praising in the park

saturday we went to the praising in the park in pascagoula where jd was playing host for the third in the series. the next one should be larger, as they are planning to ask all the previous participants to attend.

we enjoyed the brett mclaughlin band the best. we wanted to see band of faith, but it would've gotten us home too late and our rio would've turned back into a pumpkin. hopefully we will be able to see them jam next go around.

bmb covered a band of faith song, "Lord, help me to pray." rochelle, from band of faith, was called up on stage to sing it with them.

needless to say i can't wait for the next one.

oh what wondrous love is this?
oh my soul, oh my soul.

UpWords from Max Lucado

July 20, 2005

Real Love Changes People
by Max Lucado

When Catherine Lawes' husband, Lewis, became the warden on Sing Sing prison in 1921, she was a young mother of three daughters. Everybody warned her never to step foot inside the walls. But she didn't listen to them.

When the first prison basketball game was held, in she went, three girls in tow, and took a seat in the bleachers with the inmates.

When she heard that one convicted murderer was blind, she taught him Braille so he could read. Upon learning of inmates who were hearing impaired, she studied sign language so they could communicate.

For sixteen years Catherine Lawes softened the hard hearts of the men of Sing Sing.

The prisoners knew something was wrong when Lewis Lawes didn't report to work. Quickly the word spread that Catherine had been killed in a car accident. The following day as the acting warden took his early morning walk, he noticed a large gathering at the main gate. Every prisoner pressed against the fence. Eyes awash with tears. Faces solemn. No one spoke or moved.

The warden made a remarkable decision. "All right, men, you can go. Just be sure to check in tonight." These were America's hardest criminals. But the warden unlocked the gate for them, and they walked without escort or guard to the home of Catherine Lawes to pay their last respects. And to a man, each one returned.

Real love changes people.

Didn't God's love change you? Weren't you, like the prisoner, blind? You couldn't see beyond the grave. You couldn't see your purpose in life until he showed you. And you couldn't hear either.

You'd never heard of such love and kindness, and you never would have heard of it, but God spoke in your language. And, most of all, he set you free. You are free! Free to run away. Free to harden your heart. But you don't. Or if you do, you come back. Why?

Because you've never been loved like this before.

even knowing what the price would be, Jesus still came to be with us. He showed love like no one had ever seen, and after they killed Him, they asked peter what they could do to make up for the wrong that we committed. Jesus was just waiting to forgive them, just like He is waiting for all who would come to Him.

what i was made for

wednesday night after church we went to get a cd and have big daddy weave autograph it. they were at crossroads bookstore for the promotion of their new cd. wanna see it? well, just check out the pic. cool, huh?

do you guys know who big daddy weave is? did you know that they are from mobile? well, they are. i just wanted to let you know. no i am not bragging, but it is pretty cool to me.

like a cow on the farm...

i've been tagged. so, i will tell you about getting the autographs of big daddy weave last night after church. but in the meantime, here goes...

book tag

1. how many books have i owned?

i would have to say maybe 7 at the most. most of the books in my house are owned/bought by my wife, so i don't "own" many books of my own. don't get me wrong, i do like to read, but i read rather slowly. i also like to stick to a few authors. however, i do take suggestions from friends.

2. what was the last book you bought?

it was actually "come thirsty" by max lucado, and "in the grip of grace" by max lucado was free with the purchase of "come thirsty." (i still need to read "come thirsty")

3. what was the last book you read?

"a church that flies" by tim woodruff

4. what are FIVE books that have meant a lot to you?

"the case for Christ" by lee strobel
"in the grip of grace" by max lucado
"hunt for red october" by tom clancy
"distant voices" by c. leonard allen
"romans" by paul
"luke" by dr. luke

these folks are officially "it"

greg morris
tommy
mike "soren" kjergaard
all the others i can think of have been tagged by someone else. i know i am a slacker.

may the force be with you ...

