Trust in the Lord with all your heart… He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

As I stood on the observation deck of the Miraflores Lock, I was amazed at the volume of cargo that passes through the Panama Canal. Stretched out in the Pacific as far as I could see were dozens of ships, each holding hundreds of containers.

I watched as ships entered the locks before being lifted fifty-four feet. Once in the lock there is but a couple of feet on each side and at each end. The ships don’t enter on their own power, but rather at each end on each side a steel rope is dropped to a small engine and attached. The small engines are referred to as “mules” and together they pull the ship into the lock. Each runs on a railroad track held down by spikes.

A typical ship fully loaded transiting the canal weighs up to 220,000 tons, so you can imagine the strength needed for the pull and the importance of the spikes that hold the tracks in place.

In my office I have an old spike from the original Panama Canal Railway. I keep it there to remind me how important it is to keep my tracks on the right path.

There is a parallel with living our life. Each day there are powers, strong powers, that attempt to pull us off of the path God intends up to be on. Proverbs (3:5-6) gives us a simple formula…. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. So, as you begin each day and put your feet on the floor, imagine you are on the path for the day, knowing there are many forces prepared to pull you off track. Know that it is God’s Word that holds you on course.

What holds your tracks down?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

SEX SINCE THE SIXTIES:

Tragically, our culture is rejecting God’s intention for sex more than ever before. Adultery is celebrated in popular television shows, music, and movies. Sex before marriage and cohabitation are assumed. Abortion is viewed as birth control. Pornography is at epidemic levels. Not to mention the escalation and promotion of LGBTQ ideology beginning with our children.

This culture-wide normalization of immorality is working:

• 69 percent of Americans say sex between an unmarried man and woman is morally acceptable, up 16 points since 2002.

• 42 percent believe sex between teenagers is morally acceptable.

• 43 percent say pornography is morally acceptable.

• 19 percent view polygamy as morally acceptable (up from 5 percent in 2006).

• A record 47 percent of Americans think abortion is morally acceptable.

• 70 percent support same-sex marriage.

Now let’s ask Dr. Phil’s question: “How’s that working for us?”

Since the sexual revolution began in the 1960s:

• The youth suicide rate is the highest it has been since the government began collecting such data in 1960.

• The percentage of children born out of wedlock has escalated from 8 percent in 1962 to 40 percent today. The odds that children in single-parent homes will live in poverty are high.

• Studies show that as many as half of all divorces involve one party using pornography. Even for those who stay married, pornography sabotages their ability to enjoy normal sexual relations.

• More than 62 million babies have been killed by abortion since Roe v. Wade. Abortion is the leading cause of death in America, surpassing heart disease, cancer, and all other cause.

Jim Denison

— o —

Work is hectic. Schedules are hectic. The kids are hectic… almost all of life can be very hectic. Your home shouldn’t be.

Your home should be the antidote to stress. It ought to be a place of rest, respite, and relaxation.

Home is a place of rest and peace and acceptance so we can live our best lives out in the world making the biggest difference that we possibly can. That is why having a calm and rejuvenating home is so important.

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Some people come into your life as blessings. Other people come into your life as lessons. MOTHER TERESA

There is a destiny which makes us brothers; none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own. EDWIN MARKHAM

If we become stronger thru adversity, why do we fight so hard to avoid it? I guess that’s what it means to be human. Dwight Short

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.”

SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES

If you submit to Him, you will gradually begin to see the shape God is forming in you. Dan Shock

Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.”

MARCUS AURELIUS

A stranger is someone we have not taken the time to meet and get to know; a friend is a former stranger that we somehow met and got to know them despite the fact that we now know they have foibles just like we do. Dwight Short

May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to do what is right. Peter Marshall

When things aren’t adding up in your life, start subtracting.” —Anonymous

Successful people are simply those with successful habits. BRIAN TRACY

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

You can’t emerge with dry eyes. It is an awesome experience. I have done it about a dozen times and each experience is like a new one. It’s located on Mount Herzi near Jerusalem and is next to the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

The Monument to the Children. It was erected in 1987 in remembrance of children killed during the reign of the Nazi Party in the German Reich.

In the memorial’s entrance area, there are several white, broken-off stelae of different heights as a symbol for the lives broken off by the Nazis.

The main room of the memorial is completely mirrored and reflects the light of five candles. The reflection of these lights produces the illusion of space, which symbolizes the approximately 1.5 million children and young people who died during the Holocaust. As spectators move through the room in the sparse light of the candles, as names of the deceased children and adolescents, with their age and place of death, are recited by a looped tape recording. The recording takes about three months to list all the casualties.

The placement of the candles and the prisms creates thousands of reproductions and from those five candles, when you stand in the memorial you see endless blazes of light, each a memorial to a fallen child. It is an awesome experience.

Jesus spoke of light in the Sermon on the Mount where he admonished his followers to let their light shine before others that they could see good works and in turn shine for others.

