Thoughts, and observation from a minister

When people slip away from Christ

2011-09-13T09:08:00.002-05:00

Through my years I have watched as people slip away from God.
I am always praying about what to do, if anything. I feel I do to little, too much, my timing is too late, or I step in too soon.
All I know is that I hurt. I always hurt. I am the watchman, and I repent for my failure.
I realize, Gods voice is there when my voice is silent, Gods hand is there when my hand is absent. God loves them more than I do, and he will do what I can not do.
The good ones always come back, God may break their heart, strip them of the world, or just love the daylights out of them. He does not loose his own, those who have a heart for God.
God is God, the hardest part is I know exactly what is outside of Gods will. It is a wicked sinful world, that will only take and never give. It is a drugged up drunken, self-serving world filled with death, with no hope. I learned the hard way, maybe that is why it hurts me so much. I have seen them after the world is finished with them.
I pray for all that have slipped, I pray gods presence be so strong, his love so powerful, than no one can go to far, without god's love overpowering any pull from the enemy.
I have always pray that God reveal the enemy to them, in such a way that they see just how ugly he is. Satan seldom wants our body, without God it will self destruct, it is our soul he is after, our influence that would bring others to Christ.
I warn them, because I am commanded to watch for their souls. I warn them because I care. I warn them because they are part of me as they are part of Christ.
When I have done all I can do.
My faith then takes over, I am usually left broken but with a better awareness of what can happen to anyone anytime, if we let our guard down. When I have nothing left, I see and feel God, and if I can feel him, I know that others can feel him too.
People seldom slip because of sin.Sin usually follows, but people slip, because of alliances made with the enemy, that take them away from the commitments they have made to God. It can be as innocent as a Bowling league, Ball team, or work relations. It is seldom sin, but sin usually gets the blame, because that is what we see, usually after the the deception has already worked its work.
Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
1 John 4:4
How does one get back, by dieing unto Christ, and them burying yourself in his word, his people, his music, his work, and having noting to do with anything of the world.
It is surrender. Until then non of us have ever had a real relationship with Christ.
We need to stop looking at others, and look in a mirror. God works on me every time one slips. Every time, and I find I could have done more, and I could have done it better. That makes me better, and always brings me closer to Christ, and that is a good place to be.

Nine Eleven

2011-09-12T05:22:00.001-05:00

Nine eleven is finally here

it stirs our hearts with all kinds of fear

To many it is a memory we cannot forget,

to others it's a vision of when the plane's hit.

Whether thinking or seeing it matters not.

This is a time that cannot be forgot.

Help those who cannot feel your hand,

to at least see evil in Satan's land.

Help us to know there's a war to be won,

it is not with a people but the evil one.

It is a spiritual battle that is won only through Christ,

Lord give us the victory as we give you our life.

Nine eleven will soon be past,

only what's done for Christ will last.

R.L. Fry 9-11-11

2011-08-04T22:44:00.002-05:00

Funerals

2011-07-26T09:02:00.001-05:00

I am dressed and waiting to go do another funeral. I have never kept count of the the numbers, maybe because I never felt people should be treated as a number.
I was thinking of the first funeral service I officiated.
I had no training on how to do a funeral. I had attended several, but I had been in the barber chair many time, but being the barber, was a completely different vantage point.
I prayed, and ask God to lead my thoughts, and allow me the freedom to respond to his spirit.
I have now been doing funerals for over 36 years, I have had two in one day, 5 in one week, they have been both, young, old, Christian, and non-Christian. Sudden deaths, and long suffering deaths.
This is what I learned.
I pray and ask God to lead my thoughts, and allow me the freedom to respond to his spirit. The same as I did the first funeral I officiated.
I have often thought, maybe I have never done a funeral the way folks think I should, but I will continue to do them the way I always have, and pray that the people hear Gods voice and not mine

The fight for your Life, my morning thoughts.

