or not is not relevant, what is important is his decision that change in her condition must happen now.

In the background of leadership is the safety valve of non-responsibility which they invoke when things don’t pan out. This is better known as “It’s not my fault.” While it’s still early I wouldn’t be surprised to know that the outline for that speech has already been framed.

Not to be too dogmatic I suppose that some change is good, but only if JESUS does the changing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSjl1LPhiTY

A SUNDAY KIND OF LOVE

I want a Sunday kind of love,
A love to last past Saturday night,
And I’d like to know it’s more than love at first sight,
And I need a Sunday kind of love,
Oh yeah, yeah!

“Sunday kind of love.” was a song of the forties sang by many of the top vocalist both men and women; To name a few, Jo Stafford, with her soft velvety voice, Billy Eckstein’s almost eerie rendition, and Etta James did it best.

What is the Sunday kind of love? In a sense it is an intangible state, a feeling, a needed emotional experience that continues and is not diminished by circumstances or interaction with other people.

It goes to the core of the first created beings that were perfectly matched and lived in a perfect environment. Their disobedience sent them forth from the garden affected the whole existence of man.

While the basic instincts and needs still reside in man they can only be met by the struggle we see all around us.

The disenfranchisement of Satan in heaven did not deter him from his philosophy that; he has better ideas than GOD, and he could prove it if given a chance.

Satan has failed in his efforts in every case, and the experiment will soon be over. His failures are too many to mention, because they span the whole of creation.

Just one example; GOD created friendship to be a comforting, supporting, nurturing, needful experience. As Satan’s deception in the garden produced death so also his version of friendship has produced, manipulation, using people, and sexual perversion.

It makes no difference how many followers he has garnered; it just means that many more have been deceived.  No matter how much deceptive rhetoric and putting on smiley faces that flow by the throne of GOD - - They will always be; “dismissed with prejudice”

And so it is; Satan’s better ideas were rejected in heaven, and as far as GOD is concerned they are rejected on earth.

Last word; much of what’s happening in the natural life has its counter part in the spiritual life, particularly, a Sunday kind of love that lasts through the week.

Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfNLspDL3ns

FALLING ON HARD TIMES

Most people have fallen on hard times of one kind or another. It could be financial, where needs can’t be met and loom larger than life. It might be a health issue where no matter how hard you try you can’t get back to normal, or the mental stress that squeezes you to your depths so far it seems impossible for you to recover.

One of the most difficult is the loss of a relationship by whatever means it occurs; it doesn’t matter at that stage only that it is over.

At the age of five I met a man by the name of Wilson. He ultimately became, by marriage, Uncle Wilson. He was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy who liked people. After several years he lost his wife through a sudden tragic death and began his trek through the “valley of death,” which affected him for the rest of his life. He was a man who never drank alcohol before that event, but it became his companion in the valley for many years. He lost his regular employment, and had to scrape by caring for his three kids. Only they could tell you what it was like during that period.

I ran a little business with several of the family working in it. One day he showed up, and just started working with the rest of the employees. I never officially hired him, I just paid him on Friday like the others. He seemed happy just to be with the family workers, and was able to support himself. About this time his kids were grown and making their own way.

On payday he would cash his check and usually hide part of his money somewhere in his house and then go to the liquor store, and within an hour he would pass out into a deep sleep. During which some acquaintances would search his pockets and the house for his money. They would take what they could find, and leave him with nothing. After he would come to, usually the next day, he would try to remember where he hid his money, and sometimes it would be the middle of the week before he located it. This went on week after week. The haunting memory of his loss seem to plague him continually, hence his drinking.

After many years his daughter was able to take him in to her home, and helped him to find some sense of peace. He was with her and her family until his demise. He loved his grand children, almost more than his kids. Anytime you met him he would start bragging on them. He has been gone for several years now, but he was and is still a part of us, and he is not forgotten.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=ALp39fFc-Bs&feature=related

HOW TO FIGHT A WAR

I saw a movie of the future where war among the planets was fought without destroying or damaging the planets. When a superior force was going to attack another planet they would send a demand to the weaker planet to destroy “X number,” of its own citizens, and that would save the people who were left to continue their lives as if nothing had happened.

Our war strategy hasn’t progressed to this level but the basic premises has been laid out. This modern thinking was based upon the way wars are fought today.

We have advanced from the leader of our country leading the men into battle, to him hiding in a nuclear bomb proof shelter while he sends our young men out to be killed.

When our leaders discover that they don’t need to destroy our cities, all we have to do is agree to kill a certain number of our own citizens; something like Hitler did, and avoid a destructive war, with only the expendables dying.

This is more progressive than today’s strategy where we send our troops to a country, destroy everything, and then we have to rebuild it for them. Of course we still have to bury our young men and women but that’s no big deal as long as our people are not directly involved and their lives upset.

We need to get our good idea men in Washington to work on this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38wx8C7VmB4

I LIKE IT THAT WAY

During my school days I noticed that classmates were maturing at different rates and it didn’t make much sense at the time. At the beginning we were pretty much the same, but as we moved past the twelfth year the teens brought with it these differences. Some of the boys began to have some black hair on their upper lip. And they began to notice the girls (that we had grown up with) and remark about different ones. While I was the same age as most of them, (maybe a little younger) I thought they just a wee bit over reacting. They would say things like did you notice the - - - On so and so? They also made many other obvious, but inappropriate remarks.

About this time everybody begins to experience visions of what the perfect man/woman must look and be like. That perfect one is created in our mind and all of our classmates are judged by that vision.

Since I will just speak for myself, in our class there were some girls that rated less than 50%, and others were higher up on the scale but none reached 100% of the vision - - - Except, Irene Camera. Irene was an early bloomer that stopped blooming at the right time. She knew when enough of a good thing was enough. A perfect face, beautiful teeth, lovely dark hair, and the rest of her was also perfect. As I judge it she had every right to be stuck up and snobbish but such was not the case. She had a delightful personality and good nature. I didn’t get offended too easily but if I had known what rating I got or how the gals rated me I probably would have been ticked off and got me a complex.

