A thought for your day…1

01/27/2023
The Steeple:
I would make my way home from a long night mid-watch at the base, turning off the A90 at Laurencekirk and onto the narrow and twisting B967 that leads east toward Inverbervie and the sea. This was never a dull drive. The narrow twisting Tarmac with its lush green verges alternately climbing and dropping, passed Arbuthnott House with its stately stone and iron gate. The road tops the last hill, the one that normally presents you in the breaking light with the amazing view of Inverbervie below and its dramatic backdrop of the North Sea.
 
There were times however as I topped the hill, the village was not visible. The buildings, the trees, the roads, all hidden by a pillow-like cloud of fog.The North Sea fog had silently crept in during the night hiding the still sleeping village. But I usually would know 'Bervie was there because the towering spire of the old stone church pierced the fog and marked the spot.
 
Most any village, town or city in Scotland has at least one and depending on its size, maybe several tall pointed spires pointing upward toward the heavens. They invariably are the tallest structure in the town. You can stand in the TESCO parking lot on Riverside in Dundee and count five or six. 

The steeples are always old, I recall no new steeples. This may tell us something about our society. The message of the steeple, its concept, its cost and its construction is an important one and I’d suggest it’s lost on much of today’s society. The old steeples, usually topped with a cross, harken back to when people understood there was a God and went to great lengths, in the case of the steeples, great heights, to display their recognition and love for Him.
 
The steeples are an object lesson, quietly pointing upward. It was as if those Victorian craftsmen, and their medieval brothers before them, somehow knew something I didn't at that time....that there is a God!

Some called it coincidence.../Don Ukens

01/26/2023
"Its not that God's speaking to anybody more than anyone else, it's that some people choose to listen.  And talk back.  And my father talked to God."

Patti Davis, Predident Reagan's daughter speaking of her Dad.

When Character Was King/Peggy Noonan

01/25/2023
"The truth is, bad experiences and bad people often teach us more than good times and good people.

The most toxic unpleasant people in our lives end up making us kinder, wiser and more sympathetic.

The hardest times, make us stronger, smarter and better prepared for tomorrow."

Steven Bartlett from a Linkedin post by Ken Russell

01/24/2023
“…while there is life there is hope, and therefore, instead of complaining that things are bad, we should encourage ourselves with the hope that they will be better.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

In the midst of all the woe of Lamentations we find a Chapter of hope.

01/23/2023
Pulpit notes for your day...

Pastor Todd Carter/Pathway Church has a new series: "Homewreckers of the Bible."  Interesting title I thought.

He went straight to Genesis 37 and I could see right away what he meant.  The story is of Joseph.  How he wasn't liked by his brothers, with valid reasons in some cases, and  the bitterness that came as a result.  The bitterness turned as you know to physical violence.

Joseph in the story had choices, not easy choices and not ones he was inclined to make.  But he had choices. Eventually he made the right one. 

We're called to do that.  To make the right choice.  It's called forgiveness

Pastor Todd provided several points to learn from the story.

• Forgiveness is good for you physically,  mentally, and emotionally
• Forgiveness is a choice
• You need to do something about your hurt and anger.
• It's your move
• You have no right to retaliate
• It might be more of a process than an event.

Tragic events here, but in the chorus from the song I first heard in a theater in London's West End: (some of you were there): "Jacob, Jacob we've read the book and it turns out alright."

Have a great day! 

01/22/2023
“Those who are slain with the sword are soon put out of their pain; in a moment they go down to the grave, Job xxi. 13. They have not the terror of seeing death make its advances towards them, and scarcely feel it when the blow is given; it is but one sharp struggle, and the work is done. And, if we be ready for another world, we need not be afraid of a short passage to it; the quicker the better. But those who die by famine pine away; hunger preys upon their spirits and wastes them gradually; nay, and it frets their spirits, and fills them with vexation, and is as great a torture to the mind as to the body.”

Matthew Henry commenting on the destruction of Jerusalem in Lamentations Chapter 4

01/21/2023
"I can imagine no more rewarding a career.  And any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think I can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction:
"I served in the United States Navy." 
President John F. Kennedy
In Harms Way/Iain Martin

A book Cam checked out at school.

Included In Chapter 5 of Some Called It Coincedence/Don Ukens

01/20/2023
"We don’t pray for an easy life.  We pray for the strength to endure a hard one that meant something."

A Linkedin post by Ben Owen. President of BlackRifle Co.

01/19/2023

"During the dark days of the Second World War, when this island was incandescent with courage, Winston Churchill exclaimed about Britain's adversaries,  "What kind of people do they think we are?"  Well Britain's adversaries found out what extraordinary people the British are."

President Reagan's words to Parliament in June of 1982.

When Character Was King/Peggy Noonan

01/18/2023

“You will become what you think about.”

Life’s Little Handbook: 21 Principles to live by/Mark Lynch

01/17/2023
COMPETITION
"There are Monets. Van Goghs, and Pucassos,

The Michaelangelos, and Leonardos, and others.

Astonishing genius in form and color,

Beauty for the ages even.

But none compete with a wildflower
A sunset or a dawn.

Or the beauty of the first snowfall,
Icing one leftover leaf.

Poems and Sea Stories/James B. Rudd

0116/2023
Pulpit notes for your day...

On things that are toxic

Your thoughts: Do you have toxic negative thoughts, about yourself?

Toxic thoughts can defeat us and tear us down before we even get started. Saying to youself that you are bad, you are weak, you are useless, you are dumb, you are ugly, you are etc.

Pastor Todd Hutchins likened our negative thoughts to the small drip he had accidentally left after the repair of a bathroom toilet. It was just a very small drip. But neglected when he was gone for the weekend, it destroyed his floor.

As with everything else God gives us tools to deal with the toxic things we find in our lives, including our thoughts. Among those tools are: The Word, The Spirit, and people. But you have to use the tools.

Two passages:
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. - Hebrews 4:12

Pastor Todd said it's good to have plan for reading the Word daily.  He suggested we might already have failed on that task in this New Year.  It's not difficult he said, just set out to read more often than you did last year 

Have a great and non-toxic day.

01/15/2023
“They strayed from the paths of justice, were blind to every thing that is good, but to do evil they were quick-sighted. God says of corrupt judges, They know not, neither do they understand; they walk in darkness…”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Lamentations Chapter 4

01/14/2023
"Fortunately for the world, my generation didn't suffer from spiritual hypochondria--but then, we couldn't afford it.  By modern standards, I'm sure we, like the whole population who endured the war, were ripe for counseling, but we were lucky, there were no counsellors.  I can regret, though, that there were no television "journalists", transported back in time, to ask Grandarse:  "How did it feel when you saw Corporal Little shot dead?"  I would have liked to hear the reply. "

From a firsthand  description of the fighting of "Nine Section" (think squad, a group of nine guys led by a Corporal who happens to be the author) from the 17th Division if the British 14th Army as they advanced to eventually destroy the Japanese army in Burma. This was General Slim's "Forgotten Army," the (Fourteenth Army) in that little known jungle war against  the Japanese in Burma, WW2.

'Quartered Safe Out Here' George MacDonald Fraser

01/13/2023
"Also, after being an agnostic since the age of ten, I'd started saying my prayers again--there's nothing like mortal danger for putting you in the mood; as Voltaire observed, 'it's no time to be making enemies.'

 Quartered Safe Out Here/George MacDonald Fraser

01/12/2023
Encouragement for your day...

During the plague of 1603, Lancelot Andrewes composed...'a Manual For The Sick, a set of religious reassurances beginning with a quotation from Kings:  'Set thy house in order, for thou shalt die.'

God's Secretaries/Adam Nicolson

2Kings 20.1

01/11/2023
“Trusting testimony is not an irrational act of faith that leaves critical rationality aside; it is, on the contrary, the rationally appropriate way of responding to authentic testimony. Gospels understood as testimony are the entirely appropriate means of access to the historical reality of Jesus.”

Jesus and the Eyewitnesses:  The Gospels as Eyewitness Testimony/Richard Bauckham

01/10/2023
Pulpit notes for your day...
And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; - 2 Timothy 2:17

We "attended" two services on Sunday morning as is our custom when at home and not getting out.  Our early service is Pathway Church in Wichita and our late service at 11 is Quentin Road Baptist in Lake Zurich Ill.  Both great and noteworthy (literally) services.

They both had a New Year emphasis.  Your note from yesterday touched on Paster Scudder's Fresh Start series at Quentin Road.

Pastor Todd Carter at Pathway had much the same idea.  In the new year he wants you and I to stay away from toxic things and toxic people.

So don't hang around with Hymenaeus and Philetus.

Have a great day...and year!

Oh, canker from the KJV, is translated in the NIV as gangrene.   I've had a case or two of gangrene, it was a good way to lose some weight however, but it's not fun so I'm not hanging around with those two guys.

01/09/2023
Pulpit notes for your day...
Pastor Scudder fittingly enough started his new series Fresh Start, something I for sure need and not just because it's a New Year.  A verse he referred to was:

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

He also had a list of the 6 most important words that can help you with a Fresh Start.

Most important words:
#6-"I admit I made a mistake"
#5-"You did a great job"
#4-"What do you think"
#3-"After you please"
#2-"Thank you"
#1-"We"

It was exciting because yesterday was the first Sunday this year, we hadn't needed to go to the Emergency Room. 😎

01/07/2023
“Sometimes I would get the early train to Corpach and work on the Caledonian Canal, opening and closing the locks at Neptune’s Staircase and playing the pipes for the tourists.”

Ardnish/Angus MacDonald

Grandma and I have been to Corpach

01/06/2023
“You have condemned and killed the just. And the priests and prophets were the ringleaders in persecution, as in Christ's time the chief priests and scribes were the men that incensed the people against him, who otherwise would have persisted in their hosannas.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 4

01/05/2023
Old country Thoughts for your day...

“I was just a youngster, but I vaguely remember Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1897. There were several beacons of fire at Roshven, and we lit three on Ardnish, and when ours were ablaze that triggered those above Arisaig and on the Rhu peninsula, too. I remember my father giving me a piggy-back up the hill and cooking sausages on the embers late at night. We could even see those on Eigg in the distance.”

Ardnish Was Home/Angus MacDonald

My wife's ancestors hailed from Eigg.  Archibald McLeod was a shepherd there

O1/04/2023
“Note, Those who make a good use of the discoveries God has favoured them with may expect further discoveries; for to him that hath shall be given.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Ezekiel Chapter 1

01/03/2023
"I like it best when your take on things is different from mine...otherwise what's the point?"
Largo Bob

On discussion...

