Life got you down. Bills are piling up! The car should be donated to charity. The children need braces. The home of your dreams has become your all the time fix-it nightmare. The vacation to Aruba is a no no!! Well, help is on the way. In 8 seconds you can have maybe $50 thousand to take home.

To get this pay check you have to join a small group of dedicated individuals who live for the these 8 seconds;they are part of the rodeo circuit. When the moment arrives, they throw their legs over a ton of ground round and hang tight till the judges rule it’s over, then they try to dismount and avoid being gored or stomped. If needs be the clowns rush over and let the daily Brahma bull chase them. Brahma bulls are bred to be just plain mean and the worst tempered ones are where the biggest prize money is. Names can be: Air Wolfe, Predator, Freight Train, Chili Pepper, Second Chance, Wicked Charlie, Little Yellow Jacket, Moody Blues, Mr. Cooper, Bad Company, Phantom, Pokerfaced, Ring of Fear, Wise Guy and Desperado – to name a few.

Today, for your first ride, you have drawn Baby Luv. He’s in the chute. You’ve don the proper western clothes and now climb to the top rail. Don’t let the big brown eyes and long eyelashes fool you. Baby lives to hurt. You slide over to grab the rope around his girth. you grasp the rope with your one gloved hand. Baby rolls side to side trying to bust one of your legs. You eye the chute boy and nod that it’s time. The gate flies open. Baby Luv ignites and he hops like a frog and begins to buck and kick to the limits of heaven. The longest 8 seconds of your life has turned into a carnival ride. Baby know the rules and before you can plan the last move, he humps,jumps and wriggles left to left. You thought it would be right to left. The good news is that they don’t have to carry you out of the arena. Wired jaws and riders that can’t walk quite straight are a common sight.

Life can be a difficult and a rough (ride) journey. Paul knew this and thought of the ultimate prize.

“No mere man has ever seen, heard or even imagined what wonderful things God has ready for those who love the lord.” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. – 2 Corinthians 11:24-27

Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.– Revelation 2:10

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Friends, I can’t do without them. They are there when we need them for advice and comfort and just there for us to blow off steam. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and pop up when we least expect them.

My friends have recently tried to convince me that it is time for me to get cable or satellite television. So far, I have received enough broadcast(free) outside antenna tv to supply my need for news and entertainment, and I find it most conducive for taking naps. I would miss my outside forays to the rooftop for maintenance and seeing the world from a more extensive and different angle. I have noticed that up there, I am invisible; people out walking never look up and wave or wonder who that nut is!

It has been said that tv is a vast wasteland, and it could be more vast via cable or satellite, with 250 or more channels to surf.

ALF is back, alive and well, with his own LIVE TALK SHOW on cable. ALF was never alive (a puppet) and was on many years ago. Alien life form (ALF) does not take the most beautiful form by society’s standards. I don’t think I would like to meet him in a dark alley. He likes cats and not for petting. He has a long segmented snout ending in a large bulbous nose, obviously sharp teeth, cute pointy ears, and large eyes with thick lashes. He arrived crashing through a suburban roof and was “adopted” by the residents. Their mission was never to let anyone see ALF during the day or at night. The writers supplied lots of scripts where ALF would venture into the night in many disguises. In one, he was delivering pizza. He knocks on the door, and a lady opens it and fumbles for change. We soon realize that she is blind. ALF returns and returns and becomes her friend. They eat popcorn, and ALF talks a lot about cats. They enjoy each other’s company, never sharing the secret that only the audience knows.

For 33 years, I bought newspapers and magazines at the U.S. Geological Survey Store, managed by Jim Carroll. He was blind but knew my voice and always remembered my name. I would joke and sometimes assist by identifying stacked bundles of newspapers, whether they were The POST or other newspapers. I could look like ALF, John Wayne, or Cyndi Lauper, but it didn’t matter. Somehow we were drawn together for some unknown reason.

Just As I Am, poor, wretched, blind; Sight, riches, healing, of the mind, Yea, all I need in Thee to find. – Charlotte Elliot – w. 1834, Sacred Selections

From an early age, I have loved the church and the people who love the Lord because I know the reason.

FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH ON HIM SHOULD NOT PERISH, BUT HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. (John 3:16, see Romans 5:8; I John 4:9)

I leave you with this question, “Is God blind?” I know the shocking answer, but do you?

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A member of the church has passed, had to have a kidney – never got it, and was diabetic….this all was over several years, and then he’s gone. The last time I saw him, he cheerful talked of man-made organs that were just around the corner, and it will probably happen, but not for Bob.

Our mother could have had a pump installed to aid her enlarged heart, but she was too old.