Because I left school, and didn’t graduate with my classmates I never knew what happened to them except when I would meet them by chance.

Some 25 years passed and I was in business for myself, and while purchasing some material from a supplier I saw this woman that looked familiar. I asked her if she remembered me, and I reminded her of my name, and to my surprise she did. Her husband had passed away and now she was working at the supply house. Since you probably would like to know what she looked like now, well that perfect visionary girl - - - was as pretty as ever, the maturing process had not affected beauty at all. (Only added were a couple of pounds).

From time to time when picking up supplies we would chat about our time in school and our families. She was asked by one of the supply house owners to marry him and she accepted. He had an injury and was confined to a wheel chair but that didn’t sway her at all. The last time I talked to her she was well, although her husband was having some additional problems. The most outstanding thing about her was she didn’t let her beauty keep her from being a loving and caring person.

Hail, hail to the school days

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPCBHJLxht0

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS EXTENSION

Many people are breathing easier since the congress has agreed to extend the payments for not working to two and one half million people. The cost is only thirty four billion dollars.

This will be paid for by adding to the deficit. Everyone agrees that these people need this money for their families. During my forty five working years I received some money from the employment department, actually I received a total of eighteen dollars, so I know first hand how it helped me and my wife and three kids. Since we couldn’t live on the eighteen dollars, I did any job I could find, but that disqualified me from getting any more unemployment.

According to some sources there are five million people not working, but probably some would work if the right job came along. This extension of payments by another name could be called Unemployment Welfare and should be made a permanent feature of our government.

The president could solve this unemployment problem by executive order and give these five million unemployed persons government jobs. All this money going into the economy would solve the stagnation in the national financial situation. Think about it! No unemployed people in the richest country of the world. Presto Chango!

Just add the cost to the deficit which no one believes will ever be paid off anyway.

THE DO’S AND DON'TS

Some times in order to understand something you have to go back to the beginning. I saw a car that had been changed so much as to make it unrecognizable, and I wondered what it looked like originally.

To understand man and life, often they have been changed like the car so much that it is little more than a confused state.

 People want to find their roots, if adopted they want to meet dad or mom so they can understand why they are like they are.

It makes you wonder why people withdraw either into a cave or a monastery and try to separate themselves from what the world has become. At times they do this mentally and become “spaced out”. Some use aids like drugs or bondage to reach the desired state.

It makes sense to me to go back to where this all started and trace the cause and effect of all this seeming calamitous concoction. The primary cast of this situation is GOD, man, and Satan. The circumstances are, GOD has created the universe (sun, moon, planets, man and a force that went bad), and has set up the acceptable rules of conduct. GOD deals with dos and don’ts.

The rules for the Garden of Eden were simple; everything was a DO except one DON’T. The serpent made the mistake of allowing the spiritual force called the devil to use him to deceive the man and woman. When man “did the don’t,” it let the genie out of the bottle, and like humpty dumpty he isn’t together again.
GOD’S answer to this is like humpty “it can’t be fixed” so he has started over again, hence the new birth which is the first step to solving the problem. There are many following steps, but all in their order.

Satan’s original plan was to be the GOD and GOD had to regulate him to the lower position he now occupies. He has no power without the cooperation of something like the serpent or a human being, and if I’m not mistaken he has plenty of help, most of which are volunteers.

GOD hasn’t changed his format of dos and don’ts, the do’s are acceptable to him and the don’ts are not. The do’s please HIM and the don’ts do not. It’s all about HIS pleasure. And when HE is not pleased, all is about to hit the fan.

GOD was kind enough to inform us what the simple do’s and don’ts are. It’s all written in the manual of life and to deviate from those instructions brings consequences. A pattern was set when Eve sinned and that was to make an excuse for doing it, but the excuse was not acceptable then, and neither is it acceptable today.

GOD’S method of dealing with sin is REPENTANCE and CONFESSION, Repentance is the act of contrition and commitment to avoid it in the future, confession is the acknowledgment that you are guilty of the offence and that you know and understand what it was.

In Tennessee and Kentucky there is a strip of land called, “The land in between the lakes.” This is a man made creation by building a dam and backing up the water for recreation. I will now use this to make an analogy where man has tried to create a land between the do’s and the don’ts for recreation purposes. A place where he can do what ever he desires and it works like a sanctuary where he can’t be touched, as long as he stays within those boundaries.

The good news and bad news of this is, there is no good news, it is all bad news for there is no such, land of in between, there are only do’s and don’ts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=v-GN-BP_Qlk&feature=related

SOLD TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER

As a kid I used to go to auctions, when farmers would die off, and their place was sold. There were many farmers there looking to see if there was any thing they could use on their place.

Some were just interested in seeing all the personal stuff the old people had and were just nosy in general. The farm equipment was always of interest and likewise the live stock. A good cow, some pigs, and chickens were usually at a good price.

Most of the time you could understand what he was saying and knew what you were bidding but at the tobacco barn it was a different story. Once a year the farmers took their tobacco crop to the tobacco sales barn where there would be thousands of pounds of tobacco that had to be sold in a short time. Each farmer’s tobacco would be put on three baskets, and was sold according to its grade. Some of the baskets would have up to eight hundred pounds of tobacco on them.

When the auction started there would be one or two auctioneers a couple of sales price ticket writers, and buyers from all the major tobacco companies. The tension would grow as they readied to start, and then the magic moment came. The sale went as fast as the auctioneer could walk, and you couldn’t understand what he was saying. Once in awhile you could hear something like Amer-i-can (the American tobacco company) or Liggett who sold Camel cigarettes. Each farmer would stand by his baskets, and they would fly quickly by, what had taken him a year to grow. Then nervously they would pickup the ticket and see how much cash they got for their crop. For some this money would have to last far into the summer and beyond.
I went to other auctions like the live stock auction held each week and more recently I have watched the bidding on EBAY.