... that is the funnel cake force. a friend named ... steve, his name is not really steve i have changed the name to protect the innocent, not that he is all that innocent, took me and my daughter to the ihop near our church the other day after wednesday night class. he likes funnel cakes and i must say that the funnel cakes at this ihop were much better than the ones we had at sixflags. those were terrible.

i remember the funnel cakes, but what i remember most was my daughter laughing, and steve laughing, and us having a great time. i thank God for friends and family. i thank God for making eve. i thank God for community. i especially thank God for His Son.

may the force be with you!

one month and counting

well, its been a month now since i started this endeavor or blogging. it all started here, and now you are here reading this.

i was hoping to get about 1,000,000 hits/month, but i see that is not going to happen with folks like jd, and cl, and greg out there with their much more insightful and knowledge based approachs. however, i do thank all the nearly 400 (i started my hit counter late if you just checked it) visitors, and the comments of all who posted them. it is encouraging.

let me know of some blogs that you like and that you read. my plan is to add those and some others to a sidebar this week on my blog. thanks again for comin' by.

y'all come back now, ya' hear!

david, a man after God's own heart

psalm 100

A psalm of thanksgiving.

1 Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth!

2 Worship the LORD with gladness.
Come before him, singing with joy.

3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God!
He made us, and we are his.
We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.

5 For the LORD is good.
His unfailing love continues forever,
and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

awesome! awesome! awesome! don't you agree? do we forget about this psalm sometimes? don't we let the things of this earth rattle us? let us remember the Great and Glorious Father we have! call on Him often. let Him know how you feel and how things are going. He's just waiting to hear from you.

a prophecy fulfilled

34Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. 35This fulfilled the prophecy that said,

"I will speak to you in parables.
I will explain mysteries hidden since the creation of the world."

you may be wondering why i have been stuck on writing about the parables of Jesus the last few posts, but i like how He took an everyday situation and used to teach. i see that being done in some ministers lately. like rob bell, and alistair begg, among others. are there any others that come to mind?

Story of the Vineyard Workers

1"For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.

3"At nine o'clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing. 4So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. 5At noon and again around three o'clock he did the same thing. 6At five o'clock that evening he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, 'Why haven't you been working today?'

7"They replied, 'Because no one hired us.' "The owner of the estate told them, 'Then go on out and join the others in my vineyard.'

8"That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first. 9When those hired at five o'clock were paid, each received a full day's wage. 10When those hired earlier came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day's wage. 11When they received their pay, they protested, 12'Those people worked only one hour, and yet you've paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.'

13"He answered one of them, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair! Didn't you agree to work all day for the usual wage? 14Take it and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you. 15Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be angry because I am kind?'

this is one of the parables i recently used while teaching the youth group at the church i am a member of. i used the niv version and it used the term denari. i am partial to the nlt myself and it does not use the term denari, it uses a daily wage in its stead. none of them knew what denari meant, or what value it had.

did you know that its value was 25 silver coins? i then asked them if they knew of anyone who was betrayed for about that same amount. does that amount sound familiar to you? maybe if i said 30 pieces of silver you would have better chance of answering the question, huh?

do you think that this parable can be used for bedside conversions?

another story, but not how you may have heard it before

Talents Rethought
by Paul Lee

To me, it has been made into one of the most unfortunate words in the Bible: "talents." The Parable of the Talents has suffered more from that word than any passage has a right to.

As you probably know, a "talent" was a lump of money -- a rather large lump -- in Jesus' day. And of course, in the Parable of the Talents, Jesus tells the story of three men entrusted with varying sums of money from their master. Two invest what they have been given, and make more in return. The other, in fear of his master, hides the money and presents only the single talent upon his master's return. And rather than being praised for his prudence, he's reprimanded severely for his actions.

For years, preachers and teachers used this parable to tell folks that they had talents, too. Maybe not the money kind, but they had something else -- "abilities" -- that God had entrusted to them. And of course, they used the word "talent" synonymously with "ability" so many times, that it actually entered the English language, and the two became forever intertwined in our minds. Now that's a successful illustration!

But is it accurate? Lately, I've come to question that, and I'd like to share my thoughts.