2011-07-26T09:01:00.000-05:00

The Church is in a battle, around the world, there is only one way to win this battle, and that is for every Christian to win the battle personally. Your personal battle, your personal struggle, your personal priority.

Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Can we win this struggle, can we be victors, the Bible says yes we can.

John 16:33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

He has overcome the world, and we can too, if we abide in him.

There is noting that should be able to come between the joy we have in Christ.

No circumstance, no person, no event, nothing.

Psalm 3:3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head.

Psalm 13:5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.

Psalm 16:9 Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure,

Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

When we slip from Gods grace, we find our joy eroded, because we have allowed something, someone, some circumstance, other than God to bring us his peace, joy, and rest.

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Jeremiah 31:25 I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint."

There is no rest, no peace, no rest, no help, outside of him, and he does not request 100% he demands 100%, the only way this works, is your commitment to him, and it must be total, nothing less will work.

Joshua 24:15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Col 1:24-29 Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

2011-07-04T21:28:00.000-05:00

Old Glory

2011-07-04T08:36:00.001-05:00

When I look upon old glory

I feel her heart and remember her story

I see more than the red, white, and blue

I see the faces come shining through

The men and women who gave it all

so we can have freedom in the assembly hall

Freedom to worship as we please

freedom to work and live at ease

Their faces are always showing there

Asking me if I really care

I remove my hat, and lay my hand on my heart

but that is not all it is only the start

I owe it to them for the life they gave

to vote, worship, and respect their grave

All gave some, and some gave all

The least I can do is respect their fall

I will stand in respect as she passes by

with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye

I am thankful for all they have given me

The home of the brave the land of the free

The next time you see old glory pass by

give her your heart, not just your eye.

R.L. Fry 4July 2011

If I could hear my father sing again

2011-06-19T20:53:00.002-05:00

To his great great granddaughter he gave his last cute smile
He had not opened his eyes for such a long long while
I saw my mom kiss his cheek, with a tear drop in her eye
She then turned and smiled at me, she looked back and said goodbye

Dad was all ready now, to travel to his home
The one he had been looking for, the one around Gods throne
I could only envy him, as I had done so many times before
He soul was moving rapidly toward heavens open door.

I laid my hand upon his head, it was there for some time
I could feel his heart singing Jesus is all mine
He finally slipped away, to the other shore.
The moment of his passing, made me love Jesus more and more.

Dad is now in heaven, and his memories are so sweet
I look forward to seeing him again, at Jesus feet
I can hear him singing in God's choir, its about to begin
The song is so beautiful, and I can here my father sing again.

My Dad

2011-06-14T08:50:00.002-05:00

My dad was tough fair and strong

he always confronted me when I was wrong

he held my hand when I was right

and stood beside me in a fight

He always taught me to take a stand

That was part of being a man

never worry who stands with you

and always remember god will see you through

Feed everyone both friend and foe

You may need their help, you never know

keep your door open, let everyone in

to do any less would just be sin

I gave you my name, I kept it as clean as I could

Make sure you pass it on, clean like you should

You won't always be right, you to will fall

Make sure you clean up your mess, give it your all.

Your life will be short, no matter how long you live

Be a soul winner first, and never forget to give

It isn't about gain for yourself you know

It is for his glory, you will reap what you sow

Here is to you my best advice.

Don't drink, don't smoke, pick up no vice.

It will be hard at times, but you will be in control

Life isn't about the Body, it is about the soul

I am now in heaven, because of Christ

It has given me the best my entire Life

The sooner you learn it, the better off you will be

It started at an alter on bended knee

It didn't end there, that was just the start

You must give him your life, not just your heart

Being born again, is what it is all about

give him all you got, and never doubt.

I want to see you all some day

but Jesus Christ is the only way

It worked for my dad, my grand dad too

and I am sure it will work for you.

God Speaks

2011-04-04T06:49:00.000-05:00

God Speaks

Lord when did it start, where did we fail

It seem the whole earth is being whirled by its tail.

The wars, and the earth quakes, they are coming so fast

How long lord, do we wait, for the one final blast.

