Sunday Sermon

Nooo.  I'm not preaching.  I'm just reposting a devotional I received from Dr. David Jeremiah.  I hope it means a lot to you.  It certainly was comforting to me.

Weekend, November 6 & 7 The Thanksgiving Table: The Turkey Now it happened, as they were eating the stew, that they cried out and said, "Man of God, there is death in the pot!" And they could not eat it.2 Kings 4:40 Recommended Reading 2 Kings 4:38-41 Most cooks can tell you about a few meals that flopped; and this Thanksgiving there'll undoubtedly be a few turkeys that don't win the James Beard Culinary Award. But hopefully no one will serve death in the pot. Unfortunately, that's what happened with one of the ministerial students at Elisha's seminary. Going out to gather herbs and vegetables for supper, he accidently picked some poisonous gourds and nearly killed off the student body. It required one of Elisha's miracles to avert the tragedy. This man didn't intend to murder anyone. He was well-intentioned and was only trying to help. He made a terrible mistake, yet the Lord turned it for good. Because of his error, the Lord worked supernaturally, the students were fed, and we have a wonderful Bible story that has endured for centuries. If you're grieving or worried about a mistake you've made, give it to the Lord. Remember that all things--even our mistakes, the "turkeys"--work for the good of those who love Him. There may be death in the pot, but there's hope with the Lord. Just because you make mistakes doesn't mean you are one.Anonymous Getting caught is the mother of invention.   - Robert Byrne

Arkansas Swamp Marker

West of the colonies,

wild and untamed,

lay a vast stretch of wilderness

owned by the French.

To the south, gulf breezes

cooled old New Orleans.

To the north was Canada’s

vast timbered realm.

In between there was Arkansas,

harsh and unyielding.

Caddo and Quapaw

had managed to stay.

In 1803 the French

had to sell it.

The young U.S. bought it

and moved on its claim.

They needed a marker

to anchor their survey.

A marker, in Arkansas’s

dark river swamps.

North from the mouth

of the Arkansas river.

West from the mouth

of the St Francis too.

Robbins met Brown on

the 10^th of November,

in a swamp full of

Cypress and Tupelo gum.

In 1815, they marked

two gum trees.

Base line and meridian

for westward expansion.

In six square mile townships

the new frontier grew.

All measured their boundaries

from an Arkansas swamp.

The settlers came,

moved partly by greed.

The Indians left,

without charity.

Modern surveys confirm it.

The point was the right one.

Those two stately gums

in an Arkansas swamp.

So the West was established,

and new States were added,

by shooting a line to

where Robbins met Brown

at the Tupelo gums

in an Arkansas swamp,

where few folks had been,

and few want to go.

The Louisiana Purchase

of President Jefferson.

Explored by the duo of

Lewis and Clark.

Was mapped and divided

by using two gum trees.

Deep in the heart

of an Arkansas Swamp.

Dennis Price

I'm Dog Tired.

I don't know about you, but I'm dog tired.  This political season has taken its toll on my energy.  I am a nominal member of the Tea Party movement.  By that I mean I agree with most of their agenda and message, but I'm not a joiner by nature so I don't show up at many rallies.  I admire what these folks from all demographics and walks of life have accomplished and I hate hearing elitist pundits putting them down.

I never watch Don Imus, but this morning I was attracted to the program while channel surfing because of a book he was reviewing entitled "Griftopia".  Griftopia is a new book by Matt Taibbi.  I immediately understood the title having worked in law enforcement for twenty five years, but the young author and Imus thought they should explain the title to the Tea Party crowd.  The short portion of the interview I watched seemed to minimalism the intellectual ability of the Tea Party participants as simple people looking for simple answers to complex questions.  I noticed this same kind of demeaning attitude when the political elite of the Republican party talked about the Tea Party.  Mr. Taibbi circled Imus's question about whether the Tea Party membership was driven in part by racial issues.  This is always the way progressives and academic elitists characterize groups they wish to minimalize.  Our government is the biggest offender when it comes to fracturing our society with its constant use of check boxes to pigeon hole every person in the U. S. into some box based on a variety of groupings.

I wanted to weigh in on the conversation and tell the young Mr. Taibbi that most of us were aware that major banks and huge corporations were stealing us blind on Wall Street with the aid of the federal government.  He seemed to think his recent investigation into the matter was breaking news and if some of us in the Tea Party could read, we might realize what a complex situation we were in.  Well Mr. Taibbi, as simple minded as we are we get it.  That's why we worked so hard to get a strong message out to Washington that "We the People" are steadfastly set on changing the direction of this nation.  We know it will not be easy and our job will continue until many of us have died of old age, but we are awakened and engaged.

We are in tune with letting poorly run and over-unionized businesses and organizations fail.

We are in tune with getting rid of political representatives who will not listen to what the people say.

We are in tune with preventing the Federal Reserve from printing money with zero value to allegedly buy debt to further their incestuous relationship with the government and the mega banks in the name of spurring on business.

We probably have a better understanding of the U. S. Constitution and Bill of Rights than most Harvard trained lawyers and certainly more than most members of our supreme court.

We are in tune with fiscal responsibility and carving off large wasteful chunks of the Federal bureaucracy to save our children and grandchildren from being enslaved to the Chinese communist.

We do know the difference between legal and illegal immigrants and it has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the rule of law.

I've heard recent interviews with president Obama and I can tell you he has no intention of changing one iota of his destructive agenda.  He is the "Racist in Chief" and is out to punish his enemies.  Enemies are all people regardless of race, color, creed, or sexual orientation who do not fall into lock step with his destructive and amoral agenda to destroy America.  Let's keep working hard until he is only a distant memory of a bad mistake.

It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm.'
  - Sam Levenson