As I thought back at the past auctions I was reminded of the scripture in mark;
Mark 8:36 "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

The picture in the scripture of man’s state is one of a slave being sold in the slave market. Then Jesus comes on the scene and with one bid purchases all of mankind. The price he paid was far more than anyone could bid. I can see myself as being on the auction block with all the demons of hell bidding for me.

I without the ability to buy my freedom was doomed to servitude to sin forever, and the eternal state of the lost. The auction was held on Mount Calvary where three crosses stood, the price was paid, and I was bought out of the slave market, and now I belong to Christ.
http://www.youtube.com/watch#!v=8Q8-cIIk7mo&feature=related

WHAT IS IN A NAME?

As the family holdings in Maury County diminished, people with other names moved in, and had a family distinction of their own. When you thought of them, this image would pop up without focusing on them.

The Gilliam’s were a stand offish kind. Jack Davidson’s bunch put on airs without a reason for it. The Worley’s were a hustling group and always busy. The Derberrys were laid back and always up for whatever.

Quite a few were braggarts, and liars but they always had an interesting story to tell anyway

One family I’ll mention were the Dicksons, there were two brothers who both bought nice farms and were the most frugal of all. Their women didn’t just can food; it was like they were planning an attack on the enemy. They went at it, full speed ahead. One brother was named Linnice, and his brother was named Liebert. Linnice was laid back and you had to carry the conversation, otherwise you would be standing there in silence. They were nice people and I knew them well.

Liebert was a little more outgoing he liked to brag about everything that pertained to him and his. Once I met him near his house and struck up a conversation and he said; “I only spent a quarter this year.” I thought he must be lying; I spend that much every month. But later I found out he was telling the truth.

Besides canning enough food to last them a year they bartered or traded eggs, corn or whatever else they had for what they needed. It was still hard to believe anyone could be that frugal.

The rumor was that Liebert carried a lot of money with him, I guess it was common knowledge, at least the rumor was. Some guys robbed and beat him severely to the point he never fully recovered from it.

We all pretty well knew who had done it, but we had no way to prove it. These fellows had been stealing chickens and such. We never did find out if they got any money, and Liebert’s family wouldn’t talk about it for some reason.

People have an image of you when they think of you and it is good if they see at least a small reflection of Jesus as part of that image.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s7Mhrzd4vY
Enjoy this song about the NAME

THIS HERE MAN

I have to go back to a time just before I was born, to a time when this feller came to town and started to court this woman. She was about 16, and was the second child of eleven in the family.

This man would talk for hours with out stopping, and could talk you out of your shoes for he was very likeable. One time he asked his brother-in-law to borrow his car to go to the store, and nobody saw him for several days. They finally found out he had sold the car and had drank, and gambled the money away. This didn't set very with the brother, but for the sister’s sake he let it slide.

At the square dance he would play either the fiddle or the guitar depending which was needed. He was a good mechanic and also a blacksmith. This man could do about anything in those days. A year after he and the woman were married the woman had a baby girl which she loved dearly but shortly thereafter the baby died.

As time went by she had two more children both of which were boys. The first boy was kinda sickly but grew out of it after a few years. The second was also sickly and when he was about 4 he got worse to the point he was gravely ill. This particular night was hot and humid, the doors and windows were open, and all the lamps were lit. Most of the family was gathered at Seaton Moser’s house where the man and woman were staying. The doctor came and said there was nothing he could do for the boy and he left.

Sometime about midnight as people sat around, a large owl flew into and out of the house. That was like a foreboding omen. I had crawled into the front seat of a car and went to sleep. I was awakened by someone sobbing in the back seat and as the husband tried to comfort the woman I realized the boy had died.

They moved around from place to place for awhile and finally settled in a little town where he worked as a blacksmith. A short time later he passed on with tuberculosis, and it was unusual for someone to go so fast.

The woman moved to California, and during WW2 she got a job working in the shipyard as a welder. There she met a good man, and they were married when the war was over. The boy didn't take to the new daddy very well and hung out at his Aunt Minnie’s place most of the time. The woman had two more children, a girl and a boy.

Though the earlier part of her life was turbulent, but she always kept a calm and pleasant demeanor. She faced every issue with a minimum of distress and the most outward expression of being upset was. ”I swan,” meaning “I declare.”

My Aunt Lucille had more than her share of hard times and disappointments, but of all the people who were in their right mind she was the coolest of them all.

TWIN CITIES OF THE PLAINS

Two cities stand out In Genesis because of their quick demise; the main damage was over in a short time something like the San Francisco earth quake of 1906.

There was no time to get ready for it, and it was ended in a few minutes. Like as Sodom and Gomorrah, the smoke continued to rise for days, giving notice that a catastrophe had occurred.

Had Sodom realized the two angels were sent from GOD as a warning of judgment to come, GOD would have given them the opportunity to repent.  (See Genesis chapter 19.)

However the sin that possessed them would not allow them to act contrary to their reprobate nature. (See Romans 1:18-32)

To be sure your sin will find you out, and once found out judgment will follow.

One of the strangest phenomena in recent times was the Asian Tsunami. The people had heard the warning the wave was coming and ignored it. They further went down to the beach to get a closer look, and some 300,000 people died.

Luke 17:26-30 “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying, and being given in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed all of them.

So it was in the days of Lot. People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed all of them. The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that.

While there is nothing wrong with doing business as usual, there must be a consciousness of the return of the Lord controlling every thing we do. He must be a major part of the equation of our lives. Those who ignore the message that is on every hand, “To repent and be saved” will receive the reward of their rebellion and their unrighteous.

Not everyone heard the message that destruction was coming, and this thought points out two things. One, it is the responsibility of everyone to make provision to be warned, and two; it is the responsibility of those who have the knowledge to share with those who are without.

The return of the Lord will not be without warning; in fact the warning has been proclaimed for over two thousand years, but His return will swift and final.

But on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed all of those who remained in the cities.

I'm not sure but I think Lot just ordered some suitcases on line and will receive them shortly.

AMERICA THE INVINCIBLE

Can this country fall as did the Mongol Empire and the Roman Empire?

