As I was cleaning up stuff in the basement I came across a roll of postal wrapping paper. You know, the plain brown paper used to cover boxes that are sent through the United States Postal Service. That got me thinking; which can be dangerous. What if there were a musical group by that name.
I’m thinking something in the rap genre (not that rap qualifies as music) with some tough, angry looking, tattoo covered, beer drinking bald guys with earings in strange places. Postal Rapping Paper. I’m not sure how the paper figures into it but “postal” could fit. Rapping spelled without a “w” fits. Maybe paper is the greenbacks, the cash that they earn selling their “music” to a generation that has gone postal. Understand that this is just one of the many strange things that fly around in my head. It is not an endorsement of such a group nor is it a challenge to you musically talented people to go form such a group. It’s just something odd that I had to write down before I forgot about it. Not sure why. Well, I need to get back to cleaning the basement.
Beware of Terrorist Groups in church!
Latest news reports are that five terrorist cell groups have been operating in many of our churches. They have been identified as: Bin Sleepin, Bin Arguin, Bin Fightin, Bin Complainin, and Bin Missin.
Their leader, Lucifer Bin Workin, trained these groups to destroy the Body of Christ. The plan is to come into the church disguised as Christians and to work within the church to discourage, disrupt, and destroy.
However, there have been reports of a sixth group. A tiny cell known by the name Bin Prayin is actually the only effective counter terrorism force in the church. Unlike other terrorist cells, the Bin Prayin team does not blend in with whoever and whatever comes along.
Bin Prayin does whatever is needed to uplift and encourage the Body of Christ. We have noticed that the Bin Prayin group has different characteristics than the others. They have Bin Watchin, Bin Waitin, Bin Fastin, and Bin Longin for their Master, Jesus Christ to return.
NO CHURCH IS EXEMPT!
(However, you can spot them if you bin lookin and bin goin.)
Author unknown
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
There is a daily webinar called Prosper Today hosted by a man named Lynn Spencer. He is an inspiration to many people in my company. In addition to his leadership vocationally he is offering spiritually leadership to any who desire to join in. The meetings are online at 10 AM Eastern, Monday through Friday. They are recorded and posted every day at prospertoday.com The recordings are not always available so I recommend the live meeting if you can attend.
The focus of each meeting is putting God first in our work and our lives. Today’s meeting was about wisdom. There is much wisdom to be gained in putting God first in our lives. And wisdom is more valuable than almost anything. This is just a part of today’s meeting on wisdom. Click the play button and listen as Lynn Spencer reads Proverbs chapter eight.
Proverbs 8Lynn Spencer is also the author of:
Getting Out of Debt God’s Way
A Modern Day Witness to Jesus Christ
[as copied from an email; author unknown]
This video shows the winner of “Ukraine’s Got Talent,” Kseniya Simonova, 24, drawing a series of pictures on an illuminated sand table showing how ordinary people were affected by the German invasion during World War II. Her talent, which admittedly is a strange one, is mesmeric to watch.
The images, projected onto a large screen, moved many in the audience to tears, and she won the top prize of about $125,000 USD.
She begins by creating a scene showing a couple, sitting holding hands on a bench under a starry sky, but then warplanes appear, and the happy scene is obliterated.
It is replaced by a woman’s face crying, but then a baby arrives, and the woman smiles again. Once again, war returns, and Miss Simonova throws the sand into chaos from which a young woman’s face appears.
She quickly becomes an old widow, her face wrinkled and sad, before the image turns into a monument to an Unknown Soldier.
This outdoor scene becomes framed by a window as if the viewer is looking out on the monument from within a house.
In the final scene, a mother and child appear inside, and a man standing outside, with his hands pressed against the glass, saying goodbye.
The Great Patriotic War, as it is called in Ukraine, resulted in one in four of the population’s being killed, with eight to 11 million deaths out of a population of 42 million.
Kseniya Simonova says: “I find it difficult enough to create art using paper and pencils or paintbrushes, but using sand and fingers is beyond me. The art, especially when the war is used as the subject matter, even brings some audience members to tears. And, there’s surely no bigger compliment.”
God’s blessings are too many to count.
The best by far is His gift of Jesus.
Our family simply wishes you a very
Merry Christmas
Steve & Lisa
Michaella, Caleb, Hannah, Sarah-Joy
Dear Children,
It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking My name out of the season. Maybe you’ve forgotten that I wasn’t actually born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan festival; although, I do appreciate being remembered anytime.
How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own. I don’t care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth just GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER. Now, having said that let Me go on.