Dad could have had surgery on his one lung to stop pneumonia; he was too sick.

My wife could have been caught at the time of her stroke attack, but not near a Stroke Center that could have saved her, 22 months later on a feeding tube- gone.

Our parents went from “rags to riches and then died.” Does that sound unfair?

While still farming, Dad went up into the stock barn to toss hay down into the racks for the cattle, and he made a wrong step and fell into one of the racks. Mother wondered why he was not back for breakfast, opened the door, and heard the dog barking; that was odd. She went to the barn and called a friend to get him out of the rack. Many days later, Dad was in a hurry and ran the pickup thru the lot and ran over & killed the dog (Bingo). They never had another dog or mentioned having one more dog. Bingo had been saved from the Louisville Pound. Again it all sounds unfair. GOD be with U, Bingo —You old dog!

But I remember the song, “Come a sunny day, and we’ll meet again!”

This is Women’s History Month

During our Afghan conflict, an Army unit was to clear out a village of the enemy; a woman medic chose to join the men. The battle was heavily joined, and one man was immediately killed. It looked as tho the fight would not be in our hands but of the offenders. The lady medic grabbed the rifle of the fallen one and added it to the returned fire. The tide turned in favor of our
unit, and the enemy did not like that and disappeared into the desert. The unit knew our medic was the savior and deserved a medal for putting her life on the line. The Military Staff said “No!” as she was not assigned to the unit. Unfair?

When at church on Sunday, our singing is greatly enriched by Fanny Crosby’s hymns (1820-1915). Francis Jane Crosby wrote over 9,000 hymns, some of which are among the most popular in every Christian church. She wrote so many that she was forced to use pen names lest the hymnals are filled with her name above all others. And, for most people, the most remarkable thing about her was that she had done so despite her blindness, wrote the first one at the age of eight. Some are Speed away, Speed away;  Lord Here Am I, Safe in the Arms of Jesus; To God Be the Glory’ Meet Me There; Jesus Is Tenderly Calling. Her quote, “I long to see my Savior!”
(Wikipedia)

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Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, “God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.” (Exodus 13:19)

How highway monuments got started, when and where, no one knows, they just sprung up. Some are works of art and have tiny white stone encirclements with toys or some items that once belonged to the departed. They are a reminder of human weakness and moments of terrifying strokes of death and injury. Life and death decisions were made at these spots by rescue people and emergency medical people. Even though we, somewhere at one time or another, have been ‘forced’ in the workplace to watch films showing what speed and drugs and alcohol can do at 70 miles per hour on the roads, yet, we go out, and the faults of mankind fail to disappear.

Within this random chaotic arrangement of clover, weeds, and display of bucolic sent from above flowers is a subliminal message. The staked unstable monument is a Styrofoam cross with its headdress of WalMart vinyl chain of floral flowers. It is the cross, and those who sat it in the ground must believe that there is a God and that there is hope and that eventually, somewhere beyond this arena of passing joys and moments of sadness, is another place, eternal, and there we shall all meet again.

I know, and you know, that this could be an inappreciable place, and why would anyone want to do this, sits a cross to be soon cast into the landfill or crushed by an attempt to mow and clear the byways for passing motorists. I could answer that I would have the answers to more of those questions that all of us face from time to time and have to answer, “I don’t know!” and hope this is enough to have closure.

“A little girl was riding on an airplane across the Midwest to spend the summer with her grandparents. She was reading one of her favorite paperback stories, “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm,” when a young man took the vacant seat next to her. He attempted to start a conversation, “You know, on long flights like this, that time can pass more quickly if we have a conversation. I would like to tell you, “Why there is no God and no heaven and nothing beyond this earth; you live, and then you die, and that’s it!”

With that, the little girl looked up from her book, “Do you know why a horse eats green grass and leaves behind round clumps, the cow eats the same grass and leaves behind round patties, and the goat does the same and leaves little pellets?” The young man laughed, “I don’t know.”

The little girl said, “The dimmest farmer knows, and I know we have nothing to talk about,” With that, she went back to reading “Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm.”

(There is, beyond the azure blue, a God concealed from human sight, HE tinted skies with heav’nly hue and framed the worlds with HIS great might.) see Psalm 46:10

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After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life. – Genesis 3:24

During my daily travels, I mentioned a close traffic encounter that could have caused problems, and the person to whom I said it replied, “Your guardian angels must have been at your side.”

In the act of kindness, a friend gave my wife a small angel statue that can display wings of different colors; it’s imposing. Of course, we do not know what these spiritual beings created to be messengers and stand in the presence of God look like. They took a form to visit Abraham (Genesis 18), and one wrestled with Jacob (Genesis 32).