The answer; it will when the people will it to be so.

There are those whose sole purpose is to destroy this land, and there are others who through drugs and alcohol only care about their next fix.

Many are ruled by greed and demand the government give them everything they want.

There are some (scammers, CEOS) who through deceit use trusting people for their own self-indulgence.

There are others (lobbyists) who have their own agenda.

Will this country implode? That remains to be seen, but to think it can’t happen is merely a pipe dream.

We define our leaders as politicians. The fact is they have become manipulators of the general public. In Washington the will of the people is viewed as nothing more than a joke.

The Troika of Obama, Reid, and Pelosi are ruling in Washington today and can’t be stopped or swayed from remaking this country in their image.

Every move they have made has been designed to punish the American tax payer. Soon we will have an election, if Boxer, Reid, and Pelosi take a page from Al Franken’s (who was elected by 2800 dead people) election strategy they will be a Shoo-in. The tell’em what they want to hear and then do what you want, is their modus operandi.  

No liars anonymous for them.

IF YOU ARE EIGHTY

Being eighty years old, means you lived through the “Great Depression,” and are bound to have memories of certain events. One such happening came to mind today.

I didn’t try to think of it, it just popped into my mind. One of my grandfather’s kids, a girl married a man named Hoyle. They moved around quite a lot and finally settled in a place called Old Berlin Tenn. The husband named Dewey worked as a blacksmith.

One of my uncles (Andrew) went to visit them, and met a young woman named Virginia. He stayed there for awhile for some reason.  Later we found out he was courting country style, and afore we knew it they were married. This had to be in the mid thirties because I remember it well.

In those days if you waited until you could afford to marry, you wouldn’t ever get hitched because times were hard. My uncle got a job on a farm, and they lived in a small log house with few windows, that was situated in a tree lined valley.  Even as a boy I recall that the house was very dark inside.

A little over a year later my uncle Andrew showed up at grandpa’s place, and was very quiet. After a little while he said, “The baby has died.” They had a little boy born in the house they lived in, and after a couple of months he got sick and passed.

I can only imagine how the mother must have felt; being a young girl, poor with no money, alone with the dead child she had nursed and bonded with for such a short time.

A wave of sadness came over the whole family. The day was dreary, it was raining, and this news only darkened the day. We knew that we had to deal with this matter quickly, for in that hot climate you didn’t leave a body around for more than a day or two.

People would take some logs to the saw mill, and trade some of the lumber from them for the sawing fee, and there were some wide boards on hand. It wasn’t long before a tiny box was made, and it was padded with some rolled cotton batting. The cotton was covered with some white outing material, and it became a decent coffin.

The creeks were flooded, and it was difficult, but finally they brought the baby over and placed him in the coffin. The men had dug a grave in the family graveyard at the old home place, and we buried him. After a short time of goodbyes and weeping, it was done.

Andrew and Virginia went on to have another boy and four fine girls. This little bundle which brought so much joy when he arrived also brought much sorrow when he suddenly left through no fault of his own.

In those days it was common practice to sing “shall we gather at the river” at the grave site, and so it was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8EIjGXtCLk&feature=related

OLE UNCLE WILEY

I had an uncle whose official name was “James Wiley Davidson."

To me he was always “Wiley” without the uncle part. He was different from his brothers in as much as, while they would carouse and drink he didn’t drink or smoke or chase women.

This was all happening during the great depression when it was hard to find work and farm work only paid one dollar a long day. On the farm they never heard of a eight hour day.

Wiley finally found a girl he took a fancy to and would court her country style. This consisted of him going to her house and sitting in the living room with the family and talking about things that had nothing to do with anything. The idea was if a guy came around often enough and stayed long enough it meant he had marriage on his mind and when he had put in his time it was okay to ask the parents to give their okay for the hitching up.

The parents gave consent and Wiley and Cynthia got married but since Wiley had very little money they had to live with her parents and her brother and his wife. The house was small but they had their own bedroom where they spent their honeymoon. Before the innerspring mattress came into popular use, the bedsprings were open, and in order to sleep you had to get used to the loud squeaking noise they made at any movement. Cynthia’s brother and sister-in-law spent a good part of the wedding night laughing very loudly at every squeak that came from Cynthia’s bedroom.

As soon as possible Wiley moved out on the family farm and began to farm. If it hadn’t been for Cynthia’s folks giving them canned goods and supplying some other necessities they would have gone hungry that first year. Cynthia was trained to be frugal and after that first year things got better.

Wiley would get happy and dance a lot by himself. One night I was visiting and we were in the kitchen and Wiley got a dancing spell and he fell through the floor, he got banged up a little and I didn’t ever see him dance in the kitchen again.

Wiley was a good friend to me and I cared for him very a great deal. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for me if he could.

Proverbs18:24 a man who has friends must show himself to be friendly; and there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

In my case it was an uncle.

HERBIE AND ME

Herbie wasn’t exactly in our gang but he went to the same school I did.

Herbie wasn’t exactly dumb nor was he smart, maybe just slow.

Herbie had freckles and black hair; his brother had freckles and red hair.

Herbie couldn’t fight very well even the smaller boys could beat him up.

Herbie could do one thing very well, and that was to cuss a blue streak.

Herbie was the one I would look up when I wanted to make some money.

Herbie could always find a job such as washing cars at the car lot.

Herbie got, us a job cleaning windows on a new house, we made $5.00

Herbie had a shoeshine box, and we would make money shining shoes.

Herbie didn’t have any friends’ just acquaintances that he knew.

Herbie didn’t have a girlfriend, and never went on a date.

Herbie had many handicaps but he always did the best he could.

Herbie and I were not close, but after 70 years I have forgotten many of the guys on the avenue, but I still remember Herbie.

Herbie would have loved to hear someone say; ”You got friend in me!”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nAeGDA2a5s&feature=related

THINGS MY COUSINS TAUGHT ME

I had so many cousins that I didn’t know them all. At times I would meet someone with the same family name, and I would ask my uncles; are they kin to us? Usually they would say yes, and explain how they were related.