See, it strikes me as odd that Jesus would give a parable to instruct his apostles (and he was speaking privately to his apostles at the time) that they should make sure to utilize their abilities. He's in the middle of a long discussion of the kingdom, and how things will be when he comes. Is he telling Peter to use that great singing voice? Or Andrew not to forget that his gift for greeting visitors shouldn't be neglected? Is he saying that when he returns, he expects them to have cultivated new abilities? That just doesn't quite seem right to me.

But put this parable in a larger perspective. Jesus has just gotten through railing at the Pharisees and teachers of the law for their cold, dead faith. And now he's talking to his closest companions, encouraging them about his coming kingdom. Could this parable be pointed squarely at the Pharisees, too?

Maybe what he's saying is that the Pharisees' "better safe than sorry" attitude wasn't going to cut it? They took the faith and law that was entrusted to them, and they buried it in the ground. They said, "God is an angry god, a God that will punish us if we get out of line. We better bury this faith in rules and regulations and traditions and interpretations so we never make a mistake." All the while, they were forgetting what the Law was for, and what their faith was all about. Rather than risk God's wrath, they elected to follow a cold, ritualistic, legalistic pattern, never going beyond the hint of a boundary.

But I believe Jesus is saying that's exactly what God does not want his children to do. He wants people who will take what he has given them, and then use it extravagantly, investing love and faith in others, and watching that investment pay off. Sure, maybe they would risk loving too much, or extending grace too far, but wouldn't that be better than hiding it in a hole? Wouldn't a chance-taking, alive-alert-awake-enthusiastic faith be better than white washed tombs and buried treasure?

To confine the message of this parable to "Use the abilities you have or God'll be mad" is, in my opinion, a disservice. Instead, it speaks to us of awesome love and extravagant faith. Such a faith might take us beyond our "comfort zones." It might even cause us to do things no one has ever dreamed of before. It might just move mountains. And it might just produce a return on investment that none of us could expect or imagine, except by God's powerful hand.

why do you think that Jesus used stories based on things of value? could it have been that He wants us to use the 'thing' that we have been given, a pearl of great price, our salvation, and use it, by sharing it, to increase His valued 'thing', and that valued 'thing' being His Kingdom?

a story. a true story.

Story of the Unforgiving Debtor

21Then Peter came to him and asked, "Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?"

22"No!" Jesus replied, "seventy times seven!

23"For this reason, the Kingdom of Heaven can be compared to a king who decided to bring his accounts up to date with servants who had borrowed money from him. 24In the process, one of his debtors was brought in who owed him millions of dollars. 25He couldn't pay, so the king ordered that he, his wife, his children, and everything he had be sold to pay the debt. 26But the man fell down before the king and begged him, 'Oh, sir, be patient with me, and I will pay it all.' 27Then the king was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt.

28"But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 29His fellow servant fell down before him and begged for a little more time. 'Be patient and I will pay it,' he pleaded. 30But his creditor wouldn't wait. He had the man arrested and jailed until the debt could be paid in full.

31"When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. They went to the king and told him what had happened. 32Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, 'You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. 33Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?' 34Then the angry king sent the man to prison until he had paid every penny.

35"That's what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters in your heart."

i used this parable recently when i was teaching the youth group at my church while our youth minister was visting his parents in tampa.

isn't it sad how we humans can be so ungrateful? haven't we all carried grudges? don't we, too, need to forgive others for small encroachments? i do.

cl taught a lesson recently on forgiveness that was really great. i came in late on the video that he was using. it was about a person who had just returned from a flight, and they had gotten all their baggage (grudges), and they were on their way home.

they pulled out of the parking lot and got t-boned by a garbage truck. they thought they were on their way home. however, they went 'home' to a new and eternal estate. this was not their plan. they thought they were going to that new subdivision later on. i guess they got moved up on the list.

let's drop out bags at the door on our way out today, and get done what needs to be done. 37Jesus replied, "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' 40All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." who doesn't love themselves? who doesn't forgive themselves?

don't these make your eyes hurt?

click on these images and see what you think?