Books upon books have been written on the subject of angels. TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL ran for nine seasons on TV, making all the actors very rich. When the holiday season comes, many stores will sell articles about angels. If you do discuss angels with someone while shopping, be prepared for a fully functioning system that angels are essential to our modern society. The following are a few questions people have posted on the internet:

1. Have you ever met a supernatural messenger or envoy?

2. When you heard someone speak about meeting angels, did you think they were weird?

3. What do you think an angel feels when humans reject its message?

4. How should you live your life if you believe that angels exist and act in our world?

5. What image do you think of when you see angels portrayed at Christmas?

The word ‘angel’ appears at least 273 times in the Bible. Most people believe in angels and the devil, but mention God, and there is sometimes hesitation. I genuinely think in all three.

Are angels sent forth today as ministering spirits to mankind would be the question to answer. The whole concept is that this would be a miraculous event, but miracles have ended (1 Corinthians 13:8-10; Ephesians 4:8-16). Since the supernatural stage no longer exists, God employs angels to implement his will on behalf of his saints in today’s world. It cannot be proven today angels appear in human form as in ancient times (Acts 10). But in extreme times of danger, this should not stop us from praying that God will intervene on our behalf (Daniel 3:19-25).

What children say and think about angels:

• “My guardian angel helps me with math, but he’s not much good for science.”
• “Angels don’t eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows!”
• “Angels taking us to heaven, talk about what went wrong before you got dead.”
• “Angels live in cloud houses made by God’s son, who is a carpenter.”
• “All angels are girls because they’re always wearing dresses.”
• “I can’t understand why an angel would shoot an arrow through someone in love.” “My grandma is an angel helping me while here on earth.”

Will the angels bear me upward
To that home so bright and fair?
There to be with Christ my Savior,
And the ransomed gathered there?

Will the angels bear me upward
To that home so bright and fair?
There to be with Christ my Savior,
And the ransomed gathered there?

(Anon)

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My doctor said I needed blood work when I had a recent medical check. The nurse then asked me if I had fasted, and I answered that I had not. An appointment was made for another early morning for my blood work.

If you have not fasted, you don’t know that breakfast or lunch is light-years away once the sun rises. I cannot imagine that you could go. without food for 40 days and nights like our Christ (Matt.4:2) or Moses (Ex.34:28) and Elijah (I Kin. 19:8). In our society, food is relatively inexpensive and available. We do not have to worry about starvation. I am told there has not been such a death in the USA for years.

A friend of ours thinks that “fasting” is the thing for her. She does this from time to time and just has her black coffee. This could be for physical or spiritual reasons, which I do not know but place in the personal category.

“Many Gnostics taught that one way to control one’s evil physical self was to starve the body, denying it the food or rest required. Similarly, those with eating disorders assume that we can separate our “self” from our “body” and, by controlling the body, gain control of our inner self.

Medical research suggests that many eating disorders are rooted in a feeling that life is out of control and reflect a desperate effort to gain mastery of oneself. The problem is, Paul tells us, such efforts are “of no value against the indulgence of the flesh”(v.23) We can’t control our inner self by punishing our bodies. Instead, we should seek to please Jesus in what we think, feel, and eat. The desire to please Jesus, rather than our desperate efforts to gain control, will ultimately bring us inner and outer peace.” (comments on Colossians 2:16-23 – THE TEEN BIBLE New King James Version)

If you want to fast today, it would be a voluntary matter. It is not binding on Christians; if done, it should be with the correct attitude and out of love for the Lord. In Luke 18:12, the Pharisee bragged that he fasted and gave much of his money to the temple, but the Lord heard the prayer of the humble publican. The Psalmist in 35:13 said, “I humbled my soul with fasting.” The great people of the Old Testament and some in the early church of the New Testament era followed the practice of fasting, especially in times of sorrow and repentance.

Reflect on these points: God may honor fasting when done deeply and sincerely; some fasting may have physical benefit; the arena of the mind may be expanded during fasting; a better grip on self-discipline may be achieved; and last, we may gain an appreciation of our many blessings through Jesus Christ. (edited remarks for space from the CHRISTIAN COURIER).

I believe these same benefits can be gained easily by finding a quiet place (it may be your closet) and letting your mind reflect on the greatest book ever written, the Bible.

This is so important in our rush ‘n’ go society. We must take time to bring it all together, or we will be like the huge dead tree in our neighborhood. When hurricane Isabel came through, this tree was not well rooted, and although it did its best, it is now a hindrance. If you think that fasting is the way, I am behind you and pray that you are strengthened because you have done it for the correct reason and wish to love the Lord even more than you do at this moment.

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