01/02/2023
“Words of conviction, counsel, and comfort, come best to those who are in affliction from their fellow sufferers. The captives will be best instructed by one who is a captive among them and experimentally knows their sorrows.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Ezekiel Chapter 1

(Had trouble getting the date right this morning😎)

12/31/2022
“…for we who made a figure are now looked on with contempt.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 5

12/29/2022
The power of the pipes:

“My grandfather proudly told me when I was a lad that at the Battle of Quatre Bras our men were struggling – half had been killed or injured – but the next morning at Waterloo, piper Kenneth MacKay stepped outside the square and played the ancient pibroch rallying tune ‘Cogadh no Sith’. Our men’s backs straightened, their resolve stiffened, and their famous Highland fighting spirit was rejuvenated. By nightfall the great army of Napoleon had been destroyed.“

Ardnish/Angus MacDonald

12/27/2022
“They strayed from the paths of justice, were blind to every thing that is good, but to do evil they were quick-sighted. God says of corrupt judges, They know not, neither do they understand; they walk in darkness…”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 4

For ancient Israel or for today?

12/27/2022
"Work ethic is important because, unlike intelligence, athleticism,  charisma, or any other natural attribute, its a choice."
Mike Rowe

12/26/2022
“Many people gladly celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas, only to ignore, shun, and reject Him the rest of the year.”
—John MacArthur

12/24/2022

Last Sunday morning, not thinking your still occasionally coughing Mom should be around too many people, we opted for living room church and discovered First Baptist of Amarillo. 
Dr. Howard Batson had a great message from Isaiah 7.14 on how a Baby changes things.  Of course, this time of year, the Baby he was referring to was Jesus. 
My notes didn’t let me recollect  the story well enough for you, so  I emailed Dr. Batson and he graciously supplied me with his text. So, here’s the real story for your day. 
Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas. 
…………………. 
The Bethlehem baby saves us from our selfish ambitions to where we can think beyond ourselves to those around us. 
Michael Yaconelli told a story about a deacon in his church who wasn’t doing a very good job ministering to those in the church family.  He just didn’t do what a deacon was supposed to do.  You might call him a dead-beat deacon. 
One day he said to the deacon, “I’ve got a group of young people who go to the old folks home and put on a worship service once a month.  Would you drive them to the old folks home and at least do that?” 
“Okay,” the deacon agreed.  He could at least drive the young people so they could minister. 
The first Sunday the deacon was at the old folks home, he was in the back with his arms folded as the kids were doing their thing up front.  All of a sudden, someone was tugging at his arm.  He looked down, and there was an old man in a wheelchair.  He took hold of the old man’s hand, and the old man held his hand all during the service.  The next month that was repeated.  The man in the wheelchair came and held the hand of the deacon. 
The next month, the next month, and the next month.  Hand in hand. 
Then the old man wasn’t there.  The deacon inquired and was told, “Oh, he’s down the hall, right hand side, third door.  He’s dying.  He’s unconscious, but if you want to go down and pray over his body, that’s all right.” 
The deacon took the man’s hand and prayed that God would receive the man, that God would bring this man from this life into the next and give him eternal blessings. 
As soon as he finished the prayer, the old man squeezed the deacon’s hand and the deacon knew that he had been heard.  The movement in the man’s hand brought moisture to the deacon’s eyes.  He stumbled out of the room, and, as he did so, he bumped into a woman.  She said, “He’s been waiting for you.  He said that he didn’t want to die until he had the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time.” 
The deacon was amazed at this.  He said, “What do you mean.” 
She said, “Well, my father would say that once a month Jesus came to this place.  ‘He would take my hand and he would hold my hand for a whole hour.  I don’t want to die until I have the chance to hold the hand of Jesus one more time.’” (story from Tony Campolo, www.homileticsonline.com) 
Christmas works when we let Jesus take us into unfamiliar territory – the nursing home, a neighbor’s home, an immigrant’s home, or a mission field. 
Who confuses your hands with the hands of Jesus?  Who confuses your feet with the feet of Jesus?  Who takes your words of encouragement as the words of Jesus? 
The Savior comes and saves us from ourselves. 
How can the birth of one baby change everything?  How can this single, solitary life make all the difference in the world?  How can He save the world? 
First of all, He saves us from our sins.  And secondly, He saves us from ourselves. 
The birth of that baby really does change everything. 
“Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son….” 

12/23/2022
“We may bear ourselves up with this, 1. That, when we are cast down, yet we are not cast off; the father's correcting his son is not a disinheriting of him.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

12/22/2022
“We are apt, in times of public calamity, to reflect upon other people's ways, and lay blame upon them; whereas our business is to search and try our own ways.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

12/20/2022
"Opportunity does not waste time with those who are unprepared."

Idowo Koyenikan
Navy Seal Foundation on Linkedin 

12/19/2022
Remembering Todd Carter's message at Pathway yesterday,  how Christmas isn't always a time of great joy and peace for everyone. 

12/18/2022
“That, when God returns to deal graciously with us, it will not be according to our merits, but according to his mercies, according to the multitude, the abundance, of his mercies.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

12/16/2022
"Always remember baby girl there is a purpose for our pain."

Aspen Balthazor: A note remembering Tenley's coming home from the NICU.

12/15/2022
“Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and a body ain’t got no business doing wrong when he ain’t ignorant and knows better.”
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Tom Sawyer
Mark Twain
Samuel Clemens

12/14/2022
"People were prepared to handle terrible weather, personal tragedies or hunger, but there finally came a time when the familiarity of their homeland and the beauty of their surroundings was not enough."

Said of those leaving Isle of St. Kilda

We fought for Ardnish/Angus Macdonald

12/13/2022
“Note, Nothing ripens a people more for ruin, nor fills the measure faster, than the sins of their priests and prophets. The particular sin charged upon them is persecution; the false prophets and corrupt priests joined their power and interest to shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, the blood of God's prophets and of those that adhered to them. They not only shed the blood of their innocent children, whom they sacrificed to Moloch, but the blood of the righteous men that were among them, whom they sacrificed to that more cruel idol of enmity to the truth and true religion.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Lamentations Chapter 4

Is Henry speaking of the capture and destruction of ancient Israel by Babylon or the destruction of our nation in our time?

12/12/2022
"When I went to live on the Isle of Skye - 35 years ago - Calvinist Presbyterianism was in serious decline, but making riot on a Sunday - the Sabbath - still met with widespread general disapproval. There was still 'respect for our elders' and their traditions...more so the case on Lewis and Harris"

Robert Graham aka Largo Bob

As Bob Dylan so accurately sang back in 1964, "The times they are a-changing."

12/11/2022
“Note, It is common for base and ill-natured men to run upon, and run down, those that have fallen into the depths of distress from the height of honour.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

12/10/2022
“Turn us to thee, and then renew our days as of old, put us into the same happy state that our ancestors were in long ago and that they continued long in; let it be with us as it was at the first, and at the beginning, ”

Matthew  Henry commenting on Lamentations chapter 5

12/09/2022
"Knowing the Bible is one thing.
Knowing the author is another."
A linkedin post.

12/08/2022
"He was calm thus we were calm, without him we would have died."

"Whether raising boys or governing men, it is crucial to lead by example.  For demands may be met but examples are opportunities for growth."

Scottish Woodsman on Instagram

12/05/2022
"The horses have to be highly-trained and confident, confident in the coachman. They have to know the coachman knows what he's doing and will get them out of trouble."

Robert Graham aka Largo Bob 

Lots of life/spiritual lessons in Bob's words about his friend who had a horse and carriage business in Edinburgh.  The question for you today is, are you trusting "The Coachman" or are you trying to go your own way.

12/04/2022

....being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; - Philippians 1:6

"I'm not perfect, God isn't finished with me yet. The God who painted the pattern on the butterfly's wings is still working on me."

So don't you quit!"

Billy Wilson, a preacher from Glasgow (now Tuscon) at the Church of Christ last evening. Jeanie Hershey invited us because of Joyce's heritage. 

I don't know how Jeanie knew I needed to hear that. 😎

11/30/2022
“Life is really created through choices.  Or another way of saying that is, your quality of life is dependent upon the choices that you make everyday.  You can choose the “Good Life” or you can choose the “Bad Life”.

Life’s Little Handbook: 21 Principles to live by/Mark Lynch

10/29/2022
“There is in our nature a proneness to backslide from God, but no disposition to return to him till his grace works in us both to will and to do.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Lamentations Chapter 5

11/28/2022
A verse for your day:

Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones. - Proverbs 16:24

Katie R.  on LinkedIn 

11/27/2022
"The Bible is meant to be bread for daily use, not cake for special occasions."

Obed Atsu Asamoah Mortty on Twitter

11/26/2022
"There's a difference between working together and working on the same team."

Simon Sinek on a LinkedIn repost by Kevin May.

11/25/2022
You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

Ben Owen, President of BlackRifle Co.

11/23/2022
"It’s weird how Global warming stops every winter."

Larry the Cable Guy
On Twitter

"Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant."

Robert Louis Stevenson.

Pulpit Notes for your day:

Thanksgiving thoughts from Pastor Jim Reeves:

What do you have to be thankful for?  Who are we blessing this week?

Thankful for what God has given us, warmth in a cold world.

What would you have me do this day God?

11/20/2022
“Multitudes fall by the sword, which devours one as well as another, especially when it is in the hand of such cruel enemies as the Chaldeans were…They spared no age,”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 2

11/18/2022
"History is not there for you to like or dislike.
It is there for you to learn from.
If it offends you even better.
You are then less likely to repeat it.
It's not yours to erase or destroy."

A post on gab

11/27/2022
“Time is more valuable than money.”

Life’s Little Handbook: 21 Principles to live by/Mark Lynch

11/16/2022
17.  Know the difference between “character” and “reputation,”
one of Air Force Pararescue Chief Master Sergeant Ramon Colon-Lopez's 20 silver bullets of leadership

Character is who you are; reputation is how others see you. Character is of most importance because it defines you from within.  If you have solid character, then your reputation will precede you.  The same goes for bad character…

11/15/2022
“Let us take occasion hence to bless God for the plenty that we enjoy, that we get our bread so easily, scarcely with the sweat of our face, much less with the peril of our lives; and for the peace we enjoy, that we can go out, and enjoy not only the necessary productions, but the pleasures of the country, without any fear of the sword of the wilderness.”

This in contrast with those besieged by the Chaldeans in Jerusalem who would most certainly be killed if they went out to look for food.

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 5

11/14/2022
Pulpit notes for your day...
Pastor Jim Reeves, Hooker Wesleyan Church. (Formerly Hooker United Methodist Church).

Stand firm in your faith!  Your trials may be new to you, but they are not new. There always have and always will be attempts to separate you from God.  

Stand firm and  "...it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. - Luke 21:13

11/13/2022
“They would not be ruled by their God, and by his servants the prophets, whose rule was gentle and gracious, and therefore justly are they ruled with rigour by their enemies and their servants.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations
Chapter 5

11/12/2022
“Read something useful and upbeat, just for a few minutes. (don’t read the newspaper).”

Life’s Little Handbook: 21 Principles to live by/Mark Lynch

11/11/2022
"During the Italian amphibious landings in Sicily and Salerno he personally captured 42 German soldiers and an 81mm mortar team armed with only his sword. “In my opinion, any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed.”