one of deze days, alice ... to da moon

American Minute with Bill Federer July 20th

"One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," were the words uttered this day, July 20, 1969, by Neil Armstrong, as he became the first man to walk on the moon. He, along with Colonel Aldrin, had landed their lunar module, the "Eagle," and spent a total of 21 hours and 37 minutes on the moon's surface, before redocking with the command ship "Columbia." Before a joint session of Congress Commander Neil Armstrong stated: "To those of you who have advocated looking high we owe our sincere gratitude, for you have granted us the opportunity to see some of the grandest views of the Creator."

here's another cool link that google put on their main site:

the moon via google.com

its neat how the detail increases gradually as you zoom in, and the final 'step' is really detailed!

this date in history

American Minute with Bill Federer July 19th

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill launched his campaign against Hitler on this day, July 19, 1941, in a historic speech before the House of Commons:

"I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization... The whole fury...of the enemy must very soon be turned on us."

Churchill concluded: "If we fail, then the whole world, including the United States...will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister...by the light of perverted science. Let us therefore...so bear ourselves that...men will...say, 'This was their finest hour.'"

self-centeredness

ever heard of it? if not, just ask. i'm an expert at it.

yesterday our senior minister, bruce, spoke on self-centeredness. it was lesson 6 of 6 on "Maintaining Your Spiritual Strength in a Non-Spiritual World." bruce is great! he is like a kid up there. he really loves to share the bible with the congregation.

however, during the service, i noticed a visitor in the audience with his family. it was a guy i played softball with in texas! he so happens to be the senior minister at lakeside coc in mansfield, tx! the story of how they picked port city is awesome! i won't get into it in this post, but if you want i will tell you, all you have to do is ask.

i noticed him during the communion service. i was working the media shout computer, and i told dale (he was working the sound board) that i would be right back. so between the bread and wine i went up to my wife and told her that todd and debbie were visiting from lakeside. she said, "yeah right. where are they?" so i showed her, and i said i'll be right back. i walked up to them and i put my arm around todd and said, "what are you doing here?" you shoulda saw the look on his face when i said that!

after he got over the shock of seeing me, he asked how i was, and said fine. you know, the coc answer to that question. i asked why he was there, and he said he was there on vacation. i said, "cool." he said he was on his way to panama city. i said i would talk later after service.

so after service i tell dale if he could handle taking care of wrapping up the booth so i could go visit my friends. he's like ok.

we chatted and found out that they were supposed to have stayed in p'cola the night before, but marriot could not room them there, and that mobile was the closest they could get. that was good for me. so we went to lunch together and unfortunately i found out that they like just about everything, but seafood. argh! so we went and had some pork bar-b-que at richee's. it was great (cl, i got it confused with smokey bones).

we got them off and after having some lunch. we had some jumbo pulled pig sammiches and some fries. i had a dr pepper, and they had sweet tea. but, the sweet tea was too sweet for them, and they had to go to unsweet. d1 was like, "how can you drink it stuff?!"

all this to say how my morning was really good, and the self-centered sermon went right out the window when i found out that my friends were there. i wanted to be with them and hear about "home" and "family" in texas.

this post is going rather hob-wobblely. a verse that sticks in my mind from the sermon is the one "in their blind conceit, they cannot see how wicked they really are.." psalm 36:2.

anyway, have you ever had a day like that? also, did you notice how many times i used the pronoun "i"?

a look at ourselves

the following post is taken from a blog that i came across yesterday. his style is cool, to me, and he says things that i can relate to. he says things the way i would like to say them.

his name is greg morris, and the name of his blog is looking up.

please leave your comments of what you thought of this post, and visit greg's blog and share your comments with him, as well.

apparently greg is a UGA fan. please don't hold that against him. so when you see him mention UGA in post, please substitute it with the appropriate college, UA, home of the crimson tide.


A Heart Condition...

