Speeches like last night disturb me

I watched the speech last night that President Obama gave in front of our leading government officials and to the entire nation and was not comforted by it one bit. I really disdain these types of speeches even when the giver of the speech is a conservative like myself. Now don't misunderstand what I am about to say. I am thankful I was born in American and am still proud when I stand to honor our country every time our national anthem is sung. But speeches like last night in that type of forum reminds me how arrogant and prideful we often are as a country. It also reminds me how hypocritical we are as we hide the real truths about ourselves and replace them with false deceptive ideas.
I believe one of the things that has made our country great in the past is the theological believes that our nation was founded upon. But today many have traded their trust in a living and Almighty God to a government that cannot deliver what they promise. Even the conservative response to the president's speech last night stated that we should not put our faith in the government, then when on to say we need to put our faith in the people of the United States. Neither of these two groups can deliver what we need.
What do we need? We do not need what we deserve, because with all the greed, corruption, and ungodliness in our nation, what we deserve is judgement. And judgement may be what God is bringing to our nation in the way of this so called economic downturn. I heard a preacher say once that "If God does not judge America for her sins as a nation then He will need to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah for how He judged them." No we do not need to ask God for justice we need to ask Him for mercy and grace. We need to humble ourselves as individuals and as a nation and ask God to reveal our sins to us then repent and seek forgiveness from Him. The Bible says "God resisted the proud but giveth grace to the humble." God also says in His word that "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves,and pray and seek My face , and turn from their wicked ways , then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land"
It saddens me how so many people want to do everything they can to take God out of every area of our nation yet our leaders have the gall to state at the end of every important speech "May God Bless America!" What hypocrisy !!
I believe in a Sovereign God who is in complete control of everything that goes on in our nation and the world. Today I am even more confident in Him as I see the very things that the Word of God has predicted about the last days come to past. We have major problems in our nation and world that will not be solved until God sets up His own kingdom on this earth. I am going to continue to trust Him as He is the only one powerful enough to solve all these problems. I hope that is who your faith is in as well. Lord Bless!

Day Nine

Today is day nine of my diet. I have gone low carb no sugar with out much problem.until today. No I did not blow it yet! It is just that today is the first day where I have been craving some of my favorite junk food snacks or an order of fries with a dollar sweet tea to wash them down. I have just got through eating a great salad Benita made and I am feeling satisfied right now. This diet came about after our trip to Florida. No we did not really over do it there just finally realized how miserable I felt carrying around the extra weight I have put on recently. Also pictures like the one I posted at the right was a motivating factor to get back where I was a few short years ago. One other factor is my impending return to work next week. I will be working a lot of overtime and driving another 3 hours a day and I realized I needed to be in better shape to complete the 8 week job I will be on. So day nine is about over and I hopee day 10 goes back to how the first 8 went. We will see.

No NOT ANOTHER SNOW STORM!

The forecast for here tomorrow is snow in the morning .. snowing all day ...with 3 to 6 inches expected! I have heard many Michiganders say this is the worst winter they can remember and I tend to agree with them. So much for Al Gore' Global Warming THEORY! The other thing that has made this winter so bad is the flu that is ravishing the members of our church. So many of our church members have had it and sometimes they have had it more than once. March is only a week away and that is a welcome thought. Although we still get some snow during that month at least we know that it is all coming to an end soon. LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW LET IT SNOW!!!!

Florida and Fireproof

We are in day 5 of our stay in Florida and still looking for that warm up we know is coming. Hopefully today will be the first day we can get rid of our sweatshirts. The cool weather of course does not bother us much as we are not beach people and we are really down here to see our family more than trying to escape from the frozen tundra in Michigan. We are glad to hear that it is warming up at home today to a balmy 48 degrees or so. We of course would not be disappointed if all the snow is melted by the time we come home on Friday.
Last night we all watched the movie Fireproof that Benita bought before we left. We enjoyed the spiritual emphasis to the movie and would recommend it to others to watch. Here is a link if you would like to learn more about it.

http://www.christiancinema.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=2154&s_kwcid=fireproof%20movie|2419054046&gclid=CIjF1cPAypgCFQZeswod4Vws1g