Said of Lt. Col. John Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, also known as "Mad Jack."
(A Coffee or Die post on LinkedIn)

11/10/2022
"Human history is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.” - C.S. Lewis

10/08/2022
“God's having heard our voice when we cried to him, even out of the low dungeon, is an encouragement for us to hope that he will not at any time hide his ear."

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

11/07/2022
"Sometimes the individual needs to trump the cause."
Dr. Ashley Ylitalo

We were visiting in the old country.  Events were scheduled at St. Andrews University and Madras College to show support for a worthy cause, the women of Iran.  These were events we could have easily attended.  But, we had previously scheduled Keira's birthday dinner for the same time. We enjoyed Keira’s dinner.  A great time was had by all. 

11/06/2022
An early Thanksgiving thought for your day...

“Let us take occasion hence to bless God for the plenty that we enjoy, that we get our bread so easily, scarcely with the sweat of our face, much less with the peril of our lives; and for the peace we enjoy, that we can go out, and enjoy not only the necessary productions, but the pleasures of the country, without any fear of the sword of the wilderness.”

This Matthew Henry writes,  in contrast with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, who besieged by the Chaldeans would most certainly be killed if they even  ventured out to look for food.   "Sword of the Wilderness " was their term for it.

Have a great and thankful day.

12/05/2022

05:13 AM CST:  that’s pretty much my normal wake-up time, actually a bit late for me.  I tend to go to bed a bit early and then get up early, especially in a motel setting.   I’ve got some reading, some journaling (this will be my entry for today), and a few social media responsibilities, much like this, that I need to get out of the way before the world wakes up.  I always assume that somewhere out there someone may actually cares what I think and I don’t want to let them down. (Insert smiley face)  So, here I am in my room  at the  Fairfield Marriott on West I40 in Amarillo, and this is your Joyce update for the day.

I apologize for not contacting you personally, no disrespect is intended, but so many people have expressed concern about her that I’m going to use this shotgun approach for an update.

Joyce is doing really well.  Last evening she was using phrases like, “this is the best I’ve ever felt” which on the grand scheme of things surely can’t be true, but she is our wounded one so we don’t argue with her too much. 

 Yesterday she actually enjoyed a couple of meals for the first time since about Oct. 21.  Last night they brought her some horrible looking brown beans and rice and a small, black plastic cup of something they called guacamole.  I opened the small packet of picante sauce to put on it. She said, “ this is one of the best meals I’ve ever had!”  (No offense intended Marion) 

She is doing really well, and the only thing that is keeping us from going home I believe is some administrative issues between NWT and the place in Liberal where she will continue her dialysis.

There are preliminary results from the biopsy which indicate no permanent damage to her kidneys so it is expected that they will recover their function but she will need to keep up dialysis for probably some months in Liberal.  This is all good!  We may get home today, and we may not.

Thank you all so much for your encouraging phone calls, messages, packages of goodies, flowers, visits etc.

In whatever form you receive this, know that your care for us is much appreciated.  I’m one of three people in the world who aren’t on Facebook, so if you receive this in some other form besides the email I’m about to send…know that we appreciate you!

I want to leave you with this.  In hospital settings, I'm sure most of you will understand there can be a lot of waiting.

My good friend Mike Dreyspring said this to me the other morning as we were discussing Joyce's recent kidney failure and hospital situation, he said; "I can tell God is in this because you said you were waiting." 

I think that says something about God and how he can use waiting in our lives, and I know it says something about me.

I'm going to the hospital now, probably to wait some more.

Thank you, 

Don


   

11/04/2022
“Those who in their haste have chidden with God must, in the reflection, chide themselves for it.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

11/03/2023
"Perhaps you and I have lived with this miracle too long to be properly appreciative. Freedom is a fragile thing and is never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation, for it comes only once to a people. Those who have known freedom and then lost it have never known it again."
Ronald Reagan

11/2/2022
“That those who deal with God will find it is not in vain to trust in him; for, 1. He is good to those who do so,”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

11/01/2022
Speaking of morning fires:
"I worked for a ranch boss that said 'he always appreciated a cowboy that was first to the fire...'"

David Corlew
Executive Director/Cofounder with Charlie Daniels of the Journey Home Project.

10/31/2022
Mark 2.13-17
Are you good enough to do or be "X"?

Maybe for you that's an athletic question, maybe an intellectual question, maybe a political question, or maybe a professional question. But maybe more importantly than all, its a spiritual question. Are you good enough to meet God's Holy standards.

Matty Guy, speaking at St. Andrews Free Church of Scotland yesterday used verses from Mark 2 to illustrate we all are good enough. Mark's narrative in Chapter 2 and verses 13-18 show us that Levi the despised tax collector, was good enough. In fact, needing no further convincing, he "arose (from his table) and followed Him!" Would that I was that easily convinced.

Matty went on to point out that Jesus really came for those that society might look down on and might not think worthy; the despised "publicans and sinners."

While I'm not a publican, I am a sinner and I'm glad that Jesus all those years ago came for me no matter what those richer, and probably more religious folks might think.

And you are good enough as well.

(Ashley, who had only arrived from Scotland a few hours before, attended the services at SAFCS electronically, and in real time from Room 227 at the Fairfield Marriott on West I-40 in Amarillo before we went up to check on Joyce.

Being a "professional technical" person myself, Emma; I marvel at the technology that allows this, and all the technology and technicians that are working with Joyce at the hospital.)

Thank you Matty.

10/30/2022
Belinda and I were visiting about  Joyce's situation, and she said,

"Sometimes in life, we don't have a lot of control, but we can still have a whole lot of faith."

10/29/2022
“Prayer is the breath of the new man, sucking in the air of mercy in petitions and returning it in praises;”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

10/28/2022
“…It is easier to chide ourselves for complaining than to chide ourselves out of it.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations 3

10/27/2022
Speaking of angels:
Gregory age 5: "I only know the names of two angels, Hark and Harold."
From Shipmate Frank

10/26/2022
"We worry about so many things that are fleeting."
Joyce Ukens

From a discussion about things that cause some to get their knickers in a twist, things like football scores, and how important it all is when compared to the destruction of Jerusalem as described by the writer of Lamentations. (Probably Jeremiah)

I know I posted this a few days ago, but it seemed fitting to post it again from Room 427 at Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo.

10/25/2022
"When men stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing, they believe in anything."
G.K. Chesterton

10/23/2022
“…and no marvel that the king and the priest, whose characters were always deemed venerable and inviolable, are despised by every body, ”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 2. From 17th century England, possibly speaks again to our days....

10/22/2022
“….it was a lot of work to be angry and I just wasn’t  up for it.”

Life’s Little Handbook: 21  Principles to Live By/Mark Lynch

10/21/2022
“The fundamental question that you must ask yourself is this: do you live in a hostile or a friendly universe?”                                                                               - Albert Einstein

Life’s Little Handbook: 21 Principles to live by/Mark Lynch

10/20/2022
“When we are in affliction it is reasonable to consider our ways that what is amiss may be repented of and amended for the future, and so we may answer the intention of the affliction.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

10/19/2022
“What can you ask of people? Leipold said. 'Give me your best today. Try to be a little bit better than yesterday. We ask for and demand punctuality, good life skills."

Kansas head football coach Lance Leipold
From a Berry Tramel article

10/18/2022
"We worry about so many things that are fleeting."
Joyce Ukens

From a discussion about things that cause some to get their knickers in a twist, things like football scores, and how important it all is when compared to the destruction of Jerusalem as described by the writer of Lamentations. (Probably Jeremiah)

10/17/2022
Pulpit notes for your day:

"It's better to think eternally."
Pastor Jim Scudder, Quentin Road Baptist Church.

10/16/2022
“Note, The distresses of God's people sometimes prevail to such a degree that they cannot find any footing for their faith, nor keep their head above water, with any comfortable expectation.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

10/15/2022
“Note, Though we are cast into ever so low a dungeon, we may thence find a way of access to God in the highest heavens.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

10/13/2022
"I hate to sound old-fashioned but the definitions of right and wrong were handed down to us over 2000 years ago and have not changed despite popular belief."

Lawerance Rogak

10/11/2022
“When I have lost all I have in the world, liberty, and livelihood, and almost life itself, yet I have not lost my interest in God." Portions on earth are perishing things, but God is portion forever.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

10/10/2022
Pulpit notes for your day...

I've learned over the years that when things are repeated, they probably are important.

In Daniel 5, yesterday's text (10/09/22) at St. Andrews Free Church, Senior Minister Paul Clarke pointed out a couple of verses that are repeated in a very short space of time. 

This is where we get the "handwriting on the wall" phrase we toss around occasionally.  Except in this case, it's deadly serious. 

Daniel is able to interpret the words appearing supernaturally on Belteshazzar's wall.  The words say Belteshazzar's life is required of him.

And, we need not wonder about the reason, it's given right there with the repeated verses.

Here are the verses for you to read.  Oh, the setting as you recall is a huge party....and...Daniel reminds Belteshazzar that he actually knows his actions are wrong...but as we read, he does it anyway.  His heart is actually worse than the actions at the drunken orgy of a party.

They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. - Daniel 5:4

And thou his (Nebuchadnezzar’s) son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; - Daniel 5:22

.....but lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: - Daniel 5:23

But I felt better because I don't have any of those "gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know," or do I?

I haven't not glorified "the God in whose hand thy breath is," or have I?

10/09/2022
“…for we are bound, and it is our duty, to be thankful to God for all the good that is found in us or others:”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 1

10/08/2022
A thought on history for your day.  

"A sense of impending doom invaded England that Christmas of 1939, despite some jeers and criticism from the United States that the Chamberlain government was merely playing at war.  King George VI broadcast a strangely haunting message, ending: "I said to the man at the gate of the Year--'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'  And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.  That shall be better to you than light, and safer than a known way...May that Almighty Hand guide and uphold us all.'"

'A Man Called Intrepid'
William Stevenson

Perhaps a glimpse into the source of the late Queen's strong faith 

10/07/2022
A thought for your day...

"Dear Lord
Lest I continue
My complacent way
Help me to remember
Somewhere out there
A man died for me today
----As long as there be war
I then must
Ask and answer
Am I worth dying for?"

Eleanor Roosevelt carried this prayer in her purse. It had been given to her prior to the US entering WW2 by William Stephenson, known in intelligence circles as Intrepid.

'A Man Called Intrepid" William Stevenson

10/06/2022
Thoughts on dilemmas for your day...
"In the second week of November 1940, Bletchley (the secret code breaking center) obtained the German order to destroy Coventry.  The name came through in plain text. Coventry was forty miles northwest of Bletchley,  and some of Friedman's English colleagues had families billeted in the doomed city.  Yet they could say nothing.

The name of the target was in Churchill's hands within minutes of Hitler's decision. The Fuhrer meant to annihilate nonmilitary targets in his attempt to crush civilian resistance.  If the Prime Minister evacuated Coventry, as he so desperately wished to do, he would tell the enemy that he knew of their plans.  The value of Bletchley and all that ULTRA implied for the future would be lost.  If the citizens were not warned, thousands would die or suffer."