In the same way, that light should not be hidden, but should light up the room, or city on a hill cannot be hidden, we are to let our light shine. There is no reason that anyone should not be able to tell that you are a Christian.

Jesus says that what should be seen are the good deeds that we perform. Jesus’ instruction is to take on His identity in His Father in Heaven. God intends for the world to be able to see Him by His reflection in His people.

Does the light of your life and living shine for Christ?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Several news outlets reported this week about a Belgian farmer, apparently annoyed by a stone that had been in his tractor’s way, decided to move it 7-8 feet away from his field.

No big deal? Not newsworthy? Well, that stone was a 200-year-old border marker between Belgium and France. In addition to slightly enlarging his own property, “he made Belgium bigger and France smaller; it’s not a good idea,” said David Lavaux, mayor of the Belgian village of Erquelinnes.

Two Frenchmen who regularly walk the border checking boundary markers against a map showing their exact location discovered the displaced stone last month. “All the markers are typically placed in a very precise manner, but this one was raised up on higher ground. It just looked strange,” said Jean-Pierre Chopin, one of the two men who walk the border checking the markers against a map showing their location.

Although the stone had 1819 carved into its face, it’s not clear if the farmer knew the significance of the stone. Regardless, he will be receiving a letter to move the stone back to its original location or face criminal charges.

The story reminds me of an Old Testament command in Proverbs 22:28. “Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.”

God gave ancient Israel specific instructions regarding boundaries when they entered the promised land. Canaan was divided into tribal territories. Their boundaries were usually identified by a stone marker. Also, individual properties were identified similarly.

Moses issued this edict to Israel just before they entered Canaan. “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess” (Deut. 19:14).

It was later followed up with this warning and the people’s response. “Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ (Deut. 27:17)

Succeeding generations were to respect these landmarks and leave them undisturbed. They were established by divine decree and were not to be encroached upon or moved.

The New Testament serves as our map today revealing God’s landmarks and boundaries. Jesus was sent not only as a sacrifice for our sins, but to point us to God’s Divine Decrees. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14:6).

The very existence of sin suggests that God has issued boundaries that we are forbidden to cross. Sin is defined in John 3:4 as a transgression of the law. To transgress means to go beyond. To commit lawlessness. It is removing one of God’s boundary markers.

The Bible says that God has given to us “all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3). Our responsibilities to both God and man have been revealed. God has provided the markers and drawn the boundaries that will result in a life that both glorifies him and elevates us in moral excellence.

The means and method of our salvation in Christ have been divinely identified. The nature of the church that Jesus promised to build, of which He is the head, and its ministry, message, and mission is clearly identified in Scripture. Our spiritual responsibilities within the Family of God are also outlined in easy-to-understand terms.

In addition, our personal, community, and domestic duties are also described. God has set boundaries between the three great entities that He ordained. The home. The church. And the government. Too often these are confused and conflated with one another. They are distinct. Each has a purpose and a role in our lives.

When churches get involved in the political arena, thinking they can legislate morality and change our culture by enacting laws, they’ve forgotten the church’s mission and removed one of God’s boundaries.

When men and women commit fornication and adultery, believing they have a right to be happy and live as they please, they’ve removed God’s boundary of sexual purity.

When marriage is no longer the union of one man and one woman for life, we have redefined and removed a boundary God set up long ago.

When religious organizations, change the terms of salvation as taught by Christ and His apostles, to fit their theology, they’ve moved a Divinely ordained landmark.

As a note to our Christian readers, our corrupt culture has long ago removed the ancient landmarks. So rather than cursing the darkness, let’s light a candle. Let’s look within our own lives. Our own hearts. Our own homes. And our own churches.

Have you moved a divine landmark in your life? If so, then return it to its proper place before it’s everlastingly too late.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

The more you invest in a set of beliefs—the greater the sacrifice you make in the service of that conviction—the more resistant you will be to evidence that suggests that you are mistaken. You don’t give up. You double down. Malcolm Gladwell

Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell. Charles H. Spurgeon.

That best portion of a good man’s life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” William Wadsworth

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.”
Thomas Edison

I have no desire to be God, but I do want to be like God. Dan Shock

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw

Revival always begins with repentance. Decision Magazine

How you treat the one reveals how you regard the many, because everyone is ultimately a one. Stephen Covey

When you see a person without a smile, give them one of yours.”
Zig Ziglar

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Selected portions of Thoughts on Life can also be read at TheLife.com.

Your feedback is welcome. Feel free to pass this along to others and to contribute your ideas and thoughts. Address all items and comments to [email protected]. © Thoughts on Life Copyright 2021

But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 1 Corinthians 12:18

I enjoy reading World War II books and just finished one about the Allied bombing in Europe. The war was not going well and attempts to wipe out the enemy were not going well. The targets were mainly airfields and aircraft manufacturing plants.

Then someone had a better idea…. knock out the ball bearing facilities. How important are ball bearings? But on second thought if something is mechanical and moves, it is probably because of ball bearings. Without ball bearings planes couldn’t fly and trucks couldn’t roll.