You have our attention, if you will just show us your hand

There are times we feel so defeated, and drug through the sand.

We have prayed so intensely lord, now what must be done.

To get your attention Lord, and get back to the fun.

Now son hold your thought there, just for a bit.

The world looks much different from where I am set.

I have given you the Bible, and my only son.

You pray like you love him, then turn and run.

You want your prayers answered, then listen to me

Give up yourself, and lean totally on me.

Give up the temporal things, or I will take them away.

I made everything, they are all mine anyway.

Be the kind of man, I created you to be

Full of power and might, from all fear be set free.

Stand in the gap life isn't too long you will see

But you do as I choose, and you will have all eternity.

See now young man, it isn't as bad as some think.

All that needs done will be done in a blink.

So stop playing around, and get back to my task

Disconnect from the world, and connect to what last.

The world is a temporary home at its best.

I have a place fore you , that is more than you guest.

A home that is eternal, splendid, and fair.

I am just doing my best to make sure you are all there.

Rev. Robert Fry

Building a Church for God not men

2011-02-16T07:26:00.000-06:00

Hebrews 8:5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.

WHY????? WHY was Moses to build it according to the pattern shown to him by God??

What if he build it bigger, making it more attractive to the masses, and dumbed it down so those who really did not believe would be more comfortable, or at least would not be turned off by its presence.

I wonder if God would have shown his presence, if Moses did it his own way.

I don't think so, there was only one way to build it. The tabernacle was the image of Christ and his atonement.

It could only be one way, and that was by devine instruction.

The Church is the body of Christ, it can only be built one way, and Jesus said "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

We need to build the Church so God will show his presence, and spend less time on thinking about what will make people come to the Church.

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." This is repeated later, in Prov. 16:25 "THERE IS A WAY THAT SEEMS RIGHT TO A MAN, BUT ITS END IS THE WAY OF DEATH."

Men build Dead Churches, God builds churches that are alive.

How do we know the differance? First we must seek God, not a program, not a style, but a God that demands that we deny ourselves, and pick up his cross.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God... The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God." (Romans 8:14,16).

There is no substitute for, rightiousness, holy living, and a desire to serve him, rather than ourselves.

The Church must be built to please God, and men must conform to his immage.

Growing a established Church

2011-02-03T09:58:00.000-06:00

When becoming a pastor of a established church, one thing is a constant 20% do most of the work and give most of the money.

The first thing most pastors do is try to inspire the leadership, and teach them new way, remember new ways come hard, even harder if some of those ways work. Change is always difficult.

The second thing most pastors do is try to go out and find new people, and new leaders. That isn't a bad thing, but we all know it is difficult to bring new leadership into a established church, no matter how low the attendance.

Even if successful at bringing new folks in, bringing them to a position of leadership is almost imposable.

It is no wonder many ministers want to start a Church from scratch, taking a established church is like starting from itch, that is before scratch

The question needs to be ask why are 80% of the people that attend doing nothing, and giving even less. These people have made a commitment, to attend, but for some reason they do not move beyond the attendance point of commitment.

You will find these things to be true, if you do a slow interview process with the 80%.

Some have been through difficult times, and feel disqualified from working, I have found this could be a child born out of wedlock 35 years ago that disqualifies both the mother and child, a divorce 20 years ago. There are many things that makes one feel disqualified, usually it is a devils lie to keep them on the side lines. I have found that this lie is usually confirmed and enforced by the 20% in leadership.

Others may be considered too new, they married into the church family, and just are not considered as a insider quite yet, even though they have been married for 15 to 20 years. They also are a little outspoken, and the 20% do not like that, it could threaten the way they have always done things.

I have always made it a point to try and pastor all of the people, and hearing their stories have always helped me in decision making.

A old pastor told me when taking a new church wait two years before making any real changes, he was a wise man. He was telling me to get to know the people. Read and understand the by-laws. After two years you should have a vision what is happening, and a vision on how to make things move ahead for Gods glory.