Shutting Detroit Down

Coming out of Retirement

I have decided to come out of my voluntary retirement from the game of golf. I used to play a lot of golf and enjoyed it, even though I have never been very good at it. I played several years about every weekend with the same three people, My Step Dad Ed, my Uncle Jim and a friend from work, Don. I not only enjoyed the game, but the friendly rivalry we all had with each other. We all were competitive but not to the place where winning or losing was the most important thing. I always enjoyed seeing my opponents make good shots even if it meant me losing a game or two and they did too.
A few years ago Uncle Jim moved to Florida and our weekly games ended At that point I had already started losing some interest in the game as my new passion, competitive scrabble, took up most of my spare weekend time. Now I am not coming out of retirement because I am giving up scrabble! As a matter of fact, I still enjoy playing in scrabble tournaments. You might be surprised to learn why I am going to start playing golf again. It is the result of a book my Pastor gave me to read over the holidays. Now he not only gave this book to me but gave a copy to our entire leadership team. The book is Humility True Greatness by C.J. Mahananey. It is a small little book that I read through rather quickly, but a book I plan on reading many more times in the days to come. Now you ask, "What does this book and golf have in common?" I am glad you asked. Toward the end of this very practical book the author suggests a good way to help lessen pride in our lives and to encourage us to practice humility. Yes, you guessed it... play golf. If you have ever played the game you well know it is one of, if not the most humbling game a person can ever play. Looking back on my retirement from golf I realize now part of the reason I quite playing was... yes you guessed it again, my pride. So I am going to get back one of my two sets of clubs I let my brother and son use, clean them up and get ready to get humbled. I will let you know how it goes. FORE!

My God is Mighty to Save!

Do Not Worry About Tomorrow- Matt 6:34

Matthew 6:25-34 is a portion of scripture I have read many times over my lifetime. As I read it again this morning oh how I needed to be reminded of it. The future in our country seems to be the darkest of any time in which I have lived. We are constantly being bombarded with negative news not only from our State , but our Nation and the world in which we live in. I have to admit I have thought about my economic future more in this last few months than I have in the last several years combined. I have to admit also that at times I have caught myself sinning as I have dwelt on some of these possible scenarios. That is why I guess I need to read this portion of scripture at least once a day. It reminds me that I am not to worry about my future because when I do I am not trusting the very God who has promised to take care of me. How foolish of me to think I can trust God with my eternal destiny but think he can not provide for my needs during a downturn in the economy. As a matter of fact I need to concentrate on the positive spiritual effects this downturn could bring not only in my life but in the lives of many who may now turn to Christ and His Church for help in a time of need. I have heard it said that a revival of God's people has never taken place in a nation during times of prosperity. We can look back at our nation during the Great Depression of the 1920's and realize that was the last great awakening in the last 100 years here. 2009 may be a very difficult year for many in our nation ,but it may be a time like you and I have never seen in our lifetimes, of seeing our mighty God work in a way only He can. Because of that I am optimistic as I look to the future and can't wait to see what our great God is going to do through and in me, and His Church!

How long do we have?

I received a forward this week and found it very interesting so I thought I would post part of it and see what you think about it.


How Long Do We Have?

About the time our original thirteen states adopted their new constitution in 1787, Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh , had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years earlier:

'A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government.'

'A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury.'

'>From that moment on, the majority always vote for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse due to loose fiscal policy, which is always followed by a dictatorship.'

'The average age of the world's greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years'

'During those 200 years, those nations always progressed through the following sequence:

1. From bondage to spiritual faith;

2. From spiritual faith to great courage;

3. From courage to liberty;

4. From liberty to abundance;

5. From abundance to complacency;

6. From complacency to apathy;

7. From apathy to dependence;

8. From dependence back into bondage'


Could the United Staes be toward the end of this cycle?

Monthly blog report

Yes it has been over a month since I have posted anything on here. In my last blog I told you I was back to work and I am still working up toward Port Huron. It has been a difficult time as my body continues to remind me that I am closer to 55 now than I am 25. I have been sick for over a week and did not go to work today to try and get over whatever it is I have had. I feel like I am close to getting back to normal, whatever that is. ha
I only have a few more weeks left on this job and I hope I can endure until the end. I am thankful to have a job during this time when so many people have lost their jobs or can not find work. Living in Michigan during this economic downturn can bring a person down with it if you allow it to. So much negativity throughout the media does not help. I find myself turning off the news station on my radio on the way to and from work each day and listening to my New Testament tapes or good Bible preaching and teaching on the one station we have that carries them.
I am so thankful for all the blessings God has given me during this point of my life. I am thankful for a great group of people at our church that care for one another. I am thankful for a wonderful wife who shows her love for me in so many ways. I am thankful for a son and daughter-in-law who keep in touch with us even though we are separated by many miles. (Yes cell phones and the internet are a great help in this.)I am thankful for a purpose to live here in this sinful world that has so many problems. I have to admit I do get sidetracked from this purpose (to honor and glorify God with everything I have or do) at times but am grateful that God is patient with me and still uses me for His honor and glory in many different ways.
Please pray for my Aunt Mickey as she is dealing with a very difficult health issue at this time. Also pray for my and Benita's family members many who do not know Jesus Christ yet as their Lord and Savior. Hopefully it will be sooner than a month before I post again. Lord Bless!