The military commanders suddenly realized that if they wiped out the ball bearing manufacturing they could bring the enemy to their knees… and they did just that and without ball bearings the war would grind to a halt… and it did.

The church is like that. It has many parts and there is a place and role for every person. There are many different instruments in an orchestra, and they all have different sounds. How boring it would be if the orchestra consisted of one instrument playing the same part. First violin gets all the credit, but without second violin there would be no harmony.

Just as our bodies are made up of many wonderful parts, so is a well-run church and not one, not one, is more important than the other. In my church there is a mid-life special needs lady, very limited in what she can do, but with enthusiasm she faithfully serves as a greeter with a big smile for all who enter, and they love her and in turn she shows her love for them.

In writing to the church at Corinth, Paul compares the church body with the human body and asks what would happen if some parts decided to quit because they couldn’t do the work of another part. People were wanting to leave the church because they didn’t want to do the role they were given to serve.

Paul drives home the point. Our body parts don’t choose their jobs, God does, and the church is no different. Each part is given a part for which it is designed, and all parts of the body have to work in harmony with all other parts.

His point is that the church is the same. The Holy Spirit matches each member with their gifts and goals to be used to serve the church as a whole. We don’t decide which role to play in the church, but that which we were given needs to serve not as we want but as does, none being more important than the other.

What role has God given you to serve in the church?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

7 Times Not To Speak

1. Don’t speak too much (Prov. 19:19).
2. Don’t speak when angry (Prov. 12:16).
3. Don’t speak harshly (Prov. 14:15).
4. Don’t speak before thinking (Prov 15:28).
5. Don’t speak boastfully (Prov. 17:19).
6. Don’t speak until you hear both sides (Prov. 18:17).
7. Don’t speak of things said in confidence (Prov. 20:19).

— o —
birds

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.” – Psalm 100 ESV

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. Harriet Beecher Stowe

My worth is not in what I own.

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it –Ronald Reagan (1986)

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free! — P. J. O’Rourke

Nothing + Nothing = Nothing. Dan Shock

Love Tells the Truth Even When the Other Person Doesn’t Want to Hear It. Ken Whitten

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. Babe Ruth

Peace comes when we turn those overwhelming issues over to God and cease trying to dictate the outcome. Dan Shock

You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. St. Augustine

Commerce is a game of skill, which every man cannot play, which few men can play well. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

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He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 15:15

In a recent well publicized trial, when a juror mentioned that he prayed about his decisions in life, the judge asked if he prayed for divine guidance in making his decisions. The juror said he relied on the Holy Spirit to guide him. When the juror said yes, he was dismissed, the judge saying that jurors should decide on the evidence and not inspiration from a higher power.

After the defendant was found guilty, his attorney moved for a new trial, the court denied the motion saying that jurors should be “ordinary people.” Translated, that says that Christians are not ordinary people.

I served for twenty-one years in public office and voted thousands of times and always prayed for God’s guidance in the decisions I made. I guess that some consider the new norm that Christians are not ordinary people.

God revealed his Son to ordinary people like me who, upon experiencing the Christ Child, responded with praise to God and by sharing the good news.

Consider the parents of Jesus. From biblical accounts we gather that Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, is a man of humble origins. He is from the line of King David, but his trade as a carpenter doesn’t allow him to live in a palace or have a high status politically or socially. In today’s terms he is the equivalent of a construction worker.

Jesus’ mother, Mary, is also of humble origins. She too descends from King David, but the picture Scripture paints is of a young teenage girl with no special status.

A second group of individuals that are introduced to the Christ Child is the shepherds.. These men of extremely humble origins are considered to be some of the lowest of the low. They are physically isolated from others because their job requires them to be constantly in the fields with their flocks.

When it comes time to announce the birth of his Son, God the Father could have introduced him to kings and queens, to the religious leaders of the day, to the socially elite or to the economically elite. Instead, God chooses to introduce his Son to a lowly band of shepherds. Upon seeing the Christ Child, Luke records that the shepherds “spread the word concerning what had been them about this child”.

Christians are ordinary people charged with an unordinary calling. Are you like an ordinary shepherd ready and willing to spread the Word?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER

Author: LINDA SIENKIEWICZ

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)

Praying for one another is the greatest gift we can give to our brothers and sisters in Christ and those God brings into our lives.

How many times have you had a friend or neighbor tell you about a challenge they are facing or just about their bad day?

Your first instinct might be to think of how you can help and offer your assistance to encourage them or lighten their burden. While there is nothing wrong with that, you have a much greater gift to offer that has more power and ability to help than anything you can physically do…Simply say, let me pray for you!! And, not later but now, in the moment!

It doesn’t have to be a long prayer. Just call out to God, who loves us and is waiting for us to call on Him.

When we pray for one another:

• God gives us boldness.

• He increases our love for Him and for one another.

• He rescues us, heals us, and humbles us.

• He gives us strength, lifts our burdens and uses us to lift other’s burdens.

