Be Positive

"Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words.
Keep your words positive because your words become your behaviors.
Keep your behaviors positive because your behaviors become your habits.
Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values.
Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny"
Mahatma Ghandi

Terrorist Groups Operating in Churches

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, Osama Bin Lucifer, 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 cell 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. Which cell group do you belong to? And guess what, no church is exempt. However, you can spot them if you"bin lookin".

note *** The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness (Proverbs 15:14).

source: H. D. Bolton

Will Rogers ABOUT GROWING OLDER...

1. Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.
2. The older we get, the fewer things seem worth waiting in line for.
3. Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.
4. When you are dissatisfied and would like to go back to youth, think of Algebra.
5. You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.
6. I don't know how I got over the hill without getting to the top.
7. One of the many things no one tells you about aging is that it is such a nice change from being young.
8. One must wait until evening to see how splendid the day has been.
9. Being young is beautiful, but being old is comfortable.
10. Long ago when men cursed and beat the ground with sticks, it was called witchcraft. Today it's called golf .....And finally
11. If you don't learn to laugh at trouble, you won't have anything to laugh at when you are old.
    

Smile and have a great day!!

source: October 2008 from my friend H. D. Bolton

50th High School Reunion

About a month ago, I went to my 50th high school union. The last one I attended, before the 50th, was the 15th. It was my first trip home in quite awhile. There were a lot of changes to the physical landscape while I've been away but the biggest change I noticed was in myself and my perspective of things. The streets, buildings, city blocks, and the town were much smaller than I remembered. Many of the people -- including myself -- had changed in physical appearance; however, several of the people were immediately recognizable. Not many, but some!

There was so much catching up to do! I couldn't do it in one evening. I've been planning to write to several of my class mates since the reunion but I haven't. Is it because I don't have the time or haven't taken the time. Is it because other than saying "It was great to see you!" I don't know what else to say.

There were over 200 to 300 graduates in our class and at least 30 of them were deceased. I was surprised at who was no longer among the living. I was also surprised in the connections or my perceptions of the deceased! Two of the prettiest girls in the class were deceased -- one I learned had died several years ago. Three of the deceased played on the varsity football team and two of them I just thought would live and be gregarious for ever. Two of the guys and one girl were what I considered a close knit group. For all three of them to be dead was just beyond what I would have believed.

Life is what it is but I don't think it never lives up to our perceptions of it! Things are never as great or as low as we think. They are never as happy or sad as we imagined. They are never as idyllic or devastating as we may perceive them. LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT! There will be good times and bad times, happy times and sad times BUT MOSTLY, life just is. God gives us a chance everyday to make a difference but whether we do or not is up to us. It all begins and ends with us as individuals. We make life what it is -- good, bad, or indifferent. We can be a blessing or a curse. It is really up to us. As the ole folks used to say -- and probably still do -- "Each tub must sit on its own bottom!" Life is what you make it.

I have committed myself to making life better, but whether I do or not won't be known until the books are opened (Rev 20: 12). May God bless you and keep you until we meet again. Amen!

Ramblings

My wife and I often reaffirm to each other "God has sure been good to us. We have come a mighty long way from our humble beginnings." We weren't raised in poverty nor in privilege but where we are now is higher on the ladder of social position then where we were when we were growing up. At least it seems that way sometimes? But as I reflect, and given my understanding of social strata from my perspective, we are probably no better or worse off then when we were younger. Oh yes, the community has changed. Employment positions and status are different! But in a very real sense, we are probably in the same social position now as our families were them, mutatis mutundis.

Does it matter? Is there a consequence we should be cognizant of. I honestly don't know. In fact, I frequently ask myself, what do I know? I say I know that I've done the best I could with what I've had. Could I have done better -- probably yes. But on the other hand the question could be asked, could I have done worst(?) and I'm sure the answer is yes. Have I lived up to God's expectations of me? But then, I think I'm living the life God predestined for me.

Predestination! Now there is a topic worthy of consideration. There are parts of the Bible which confuse me on predestination. And, maybe it isn't the Bible but the way many of the people that I've discussed predestination with interpret it -- i.e. from a biblical sense. I learned early on that I know very little with absolute certainty. I think that is where the concept of "I do the best I can with what I've got!" came from. God knows that I try to be a good person but I'm also human and have certainly fallen short of what God would have me be.

Oops -- sorry! The drier button just went off and I need to go fold some cloths. I'll end for now but maybe -- the good Lord willing -- I will revisit these thoughts in the not to distant future

C'est la vie!

I Believe

For some reason, I can't get the following thought out of my mind this morning.

"I believe in God the Father Almight, maker of heaven and earth, the birth and resurrection of his son Jesus Christ, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting."

This may not be an exact quote but I learned it in the African Methodist Episcopal Church when I was growing up in Carlisle (PA). As far back as I can remember, I've been in the Church -- i.e., the body of true believers -- and I still am!

I further believe, man was not meant to be alone, nor was I.

Thank you God for my wife, my childen, family, friends, and the Church.

Temperance and Hymn # 365

A minister was completing a temperance sermon.

With great emphasis he said, 'If I had all the beer in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.'

With even greater emphasis he said, 'And if I had all the wine in the world, I'd take it and pour it into the river.'

And then finally, shaking his fist in the air, he said, 'And if I had all the whiskey in the world, I'd take it and pour it into theRiver.'

Sermon complete, he sat down.

The song leader stood very cautiously and announced with a smile, nearly laughing,
'For our closing song, Let us sing Hymn #365, 'Shall We Gather at the River.'

Smile, life is too short not to!