Since my dad traveled around a lot, I wasn’t close to my kin as I would have been if I lived near them all the time. My great aunt’s family had several kids, and I knew some of them pretty good. I knew two of the boys (my second cousins) very well; they and my uncles sometime hung out together.

One was named Grady Parish; he was an easy going, friendly guy, and I liked him very much. Without giving you much history, let me tell you about one event. This event happen on this wise, he started messing around with a married woman, and the husband knew about it. He didn’t want to face up to Grady about it, because he would have gotten whipped as well as having his wife being disloyal.

As it so happened this man’s family ran the draft board and even though Grady had a deferment they sent him a draft notice to report to boot camp. As soon as boot camp was over Grady was shipped out to Europe, and he wasn’t there long when he stepped on a land mine and was killed.

Grady had G.I. Insurance for $10,000.00 which was a lot of money in those days. Farm hands only got a few dollars a day at this time. The money went to Grady’s mother, but the baby, of the family pretty well controlled it. His name was Paul and he was 17 years old at the time. The first thing he bought was a 1936 Ford Roaster. I couldn’t even buy the air in one of the tires. He bought anything he wanted and began to make new friends.

One of these new friends was a tall, strong dude that you didn’t want to mess with. His wife, Becky was a pretty young thing that could really dance well (or as everyone said; knock a step). Paul got close to them and they became best friends. In fact Paul got a little too close to Becky. The husband came home unexpectedly and found them in a compromised position.

As the husband went for Paul he leaped out the window leaving his clothes behind. From that point on the husband looked for Paul with the intent to kill him, and he would have if he found him. Paul hid for a few days, and decided to enlist in the army. He went straight to boot camp and was shipped to a place called Korea. A short time later we were notified that Paul was killed in action.

You might ask what did you learn from these boys and the answer would be; “Don’t mess with another man’s woman if you don’t want trouble."  If these boys had followed this rule their lives would not have been shorten.  To be sure your sin will find you out!!

The last time I heard the two couples stayed together and got by this mistake.

(Be sure to check out the URL below)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A4iwrpT_LQ

THE BARGAIN

My wife and I were talking, nothing special just chit chatting. I mentioned people get married for many reasons. I said. “Some women get married for money,” and after thinking for a minute, I said, “Some men marry for money also.”

Some even get married for what they think is love, and again some for convenience sake, like two can pay the bills, the rent and all the other necessities better than one.

After we had exhausted the subject, she spoke up and said somewhat facetiously, “I married you for your money!”

Now as I thought back to when we got married, I only had a few dollars, and was barely working part time. I couldn’t let that pass without a smart retort because I thought she was raw-hiding me a little bit, but I couldn’t think of anything to say. I began to add up all my assets in order to figure out just what she got.

Well I gave her four kids to raise, there would have been more, but she put a stop to that. The last one just made it under the wire before cutoff time.

When I went into business I gave her a job running the office that had to count for something. She was already frugal, so I couldn’t take credit for that. She always had a place to sleep and food to eat, and I even let her pay for part of it.

And bringing things down to the present, she has three dogs who love her dearly, and a pickup truck that rides like a car.
One other thing she has about fifty pounds more husband now than when she married him.

So all in all I guess she made out pretty good, at least I think so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjLwQGkWJ80
I hope you enjoy this tune on youtube!

THE METAPHOR

One day my car had a flat tire, I thought; “What to do?” I remembered a guy on T.V. who advertised that he could fix a flat tire. I took my tire to him and he placed a patch on the tube, put it in the tire and sent me on my way.

About two blocks down the road, it went flat again. Back I went and he put another patch on it again sending me on my way. The same thing happened, and back I went, and he put another patch on it. This kept happening until there were patches on top of patches, and still the tire was flat.

Then he told me he had found the trouble, there was a nail in the tire. All he had to do was pull it out and everything would be fine except he would have to sell me a new inner tube. I explained to him I had spent all my money on patches, and couldn’t pay for a new tube.

Whereupon he told me he was retiring I would have to deal with the new owner. Since I couldn’t drive the car I left it parked on the street, and soon it was towed away. I haven’t seen it since. Seems I trusted the wrong guy with my tire.

Because of a nail the tube was lost. Because of the tube the car was lost.

Because of listening to some guy telling me he had all the answers I have ended up broke and walking.

       *         *        *        *       *  

There was the case where this man was injured, and was taken to the hospital. The specialist said; the man is hemorrhaging and needs some blood. So they kept giving him more blood as it continued flowing out of him. One of the team workers suggested, perhaps we should stop the bleeding but the doctor said no, what we need to do is just keep giving him more blood this will keep him alive until he gets well on his own.

They kept giving him more and more blood until one day they told the doctor; “There is no more blood.” The doctor explained in detail it was not his fault the man died, and besides he had more important things to do.

Somebody asked what was the man’s name? Finally one of the staff replied, I heard someone call him Sam, in fact he must have been a relative for he called him “UNCLE SAM.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sy0fIyongdI

THE NAN0-SECOND (One billionth of a second).

Most of my mathematical learning stopped at the eighth grade level, and has been sufficient for an ordinary life cycle. Our division of time into years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, and seconds, works well for daily living.

Our concept of time is controlled by the rotation of the earth and the yearly orbit around the sun.

We further distinguish time by yesterday, today, tomorrow and add, day before yesterday, day after tomorrow and so on. The actual fact is we only have existence in that which is called today. Yesterday, tomorrow, and today are merely markers of relativity of time and space, and I might add convenience.

In our concept of time 12 o'clock is the witching hour, in less than a nanosecond, today becomes yesterday, tomorrow becomes today and we have a new tomorrow. GOD sees time in the smallest finite division of time. For Him the total of all time is hardly a hiccup in eternity.

This brings us to the point of importance of the nanosecond when viewing certain scriptures. "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians. 6:2).

If you have not accepted your salvation, which has been custom made for you, and your personality, with no one having been left out; then it is your obligation to receive it now.

This nanosecond is the time for you to receive your salvation. Do not put it off, because today, right now, is the day of your salvation.