In my last blog I talked about college football. As I began to write this blog that topic (college football) still lingered in my thoughts… also, in that same blog (I really enjoy using the word 'blog') I brought up the topic of worship and that topic (worship) continues to loiter in the realms of my mind as well.
The question I want to pose is this, “How do we display or make known our worship? When it comes to football games it’s fairly easy to see… even the most docile, reserved and unassuming grandmother becomes a raging warrior when the game is on the line. We don’t hold back when we display, to the world around us, the high level of value we’ve placed on that group of players, most of whom we have no personal relationship with at all.
I’ve often heard comments such as “I just don’t worship like that”, “I’m more ‘quiet and reserved’ in my worship” or, “that’s just not my style.” In the context of the worship of God I’ve heard those comments far too regularly along with scores of remarks just like them. Why is it that in the context of college football those same comments are never heard? No one sits quietly as their favorite team intercepts a pass and takes it 85 yards for a touchdown, to win the game in the last seconds, and then, when asked for an explanation for their obviously lethargic reaction, says, “It’s just not my style to jump up and down, scream and rejoice for my team… it’s just not who I am.” You NEVER hear that! You also never see anyone waiting to see how others will react before they allow their own jubilation to come bubbling out. It just comes out naturally. Why? Because it’s what’s in our heart!
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not trying to tell anyone HOW they should or should not worship… Michal, David’s wife (pre-Bathsheba), tried to dictate to David what an acceptable expression of worship was, or in this case ‘was not’, and God answered her by striking her barren (2 Samuel 6 16:23). In response to Michal’s protests David said, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD's people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.”
Why is it that we’re willing to become undignified and risk our own humiliation for the sake of a sports team yet we feel that we can’t express ourselves, in the truest sense, when it comes to the worship of Almighty God?
Again, I’m not suggesting how one should or should not worship. I’m simply saying that, in my opinion, the outward manifestation of our worship, whether it be God or UGA football, is the result of what is genuinely in our heart. I would like to challenge that, often times, our lack of enthusiastic worship is the result of the lack of value we’ve given Christ in our hearts. Maybe that’s where our focus should be, yours and especially mine, on making God the most valued thing in our life. Once we do that I truly believe that we will be unable to remain calm and ‘normal’, just as we are when that last-second, game-winning field goal soars through the uprights. Instead our love for God will come pouring out as we worship and praise Him. Whether it’s singing, clapping, raising our hands, dropping to our knees, falling face down or simply standing in awe, when we place ultimate and highest value on the Lord of Lords and the King of Kings we will see a more accurate manifestation of our own TRUE WORSHIP!

the influence of music

ok here's the setting, you're sitting at this place having a burger, or taco, or whatever, and this song(s) come(s) over the sound system and you are taken back to another time and place. what song would that be for you?

for me it would be a couple of songs by the cars, or something like that. here's a list of some of those songs by the cars:

good times roll
my best friend's girl
just what i needed
shake it up

these songs would put me back in time. maybe back to the skating rink on a saturday, or something like that.

where would you be?

dennis the menace

this is just to let anyone who may be concerned with cl, jd, or myself. we are all outa there! we three have splintered and gone three different ways.

cl went to tampa. i guess he wanted to feel the affects quicker than the rest of us.

jd went to the mississippi delta. isn't a delta where water likes to go, ie., flooding?

me and my family are in n.a. this morning. we got to the great metroplex of the ft payne, rainsville metropolis that it is on saturday morning early. we headed out friday night and got to my parents' place near 3:30 a.m.

please keep our families and the fellow gulf coast people in your prayers. dennis is supposed to be worse than ivan. just what someone living in pensacola wants to hear.

the Trinity in Genesis

during my studying and listening to sermons and classes i have heard this about how the Trininty of God was presented in the first three verses of the bible. am i the only one that just caught this? have you noticed this, too? this is what i noticed in verse 1, it was God who did all of this. it was because He wanted it to be. He is presented in verse 1.

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

in verse 2 the Spirit of God, also known as the Holy Spirit, is introduced as moving over the surface of the waters. we all know from teachings and from the definition of a spirit that they are without form. that is, they are not of a solid shape. notice that the earth was described in the same way, formless and void. that description could also be used in describing a spirit, ya' know? in one of the classes i have sat in on about the Holy Spirit i learned this about the Holy Spirit; in the Greek, i believe, the Spirit is known as "pneuma". have you ever heard of that used at the beginning of any words used today? pneumatic: driven by air. pneumonia: a lung disease. the list goes on. the Holy Spirit is all around us. He is like the air. we breath Him into us constantly, just as God is with us constantly.