• He spreads the Gospel.

• He answers our prayers.

Jesus never intended for us to live the Christian life alone. When we pray for one another, we lift each other up – to get through life – to get through difficulties – to get through temptation. We lift each other to the only source of real hope. We bring our burdens to God in prayer, trusting that God is good and in control of everything.

— o —

A Canadian preacher, Stephen Sheane, tells a story from two centuries ago about a military officer and his wife who were aboard a ship caught in a raging ocean storm. Seeing the frantic look in her eyes, the man tried unsuccessfully to allay her fears. Suddenly she grasped his sleeve and cried, “How can you be so calm?”

He stepped back a few feet and drew his sword. Pointing it at her heart, he asked, “Are you afraid of this?” Without hesitation, she answered, “Of course not!”

“Why not?” he inquired.

“Because it’s in your hand, and you love me too much to hurt me.”To this, he replied, “I know the One who holds the winds and the waters in the hollow of His hand, and He will surely care for us!”

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Temporal excitements never last long. Dan Shock

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” MARK TWAIN

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are they who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

In all your life, you’ve never experienced a love like the love God has for you. Dan Shock

Wherever you go, there you are. You can’t escape yourself. The Minimalist

Who knows what is best for us? We don’t know. Only God knows. Dan Shock

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

Seek His face, and you will find fulfillment of your deepest longings. Jesus Calling

When you come to Jesus, your search is over, for you have then discovered God. Dan Shock

There is no finer sensations in life that which comes with victory over one’s self. Go forward to a goal of inward achievement, brushing aside all your old internal enemies as you advance.” VASH YOUNG

Invite the Lord to inspect your life. Dan Shock

Bringing a child into our fallen world has always been an act of faith. Today is no exception. Jim Denison

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous. Proverbs 13:22

Genealogy can be fascinating, especially now with so much displayed online. I have been able to trace my family all the way back to Saxony in the ninth century. I have tracked them to France, to England and to Scotland. They were on the wrong political side and were forced to come to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1620’s.

Peter Grant and others went on establish the town of Berwick in the Colony of Maine. Peter Grant was my fourth great grandfather. In the public records I found his will. It gave his testimony to his faith in Jesus Christ and spelled out his Christian beliefs, which he passed along to those who would continue in his family in the years to come. That’s me and is my inheritance from him.

Just as I am an heir to Peter Grant, likewise I am an heir to Jesus because I am adopted into his family. In Romans 8:17 Paul says, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” According to this verse, we share in the sufferings of Christ now and will share in the glory of Christ later as His “co-heirs” or “joint-heirs.”

The term heirs of God emphasizes our relationship to God the Father. As His children, we have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade… kept in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4). The Greek term translated “heirs” in Romans 8:17 refers to “those who receive their allotted possession by right of sonship.” In other words, because God has made us His children (see John 1:12), we have full rights to receive His inheritance. We are His beneficiaries.

While I am honored to be a son of a God-believing grandfather, I am more honored to be a child of God through adoption by His on Jesus. Being a co-heir with Christ means that we, as God’s adopted children, will share in the inheritance of Jesus. All that belongs to Jesus Christ will belong to us, the co-heirs, as well.

“You are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:7). Think of all that means. Everything that God owns belongs to us as well because we belong to Him. Our eternal inheritance as co-heirs with Christ is the result of the amazing grace of God.

The musical play, Annie, contains a wonderful illustration of becoming an heir of God. When Annie moves from the orphanage to the Warbucks’ Mansion, it’s an incredible change for her. She leaves behind a spiteful, alcoholic caretaker and enters a relationship with a caring father. She goes from having no possessions to having a fortune at her disposal. The hard-knock life is overcome by the brightness of a sunny tomorrow. Seen from a Christian perspective, Annie pictures what being a co-heir with Christ means. “We share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory” (Romans 8:17).

No earthly inheritance could ever compare with our heavenly inheritance received by accepting Him as Lord and Savior and being an heir of Christ.

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Thoughts to Live By:

All good friends were once strangers.

Big things often have small beginnings.

Lost time is never found again.

You’re worth more than you know.

I’m so very proud of you.

Don’t be busy; Instead, be productive.

Every problem has a creative solution.

With God all things are possible.

— o —

WARNING: Sugarcoating the Gospel may fill church, but it will not get people to Christ!

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Political discourse fails to recognize that discussions on abortion ignore the fact that a new life is at stake in every decision that is made. Dwight Short

Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society. Aristotle

You may pride yourself in your accomplishments or successes. But mark this, when you see a proud man, you see a man who has not yet encountered God. Dan Shock

What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” John Steinbeck

Our faith as a Christian is being eroded by our culture. Os Guinness

To be a Christian without prayer is like living without breathing. Michelle Tellone

Be defined by your destiny. Os Guinness

Do something for a month and you establish a short-term habit but do it for three months and you establish a long term habit. Ken Boa

We need to be defined by things above, not things below. Ken Boa

You can live by the world or you can live by the Word. Ken Boa

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things (the thing) of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.”