Another nanosecond I will point out is found in;

1Corinthians 15:50-53 “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep (die), but we will all (both dead and alive) be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality.”

The "twinkling of an eye" is another way of saying in less than a nanosecond. The day of salvation will be over that fast, no time for acceptance, no time to get ready, when it’s over it’s over.

Final word, ‘SEEK YE THE LORD while HE may yet be found,” for the final nanosecond will have come and gone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA1BMCMWxE8&feature=related

R-RATED

Movies have a rating system whereby they are judged by a panel of 13 parents.

Ratings are not determined by movie studios or producers.

A board of parents who work for the MPAA's Classification and Rating Administration will rate movies according to their content. All board members must have parental experience to better enable them to empathize with typical American parents. Ratings are decided by a majority vote of the 10 to 13 board members.

The movie makers pay from 2 thousand to 15 thousand for the ratings, and some movie makers elect not to have their movie rated. They will have “UR“ or some other markings on them. There are several reasons for not rating a movie it could low budget, and they can’t afford the additional fees, or it could be so raunchy it would get an xxx rating. Whether G or NC17 it is still a guessing game for parents. The panel does not rate whether it is a gay or lesbian oriented film.

Net-flix does identify movies that are gay by genre.

The basic ratings are G, PG, PG13, R, NC-17. Also a triple X for pornographic films. This system is far from perfect, but it does give you some idea what to expect.

I was wondering if we used the same rating system for people, what rating would you get? What would be required get a G rating? The movie panel was required to take in consideration our society as a whole, and what is acceptable conduct by today’s standards. Could you tell lies, not pay your bills and still get a G rating? Maybe not!

Where would a little adultery put you, PG 13, maybe? Just supposed you were a professing Christian and got a NC-17 rating what would you have done to deserve that? Well anyway we know that these rating systems are not infallible, and maybe they were too hard on you. Perhaps you could arguably deserve an R instead.

Now can you guess where I’m heading with this? That’s right, you guessed it. There is a rating system that is infallible, and rightfully rates you as you deserve. There is no appeal for it never makes a mistake. If you feel your rating is low there is recourse for you. When a movie is submitted for a rating, and the rating is not what is needed for the target audience, the movie maker can re-cut the movie, (take out offensive scenes,) and resubmit it in order to get the rating needed.

GOD has criterion for rating Christians, and while He doesn’t tattoo your rating on your forehead, the HOLY SPIRIT will tell you in no uncertain terms whether you need to re-cut your life style and make some changes.

Sooooooo, what would I give myself, A G, PG or - - -?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzK4iXV_5Vk&feature=related

MEOW MEOW

My favorite Italian restaurant, sat on a high hill overlooking the Carquinez Strait, with the bridge, and all the boats below. It was a pleasant view while eating. Their food was delicious, and the menu had everything I liked including their home made Ravioli.

I would have eaten there every day except for the lengthy drive. After dining there for awhile, slowly but surely I noticed that I began scratching the sofas arm, I would catch myself doing that. And as time went on I began singing the meow mix song, over and over, and it got worse as time went on. I learned the song by heart, and would sing the complete song, and then start over.

I was too embarrassed to go to a psychiatrist, I thought it would soon stop and be forgotten.

About this time something strange was happening at the restaurant. The garbage man began to notice that the garbage from the restaurant had many cat food cans in each pickup. In fact enough to feed a hundred cats. He finally got so suspicious that he decided to call the health department, to find out what was going on.

Come to discover they were using cat food in their pasta dishes, and the Health Department quickly closed them down for good.

After a year or two a new owner opened the restaurant, but it didn’t do very good, probably because of the old reputation.

I’m happy to report that after the restaurant closed, I began returning to normal. I hard ever sing meow, meow any more.

This story is shared at “Tell Me a True Story.”

THE QUIRKS

You have heard the expression he’s quirky, meaning; among other things he does things that are out of the ordinary.  As a boy I knew a family named Quirk. To say the Quirks were quirky is not an overstatement. They were a family of five, the mother, two girls about seven or eight, and two boys about twelve and fourteen.

The father had long since died, leaving the mother to fend for herself, and for her children. I don’t think any of the children had any schooling if they did it couldn’t have been more than a year or two. These people were poor, so poor that they reminded me of the sweeper class in India when the caste system was used to keep people in there place.

The things, I’m saying about this family isn’t to be viewed as putting them down, it’s only telling it like it was. The mother had no money, that is none except a very little from what was called relief, money that the government gave her.

This is not to be confused with welfare, and all the other programs of today. What they got was almost nothing. I don’t know how they got the two dollars a month to pay their rent for a small two room house. Hygiene was something they were not acquainted with. To get water they had to take a bucket, go about two blocks, climb through a barbed wire fence, then walk through a field with prickly pears all over it. The prickly pear had sharp spines and fine hair like stickers on it. It must have been in the cactus family. You didn’t want to touch them or you would spend a lot of time trying to relieve the pain. They would then dip the water from a spring, and carry it home.

Now the girls tried to be friendly, and were seemingly happy, but I could hardly stand to look at them. They were raggedy, with dirty hair all matted, it didn’t look like they ever combed it, and besides that they appeared to me that they were ugly to boot. I always manage to look the other way when the girls were around.

The younger boy was worthless; he wouldn’t do anything to help their situation, which says it all about him. James the older boy hung around my uncle’s place hoping to get some work. He knew he could get some food at least.

James wasn’t very smart and to show that I will give you a “for instance.”

Even with all the exciting things that go on at a farm, like watching the roosters chase the hens, and watching the martin (birds) chase away the chicken hawks, I was bored.  So here I was chopping on the top of a stump, not doing anything just marking time.

James saw me and came over and put his finger where I was chopping and said hit it. I stopped chopping, and told him to keep his finger back or it would get cut off. You are probably far ahead of me at this point, but any way to continue; I started to chop again and he would put his finger on the stump and say hit it, over and over. I kept chopping at a rhythmic pace and apparently he didn’t have any rhythm because he put his finger on the stump on the down beat instead of the up beat, and I cut his finger off with just a little piece of skin still holding it.