2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.

if a book in the new testament were to used as the first book of the bible, what book would you choose? i would pick john. why do you think i would choose that book? how does it start? 1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. Jesus has been described as being the Word. Words are spoken. notice how God brought about the Light. it was spoken.

3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.

these thoughts are not monumental, but i find them really neat, and even cool how God, and the Trinity, are represented even "in the beginning" of the bible.

cool, huh?

this date in american history

the following is from an e-mail service provided by crosswalk.com, and i thought it worthy of being added to my blog. i hope you like it.

American Minute with Bill Federer July 6th Prior to the Civil War there were two major political parties: the Democrats, who believed Americans should have the freedom of choice to own a slave; and the Whigs, who wanted to be the big tent party embracing free and slave states. But on this day, July 6, 1854, a group of anti-slavery men met in Jackson, Michigan, to start a new party, demanding the Fugitive Slave Law be repealed. Their chief plank was "to prohibit...those twin relics of barbarism: polygamy and slavery." They called themselves "The Republican Party."*

*(The first local meeting before the above mentioned state convention was in Ripon, Wisconsin, February 28, 1854.)

a christian's growth

have you ever heard of the comparison of the growth of a christian to the growth of a baby into an adult? guess what? i heard this in a sermon. it goes something like this:

the way a baby eats is pretty messy. a baby can not eat on its own. it needs the parent to feed it. the baby can not survive without the parent feeding it.

as the baby grows, it wants to start feeding itself. it gets maybe 25% in its mouth, and the remaining 75% in its hair, on its clothes, the floor, the parent, the list goes on. but the parent is there to clean the baby up and make them clean again just like they had made the mess.

as the baby grows and becomes older, it gets better at feeding itself, and about 75% of its food gets in the body. the parent is there to clean the baby, and make everything clean again after the meal. even as the baby grows and becomes a child, a teen, an adult, there are always times when a napkin, like the one the parent used, is now used by the person, because there are always times when accidents happen.

do you see where the comparisons can be drawn? the Parent is always there to ensure we get what we need when we are a baby, and the Parent is always there to provide the food we need to survive. i guess you have come to the conclusion that God is our parent. He provides for our needs, He even supplied the Napkin to clean us from the mess we made. He gave us the best way to be clean again, Jesus, His Son.

a little about this day 229 years ago

the following is from an e-mail service that i receive from crosswalk.com. i thought it worthy of my blog. i hope you enjoy it.

American Minute with Bill Federer
July 4th

The Declaration of Independence was approved this day, July 4, 1776. John Hancock, the first to sign, said: "the price on my head has just doubled." Benjamin Franklin signed saying "We must hang together or most assuredly we shall hang separately." Of the fifty-six signers: 17 lost their fortunes, 12 had their homes destroyed, 9 fought and died, 5 were arrested as traitors, and 2 lost sons in the War. As Samuel Adams signed, he said: "We have this day restored the Sovereign to whom all men ought to be obedient. He reigns in heaven and from the rising to the setting of the sun, let His kingdom come."

the story of kudzu

all you faithful readers of this page may remember the question i asked you last week. well, you're fixin' to learn some good stuff.

remember i asked you what kudzu was and what was done to try and get rid of it? well, the follwing is from the following web site, http://www.jjanthony.com/kudzu/.

when i was asking what was done to get rid of the parasitic vine i had a friend tell me while i was living in texas that the rodent nutria was brought in to help aleviate the kudzu epidemic. well ... as legend has it ... it was an urban legend. can you tell me how the nutria actually started their breeding ways in the u.s.? that's you assignment. where did the nutria come from, and why are they all over the southeast?