'A Man Called Intrepid' William Stevenson

Coventry was bombed. It was my first opportunity to see the destruction of war and what man is capable of doing to man. I saw what has been left as a memorial of the destruction and suffering from the bombing raids when I picked up my TR6 at the Triumph factory in 1970.

10/05/2022
"You have to live with your hands open to die with your hands full."

Therese Papillion a nurse who saved Jewish children during WW2/Linkedin

10/04/2022
Thoughts on service for your day.. 

More than seven decades later, on the 75th anniversary of the day the war in Europe ended, she sits behind a desk, a picture of her father, the late King, in uniform, to her right.

Her hair - still pulled up - is white now. She wears a blue dress, two brooches, three strings of pearls. The many decades have left their mark, but her eyes still sparkle and her voice is still clear. The desk is practically empty but for the photo and to the right, in the foreground, a dark khaki cap, with a badge on its front.

"All had a part to play," she says of a long-ago war.

The cap belonged to Second Subaltern Windsor, of the Auxiliary Territorial Service; the young Princess Elizabeth nagged her adoring father to allow her to join, so she could serve in uniform, even as the war that defined her - and for many decades her nation - drew to an end. Now, 75 years on, the cap has pride of place as she speaks to the nation on the anniversary of a great and heroic victory.The cap is a simple reminder of what she admired most - service: the service she offered that golden day decades beforehand, the service she saw in her formative years as nation, Commonwealth and Empire gave life and limb so that others could be free; the service that she believed lay at the heart of the Crown she inherited and devoted her long life to.

(From The Queens obituary.  Kindly forwarded to me by my good friend Ken Russell.)

10/03/2022
Pulpit notes for your day...
St Andrews Free Church of Scotland, Paul Clarke, Senior Minister.

Power: Something so many strive for in our day.  You see it in the news, you see it in world events, you see it in courtrooms.

Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4 had the ultimate power...almost. He had forgotten there is the ultimate all-powerful one, God. But, he was reminded.

"Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase.: - Daniel 4:37 

Unlike the power seekers in our day, Nebuchadnezzar ultimately acknowledged the God of the universe.

Paul shared an excellent quote from Abraham Lincoln: ‘Nearly all men can stand adversity,  BUT if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.'

10/02/2022
“It is the accomplishment of his predictions; it is the fulfilling of the scripture; he has now put in execution his word that he had commanded in the days of old. When he gave them his law by Moses he told them what judgments he would certainly inflict upon them if they transgressed that law; and now that they have been guilty of the transgression of this law he had executed the sentence of it,”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 2

10/01/2022
"The 'Road To Success' does not have to be paved."

Banning Sweatland,
Patrol Supervisor at Sheriffs Office/a contact on LinkedIn

09/20/30
“It is barbarous to trample on those that are down, and to crush those that are bound and cannot help themselves.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

09/28/2022
"It doesn't matter if your good at it or not it's fun."
Eliza Ylitalo

Discussing the fact I was not very good at a game we played the other evening.

09/27/2022
'A moth-eaten rag on a worm-eaten pole,
It does not look likely to stir a man's soul,
'Tis the deeds that were done, 'neath the moth-eaten rag,
When the pole was a staff, and the rag was a flag.'
Sir Edward B. Hamley

09/26/2022
"The power to compromise is constant.  The power to deliver is eternal."
From Daniel 3

Paul Clarke, Senior Minister, St. Andrews Free Church of Scotland.

09/25/2022
A verse for your day...

1 Thessalonians 5.4

4 But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.”

09/21/2022
“When we are most cheerful we should be most thankful. What we rejoice in we should give thanks for.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians Chapter 3

09/20/2022
"They don't put championship rings on smooth hands."

Speaking of work ethic:  Coach Venables, OU Head Football  Coach 

09/19/2022
"Interesting. Everything in the Book of Jonah obeys God except for the man of God. The storm obeys God. The sailors, lots, the fish. the King, Ninevites, waves and the worm all obey. (But) Jonah was a runner trying to flee Joppa and travel as far as he could in the wrong direction...to Tarshish."

Don't be a runner....

Michael Sprague at Capitol Commission

https://whatithinkis.com/jonah/

09/18/2022
“It should seem by this charge, which is repeated (v. 23), that there were some among them that privately kept in their closets the images or pictures of these dunghill-deities, which came to their hands from their ancestors, as heir-looms of their families, though, it may be, they did not worship them; these Joshua earnestly urges them to throw away: “Deface them, destroy them, lest you be tempted to serve them.”

A nugget of Matthew Henry wisdom from Joshua 24

09/17/2022
"Time has a wonderful way of showing us what really matters."
Margaret Peters

09/15/2022
“Time was when their government flourished, their princes made a figure, their kingdom was great among the nations, and the balance of power was on their side; but now it is quite otherwise:”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 2

09/13/2022
"The Antlantic nations found in the new world an outlet for their surplus population, their reserve energy,and their criminals,and developed there avid markets for European goods."

'The Reformation' by Will Durant

This is in the early fifteen hundreds, the next few decades after Columbus.  It wasn't only recently that criminals coming accross a border was a common thing. 

09/12/2022
“…their hope is grounded on the love of God, the promise of God, and the experience they have had of the power, the goodness, and the faithfulness of God, and it is good hope through grace; the free grace and mercy of God are what they hope for, and what their hopes are founded on, and not on any worth or merit of their own.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

09/11/2022
“This may seem to be a contradiction; but so it is, that most commonly those persons who have no business of their own to do, or who neglect it, busy themselves in other men's matters.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 3

09/10/2022
"If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily."
Gerald Good

09/09/2022
“I know that experience and failure is the great teacher, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have avoided some problems and moved more quickly through some failures.”

Life’s Little Handbook/Mark Lynch: 21 Principles to live by.

This book is filled with great quote material.  You will be hearing more from Mr. Lynch.

The book was recently given to me by Greg Crow CEO/President of End 2 End Technologies. If you've heard me mention that name before it's because End 2 End Technolgies is the company that purchased Wireless Data Communications

09/08/2022
"It is nearly impossible for the average human to understand the implications of true abandonment.  The worst thing for a soldier is to be left on the battlefield, and that is exactly what happened to John."

Alone At Dawn/Shilling and Longftitz

09/07/2022
"Negativity is everywhere...It’s how you respond to it that makes the difference." 
Kaysha Andrews on Linkedin

09/07/2022
Then Matthew Hrnry adds these words this morning...

“Though the covenant seemed to be broken, they owned that it still continued in full force; and, though Jerusalem be in ruins, the truth of the Lord endures for ever.”

Commenting again on Lamentations 3

09/06/2022
Matthew Henry for your day...

“But for hope, the heart would break.”

Commenting on Lamentations Chapter 3

https://whatithinkis.com/but-for-hope-the-heart-would-break/

09/05/2022
Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is his name. If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. - Jeremiah 31:35-36

As I sat at No  5 Tee, my thin place you remember, watching the sun rise, it dawned on me (pun intended) that the sun just keeps doing that everyday, coming up I mean.   The verses above from Jeremiah came to mind.

These verses can teach us a thing or two about God and His plan, with the beautiful  sunruse as His teaching aid

One more quick thing; years ago on a cloudy, drizzly morning I heard a young lady working at Starbucks in Loveland Colorado explain to a grumpy old man, (not me) that the sun comes up even if it's cloudy.

Oh, and I saw one of the neighborhood foxes on No 9 green.  I look pretty tall in the morning.  Maybe another lesson there. 

Have a great day!

09/04/2022
Verses for your day...

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies.The heart of her husband safely trusts her; So he will have no lack of gain.She does him good and not evil All the days of her life. - Proverbs 31:10-12

09/03/2022
You just never know when you might have an opportunity to share.

I was able to share a little bit about Patrick Hamilton and his story with a gentleman at Dish Network the other morning.

You might pray for him.  I don't have a name for you so you can just call him my Dish Network friend if you want.

He said, "I'll have to check that out."

Don

09/01/2022
“The apostle exhorts to these duties: that they should study to be quiet.  It is the most desirable thing to have a calm and quiet temper, and to be of a peaceable and quiet behaviour. This tends much to our own and others' happiness; and Christians should study how to be quiet.”


Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians Chapter 4

08/30/2022
Songs from the road for your day...

Traveling home from Wichita, we were again joined by KJIL https://www.kjil.com/.  A song by Jenn Johnson and Tauren Wells spoke to me.

I've not recently been "through the waters" in the Biblical sense nor have I needed someone to "walk me through" a literal or Biblical fire.  I haven't encountered any actual lions recently, but life does come with trials, that for me at least, can seem consuming,requiring a bit of assistance to get through.

These lyrics from the chorus of Famous For are encouraging.

I'm also providing you with the YouTube link to the song if you would like the full blessing.

Famous For
By Jenn Johnson and Tauren Wells

Make way through the waters
Walk me through the fire
Do what You are famous for
What You are famous for
Shut the mouths of lions
Bring dry bones to life and
Do what You are famous for
What You are famous for
I believe in You, God
I believe in You

https://youtu.be/o15X2yZ1LT8

08/29/2022
Many portrayed in today's society would have you to believe they are the way out of our situation, many governments, many politicians, many world leaders.

But who would be your mediator?  The Bible teaches there is only one.

Jesus said to him, “I am  the way,  the truth, and  the life.  No one comes to the Father  except through Me. - John 14:6

stepstolife.org
Derby KS

08/28/2022
"Well done is better than well said."

Lawrence Jones, Host of Cross Country on Fox News 

08/27/2022
Speaking of Erasmus's Folly.. from the early fifteen hundreds.

"The popes have lost any resemlance to the Apostles  in "their riches, honors, jurisdictions, offices, dispensations, licenses, indulgences,.. ceremonies and tithes, excommunications and interdicts," their lust for legacies, their worldly diplomacy  and bloody wars."  How could such a church survive except through the folly, the gullible simplicity of mankind.

The Reformation/Will Durant

08/26/2022
"What profits all our learning," he asked, "if our characters be not correspondingly noble, or all our industry without piety, or all our knowledge without love of our neighbor, or all our wisdom without humility."
Said of Jakob Wimpheling (1450-1528)

The Reformation/ Will Durant

08/25/2022
“It was so all along with Israel; while they kept close to God they prospered; when they forsook him every thing went cross.”

Matthew Henry commenting on the Book of Joshua 

08/24/2022
"Opportunity knocks but once.  Temptation beats your door down. You need to be ready."

Pastor Greg Laurie (harvest.org) on KJIL(kjil.com) 

08/23/2022
"If you want to know someone's mind, listen to their words.
If you want to know someone's heart, watch their actions."