This shocked both of us, he grabbed his finger and tried to stick it back on and ran to the house to show my uncle. After my uncle gave me some undesirable words, we went back to the barn and got some milk pads which were used for straining milk and were made of cotton and gauze. We used them for wrapping his finger back into position, no stitches, no antibiotics just the milk pads tied with string. A few days later he came over and my uncle removed the old covering and his finger looked like it was rotting.

About this time I decided to return to the city, and didn’t see James for two years, and when I did I asked about his finger. He showed it to me and it was a little crooked, but it was useable and didn’t look that bad.

Today when I hear someone speak about the poor, the vision of the Quirks comes into view, and there no comparison of the poor of today, and the poor of the depression age.

Theirs was a fight for survival while today it is battle for comfort.

I don’t know what happen to the Quirks, the last I heard, James had got a job working at the carbon factory and there he should have made a decent living wage.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfoQxfY7Q4g&feature=related

PROFILING A REDNECK

Profiling is the practice of gathering data, analyzing it, in order that it can be categorized and produce an identity.

To profile a redneck we must examine several things associated with one.

The first thing we look at is food. If a man eats, grits, fatback, red gravy, fried taters, biscuits and eggs for breakfast, he may be a redneck.

If he has an old Ford pickup that is beat up, and he is proud of it, and it has a gun rack with a shot gun and a rifle on it, and the bed is full of beer cans, he might be a redneck.

If his gal has a tooth missing in front, and it doesn’t bother him cause he knows that redneck beauty doesn’t require teeth, this man probably is a redneck.

Now we check his dog preference; if he has either a hound dog for night hunting, or a bird dog for birds, or some fox hounds to chase foxes while a bunch of guys set around a fire, tell stories, lie and drink beer, he might be a redneck.

The last test is to check and see what kind of pocket knife he carries. If he has a stockman, he probably likes to whittle, and use it for general purposes.

If he has a muskrat, he uses it to skin small animals. He likes the convenience of two identical blades that are always sharp.

If he carries an old time Barlow, he is hard worker he stands for no foolishness and is very austere.

If he has a small tooth pick knife, it will be a hygiene tool for picking his teeth.

If he exhibits two or more of these traits you can be sure he is a redneck and GOD bless him for the time will come the only place to observe one will be in the zoo.

Preliminary census reports show that the rednecks will soon be an endangered species, and as such they should be protected by the federal government, but it seems there are no plans to do so. Government has no problem with the demise of this noble clan, but I have a plan and a solution for saving the rednecks of America.

First we find 50,000 redneck couples; each one will have 12 kids plus 1 for attrition. In the first generation the increase will be 10 fold to 500,000 couples. These will have 12 kids plus 1. This will increase the clan to 5,000,000 couples in the second generation. The third generation will have 12 kids plus 1 and the result will be 5,000,000,000 couples and these will have - - - till the time will come when we're talking real people.

The secret of this is that everybody lives on welfare, and nobody works. There is not a soul can live on less than a redneck. Home school the kids, and work the system, and wave the flag, for we have it coming to us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XluWvWa8pIc&feature=related

THE LAST OF THE - - -

It’s with fear and trembling that I sit at my key board writing about the latest government cover up.  I’m not sure why the Feds do not want America to have this information that I discovered by accident. It seems my email address was put in someone’s address book by mistake, and that is how the cover up information came to me. This news could have affected the stock market; in fact it could have caused a crash.

As I understand it from the information I received; there were two government agents looking for moon shiners in the great Smokey Mountains when they came across two mountain men (that is another name for hill billies.) The Feds were able to sneak up on them, for the mountain men had enjoyed too much of their own mountain dew. It was just for personal and medical use, and they were not too cognizant of what was going around them.

They awoke to find themselves, hand cuffed, and being interrogated. The Feds had trouble understanding what the men were saying because they had never heard the dialect they were speaking. After much painstaking effort they were able to piece together the story of who they were.

As the story goes these two men feared for their life, and had avoided all contact with the outer world altogether. The mother had died a short time ago from tooth poisoning; thereby making the father and son the last of THE REDNECKS in existence.

Some none initiated people might say; there are rednecks everywhere but that just shows how little they know. What is commonly known as rednecks today are breeds. They have commingled with people from the north and west and because of the mixed blood they have become blended. What you now have is “White trash rednecks.”

These mountain men were full bloodied reds. They were covertly taken out of the hills by the Feds and exposed to the city life. Years ago the father had seen a T model car, but was frightened when he first rode in the Feds automobile. He couldn’t understand why everyone was in such a hurry when everything looked the same to him.

Outside of traveling from the mountains to the university they were kept pretty much isolated from people. The scientists wanted to observe them before they were polluted by the modern world. As time passed the son got ill from the city food and the in spite of the doctors best efforts he died.
This was a grief to the father and he never got over it, even though they were people around him he felt alone for no one else spoke “Hill billie.”

As he became more depressed he decided to end it all. He drank poison, actually it was coke cola but not being used to it, his system wasn’t able to handle it and he also passed on.

They took them back to the mountains from whence they came and buried them next to the mother. Then they put up a sign that read, “THE LAST OF THE REDNECKS;” for they were an endangered species that was no more.

Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FljdY5jV4nA&feature=related

WHEN THEY BEGIN THE BEGUINE

You may wonder what does "Begin the Beguine" mean? I first heard those words as a boy in a song by Artie Shaw a band leader. He was a band member who wanted to be a band leader with his own sound. In the big band days each had to have his own particular sound, whether it was Glenn miller, Count Basie, the Dorsey’s, and so many others.

After three bars you knew immediately who was playing. This song always mystified me, because I didn’t know what “Begin the Beguine” meant. In later years I looked it up on the Internet and found out it could mean several things

The Roman Catholic Church had lay sisterhoods whose members were Beguines. They did not take vows as the nuns do, but lived a life somewhat similar. From the old French it could have meant “One who rattles off prayers”

Then there was both a bolero style dance, and the music for the dance which had it’s origin in South America. This sounded more like what the song meant. Part of the verse is:

A moments divine, what rapture serene,
To clouds came along, to disperse the joys we had tasted,
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted,
I know but too well, what they mean.”