Kudzu is native to Japan and China, however it grows well in the Southeastern United States. Kudzu is a vine that when left uncontrolled will eventually grow over almost any fixed object in its proximity including other vegetation. Kudzu, over a period of several years will kill trees by blocking the sunlight. For this and other reasons many would like to find ways to get rid of it. The flowers which bloom in late summer have a very pleasant fragrance and the shapes and forms created by kudzu vines growing over trees and bushes can be pleasing to the eye.

The following statement appeared in an agricultural bulletin in 1928, about 20 years after it was first introduced in Florida as a forage crop. "Kudzu is not without disadvantages. It is slow and expensive in getting established, is exacting in requiring only moderate grazing and mowing, is deceptive about its real yield, especially to those who do not know it well, and sometimes becomes a pest."

In the south where the winters are moderate the first frost will turn kudzu into dead leaves and soon after just gray vines. The kudzu vine will continue growing the next summer almost from where it was stopped by cold weather the previous year. These vines will cover buildings and parked vehicles over a period of years if no attempt is made to control its growth. A number of abandoned houses, vehicles and barns covered with kudzu can be seen in Georgia and other southern states. Many of the photos of kudzu shown on this web site were taken in the vicinity of Dahlonega, Georgia, a beautiful historic town in the mountains of North Georgia best known as the site of the first major gold rush in the U.S. in 1828.

a good saying

i don't remember if i read this in one of steve farrar's books, or if i heard him speak it. all i know is this, i remember it. this is how it goes:

sin will take you further than you wanted to go,
sin will keep you longer than you want to stay,
and sin will cost you more than you want to pay.

this comment/quote by steve came to mind when i read a comment on a web site that i frequent. maybe you have read or commented on it; http://www.ibelieve.com/. one of the members of that forum made a statement that she was no longer a sinner now that she has been saved. i disagree with her. i think she is misunderstanding what saved means. what do you think?

i can not use a large enough font or size of font to say how glad i am that i have been saved by the grace of God, and that grace is given to me by the sacrifice of my Savior, Jesus, the Messiah!

why don't you understand me?

i was cleaning out a vehicle that i drive at work and "found" a tape with 4 sermons by a preacher in memphis. even though these sermons are 12 years old, they still can be applied to today. they are great sermons. if you want to listen to them just let me know. maybe some of you have heard of him, maybe not. i used to attend highland street coC when i was taking courses at nas millington when i was in the navy. harold shank was the preacher there. what a great man of faith harold is. he has these stories in each sermon that are like parables of today. i am going to share one of the points in one of his sermons.

stephen covey wrote about a man who was having problems relating to his son. the man told stephen that he did not understand his son, because he would not listen to him. stephen said, "let me see if i am getting this right. you do not understand your son, because he will not listen to you."

the father said, "yes."

stephen said, "i'm sorry but let me make sure i got this right. you don't understand your son, because he will not listen to you."

the father was getting a little perturbed, and he said, "that's the third time we've rehearsed this. yes, i don't understand my son, because he will not listen to me."

stephen said, "inorder to understand someone, you have to listen to them."

the father said, "oh."

have we ever been the father? i have. have we ever wondered why others just don't get it? have you heard what they had to say?

this problem has been happening in a lot of churches by others wanting the style of service to change and be more inviting to others in our community when visitors come by for a visit.

jeff walling has this great video of a lecture he gave in tulsa about the waves of change. he mentions the changes that are taking place in churches throughout the world. i can almost guarentee that if you went to another country, their services would not be the same as they are at your home church. why is that? do you think they are going to heaven? why can't they be like us? pretty presumptuous, is it not? i've been there. i know i'm not the only one, am i?

i have recently moved from the western part of the country in relation to where i live now. it might as well be the left coast, uh, i mean the west coast. the last church that i was a member of actually did sing songs that were not out of the song book. i might as well have been committed murder.

see, in my mind songs that are in the song book have not always been in the song book. before you start throwing darts and stones, try listening to the songs before you say they are bad.

i'm sorry, this post has gotten off the main subject. harold did not babble like this. what i was fixin' to say was that we need to listen to each other, and then understand what the other has in mind, before we try to force our way on them.

may God bless you more than He has blessed me!