If it 
bothers you that the town in which you live doesn’t allow a scene depicting My birth, then just get rid of a couple of Santas and snowmen and put in a small Nativity scene on your own front lawn. If all My followers did that there wouldn’t be any need for such a scene on the town square because there would be many of them all around town.
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can and may remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching that explains who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks are. If you have forgot that one, look at John 15:1-8.
If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it.
1. Instead 
of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.
2. Visit 
someone in a nursing home. You don’t have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.
3. Instead 
of writing Barack complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don’t you write and tell him that you’ll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.
4. Instead 
of giving your children a lot of gifts you can’t afford and they don’t need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.
5. Pick 
someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.
6. Did 
you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don’t know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile it could make the difference. Also, you might consider supporting the local Hot-Line: they talk with people like that every day.
7. Instead 
of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren’t allowed to wish you a “Merry Christmas” that doesn’t keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn’t make so much money on that day they’d close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families.
8. If you 
really want to make a difference, support a missionary, especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name. You may already know someone like that.
9. Here’s a
good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no “Christmas” tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don’t know them (and I suspect you don’t) buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Marines, the Salvation Army or some other charity and they will make the delivery for you.
10. Finally 
if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don’t do things in secret that you wouldn’t do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.
P.S. Don’t forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I’ll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I’ll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those you love and, remember, I LOVE YOU.
My daughter Sarah-Joy is almost two years old. She had an accident at a playground last week that gave her a small fracture in her leg. Yesterday she got a cast on her right leg that she is not happy about, but at least it’s pink. As I observed some of the other people in the hospital and how much worse their situation is than ours I thought of this song by Petra. Even though I could list some things in life that are not perfect, the list of things I am thankful for would be much longer.
Our kids are (usually) healthy and well behaved. My wife and I have been married twelve years and still love each other. And we have a peace that is undescribable because we know the Prince of Peace.
If you have a thankful heart, even that too is a gift from God. If you don’t have a thankful heart yet, it’s not too late. Listen to this song and think about all the good that God has brought into your life.
I’m keeping commentary to a minimum on this one. This video speaks for itself.
Do you seek first the Kingdom of God? I don’t just mean on Sundays. Every day we need to focus on God and include Him in every aspect of our lives. To help us do this in our business, a leader in my company has started offering a 15 – 30 minute event every weekday to help us focus on God. This has been an inspiring time to reflect on how much we need Him and to be encouraged by Bible teaching or an amazing story of God helping those who rely on Him. Whether you are in business for yourself or not I invite you to join me as I put God first in my business and seek first the Kingdom of God.
The meetings are online, Monday through Friday at 10 AM Est. Click here to register.
A screen shot of one meeting.
As they say in Chicago, “Don’t forget to vote; and vote often.” They have cracked down on that since the 1920’s or when ever that saying got started. But I thought of it today. Lisa and I voted today and we brought our four kids with us, armed with coloring books and a small Thomas Train to pass the time. They had a table set up in the large voting room which was perfect for the kids to color at. At the end I handed in my ballot card and as usual they had stickers. I was offered one for each of the kids which I thought was nice. But then it occurred to me that if the kids got stickers that say they voted it would be a lie unless they really did get to vote. So I asked for ballots for each of the kids. Fortunately they knew I was joking and didn’t throw me in jail for attempted election fraud. Someday the kids will vote. They are already learning about it. Hopefully you voted today too. Let your voice be heard. Every vote counts. Once. I know someone who thought her vote should count more than once because she was so important. Not so. We are all equal. Unless we don’t vote. If you don’t vote, you don’t have a voice in our government. And if you don’t vote you have no right to complain when “they” do something you don’t like. Vote. Your future depends on it.
It’s it amazing how we try to out-do one another? Whether it is friendly but emotional competition on a sports field or not so friendly political discussions we try to look better than someone else.
What makes us do that? Why do we have to be better than someone else? Jesus said that if you want to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven you must become servant of all. So why do we try to impress people with our abilities? Why do we strive to be number one?
We hold on to some things tightly and value them dearly. Like a reputation. Once damaged, a reputation is not easily fixed. One unkind word leads to another and whether true or not the impact on a person can be life changing. The thing about a reputation though, it is like a shadow. It can show you only a limited impression of a person. It doesn’t show you who that person really is. It is just an outline. And it can be changed based on the source of the light.
How else do we try to out-do one another? Do we give out awards based on achievements? Do we follow people around with cameras because their lives are more interesting than ours? Do we tend to think more highly of ourselves if we are more important or successful than others? Again, what would Jesus say about that?