We here in America had our chances but now they are wasted. An opportunity to rebuild America’s infrastructure, research and development, to fit our people for the future, instead we choose war, and now socialism. I fear the beguine has begun.

Check out a beautiful Japanese production using Julio Iglesias version at the site below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hA5C4C6ShI&feature=related

Be Careful How You Choose Your Sin

Using my 98 cent theology training I often form an opinion about certain teachings from the scripture. The exegesis of one such scripture that is wrongly expressed is,  Romans 14:7 For not one of us lives for himself and not one of us dies for himself.

Verse 8 explains what is meant in verse 7 and any other interpretation would be in error. Simply stated; “We live for the Lord and not ourselves”. Having said that I reckon I might have missed that myself a wee bit.

Some have drawn from this passage that we should live for others, but the scripture doesn’t support this.
There are additional scriptures that do teach self sacrifice for the benefit of others, but the focus here is on our relationship responsibility to GOD.

The implication of living for the Lord comes down pretty heavy on us. We may think I gotta be me, and that is a problem, living for the Lord carries with it, living like the Lord.

The Ten Commandments were unforgiving to the point of condemnation for violating any one of them. GOD in His wisdom saw that this was not going to work. Sins imprint was implanted too deep in man and he was doomed under the law for man couldn’t keep it by himself. The next phase in redeeming man was where GOD would do it for him. Thus Jesus died for us, so that we could live for him.

We, the born again ones, stand in forgiveness rather than having to work or seek it. The question arises, “What happens if I sin now?”

Again the simplistic answer is the loss of fellowship with GOD. Its like you come in at dinner time and there is no plate on the table for you and your chair is missing. You can’t feast on the Father’s abundance, and this will be your state until you come to the Father and confess, “I have messed up.” Along with the confession there must be a repentant heart.

What about this living for others? How far does this go? It is broad in its application; all men whether saved or not are bound by it. Violation of this principle diminishes us all.

Will all men sin? The answer is yes and every sin will extract a price that must be paid. Every sin is a defiance of GOD’S desires; his will is no secret, it is known both inwardly and outwardly. The selling of sin for profit and pleasure makes it harder to avoid, and can cause one to live for one’s self, but doesn't excuse you in GOD’S sight.

Now to the price for sin; how much are you willing to pay? We often judge sin on a scale of 1 to 10. However there are all forms and variations of sin such as: greed, stealing (all types), murder, broken marriage vows, illicit sexual acts and so on. There is a greater or lesser effect from acts of sin, some of which will continue to affect generations to come.

Know this; all sin is a sin against yourself, and against GOD which he doesn't take kindly to. All sin has a price to pay, be careful how you choose your sin for all sin is a 10 in GOD’S sight, and every sin has a price that must be paid by someone. That someone may be you.
Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKhtD3TsftI&feature=related

CHANG AND ENG BUNKER

The bunkers were co-joined twins who were born in Siam, hence the name Siamese twins. After playing the freak circuit for awhile, they came to America, bought a farm, and purchased some slaves to work it.

They both wanted a normal life, but were hindered by being joined together. Each choose a wife and were married. At first they lived together sharing a bed built for four. Chang had 10 kids and Eng had 11; to say the least, this took some cooperation among all parties. They overcame all obstacles and did not allow any thing to keep them from being who they were. Even co-joined, each was their own person.

Today as Christians we find ourselves connected to others who are not Christians. It may be work related, family related, or in a marriage where one is not saved. Regardless of the state you find yourself in, you are still you, and as such your will is, in spite of everything, your own.

This is an example to illustrate this. If Chang had got saved, and Eng had not, Chang would have been joined to the Lord and Eng would not have been.

In the fore mentioned illustration it was a physical relationship, but there is a spiritual relationship which supersedes the physical one.

1 Corinthians 6:17
But he who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

Chang and Eng were two persons, one body, but they were two spirits and in today’s world they could have been easily physically separated.

When one is joined to the Lord it is an eternal act where the two become one spirit, there is no longer any distinction for you are one.

Could it be that we as Christians may not realize this relationship fully? The reason I ask this is because if we did, I think we (I) might be more conscious of our conduct, attitude, and speech. Would we fervently maintain our dedication?

There is a broader truth in what I am saying, but I am going to let you discover it for yourself as you walk with your Lord.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang_and_Eng_Bunker

WHITE ELEPHANT

When I was a kid I remember reading the story about a practice where if you wanted to destroy an enemy you would give him a white elephant. The reasoning was, he wouldn’t be allowed by law to get rid of it, and the cost of keeping it would turn him into a pauper and an outcast.

The term “White Elephant” derives from the sacred white elephants kept by Southeast Asian monarchs in Burma, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. To possess a white elephant was regarded (and is still regarded in Thailand and Burma) as a sign that the monarch reigned with justice and power, and that the kingdom was blessed with peace and prosperity.

A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly the cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth. (Wikipedia)

I have had several free dogs (puppies) given to me and the first thing I faced was the one hundred dollar puppy package. Included were shots, worming pills, checkups and checking its weight. As time went on the normal care and maintenance, plus food rounded out to be about two thousand dollars. Surgery and snake bites treatments were on top of that.

The reason these free pups were not in the white elephant category was I had elected to take them.

Today in America we are on the receiving end of the white elephant treatment. In the last six years we have received white elephants such as: the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The trillion bailout of financial institutions, free money for automobiles, and homes, millions, to the Palestinian Muslims, a government health care program, a finance reform bill to be paid for by working men and women.

Looming on the future is a back breaker cap and trade bill, and a lack of an energy program and so on.

The main point to remember is the white elephant is designed to look good and to destroy the recipient of it.
I will soon will be singing “busted”.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrOOihyxPlo&feature=related