Solo Greene on Linkedin
Education Specialist at Nez Perce Tribe 

08/22/2022
“The chief places of the city are not now, as they used to be, place of concourse, where wisdom cried, and justly are they left unfrequented, because wisdom's cry there was not heard.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 1

08/21/2022
“A city that was populous is now depopulated, v. 1. It is spoken of by way of wonder — Who would have thought that ever it should come to this!”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 1

08/20/2022
“Their great advantage on this account: that that day should not overtake them as a thief, v. 4. It was at least their own fault if they were surprised by that day. They had fair warning, and sufficient helps to provide against that day, and might hope to stand with comfort and confidence before the Son of man”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5

08/19/2022
"God is taking you places your resume doesn't qualify you for. Get Ready!

Michael Sprague on Linkedin

O8/18/2022
“It is most certain that the Lord Jesus Christ will come to judge the world, that he will come in all the pomp and power of the upper world in the last day, to execute judgment upon all. Whatever uncertainty we are at, or whatever mistakes may arise about the time of his coming, his coming itself is certain.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on 2 Thessalonians 1

08/17/2022
“Assisting the devotion of others will not atone for our own neglects.”
Aristotle 

08/16/2022
"Learn all you can about the history of the past, for how else can one even make a guess at what is going to happen in the future."
Winston Churchill from a letter to his Grandson

I Iike the idea of a Grandpa writing to his grandchildren...

From a Linkin post by Michael Bishop 

08/15/2022
Pulpit notes for your day....

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; - Colossians 3:12

"Don't just have the truth, live the truth."

Pastor Todd Carter Pathway Wichita 

08/14/2022
"Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day."

Robert Lintner

08/13/2022

08/12/2022
"The world is in greater peril from those who tolerate or encourage evil than from  those who actually commit it "
Albert Einstein

08/11/2022
"I'm gonna know what it means to live
And not just be alive"
MercyMe

KJIL and I were traveling together again this morning.

08/10/2022
"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."
Henry Ford

08/09/2022
Walking early in the cool and dark of the morning for the first time in quite a while, I was reminded of Luke 10.29, the story of the rich young ruler. Jesus had told him he needed to sell some of his stuff and help his neighbor.

Being rich and not wanting to part with his wealth, the scripture says, the young ruler, "Seeking to justify himself, asked who is my neighbor?"
(These are my words of course, but the intent is still very clear.)

If you aren't for sure who your neighbor is you don’t have to help.

I have several excuses for not walking, but none of them are very good. I would only be "seeking to justify myself." 😎

Have a great dsy.

08/08/2022
Pulpit notes for your day....

And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you; - 1 Thessalonians 4:11. (Underlineing mine, the Apostle Paul didn't underline much)

Pastor Rodney Elliott's message on Sunday (Pathway Wichita) from his message series, 'Seperation of Church and Hate."

How can we be a better witness in a contentious world that's "out to get you?" This was certainly true of the early church. The Jews were out to get them. The Romans were out to get them.

Today, there are few on the "side" of the Christian. No government organizations, businesses, schools, public opinion, or political parties are on the Christian's side. In fact many of those are downright hostile.

What are we to do?

The words to the Thessalonians tells us to, quietly do our own work, mind our own business, support ourselves, not being dependant on others.

Have a great day making your own way.
(That's kind of poetic sounding if I do say so myself 😎)

08/07/2022
A Sunday bonus for you...

https://youtu.be/kI8Y2Rjrlos

08/07/2022
“Note, Nothing is more grievous to those who have a true concern for the glory of God, nor is more lamented, than the violation of God's laws, and the contempt they see put upon sacred things.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 1

08/06/2022
“On what had been said, the apostle grounds seasonable exhortations to several needful duties.

Let us also be sober, or temperate and moderate. Let us keep our natural desires and appetites after the things of this world within due bounds”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians 5

08/05/2022
"But we do nations an injustice when we judge them from their kings, who agreed with Machiavelli that morals are not made for sovereigns."

Speaking of Spain (!300-1517), but it looks as if it fits well for the whole of Europe at that time.  And, pretty much the whole world today for that matter. 

The Reformation/ Will Durant

08/04/2022

08/03/2022
“Observe, We never are entangled in any yoke but what is framed out of our own transgressions. The sinner is holden with the cords of his own sins, Prov. v. 22. ”

Matthew Henry commenting on Lamentations Chapter 1

08/02/2022
"No one wants to believe that evil exists and that’s exactly what it needs to GROW."

07/01/2022
Thoughts from the road home....

 "I don't want to gain the whole world and lose my soul...."

It was a challenge. I'm an old guy!  I don't like rap.  I don't like hip hop.  I like the old hymns.   

But TobyMac's song and it's message gradually cut through the mental roadblocks in my mind.  We heard it over and over driving home from Wichita yesterday afternoon.  Or at least it seemed like we heard it over and over, 😎 as KJIL (https://www.kjil.com/) accompanied us on our journey.

That chorus  just kept rattling around and around in my head.

There's a real message there.  The world really is, and in countless ways, personally and corporately, trying to drag you (and me) down.  Its a battle!  TonyMac and his message really sums it up.

 Here's a link for your listening pleasure.

https://youtu.be/coHKdhAZ9hU

Lets all suck it up and have a great day!

Don

07/31/2022
“For what good will it do us to dissemble with a God that searches the heart?”

Matthew Henry commenting on Joshua 24

07/30/2022
Thought for the day #2

My letter to the Editor of The Oklahoman:

I was reading an article in the Daily Oklahoman about the upcoming Kansas abortion vote.

It stated:
"Value Them Both, which supports the Kansas amendment, says if it's passed, it will restore the ability to “place basic regulations on the abortion industry." (underlining mine)

Sad isn't it that we live in a nation with an industry called abortion?

07/30/2022
“Men ought some way or other to earn their own living, otherwise they do not eat their own bread.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians chapter 3

07/29/2022
Uncle Bob's aviation wisdom for your day.. 

We need to update the landing status statement:
“A good landing is where you can either walk or swim away safely”.

Of course the other statement remains the same: 
“A great landing is one where you can use the plane again!”

07/28/2022
"Abreast of the Isle Arran, the Sereph performed a trim dive to ensure the submarine was correctly balanced, and then headed into the Irish Sea."

Operation Mincemeat works towards its successful conclusion. 

Operation Mincemeat/Ben Macintyre

07/27/2022
Thoughts on fishing...and WW2 spies:

"But most of all, Ewen (like his future boss, Admiral Godfrey) loved to fish, in the river and salmon pools at Townhill.  In later life, he would be described as 'one of the best fly-fishermen in the realm'; he modestly denied this, insisting he was 'never better than a mediocre if enthusiastic fisherman'.  For Montagu, on the riverbank, in court and, soon at war, there was no more satisfying experience than 'the thrill of the strike and the joy of playing the fish.'

Operation Mincemeat/Ben Macintyre 

07/26/2022
"Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God."

Old Hillbilly Wisdom from Shipmate Frank

07/25/2022
Here ya go. Lots of folks seem to be needlessly wondering about this these days.  No more discussion needed!

"But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female." - Mark 10:6 

Pastor Jim Scudder, Quentin Road Baptist, Lake Zurich IL.

07/24/2022
“The words of men are frail and perishing, like themselves, and sometimes false, foolish, and fickle: but God's word is holy, wise, just, and faithful; and, like its author, lives and abides for ever. Let us accordingly receive and regard it.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians chapter 1

07/23/2022
"Good judgment comes from experience, and most of that comes from bad judgment."
Old Hillbilly Wisdom from Shipmate Frank

07/21/2022
“The word was not to them, like the sentiments of some philosophers about matters of opinion and doubtful speculation, but the object of their faith and assurance.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians chapter 1

07/20/2022
"Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back,
you’ll enjoy it a second time."
Old Hillbilly Wisdom from Shipmate Frank

07/19/2022
If you are paying attention, you can find wisdom and life lessons in many interesting places. This from the recent British Open at St. Andrews.  "Stay out of the bunkers, especially the ones that have names!"

Most of the things that are real problems in life, also have names.

Don Ukens 😎

07/18/2022
Pulpit notes for your day...

Pastor Todd Carter (Pathway Wichita) continued with his series 'Breaking Out' from the Book of Exodus.

He pointed out that our lives as Christians might be much like that of Israel. The Israelites were happy to be out of slavery in Egypt but they ignored the advice God gave them. 

"They were out of Egypt," he said, "but Egypt wasn't out of them."

Have a great day!

07/17/2022
“I. A general apostasy, there would come a falling away first.  By this apostasy we are not to understand a defection in the state, or from civil government, but in spiritual or religious matters, from sound doctrine, instituted worship and church government, and a holy life.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2.  

Something that will happen before the Lord’s return.

0716/2022
“We should firmly believe the second coming of Christ, and be settled and established in the faith of this; but there was danger lest the Thessalonians, if they apprehended the coming of Christ was just at hand, upon finding that they, or others whom they too much regarded, were mistaken as to the time, should thereupon question the truth or certainty of the thing itself;”

“We should firmly believe the second coming of Christ, and be settled and established in the faith of this; but there was danger lest the Thessalonians, if they apprehended the coming of Christ was just at hand, upon finding that they, or others whom they too much regarded, were mistaken as to the time, should thereupon question the truth or certainty of the thing itself;

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

07/15/2022
"A problem in the restaurant industry is thought of an area of opportunity."
Angela Danielson

07/14/2022

Sorry to be so late.  I was distracted by  the British Open (150th) from St Andrews on TV (they are 6 hrs ahead)  and then contractors in the back yard working on my morning patio.

"Most times, it just gets down to common sense!"
Old Hillbilly Wisdom from Shipmate Frank

07/13/2022
"The best sermons are lived, not preached."

Old Hillbilly Wisdom from Shipmate Frank

07/11/2022
Every freedom journey has some bumps along the way."
Pastor Rodney Elliott, Pathway Wichita.

From the Book of Exodus, the Children of Israel have escaped the slavery of Egypt and are headed toward the promised land. 

There's some grumbling.

07/10/2022
A verse for your day

Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. - Proverbs 18:2 (NIV)
Supplied by Joyce

07/09/2022
"Despite all our accomplishments we owe our existence to a 6 inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."
Borrowed from LinkedIn

07/08/2022
Thoughts on war for your day...

Does chivalry, honor, respect, courtesy, have a place in time of war?

During action in the Battle of the Bulge,  Colonel von der Heydte, released his American prisoners to go back to their lines.  He sent some of his own injured soldiers  with them.

In 'Hitler's Winter,'  Anthony Tucker-Jones writes:
"Two of his men had each broken an arm during the drop and he sent with them a note addressed to General Taylor,  Commander of the US 101st AIRBORNE Division against whom he had fought at Normandy.  It said, 'please treat my jump casualties as well as my regiment has treated casualties of your division.'"

07/07/2022
"If something needs to be 'normalized,' it's not normal."

Kevin Sorbo on gab

In increasingly important thought for our day.

07/06/2022
A thought for your day...

07/03/2022
“False doctrines are like winds, that toss the water to and fro, and they are apt to unsettle the minds of men, who are sometimes as unstable as water.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

07/04/2022
Thoughts on Patriotism for your day..

"Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when they deserve it."
Mark Twain

07/92/2022
"400,000 bodies buried at Arlington National Cemetery is the reason you should stand for the National Anthem."
Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana

Forwarded to me by my good friend Mike Dreyspring 

07/01/2022
“And we may observe, As those are most able and likely to comfort others who can comfort themselves,”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5

06/30/2022
"History is what it is.  You can't change it but you can share it from your perspective.  The history books weren't always truthful or accurate, but today is a new day.  Today you have the opportunity to set things right and tell your story...Let's go!"

'History is not there for you to like or dislike. It is there for you to learn from.  And if it offends you, even better.  Because you are less likely to repeat it.  It's not yours to erase, it belongs to all of us.'

Solo Greene
Education Specialist with Nez Pierce Tribe, posted on LinkedIn 

06/29/2022
"The Power of evil men lives on the cowardice of the good."
St. John Bosco
Posted by Bobby Piton on gab

06/28/2022
“We may be tempted to think that though when we were bad we could not make ourselves good, yet when we are good we can easily make ourselves better; but we have as much dependence on the grace of God for increasing the grace we have as for planting grace when we had it not.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 1

06/27/2022
It's a beautiful damp cool (63F) morning! An "old country" morning if you know what I mean. A gem after the days of 106F and 30+mph winds.

I was all set to enjoy one of my back yard/garden patios…had all my stuff out there. I have quite an operation in the mornings. I have my iPad that I use to join my friend Matthew Henry in reading through a book of the Bible. We are currently in Lamentations for whatever reason.

I have my IPad, my pocket journal a pen, my phone. My glass of lemon water and my Activia Black Cherry yogurt (I’m addicted) and spoon and a couple of napkins. Shortly I’ll go in and get my coffee, toast and a boiled egg, and that’s even more stuff. A lot of stuff to be moving around when you’re just trying to find a way to enjoy the morning.

So I go out, get myself set in a nice chair near a table…and it starts sprinkling! So now I’ve moved me and all my stuff. I’m still outside, but now on the front porch (“perch” as Tenley used to call it, she’s a front “perch” girl) where I’m “protected” from the sprinkles.

That’s the start of my day.

If I were in the “old country” I’d relish a walk in the morning rain, here, I’m afraid of sprinkles.

I’ll bury a thought for the day in here somewhere shortly, you’re going to have to work at it today.

Pulpit Notes (finally) for your day.

Pastor Jared Piney at Pathway Wichits had an excellent message in the series ‘Break Out.’ He described the nation of Israel “Breakimg Out” of Egypt and heading for the Promised Land.

They were glad to escape slavery…initially. But then they started having a few problems on their way. Pastor Piney asked whether they were living, thinking, and acting more like the Egyptians who had enslaved them, or God’s chosen people.

He asks us the same question.

He closed with the thought that “sin is expensive!” It cost God his Son.

Have a great day.

06/25/2022

06/24/2022
“Call a man ungrateful and you can call him no worse.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Jeremiah 18

06/22/2022
“The same waters were the Israelites' guard and the Egyptians' grave…”

Matthew Henry for your day....

06/21/2022
"Instead of fearing using the wrong pronouns in front of our boss, might it not be better for us all to go back to fearing the Lord – which is the beginning of wisdom. Perhaps if our civil servants sought wisdom rather than wokery we might be governed better?"

David Robertson runs The ASK Project in Sydney, Australia. He blogs at The Wee Flee.
He was  Pastor of St. Peter's Free Church of Scotland in Dundee when we first knew him

06/19/2022
“…for example, soon after men began to call upon the name of the Lord all flesh corrupted their way, — soon after the covenant with Noah the Babel-builders bade defiance to heaven, — soon after the covenant with Abraham his seed degenerated in Egypt, — soon after the Israelites were planted in Canaan, when the first generation was worn off, they forsook God and served Baal, — soon after God's covenant with David his seed revolted, and served other gods, — soon after the return out of captivity there was a general decay of piety, as appears by the story of Ezra and Nehemiah; and therefore it was no strange thing that after the planting of Christianity there should come a falling away.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2

06/18/2022
"In the working-class housing estates of the UK, in the inner-city poor areas of the US, and in the Western suburbs of Sydney, there is little evidence of, or support for, the woke ideology which seems to have gripped much of the leadership of Western society in the 21st Century."
David Robertson

David Robertson runs The ASK Project in Sydney, Australia. He blogs at The Wee Flea.  He was  Pastor of St. Peter's Free Church of Scotland in Dundee when we met him.

06/16/2022
"One doesn't have to operate with great malice to do great harm.  The absence of empathy & understanding are sufficient.

Charles M. Blow,; a LinkedIn  post by Paula Elyse

06/15/2022
“Observe, He does not say, "You are chosen to salvation, and therefore you may be careless and secure;" but therefore stand fast.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2

06/14/2033
My father didn't tell me how to live.  He let me watch him do it."

Clarence Budington Kelland
From a LinkedIn  post

I've been reading in Thessalonians and then heard  the message from Pastor Paul at Quentin Road on Sunday.  It occurred to me that this quote, maybe from a purely secular source, sums up what the Apostles were saying to those to whom they were ministering. 

Watch how we live!

Would that could be said of me.

06/13/2022
Pulpit notes for your day...

Todd Hutchison Pathway, Wichita:

"What do you have in your hand that God can use?"

Pastor Todd was speaking of a reluctant Moses. Moses didn't really want to lead the nation of Israel out of Egypt and slavery, he was just trying really hard to mind his own business.

But God said to him in Exodus 4.2, "What is that in your hand?" Moses said "a staff." We all know "the rest of the story" as Paul Harvey always said.

Pastor Todd then asked, "what is in your hand that God might use?" He mentioned tools, maybe your skill set is building and you could help someone with building or repairs. Maybe your skill set is mechanics and I remembered those guys at the Baptist church who used to work on older folks cars, oil changes, etc.

And then here's the best part!  Pastor Todd said "maybe it's a pen." He said "I like to write." He said "I'm not very good at it." (I think that probably isn't true)  "But maybe, I can encourage someone with a word."

That's right up my alley! I really like to write. Maybe I can encourage someone with a word or two, or maybe even challenge them.

I write, but I never know if anyone is encouraged or challenged, or even reads them. Moses on the other hand, had pretty much instant results, when he threw down his staff, it became a snake!

When I throw a few words down, they don't usually become anything. But, I like doing it.

But Lois Depuy did send me a nice note last week saying she really apprecusted the words I wrote about our Memorial Day activities. (Sheila had asked if she could print it in the paper after your Mom put it on Facebook)

And then our friend Jackie Campbell from Dundee (she was our banker once) put my "Morning Rolls" story on Facebook and 600 people read it on my blog... in one day. Can you believe that? And I can only say "Wow!"

I'll probably keep throwing down a few words whether any one likes them or not.

Thank you Pastor Todd, Lois, Jackie, Joyce and Sheila for the encouragement.

So maybe the few words I "throw down" do become something after all.

Have a great day.

06/12/2022
“This promise that he would drive them out from before the children of Israel plainly supposes it as the condition of the promise that the children of Israel must themselves attempt their extirpation, must go up against them, else they could not be said to be driven out before them; if afterwards Israel, through sloth, or cowardice, or affection to these idolaters, sit still and let them alone, they must blame themselves, and not God, if they be not driven out. We must work out our salvation, and then God will work in us and work with us; we must resist our spiritual enemies, and then God will tread them under our feet; we must go forth to our Christian work and warfare, and then God will go forth before us.”



Matthew Henry commenting on Joshua Chapter 13 

06/11/2022
"Consequently, Oresme argued, 'the wide prevalence of a belief is no proof of its truth.'"

Oresme, Bishop of Lisieux until his death In 1382, was an antagonist of astrology.

I'm thinking that would be well for us to keep in mind in our day and age.

The Reformation/ Will Durant

06/10/2022
“Industry in our particular callings as men is a duty required of us by our general calling as Christians.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 3

06/09/2022
“We may sometimes be in as much or more danger from false and pretended friends as from open and avowed enemies.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 3

Sad but true….

O6/08/2022
“Note, It is a great error, or abuse of religion, to make it a cloak for idleness or any other sin.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 3

06/07/2022
Granada: 1300-1491 (Not then part of Spain)

"On the college portals five lines were inscribed:  'The world is supported by four things; the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the good, and the
valor of the brave.

This may explain why our world is in such a mess today.  We don't find many of "the wise, the great, the good," or "the brave."

The Reformation/ Will Durant

06/06/2022
“Note, We sustain a great deal of damage by misplacing our affections; it is our sin and our misery that we place our affections upon wrong objects.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on 2 Thessalonians 3

06/05/2022
“There were some among them who were idle, not working at all, or doing nothing. It does not appear that they were gluttons or drunkards, but idle, and therefore disorderly people.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 3

06/04/2022
President Trump:  "No law can cure the effects of a broken home.  There is no substitute for a strong Mom and great Dad."

06/03/2022
“This is a needful caution, to prove all things; for, though we must put a value on preaching, we must not take things upon trust from the preacher, but try them by the law and the testimony. We must search the scriptures, whether what they say be true or not.”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians chapter 5

This was to be applied to the preaching that they (the Thessalonians) heard.  

If it was essential to "prove" the preaching and scripture in that day,  how much more essential is it for the "news" of current events in our day?  

06/02/2022
Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed.

“Some are cowardly, afraid of difficulties, and disheartened at the thoughts of hazards, and losses, and afflictions; now such should be encouraged; we should not despise them, but comfort them; and who knows what good a kind and comfortable word may do them?”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5

06/01/2022
Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) - Hebrews 10:23 

Hold fast is the McLeod motto.

05/31/2022
A tradition is passed on....

"Dad and Mom did this for so many years, so I decided I just had to."

Brenda Scott as I thanked her for all the effort required to put a small US flag on every Vetetans grave for Memorial Day.  It sure gives the cemetery a pleasant look.  There are over 300 of them to place.  

It takes a lot of time to place them and then pick them up again.  And then you have to be out in the brutal wind we had on this past Memorial Day.

Brenda is the daughter of CJ and Lenora Mouser, Grandaughter of Roy Russell who was tall, thin, ramrod straight and famous for the straight rows in his fields up north.  He was always good for a visit, even with a kid like me.  I was sure he was somehow related to Abraham Lincoln.

I doubt you will have an opportunity, but if you do, share my appreciation with Brenda.  Michael Lundgrin is her co-worker and deserves thanks as well.

I'm honored to have the opportunity to carry CJ's flag (the US flag) in our event to honor the fallen each Memorial Day.  CJ carried it for decades. That duty has passed from one Navy man to another. 

Have a great day, and remember there are those carrying on even when it's tough.

05/30/2022
https://whatithinkis.com/memorial-day-2022/

05/29/2022
David Robertson, former Pastor at St. Peter's Free Church of Scotland in Dundee, has a weekly blog post.  It's called Songs for Sunday.  It's usually about a Psalm, as it is the practice of the the Free Church to sing the Psalms.  It's always a moving experience to hear and participate when Psalms are sung. (Disclaimer: We've attended St. Peter's several times when David was preaching.)