Still, it is human nature that brings out competition. To some degree animals do fight to be the head of the herd, but they don’t hold conferences to teach self discipline or better hunting maneuvers. Only humans tend to value being number one to that degree. Whether we actually are number one or not doesn’t really matter. What does matter is: are we the best we can be? Are we contributing to our family, our church, society, and the world as much as we can while keeping everything in balance?
All the above came from perhaps too much caffeine too early in the morning. Consider it a bonus. Here’s the story that began all this. I was washing two of our kids in the bathtub. As they were playing, trying to be better than one another, Caleb said, “I know karate.” Hannah said, “Well, I know adult karate.” Caleb said, “I know God karate.” (Gee, how can you beat that?) Hannah said, “I know all kinds of karate.”
I didn’t have to teach them competition. It’s human nature. It’s too funny when it is little kids acting this way. At some point I hope they mature to the point where they will care more about helping each other than being better than one another. I have heard it said that you don’t really know how good a parent you were until you see how your grandkids turn out. I’ve got a long wait.
Are you fed up with our government? Do you want to see change? Do you want your voice heard? There are a lot of positions in government that are elected by the people. And there are many ways to do what you can to improve your community. Your chances of becoming President are slim to none, but you have opportunities right in your own community to help direct the country in the way you think it should go. One way to become involved in government is to become a township trustee.
What does a Rootstown Township trustee do? Why do we need them? There are many “little” but important decisions to be made that effect our everyday lives in ways we might not ever think about. Take a look at the Rootstown Township web site to see all that goes on “behind the scenes”. It’s a big responsibility. It’s not something that just anyone can or should do. Think carefully about who you vote for.
Based on his integrity, education, and experience I am voting for Brett Housley for Rootstown Township Trustee. Please consider joining me.
What in the world do you do with yellow squash? I have used those things for decoration in the fall but are they edible? I found out today that you can in fact eat them. And they don’t taste nearly as bad as I thought they would. I always though yellow squash was for baby food because babies don’t know any better and will eat anything you give them. But with the right helping ingredients they can taste ok (or better). At least, Lisa and I thought so. Three out of four kids still don’t like them.
So anyway here is what I did. I’ve only done it once so don’t write any nasty comments if it doesn’t turn out right for you.
Cut the yellow squash in half the long way. (Did I need to mention to wash it first?) Slice it kind of thinly. Throw it in a pan with some olive oil or bacon grease. Dice up a small onion and mix that in. If you haven’t yet turned on the burner now would be a good time. Things take forever to cook when you don’t turn the stove on. That reminds me of a toaster story; I’ll tell you that one some other time. Cook over medium-lowish heat. (I learned that word in cooking school.) LOL Add salt and pepper if you want to. I have to add pepper to part of it after it is cooked next time or Michaella won’t eat it. If that works then two out of four kids will approve and my ratings go up significantly. Cook the squash with a cover on for fifteen to twenty minutes, stirring it occasionally. I usually use olive oil for cooking but we tried it with bacon grease the first time and it was pretty good. Maybe it wasn’t as healthy that way but the nutrients from the yellow squash make up for it, right?
I remember very little from junior high school (probably a self-defense mechanism) but I do remember the preamble to the Constitution. I was amazed at how this country was formed and the values that imperfectly yet strongly supported the common man. I say imperfectly because obviously slaves and women did not have the rights that they deserved. Yet the framework was there from the Declaration of Independence in which “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Yet, for some reason, I rethought the preamble and rewrote it to express how some might feel. I mean no disrespect to my favorite country. Nor to either major political party, both of which need a major overhaul. But this is how I see the preamble sometimes.
We the elected officials of the United States, in order to form a more controllable populace, establish our rule, ensure domestic obedience, provide ourselves with the common man’s dollar, promote the special interests that benefit us , and secure the blessings of power to ourselves and our party, do ordain and establish this constitution for the benefit of the elected.
The day that changed the lives of so many, September 11, 2001, should never be forgotten.
In honor of those who died that day, as well as those who have died because of that day, I offer this World Trade Center Memorial. Not much, I know. But I had to do something. Here’s the plan:
Get everyone you know (including the person in the mirror) to fly or display an American Flag on September 11. We must not let politics divide us on this day. Our Founding Fathers cared more about freedom than health care. If America loses her freedom she loses everything. Let’s honor those who fight for freedom, past, present, and future. We are all Americans and we are in this together.
Your flag can be smaller than this one.