Back in the days when I was flying airplanes, I always had a point … a point to land when the flight was over. It might be a thousand miles away or it might be right back where I started, but it was a point. I had a flight plan to get there. Sometimes I would have to make in-flight corrections to deviate around bad weather. Sometimes I had to compensate strong winds by flying a course slightly off course. But there was always the point.

When I go hunting, I have a point that often has a rack of horns on it. My point is to hit the animal. Sometimes I have to compensate for the drop of the bullet, depending on the distance traveled. Sometimes when the animal is running, I have to aim for where it is going to be when the bullet travels the distance. But there is always the point, a point of contact.

People go through life with points, not always good ones. They decide where they want to be and then figure out how to get there.

Unfortunately, many Christians miss the point of their faith. They come to church just to get their ticket punched and go on about their secular stiving for their secular points. They go about their schedules and the world’s demands. God gave us a beautiful life to be used wisely.

We should keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, taking time to pray, to dive into scriptures and to turn to Jesus continually throughout the day so that He can guide our steps. Keeping our eyes upon Jesus means turning away from a world that urges us to do more, be more and doesn’t want us to focus on Jesus, but on all the outwardly things. Every day we should surrender to God’s agenda and accept that His grace is sufficient enough.

In Exodus 3, Moses was doing something mundane, tending someone else’s flock, when he encountered the burning bush. At that point he made an intentional decision: “I will now turn aside,” he said. If he had been heading to a meeting with eyes glued to his smart phone, he might have missed that declaration of the divine in the ordinary, and thereby missed God’s call to him. When I keep looking for my burning bush, strain my divine lens of the ordinary, I find God turning my ordinary into extraordinary, declaring His divine each day and giving it His purpose.

What is your point?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

If we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–14), why is our salt and light not doing more to season and enlighten our culture? Why, in fact, are churches and Christian institutions sometimes the problem more than the solution?

— o —

SIX WORDS TO ENCOURAGE AND SHARE

• You are doing a great job.
• This is your year to shine.
• Don’t wait for opportunity. Create it.
• What you do has greater impact than what you say.

— Stephen Covey

— o —

THOUGHTS TO LIVE BY

• You got to nourish to flourish.
• Every end is a new beginning.
• Dreams don’t work unless you do.
• Moments give birth to new memories.
• Happiness is always an inside job.
• Live like there is no tomorrow.
• Fall seven times; stand up eight.
• With great power comes great responsibility.

— o —

WARNING: Sugarcoating the Gospel may fill church, but it will not get people to Christ!

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

• Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities.” DALE CARNEGIE
• If you add anything to Jesus, you actually take away something from Jesus. Ken Whitten
• We have to be careful where we focus our attention. Dan Shock
• Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. HELEN KELLER
• Sometimes, when God’s voice breaks through and He gives us a warning about something we are about to do, we say, “Thanks, Lord, but I don’t need any help there. I know what I’m doing.” The truth is, we don’t know what we are doing. And we do need His help.
• The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
• A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another’s.
• You set the table and God brings the people. Martha Moore
• The only mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. Henry Ford
• Life on earth is short, eternity somewhere is forever
• “A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears,” once observed the 16th century French statesman and author Michel de Montaigne.
• Jesus is the bridge between God and man. Dan Shock
• We shouldn’t judge people by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It was 1943 and the young lady lived happily in Greece with her family. She was a Jew. Her name was Garmaine……… Garmaine Pitchon.

One day there was a knock at her door and strangers told the family that they would be in danger if they remained in Greece, so they were being relocated to a place where they would be safe. They were told to board a train, where they were packed in unsanitary conditions for their long ride to their ultimate destination ….. Auschwitz.

Recently I had the privilege of walking those train tracks into the station where they were told to get off the train and were separated into groups. Within about ninety minutes most were forced to strip naked and sent into a giant shower, only there were no shower heads, only gas. With tears in my eyes, I have stood in the “shower” where more than a million Jews were gassed.

Of those who for various reasons were not gassed, they suffered tremendous atrocities. Garmaine had to watch her grandmother shot in the head before she went to Cell Block #10, where those chosen for medical experimentation were housed.

Carl Clauberg experimented with sterilization in the camp. Part of Block No. 10 was put at his disposal. Several hundred Jewish women in Block No 10 were used for his “medical” experiments. Clauberg developed a method of non-surgical sterilization that consisted of introducing into the female reproductive organs a specially prepared chemical irritant that produced sever inflammation. Within weeks, the fallopian tubes grew shut and were blocked. Clauberg’s experiments killed some of his subjects and others were put to death so that autopsies could be performed.

They were searching for a convenient means of mass sterilization that would enable the Third Reich to carry out the biological destruction of conquered nations by “scientific methods” by depriving people of their reproductive capacity.