David picked Psalm 43 for this week.  He says it fits our time, and I would agree.

So here you are, Psalm 43, the whole thing.

Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation: O deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man.For thou art the God of my strength: why dost thou cast me off? why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. - Psalm 43:1-5

I needed that.  I was encouraged both by the Psalmist's words and by David's. 

05/28/2022
"A lie doesn't become truth, wrong doesn't become right, evil doesn't become good, just because it is actually accepted by a majority."
Booker T. Washington 

05/27/2022
“The man who does not read has no advantage over the man who cannot read.”
Mark Twain

05/26/2022
Matthew Henry speaks on controversy 

“We have here the good issue of this controversy, which, if there had not been on both sides a disposition to peace, as there was on both sides a zeal for God, might have been of ill consequence; for quarrels about religion, for want of wisdom and love, 

often prove the most fierce and most difficult to be accommodated. But these contending parties, when the matter was fairly stated and argued, were so happy as to understand one another very well, and so the difference was presently compromised.”

The high point of Joshua Chapter 22

For further reading:

https://whatithinkis.com/a-failure-to-communicate/

05/25/2022
"Maybe kids today are protected way too much, concerned their feelings might get hurt.  Well get ready,  the world isn't going to care too much about your feelings. It's good to be prepared."

I began learning this in Navy Boot Camp.

05/24/2022
More pulpit notes;

Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain (men) which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment: - Acts 15:24

It was interesting comparing my sermon notes from Pastor Scudder's (Quentin Road Baptist) message on Sunday dealing with the 'Dangers of a False Gospel,' and David Robertson's comments (https://theweeflea.com/2022/05/24/thomas-manton-and-ian-hamilton-on-why-the-church-of-scotland-went-wrong/) on this weeks's vote by the Church of Scotland to allow same sex marriages. 

The Scottish Church has a tremendous history of evangelism, and missions both at home and scattered around the world, probably since the late 1600s.  Consequently it has been under attack by powerful forces. 

As David points out, this move by the Scottish Church was not an overnight thing.  They were finally worn down.

Pastor Scudder points out a diluted Gospel is a false gospel, and that's what the Church of Scotland now has.  Sadly, it isn't just them.

The pillars, colums, and beams that made Western Civilization a beacon to the world are being dismantled one stone at a time.

I quote David who quotes GK Chesterton. GK Chesterton’s quip is apposite: “He who marries the spirit of this age; will be a widower in the next”.

Do not give up any more stones.

05/23/2022
Pulpit Notes:
Great services yesterday at both Pathway Wichita and Quentin Road Lake Zurich.

Pathway started a new series called Life Verse. The pastor talked about what is a life verse? What a life verse isn’t. Do you have a life verse?

Tim Tebo always had Philippians 4 13 written on his eye black when he played football. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." - Philippians 4:13

I count 1 John 5 13 as mine: "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

Pastor Don shared this verse all those years ago when he was explaining the Gospel to us.

I especially like the word "know." So little is sure in our world today.

Care to share your life verse?

Have a great day.

05/22/2022
“Note, The conservators of the public peace are obliged, in justice to the common safety, to use their power for the restraining and suppressing of vice and profaneness, lest, if it be connived at, the sin thereby become national, and bring God's judgments upon the community.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Joshua 22

Our country’s leaders should take note of these 17th century words.  Just another reason why I like the “old guys”.

05/21/2022
“He could not be present with them, yet he had a constant remembrance of them; they were much upon his thoughts; he wished them well, and could not express his good-will and good wishes to them better than in earnest constant prayer to God for them:”

Matthew Henry Commenting on 1 Thessalonians 1

05/19/2022
"The secret to getting ahead is getting started."
Mark Twain

05/18/2022
"Never confuse education with intelligence."
Borrowed from Shipmate Frank

05/17/2022
David, it was really great to read of your return to St. Pete's.

We first attended decades ago when it was still the old relatively untouched sanctuary and there was only a small group of older people in attendance. We had brought nine or ten of our family and we almost matched the number we found at the service.

I had learned of Pastor McCheyne from reading Dr. Warren Wiersbe's book Giant Steps.

We've attended many times over the years and we're always encouraged. We attended many times after you became Pastor. The last time we attended was probably 8 years ago or so and we had trouble finding a place to park!

Now when in the "Old Country," we attend with our daughter and her family who live in Balmullo and worship at St. Andrews Free Church. We enjoy the people and the preaching there.

Thanks for sharing.

Don Ukens,
Hooker, Oklahoma
USA

05/16/2022
“The doctrines of human infallibility, implicit faith, and blind obedience, are not the doctrines of the Bible. Every Christian has and ought to have, the judgment of discretion, and should have his senses exercised in discerning between good and evil, truth and falsehood,”

Matthew Henry commenting on 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5

05/15/2022
“We have a subtle adversary, who watches all opportunities to do mischief, and will sometimes promote errors even by means of the words of scripture. ”

Matthew Henry commenting on 2 Thessalonians 2

05/14/2022
"Never let the things you want make you forget the things you have."
A gab post

05/13/2022
So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. (Genesis 32:24)

Earnestly desire to get alone with God. If we neglect to do so, we not only rob ourselves of a blessing but rob others as well, since we will have no blessing to pass on to them. It may mean that we do less outward, visible work, but the work we do will have more depth and power. Another wonderful result will be that people will see “no one except Jesus” (Matt. 17:8) in our lives.

The impact of being alone with God in prayer cannot be overemphasized.”

05/12/2022
"Comparison is the thief of joy and social media is its accomplice."
Jenny Cox Holman

05/11/2022
"Order is the mother of civilization and liberty, chaos is the midwife of dictatorship, therefore history may now and then say a good word for kings."

The Reformation/ Will Durant

05/10/2022
"G K Chesterton said: 'When people stop worshipping God, they don't worship nothing, they'll  worship anything' & so: as Israel abandoned the true worship of God, it didn't lead to an absence of worship but an abundance of false worship."

Paul Clarke's May 1 message at St Andrews Free Church of Scotland.  A message from Judges 

05/11/2022

05/08/2022

Happy Mothers Day

05/06/2022

Sometimes I need a good re-evaluation of my status. Exactly how important am I anyway?

Job was a bit like that. He wasn’t always sure how and why God was working in his and his family’s life.

That’s me as well. I don’t know for sure about Job, but I’m sometimes guilty of thinking I’m maybe just a bit more important than I really am.

I was helped with that thought this morning as I walked on the golf course on an absolutely still (unusual for us I know), cool, damp and beautiful morning.

God says to Job; “Have you ever in your life commanded the morning,

And caused the dawn to know its place,”

Job 38.12

Answering for myself, I haven’t. I’m not sure about Job, but I have my doubts about him as well

Have a great day.

(Did you notice the star above the right tree in that first image?)

———

05/05/2022
Another thought for your day...

An advantage to rain I had not thought about:  It washes the bird poop off the sidewalk.

Have a great day!
Me

05/05/2022
“Note, Suffering in a good cause should rather sharpen than blunt the edge of holy resolution.”

Matthew Henry From 1 Thessalonians chapter 1

05/04/2022

A braw Scottish mornin' to ya!  Cloudy, drizzly, I love it!  While on my morning trip around the golf course, my imagination allowed me the luxury of turning the easterly breeze into an onshore breeze off the North Sea.  

I was unable to see it, the North Sea, however because of the near fog.  The fact that it is over 5000 miles away was not a problem for me this morning.

But now I'm back in my chair enjoying the Bluejay who is also enjoying the drizzle.

Have a great day.

I can't be sure, but I think that's a Red Tailed Hawk.  I used my backwoods training to sneak up on him in the damp grass, noiselessly from behind.  But he eventually spied me and flew. There were two,  one came out of another tree.

05/03/2022
"Great leaders give everyone something to believe in, not something to do."

04/30/2022
“…but those that make a slight excuse to serve in daring to commit one sin will have their hearts so hardened by it that they will venture upon the next without such an excuse; for the way of sin is downhill.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Joshua Chapter 7

04/29/2023
A verse for your day...
James 1.2-3

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

04/28/2022
“This is my doing. (1 Kings 12:24)”

“Are you in difficult circumstances, surrounded by people who do not understand you, never ask your opinion, and always push you aside? “This is my doing.” I am the God of circumstances. You did not come to this place by accident—you are exactly where I meant for you to be.”

Excerpt From: L. B. E. Cowman & Jim Reimann. “Streams in the Desert.” 

04/27/2022
“Note, We must never think our work for God done till our life is done; and, if he lengthen out our days beyond what we thought, we must conclude it is because he has some further service for us to do.”

Matthew Henry comments on Joshua 24

04/26/2022
"Sometimes the exterior can hide the rot inside."

Matt Ylitalo, from a discussion he and I were having about the quality and care of firewood.  It occurs to me this might apply to people as well as firewood.

04/25/2022
Early morning thoughts for your day...

There's a certain satisfaction that comes when you discover that the sound coming from your pocket is your 6 am phone alarm and you are already at the Tee Box on No.5!

It wasn't easy, there was a brief skirmish when the "no walk me" said, "you don't really need to do this today, after all it's 35 degrees out there."  That was a tempting thought. But, the "walk me" won out and I'm glad he did.

The moon and two bright stars took me to Psalm 8 3

Psalm 8.3,4
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; What is man that you are mindful of him?

God put all this all in place, no nation, no scientist or engineer, no high-tech space program put the moon and stars up there. God did. Jeremiah tells us that as long as the sun, the moon and the stars are still there He isn't done with Israel yet, or by extension us as believers. A comforting thought.

Myself, I just saw the moon and those stars. I didn't see the sun. I'm back at the house now with my coffee now and I can tell the sun is also still there.  😎

The crazy people who are running our world today are able to destroy a lot, but not the sun, the moon, and the stars...or God's plan or His timing.

Have a great day. 

04/24/2022
Thoughts from Sister Monica Joan
"I do not fear death.  What I fear is death in life."

Sister Monica Joan an elderly nun on the British TV series Call The Midwife, as she contemplates her own demise. She is resident in Nonnatus House, a nursing convent in East London, part of an Anglecan religious order.

It's really a pretty deep thought when you stop and think about it. 

04/23/2022
"The Royal Council (of England) responded (June 18, 1349) with an ordinance substantially as follows:"
No.7- "No person shall give anything to a Beggar that is able to labor."

The Reformation/ Will Durant

Methinks they might be on to something.

04/21/2022
"It's difficult to set bounds to the price unless you first set bounds to the wish."
Cicero 

04/20/2022
For you will certainly carry out God’s purpose,  however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John."
C. S. Lewis,  The Problem Of Pain

04/19/2022
Thoughts from my 'thin place' at No. 5 tee:

God came to Abraham who lived in Ur of the Chaldees. It was a pagan land. God made Abraham a promise. God gave him possessions. God gave him a people. God shared with him a plan.

It's a really simple plan. It's simple enough that even I as a skeptical new beliver could understand it. You can read it in Genesis 12. 1-3.