The 80% that are there committed, and willing to help, but never ask, never considered, because a established church has its leadership, and it is passed down from generation to generation, and always with less real commitment to God or the real vision of the Church. We would call that denominationalism, dedicated to the movement, but not dedicated to what built the movement, or the spirit that inspired the movement.

First get as many of the 80% working, find them jobs, no need to take old jobs from those serving, just add new work, new ministries.

The first thing I have done, and suggest to all new pastors, have a group you can lead, I called it pastoral ministries, it worked outside of the committees, I could start them staff them, and in order for anyone to attack them, they had to go through me, that protected the new leadership, and the others were busy doing what they always did. Never put new wine in old skins or new ministries under old committees, they will die, I learned that the hard way.

As the 80% feel accepted and are working, they will develop into acceptable leaders, and will catch the vision of growth. They are teachable, and will grow in the Lord. They will not take ownership, but will take responsibility the ministry they are leading.

There will be some battles, most will be along the lines of selfishness, and

self-righteousnesses.

As the old move off the scene, move the new real leaders into positions of leadership, they will accept the new people God sends to the church. They will make sure they are treated with respect, you trained them.

The biggest challenge is a game children play, and it is easy to spot. It is played like this. (Pastor: I know I may be only one of the few that want this, but I need your influence so I can get my way with the majority.) It will be more covert, but you will hear it loud and clear. Two things, one they already know they do not have the influence they had, and two they are trying to see if you are still working for them.

Remember it is your influence, not theirs to be used, you earned it, so use it wisely.

If you do not do as they ask, it will be a battle, but remember who called you, and he will always be faithful. In times like this, I have seen God hand move, he always sends replacements if they leave always, you can bank on that. These are the hardest times for any minister, watching someone that can work, give, and lead, just walk away. It will happen, ownership of the Church is only by God himself, not anyone else. When they leave they will go to another established church and most ministers are willing to accept them, and this can cause hard feeling between ministers. Do your best to keep those doors open, you too will accept those from other churches. I personally do my best not to side with those who come but accept them, and help them to move on, and keep a healthy relationship with the church and pastor. Hatred has no place in any church.

Try to fine people with spiritual gifts in the areas you need leadership. There is a real anointing that goes with Gods work, allow him to help you start ministries that are need based, and when people have a passion for their work. Look beyond the worlds qualifications, and look for a spirit of love joy peace long-suffering gentleness. Make sure these people are being used, they are like Maple trees, once they are tapped they just keep putting out sweetness.

Move the Church to a point that seeing someone saved is the best thing in the world to see, nothing is better. This will bring the church to its mission, and teach all to be better Christians, this will attract others, to Christ and to his Church.

Prayer is touching God and his power, submitting to prayer is easy if we have submitted to God himself. Prayer is the most powerful thing we have, when building a church, prayer changes us so we can be used by him.

Every young minister want to pastor a established church, and most young ministers do not get a chance to do that, unless the attendance is embarrassing, and the church needs life support.

I have pastored two established Church, and both had a train wreck before I came.

Established churches are click orientated, if you as a pastor are accepted that is good, but remember if you change too much they will reject you, especially if their positions are threatened.

The 20% will stay when a church wins no souls, when the pastors mess up, and when the hand writing is on the wall about the death of the church.

They will leave when their positions are threatened, even if the church is winning souls, growing, and the spirit of the lord is present at all services. I have seen many come back, and embrace the Church, many I am sorry to say do not.

Make sure you welcome them back if they come back, they are not bad people, they have just done what they have always done, and many times when they leave they will be successful in another church were they can not take ownership, they would be considered the new kid on the block, so pray for them, but never let what happened in the past mess with the present, it is never personal, even though Satan tries to make you think it is personal. I have been called many times to the side of a death bed, by those who had left usually upset. I always go, and the time has always been rich, and rewarding.