Then it was Garmaine’s turn to present herself for sterilization. Once on the table, the German doctor made an incision and removed one of her ovaries. As he was about to do the other, there was suddenly an Allied air attack and the doctor ran for personal protection. A Jewish doctor, also a prisoner who was shortly later exterminated was forced to assist in the medical procedures. Before leaving, the German doctor commanded the Jewish doctor to finish the procedure on Garmaine.

As he began to do so, he leaned over and whispered to Garmaine, telling her that he had to make an incision to look like he had done the procedure, but he stopped short of any removal. He told Garmaine to do two things, first to disguise any monthly evidence that would show she was not sterilized and secondly he said “When you have your first baby, think of me.” That first baby is my now close friend Sol Pitchon, who came to America and surrendered his life to Christ and dedicated his life to saving babies, as he believed God had saved him “for such a time as this.”

Working in crisis pregnancy centers for the past nearly 25 years, Sol has saved the lives of more than ten thousand babies who would otherwise have been aborted and he continues to do so.

That’s why God saved the life and reproduction ability of Garmaine so Sol would be born to her and save the lives of so many others!

The ultimate way God turns what was meant for evil into good is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sin does not glorify God. But God uses sin for his glory by saving us from sin. … Therefore when we allow God’s grace to redeem us from our sins, God is turning what was meant for evil into good.

Thank you God. Thank you Sol.

***

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

COVETNESS:

The only thing we should covet is a closer relationship with God. The Bible tells us that covetousness is idolatry. That’s because the thing you desire becomes the central focus of your heart and mind. All your waking hours are spent scheming ways to get that thing for yourself.

The Bible says we are to covet just one thing. “But covet earnestly the best gifts (of the Spirit)” (1 Corinthians 12:31 KJV). The only thing we should covet is a closer relationship with God. If you are going to crave anything at all, crave the power of God’s Spirit working freely and fully in your life.

— o —

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. It requires a conscious decision because it is a countercultural lifestyle that stands against the culture of overconsumption that surrounds us.

The world we live in is not friendly to the pursuit of minimalism. Its tendencies and relentless advertising campaigns call us to acquire more, better, faster, and newer. The journey of finding simplicity requires consistent inspiration.

For that reason, I hope you will make an effort this weekend to find a quiet moment with a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy some of these hand-picked articles to encourage more simplicity in your life.

— The Minimalist

— o —

Pixar Animation Studios has become perhaps the most preeminent name in children’s entertainment. They have been a mainstay at the Oscars for more than two decades and, this year, developed two of the five movies nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. Soul took home the award, becoming the eleventh such Pixar property to do so.

The success of their recent offerings is not the only reason they are in the news today, however.

Last week, word began to circulate that they were looking to cast someone to voice the character Jess in an upcoming project. Jess is described as someone who is “compassionate, funny, and always has your back.” They are looking to for a 12–17-year-old who is “enthusiastic, outgoing, funny, and energetic” who also feels “comfortable acting in front of a microphone” and can “authentically portray a 14-year-old transgender girl.”

If that last part caught you by surprise, that’s kind of the point.

—Ryan Denison

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Following after emptiness only makes you empty. – Dan Shock

If you want to fly, you have to give up everything that weighs you down. – Toni Morrison

The circumstances you face aren’t nearly important as the conclusions you draw. – Pastor Ken Whitten

No work we undertake will be of any value, unless the Lord is with us. – Dan Shock

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Giving to the Lord should be the greatest joy and the greatest happiness that you know. Anything I offer to God must come from a willing heart if it’s to have any value.

There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self. – Aldous Huxley

If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools. – Plato

St. Augustine noted, “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

EVERYTHING IS TRAINING FOR SOMETHING. – Men of Iron

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all. – Emily Dickinson

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. – Louisa May Alcott

By retired Senator and attorney John Grant

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4

We live in a culture that is never satisfied and always desires more: More money. More clothing. More toys. More square feet. More followers. More power. More wealth. More prestige. More reputation. More sex. More. More. More.

In fact, in many ways, the pursuit of more defines our entire society. But there is a problem with the lifestyle choice of desiring more. When we constantly desire more, we are never satisfied. Because no matter how much we accumulate or achieve, more always exists. By definition, it is unquenchable.

No matter how much money is in your bank account… there can always be more. No matter how big your house… there can always be more. No matter how many likes on your Instagram post or views on your Tik-Tok video… there can always be more.

When more is the goal, we never fully arrive. It is insatiable. And that is the problem with always wanting more. Happiness and contentment will always elude us if we are looking for it in the acquisition of more.

I suppose, if it was commonplace to see an end to this pursuit, that would be a different story. If human beings eventually arrived at a level of more, and suddenly became content, we could all strive to reach that magical level. But that is not the example surrounding us. Quite the opposite in fact. Most everybody who acquires more, only continues to pursue it.

We see it in the lives of individuals who amass great fortunes but are not satisfied. We see it in the world’s largest corporations who continue to pursue greater and greater market share and profits. We see it in those who acquire power and then work relentlessly to keep it and expand upon it.