I'm here this morning enjoying my morning walk and a prayer time with my God as a result of Abraham's faithfulness.

I'm thankful that we as Christians can say after the darkness of that crucifixion, there was the brightness of an Easter morning. "He Is Risen" was part of the promise made to Abraham and by extension to us.

I hope you had a great Easter Werkend, we did.

Have a great week!

04/18/2022
Pulpit notes for your day:
O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; - Psalm 63:1 

Deserts are dangerous places.  Our society is a desert.

04/16/2022
Matthew Henry for your day...
“We cannot by all our sufferings, any more than by our services, merit heaven as a debt;”

Commenting on 2 Thessalonians Chapter 1

04/15/2022
"Hey Spider, he threw that ball right to you. Why would it be in left field?
Cam's baseball Coach 

04/14/2022
"Are there any countries that tax their citizens and send some of it to Americans?"
Shipmate Frank

04/13/2022
"The secret lies not in the body but in the mind."
Navy Seal Foundation on Linkedin

04/12/2022
"Jesus is your savior or He's your judge.  The choice is yours."
Pastor Jim Scudder
Quentin Road Baptist Church
Lake Zurich, IL.

04/11/2022. Pulpit Notes, Todd Hutchins Pathway Wichita

From the series 'Last Words'

John 5.1-18. In a very short time, Jesus is headed to His eventual cross.  In these verses, He has occasion to stop at the Pool of Bethesda. 

He heals a man who has been infirm for thirty and eight years.  Jesus sees him.  Jesus says to him. "Wilt though be made whole?"  ( I just love the King James) 

I'm sure you know the story. Jesus heals the man. A cause for celebration right?

Yes, except for the Jewish leaders who "sought the more to kill him ...because He had broken the Sabbath."

Todd's question for us:  "Are we concerned with  looking right or being right?"

Jesus' values:  "people over practice!

04/10/2022
“For, if you revolt from God to-day, who knows but to-morrow his judgments may break in upon the whole congregation (v. 18), as in the case of Achan?”

Matthew Henry Commenting on  Joshua 22

04/09/2022
Working through some complex (to me) AFLAC claim filing issues, I found myself speaking to Zyniya. My problem had a fairly complex solution and she patiently worked through it. 

 When we finished I thanked her for her time and she said "Sometimes we just need a better understanding."  I thought to myself, how many things in my life, apart from filing AFLAC claims, might that apply to.

Zyniya made my day!

04/08/2022
"I'm not that strong, but my family is."
Lou Flemming,divorced mother of two on Heartland,Jack Bartlett's oldest Grandaughter.

04/07/2022
"Walking alone is not the difficult part, having to come back alone after walking all those miles with others can be."
Mariel Nieves Classen on Linkedin

04/06/2022
“He did not pretend one thing and intend another.”

Matthew Henry: Said of the Apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1

04/05/2022
Pastor Todd Carter on the importance of last words.

“Let’s roll!” Tod Beamer’s famous last words to his wife Lisa on 9/11 as he and others took on the hijackers of Flight 93 and crashed into the Pennsylvania countryside instead of the White House.

Last words are not random, careless words.

Jesus’ last words from Luke 23. “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

Unjustly accused, unjustly tried, unjustly executed, and your last words would be? Jesus’ were, “Father forgiven them!”

Have here been more powerful words spoken on this earth?

04/05/2022
Jesus has been speaking to the multitude, you remember the story. He gets into a boat to go to the other side of the Sea Of Galilee, and there's that horrible storm. 

And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side. - Mark 4:35

Pastor Jim Scudder (Quentin Road Baptist) in his message series Calm in the midst of Crazy,  points out that nowhere does it say the trip will be easy, only that the destination is certain.  In this case, "the other side." 

A life lesson anyone?

04/03/2022
“Those that have God on their side need not be disturbed at the number and power of their enemies;”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Joshua chapter 11

04/02/2022
“The doctrines of human infallibility, implicit faith, and blind obedience, are not the doctrines of the Bible. Every Christian has and ought to have, the judgment of discretion, and should have his senses exercised in discerning between good and evil, truth and falsehood,”

Matthew Henry Commenting on 1 Thessalonians chapter 5

04/01/2022
“The saving benefits bestowed on them:  Their hope and the patience of hope. We are saved by hope. This grace is compared to the soldier's helmet and sailor's anchor, and is of great use in times of danger.”

Matthew Henry's comment from Thessalonians chapter 1

03/31/2022
“There are many things that appear very frightful that yet do not prove at all hurtful to a good man.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Jeremiah XIV

03/30/2022
“We must be long-suffering, and suppress our anger, if it begin to rise upon the apprehension of affronts or injuries; at least we must not fail to moderate our anger: and this duty must be exercised towards all men, good and bad, high and low.”

A Matthew Henry comment from 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5

(I find this a hard thing to do)

03/25/2022
"I'm unable to walk right now.  My Fitbit is charging." 
Don Ukens

03/24/2022
Matthew Henry for your day...“He rose up early in the morning, that he might lose no time, and to show how intent his mind was upon his business.”

Said of Joshua in comments on Joshua Chapter 8

03/23/2022
"Edward lll of England, (1327-77) himself adept in taxation, reminded Clement VI (Pope at that time) that the successor of the Apostles was commissioned to lead the Lord's sheep to pasture, not to  fleece them."

The Reformation/ Will Durant

03/22/2022
"Never be a prisoner of your past.  It was just a lesson, not a life sentence."
Hiram Figueroa, Jr. on LinkedIn 

03/25/2022
"I'm unable to walk right now.  My Fitbit is charging."
Don Ukens

03/21/2022
Pastor Rodney Elliott at Pathway Wichita is an old farm kid.  The message on  Sunday was in the series The Heart Of The Matter.  It's based on Psalm 51.10.  "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

He told of his dream of farming and owning the land.  The bank loaned him some money, and he bought a farm.  As time went on and things became financially tough, he discovered the bank still expected him to make his payments.  "No longer did I own the land," he said. "The land owned me!"

It reminded me of times early in starting our business.  We didn't have enough money to pay our bills, the bank, or ourselves.  I wasn't sure what we were going to do.

Early one morning in my Bible reading time, I came across this verse.  "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender." - Proverbs 22:7, and I understood.  That was exactly how I felt, like a slave. 

But that was a long time ago.

03/19/2022
A 17th Century leadership lesson from Matthew Henry.  He comments on 1 Thessalonians Chapter 5.

“And we may observe, As those are most able and likely to comfort others who can comfort themselves,”

03/18/2022
“When any thing burdens our spirits, we must ease our minds by prayer; when our affairs are perplexed or distressed, we must seek direction and support.”

Matthew Henry, A comment on Philippians Chapter 4

03/16/2022
"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else."
John Burroughs (1837-1921)

03/14/2022
Pulpit notes for your day....
As always, great music at Quentin Road Baptist Church yesterday.

"When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound and time shall be no more"

Opening lyric of When the roll is called up yonder.. 

I don't know how many times over the years I've both heard and sang that song.  Somehow I never caught the lyrics, "And time shall be no more." Time is just one of the things that won't be important to us in eternity.

Interesting they sang that on the day the time changed again!

https://youtu.be/sDrPLANLvTY

Oh, Johnny Cash wasn't there, I just borrowed him from YouTube. 😎

03/12/2022
“He was old and dying; they would not have him long to preach to them; therefore let them observe what he said now, and lay it up in store for the time to come.”

Matthew Henry Commenting on Joshua 23:  Said of Joshua near the end of his life.  A valuable lesson I believe, of the value of those older guys in your business, or maybe even your family.

03/11/2022
"The goodness of a man runs deeper than one moment in time." Grandpa Jack Bartlett in 'Heartland,' the Canadian TV series in a conversation with his prospective grandson-in-law who showed up at the ranch 8 years before as a juvenile delinquent.  In the next episode, Ty the delinquent, becomes Ty Borden,  DVM.  Way to go TY!

03/10/2022
"God didn't waste my pain, he used it to make me better."
Todd Carter, Pathway Church, from the message on 02/27

03/0//2022
“There is not a greater drudge in the world than he that is under the power of reigning covetousness.”

Matthew Henry commenting on Habakkuk 2

03/08/2022
"Your health does not get better by chance and quick fixes, it gets better by change and lifestyle choices."
Borrowed from LinkedIn

03/07/2022
At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. - Daniel 11:29
Pastor Scudder, Quentin Road Baptist Lake Zurich, IL 

03/06/2022
“Lastly, "If you return to God in a way of duty, he will return to you in a way of mercy."
Matthew Henry 

Thoughts on choices....
"If I had been cozy with evil, the Lord would never have listened." Psalm 66:18
Whenever you make a choice, you declare what is important to you and progress in a definite direction. This is because you've elected to honor God or to serve something else.

"Let the whole world bless our God and loudly sing His praises. Our lives are in His hands, and He keeps our feet from stumbling." Psalm 66:8-9
What about the mundane choices?
 
Does it matter where you eat or what you wear to work? In such cases, it's always best to ask yourself, "Is there anything about my selection that God would object to? Are there any Godly principles that would help me pick a better alternative?"

Often, it's not the major decisions that change the course of your life, but the little ones you make daily. So honor God with all your choices---His way will always be your best option.

"God, teach me the principles that will help me make the best choices, and help me to honor You in all my decisions---even the mundane ones. Amen."
Phil Estes from gab

“When the root is deep there is no reason to fear the wind.”
Dr. Nicole Saphier

03/03/2022 “Great consequences depend upon what is innermost, and what is uppermost, in the imagination, of the thoughts of our heart, what we aim at and what we love to think of.”
Matthew Henry

03/02/2022-"...sometimes we are being looked-after and don't know it."

Largo Bob, my friend from Upper Largo Scotland, in an email

 03/02/2022_ Thoughts on loyalty for your day..."In the Highlands and Islands, the most powerful call to arms still came from the clan.  All over the rest of Scotland, however, the form of military service was changing.  The barons began increasingly to exact a different kind of tribute from their tenants, in the form of money or goods.  With the wealth thus collected, they were able to hire mercenaries to garrison their castles and fight their battles..  They were in fact forming small regular armies and being composed of professional soldiers, they were more effective.  Such armies though could be unreliable.   Men serving solely for the pay, having no loyalty to leader or cause, could change sides for better terms of service, and they often chose the most awkward moment in the campaign to seek improvements.   Sword of Scotland/Anthony Leask

03/01/2022-"When you stop selecting by ability you have to select according to some other inevitably less satisfactory criterion."
Margaret Thatcher

02/27/2022-"The (prison) islands were dangerous because of the false sense of security we enjoyed.  I suffered at the sight of all those people settled in their comfortable lives."    
The danger: They so easily settled for being prisoners.  Papillion on Isle Royale, the French island prison colony where prisoners did pretty much as they pleased, it being an island.  They gave up trying to escape. Papillion was never satisfied being a prisoner.  Don't be a prisoner. 
Papillon/Henri Charriere

01/29/2023