Building a successful ministry is just that, ministering. Be constant in season and out of season, you never know when God will call you into account, in everything pray. Keep good notes, I have always kept a journal of the hard decisions and the process I went through to make that decision. I have found that others try to paint you as they want others to see you, and a journal will help to keep what you knew and when you knew it in line. I always ask for more information, when someone says many or several people think this, I always ask who, and many time I ask them to write down what that person says, so I have a hard copy of all the information on a difficult decision I am about to make.

Lives are at stake, we have no time to play Church, it is time to do something.

I ramble a little, sorry for that, but I pray this gets in the hands of someone who needs it. God Bless you

Pastor R.L. Fry

The church

2011-01-25T12:00:00.003-06:00

Why was Abraham chosen? He was a good man, that we know, but he sure wasn't perfect, we all have read the Bible. He did give us a prophetic line about the birth of Jesus who is the Christ. That line followed through David, and then the Virgin Birth.

God could have chosen anyone, but the real story is about the linage of Jesus the Christ, not Abraham.

The documented evidence, that Jesus was not just a man, but he was the promised visit of God himself.

The Tabernacle that Moses built, and the Temple that Solomon build were both in modern day terms a embassy so God could show his presents.

John the Baptist said when Jesus came to be baptized, behold the kingdom of God is at hand.

Gods kingdom was and is all inclusive, not to a nation, as some believe, but to all who believe. The Bible says whosoever will may come.

He said to all believers that we are a chosen people, sanctified unto God,and those who do not believe are already condemned.

Today the world is doing its best to define the Church as any other organization, and not a holy organism headed by God himself. The churches leaders God said are called by him, anointed by him, and lead by him.

Ephesians 4:11 It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Many miss seeing the Church for what it is, because they miss what the Bible teaches about its holiness, and power.

We see leadership only as another person, we see the church only as another organization to join.

Remember those who hung Jesus, those who beat him, those who betrayed him, those who scoffed him, only saw a man. They even know the scriptures but they were blinded by their own will.

I pray that all believers can see the Church, and even though it looks like most other organizations, even with its shortcomings, it is a holy union with Jesus Christ, and in it there is a supernatural power.

Not because of us but because of him.

Two Moose Day

2010-05-01T09:59:00.001-05:00

A Two Moose Day

Dr. James Dobson tells the story of the “two moose day” that seems relevant to most of us. It’s about a Vermont man on his way to work one foggy morning when a 700-lb. moose steps into the road in front of him.

He hits the moose, which comes up over the hood and mashes the roof of the car. The moose is killed. Though his injuries a minor the driver is taken to the hospital. Later that day the man is driving home from the hospital in his pickup truck.

You might have seen this coming: another moose, this one a bit larger than the first, is in the roadway. Our driver stops, but the moose charges the truck. When it’s over, both moose and truck are totaled.

That’s a two moose day. I especially like the story because on more than one occasion when I was stationed in Alaska years ago an entire line of vehicles would be held up while a moose decided when and if it would move off the roadway. Fighter jets cleared for take-off would wait impatiently until a moose wandered off the runway.

We all have to wait for the moose sometimes. It’s annoying, but not fatal. When we hit the moose, it gets more serious. And sometimes it will just be a two moose day no matter what we do to avoid it.

The trick is to remember that moose are relatively solitary creatures. There’s no vast moose herd out there in the woods waiting to overwhelm me. I’ve dealt with two moose days before. You have, too. So far, we’re still on the road.

Keep driving. Just watch for the “Moose Crossing” signs.

Money as Debt

2010-02-15T10:56:00.000-06:00

The “Bottom Line

2010-02-10T00:32:00.001-06:00

"Stock prices have resumed their historic decline; and foreign currencies, precious metals, oil, and other commodities have also resumed their declines which, along with real estate prices, will likely prove crushing to most investors. Declining monetary aggregates and rising interest rates on all but the highest quality short-term debt are resuming as the credit crisis returns amidst a scramble for liquidity in the emerging “Greater Depression”.