In the early 1900’s, John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world. He was once famously asked by a reporter, “How much money is enough money?” Rockefeller replied, “Just a little bit more.” More can never satisfy.

Of course, we don’t need to look at the lives of others to understand this phenomenon. One look in the mirror reveals the same motivation inside us.

The average American home has tripled in size in the last 50 years and continues to grow larger and larger. The average American woman owns 4X the amount of clothes as her grandmother, but continues to purchase. The average American home has 300,000 items inside it… and yet Amazon arrives on our doorstep several times each week.

When more is the goal, we will never find contentment. More is always a moving target. Never fully attainable.

We live life with only two options. We can continue to pursue more. We can believe there is a better life waiting if we were just to acquire more money, more property, more fame. Or we can reject the false notion that more is needed to discover happiness. And we can find contentment in our circumstances and gratitude for the blessings we already possess.

We can best arrive at the second by turning to scripture. True, biblical contentment is a conviction that Christ’s power, purpose and provision is sufficient for every circumstance. We are to learn how to walk through all kinds of adversity believing in and experiencing Christ’s sufficiency.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

The choice is yours.

As for me, I’ll choose contentment with less.

***

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Easy religions always appeal to the flesh because they don’t require a denial of self. Yet what did Jesus give as the first requirement for someone who wanted to follow Him? “Deny yourself.” I cannot live after the Spirit and after the flesh. These two things are contrary.

• Easy religions will never bring you to the true and living, eternal Creator.

• Easy religions might please my flesh, but they do not please God. In seeking my own pleasure, I lose His. If you follow these easy religions, you will find yourself alienated from the true God as you seek to make a god out of yourself.

• The path into eternal life begins at the cross; you can’t escape it. It is a straight path. It is a narrow path. But it leads to eternal life. Dan Shock

— o —

WORDS OF WISDOM:

“I must study politics and war, that our sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. Our sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history and naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain.” —JOHN ADAMS

***

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

The greatest cure for discouragement is to get busy doing God’s work. Dan Shock

A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success. JOYCE BROTHERS

If you don’t read the newspaper you are uninformed, if you do read the newspaper you are misinformed. Mark Twain

I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle. Winston Churchill

Some claim to be Christians don’t understand the gospel of substitution because they still believe in a gospel of self-salvation. Ken Whitten

Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you. WALT WHITMAN

If we can’t live on 90% of our income, we probably can’t live on 100% either. Dave Ramsey

“Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. But you said, ‘We will not walk in it” (Jeremiah 6:16).

All of us some time or another are confronted with “crossroad” experiences in our lives. I am not talking about which movie to see. I am talking about those significant decisions that have profound impact on the direction of our lives. Which college to attend, what career path to pursue and the big daddy of the all, who to marry.

We find ourselves at a crossroads and if we take the right road, we end up where we ought and want to be. If we take the wrong road, the further we go, the further we get from where we ought to be.

I remember some of those crossroad decisions in my life. They weren’t easy and often I was torn between what I desired and what I knew was right. There I stood… at the crossroads…. choices, decisions, action, inaction. Many of those times came before I was a Christian and knew that the Bible could give me great guidance in making those decisions. Here are some Biblically based suggestions to pray when you are faced with those crossroad decisions.

▪ Choices allow us to love or not… help us choose love.

▪ Choice allow us to choose right or wrong… help us choose right.

▪ Choices allow us to choose the light or the dark…. help us choose light.

▪ Choices allow us to choose between good and bad… help us choose good.

▪ Choices allow to choose between good and best… help us choose best.

▪ Choices allow us to choose you… help us draw near to you.

▪ O Lord, we give you thanks and praise for allowing us to make our own choices.

▪ O Lord, help us choose wisely.

▪ O Lord, help us choose your paths and your ways.

▪ O Lord, as we stand at the crossroads, help us choose the ancient path, the good way and help us walk in it.

O Lord, help us choose You.

***

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

FIVE BEST SENTENCES

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity, by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work, because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work, because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation!

— o —

Entering the first church ever built:

The church built over the site of Jesus’ birth makes this point in a profound way.

When I lead study tours to Israel, we always visit the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. This was the first church building constructed under the reign of Constantine (ca. AD 330). The original structure was burned and destroyed in the sixth century, then rebuilt by Byzantine Emperor Justinian (482–565).

The Door of Humility provides entrance to the massive church. It was created to keep looters from driving carts into the church and to force even the most important visitors to dismount from their horses to enter the holy place.

Every time I bend down to enter the church that commemorates Jesus’ birth, I remember again that the best way to come to a King is in humility.