ALL prudent investors, who are not astute traders, should now be out of stocks and bonds. Expect stock prices to decline farther and faster than they did in the Fall and Winter of 2008-09 and than they declined in 1929-32.

While U.S. Treasury bond yields may drop somewhat as stocks sell off stongly, interest rates must continue their rise over time as the finances of the U.S. and most other nations become increasing unwieldy.

This may be investors’ last chance to get their assets out of harm’s way. Those who are properly prepared may yet profit and live in relative abundance as global wealth is devastated and chaos reigns.

Economic Fundamentals Remain Very Weak

Home sales, consumer debt, and rising unemployment/underemployment offer brutal evidence that the economy here and globally is still, more or less, flat on its back. 43 states saw rising unemployment in December, sharply up from 36 in November. Nationally, many workers are not being tallied in unemployment statistics because they are discouraged from looking for work (600,000 in December). True U.S. unemployment is approaching 20%. Many are seeing their unemployment benefits run out.

An estimate of $350 billion for the States’ fiscal 2010 deficits will surely be revised higher. Also, those deficits are artificially reduced by Federal stimulus which, itself, will soon have to be withdrawn. As I reminded in the August 31 Bulletin, persistently rising consumer credit and real estate problems and growing weakness in commercial real estate, along with steadily rising unemployment and underemployment will eventually and cumulatively reassert sufficient gravity that will also cause hopes for recovery to turn to fear and then to panic. Those concerns are growing.

Growing inability of nations to borrow and spend to support their economies and also to remain solvent will result in more of their “stimulus” programs being reduced before long. Reported growth in economies is largely due to such borrowing and spending. (U.S. GDP statistics do not disclose the source of sector spending.) Spending by government – that can only consume or redistribute and cannot produce wealth – cannot build productive wealth of nations or of their citizens.

In the U.S. all reported economic growth is the result of these irresponsible and short-sighted practices.

Meanwhile, the real collateral and capital base of nations necessary for their borrowings and growth is dissipating at accelerating rates. Nations, not just homeowners and businesses, are becoming “upside down”. Severe recession and deflation devour tax revenues at all levels of government so expect their deficits to become even more problematic and alarming.

How could real prospects be positive when government interventions are draining our substance and strangling incentives of producers, frustrating efficient and profitable asset allocation, and encouraging foolish and unproductive investment and spending decisions within our economy? And when mountains of debt in all sectors of the global economy are unserviceable and deflating? And when the fierce but futile efforts by government and financial system to keep prices and wages high will extend and deepen the “Greater Depression” ahead.

Lack of confidence is growing in mythical “green shoots” economic recovery. Recognized inabilities of governments and their central banks to borrow, spend, and inflate their way back to prosperity is returning and will predictably turn from extremes of unfounded optimism to panic as deflationary declines accelerate. Securities valuations are increasingly seen as optimistic given economic performance that is, at best, soft; and markets – stocks, bonds, commodities – are poised for sharp declines.

Creditworthiness of national governments is showing increasing signs of fracture. Dubai, Greece and Portugal, France and others in the Eurozone plus Great Britain are the latest names to add to Iceland, Ireland, and Eastern Europe. Bailouts of the largest financial institutions and of governments, such as Dubai recently, reveal the global enormity of our harm’s way economic crisis. I discuss the looming “debt trap” of historic proportions in Harm’s Way Financial Planning and Asset Management.

Japan, the second largest national economy, has far higher debt levels than any major country, and with their interest burden at near zero rates has nowhere to go but to dramatically larger borrowing costs and deficits. Indeed, that is the future for most large countries, including the U.S. China has overreached on stimulating their own economy and is seeing customers for their exports struggling. Nations are adopting protectionist policies back home that will further reduce economies of major exporters like China and isolate them from global trade. To assume that China will continue to hold large amounts of debt of the U.S. and others is foolish.

While the U.S. benefits from “flight to quality” with both dollar strength and demand for our (especially shorter maturity) Treasury debt, the U.S. debt crisis remains just over the horizon.

Deflation is again raising its ugly head. Deflation, deleveraging, and global economic decline are resuming here and globally as the broadest measures of the money supply contract. Deflation reigns despite frantic efforts to reinflate through governments’ “stimulus” borrowing of massive amounts and through the Fed and other central banks buying that debt and debts of others in order to create new “money” in their economies. Nonetheless, broad measures of money and credit are dropping, and the “global village” is under great pressure.
The total bank credit shows that the economic sluggishness is consistent with the new downtrend in money and near-money assets.

M3, the broadest monetary aggregate, plus total bank credit trends turning down show that that the deflationary threat is very real. It includes large time deposits, institutional money funds, and other large liquid assets along with narrower aggregates that include coin and currency and deposits of consumer, business, and government deposits in the banking system (M1 and M2).

EWI does not expect inflation to return until, at least 2012, and probably not until at least 2014. The signs are saying that a more rapid and powerful decline in the current Primary Wave 3 bear market leg could end sooner the most powerful portion of the deflationary decline. Possible shortages in food and other key commodities, like energy, could cause those prices to rise in crisis. Commodity prices react to fear of shortages and not to optimistic social mood. Indeed, panic can fuel powerful spikes in commodity prices, hence the need to prepare for shortages of critical tangibles.

High global debt levels are both financially destructive and deflationary because they require increasingly scarce cash to pay interest, much less principal. How can real growth occur as assets and incomes are deflating, debts are turning sour and people save and shrink debts instead of spend and invest? People have been realizing that their cash is more valuable to them than what they can buy with it. This reality should be seen even more powerfully in months ahead.

Since “money” is borrowed into existence by the banking system, shrinking bank deposits and credit outstanding equals deflation and economic decline.

Market and Economic Analysis Highlights

The break of the 10-month trendline of the Dow Jones Industrials Average from its March lows indicates the next major decline of the greatest bear market in at least 290 years has begun. That rally in stock prices reached highs (10,729.90 in the Dow) on January 19th. Just two days later, the Dow index closed decisively beneath its uptrend line on an increase in volume and the strongest downside breadth (issues sold greater than bought) in the last two months. The decline continues and, despite rallies, such as a counter-trend bounce that began today, should accelerate to the downside. Such rallies provide opportunities to exit or go short.

Recent declines also broke the late-November and mid-December lows, erasing 10 weeks of gains in just three days as prices in all indexes declined impulsively. The rally ending satisfied many analytical price and time targets. Market internals have been weakening for months as optimism, by some measures, was even stronger than at the October 2007 highs. of Investor optimism extremes signal significant tops. Optimism has begun to decline as the crowd begins to grasp reality and market volatility increases.

Expect that, for several reasons, the Primary Wave 3 decline which appears to be in its earliest stages, will drop farther and faster than did the 1930-32 decline, though we should also experience powerful snap back rallies along the way as I illustrated in the October 31st Bulletin for 1929-32. Each rally, however, should be more than fully retraced as stock prices continue to work their way lower. Expect that pattern to be similar to the 5-vave impulsive decline seen above in the second chart that tracked the Dow’s 17-month Primary Wave 1 decline into the March lows of last year.

In the global scramble for liquidity as over-priced and over-financed assets deflate, the dollar has begun a major advance against other currencies that will likely last through 2010. Dollar strength corresponds to valuation declines in gold and silver, oil, and in other commodities which are also under pressure because global demand resumes its decline as recession becomes depression. The Elliott Wave Int’l price target for gold is “below $680 per ounce”.

Be Ready for the “Big One”
Before this extremely large degree Primary Wave 3 down ends, the Dow should be below 4000, perhaps even below 1000, as the following projection chart by EWI suggests. After a relatively weak rally then, Primary Wave 5 down should eventually find a final bottom below Dow 1000. EWI’s target is “below Dow 400”. Expect stocks to be crushed for many years.