***

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Waste no more time arguing about what a good person should be. Be one. —MARCUS AURELIUS

When God touches your heart, it fills with love and peace. Though the storms may rage, you have a glorious confidence in God’s ability to control life’s circumstances. Dan Shock

Through Jesus, your past is explained, your present has a purpose, and your future is secure. What more could you really want in life? —Jase Robertson

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it. —Edith Wharton

How foolish it is to think that we can hide the truth from God. He knows the truth. God sees right through all of the disguises, because He sees our hearts. —Dan Shock

Whenever a nation’s laws no longer reflect the standards of God, that nation is in rebellion against Him and will inevitably bear the consequences. —Rep. Greg Steube

The uncommitted stand by and watch as the forces of darkness take over. —Dan Shock

Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it.” —Lou Holtz. Former Notre Dame FB Head Coach

Some people stop living before they die. —Ken Whitten

***

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Hebrews 12:11

Mark Twain is purported to have given this advice. If you ever have to eat a live frog, it’s best done first thing in the morning. If you have to eat two frogs, he reportedly recommended eating the bigger one first. I know this scenario is awfully unlikely, but it’s good advice, nonetheless. Why eat the BIG frog first thing in the morning, you ask? Because you can go through the rest of your day knowing that the hardest task is behind you!

What “to-do list items” are you most tempted to procrastinate on? What goals have you had forever, but not taken the first step toward? What difficult decision have you been delaying? That, my friend, is your big frog! Give yourself a deadline; then get started.

The bottom line? You can’t just pray like it depends on God. You also have to work like it depends on you. If you want God to do the super, you’ve got to do the natural. And you have to start first thing in the morning.

How you start the day sets the tone for the rest of it, yet many of us never give the morning a second thought beyond getting out the door on time. Our morning rituals are as unplanned as an earthquake. Is that the best way to start the day? That’s sounding the retreat before the day even begins. If you want to win the day, you’ve got to attack the day. How? Eat the BIG frog First.

Some people like to ease into the day without breaking a sweat, and I totally get that. Perhaps even sleep in on occasion, which is totally fine. But there is something to be said for starting the day with a challenge. It might be raising your heart rate via exercise or lowering your blood pressure via meditation. Either way, consistency is king.

What’s the one thing you least like to do, but you feel best about afterward? That’s your frog. The good news? Well-begun is half-done! If you do the natural, it sets God up to do something super. Start each day with HIM. Read His Word and go to him in prayer. Then whatever the day hold, you are ready to eat your frog.

What is your BIG frog?

***

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

We need a proper perspective of the giants in our lives. We need to take our eyes off of the problems and look instead on the Lord. We need to remember that God is for us, and He has made all the resources of heaven available to us. Through the power of the Lord, every giant in your life can fall. But we must trust Him. Dan Shock

— o —

Parking Lot and Vehicle Safety

In your car:

1. Lock your car door immediately after getting in your car.

2. Do not sit in your car in a parking lot — get in and drive off.

3. Check your surroundings before you turn off your car and get out. Anything suspicious – Drive Off!

4. Keep your cell phone handy at all times. A decent medical kit along with a flashlight, raingear and tire repair tools is highly recommended.

5. Make a practice of filling your gas tank when it drops below 1/2 full.

6. Don’t EVER park next to or get in your car next to a panel van.

7. When stopping, make certain you can see the bottoms of the tires of the car ahead of you. This leaves you room to drive around that vehicle.

8. If you are being followed, drive to the nearest Emergency Room.

Around Your Car:

1. Be alert and aware when leaving stores, malls, etc.

2. Have your keys in your hand as you approach your car. Around 40% of all robberies happen at the door of a car.

3. Look inside your car before getting in.

4. Lock your car and take the keys when you get out to pump gas.

5. Don’t use ATMs at night or in vulnerable places.

6. Avoid filling your arms with packages that obscure your vision.

7. Avoid stairs in parking garages —walk down the ramp facing traffic.

8. In parking lots, walk down the middle, not close to parked cars (unless there is traffic approaching).

9. If a driver asks for directions while you are on foot, stay back several feet from the car.

— o —

WE CAN AVOID TRAGIC MISTAKES BY:

(1) ALWAYS ALLOWING GOD’S WORD TO GUIDE OUR DECISIONS.

(2) NEVER MAKING A DECISION UNTIL YOU HAVE FIRST SOUGHT GOD’s GUIDANCE THROUGH PRAYER. Dan Shock

NOT A SINGLE WORD OF GOD HAS FAILED. Dan Shock

***

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

When we read the Bible, God talks to us, but when we pray, we talk to God. Dana Hardee

When God cleans us up, we are ready to go to battle; when we try to clean ourselves up, we just move the dirt from one spot to another. Dwight Short

God is looking for men and women with open, willing hearts, those who would say, “Here I am, Lord. I am not content with my life the way it is, Lord. I want to give it all to You.” When discontentment brings you to a total commitment to Jesus Christ, that’s good discontentment because it leads to progress. Dan Shock

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud. MAYA ANGELOU

NOT A SINGLE WORD OF GOD HAS FAILED. Dan Shock

I’ve always been amazed at folks who think that success in life is anti-Biblical. How can anyone think that God created us to be unsuccessful in any area of life that He ordained as good? The Preacherman

He who is not every day conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Don’t be busy; Be productive