Expect the current first leg down in Primary Wave 3 (Intermediate wave 1) to break the March low of 6470, or at least roughly 40% below the final January 19th high of Dow 10,729.90. Dow 4000 would be 63% below that high and more than 70% below the final bull market high reached in October 2007. While broader stock indexes, such as the NASDAQ and smaller capitalization issues, fell further, they also tended to rally more but should now again experience even greater declines than the Dow.

We cannot know how long the decline will take or its final bottom, but we can be confident that investor pessimism will be significantly more negative than in late 2008 and early 2009. The most powerful point of decline should occur at its center (at the center of wave 3 declines of various degrees). At that point, investors will stop focusing on possible upside potential for the markets and start worrying about how far down it will go.

This “point of recognition” occurrence (“Prechter Point”) should be stunning enough to set all-time records for financial panic. Thereafter, pessimism becomes the dominant expression of social mood. EWI’s projections for reaching the all-time lows in social mood are around 2016. Regardless of when pessimism bottoms, be prepared for meaningful recovery to be deferred for much longer".

There is a whole lot of shaken going on.

2010-02-06T10:10:00.002-06:00

Whatever Can Be Shaken Will Be Shaken‘For thus says the Lord of hosts; Yet once more I will shake the heavens, the earth, the sea and the dry land, and I will shake all nations’ (Haggai 2:6). ‘Yet once more I will shake the earth and also the heavens. Now this expression, “Yet once more”, indicates the final transformation of all that can be shaken – that is, of that which has been created in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Let us therefore, receiving a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, offer to God pleasing service and acceptable worship’ (Hebrews 12:25 to 28). God is not only shaking things on earth – He is also shaking things in heaven. ‘All the foundations of the earth are shaking’ (Psalm 82:5). ‘The powers of the heavens will be shaken’ (Matthew 24:29 & 30). Every Christian needs to be prepared to be shaken, and that is not easy.

Why would God shake His people? To purify us for theKingdom of God (Titus 2:14); to separate the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32).Remember, this Gospel is a Gospel of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 24:14); it is the power unto salvation. The Kingdom of God is the only thing that can never be shaken, andChristians who make Jesus their Rock and Fortress will not be greatly shaken. ‘He is my Rock and my Salvation, my Defence and my Fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken’(Psalm 62:2 & 6). God is at work in all the world, shaking everyone and everything everywhere.

There is no use asking God not to shake us, because it is in His will and power to do it. ‘Our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases’ (Psalm 115:3). It is His purpose to shake everything so that only the things that cannot be shaken will be left. What can be shaken? Empires, nations, governments, monarchies, banks, businesses,churches, families, individuals and anything else that is not eternal. The only way we can cope with God’s shaking, is to commit ourselves into the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:6).He is the only security mankind has (Psalm 91). We are told very firmly not to love the world or the things in it (1 John 2:15 to 17). We cannot mix the love of God with the love ofthe world. If our hearts are set on the world and the things the world can offer, the love ofthe Father is not in us; that means we would love the world more than we love God. The love of things in the world are not of the Father – that is they are not of God. The three sins that lead to eternal destruction; the lust of flesh, the lust of the eyes and pride of life – of which pride is the single biggest problem – These are sins from the world, and can keep us trapped and bound to the things we have in the world.

This world along with some of heaven, is eventually going to pass away and be burned up (2 Peter 3:10).

Nobody has a permanent home here on earth. If we try to make our home in this world,then we will be greatly shaken, but he who does the will of God lives forever. Even when we are shaken, if we are founded on the Rock (Jesus) and are doing the will of God, we will not be swept away (Matthew 7:25 to 27).

Dirty Hands

2010-02-01T22:49:00.002-06:00

It seems that everywhere you look we see hand sanitizers. It seems that every thing and every one we touch anymore, has germs.

Sickness is passed just by a person touching someone, yet the Bible tells us if there are any sick, to lay hands on them and pray for their healing.

It is only logical if sickness can be passed through touch, why cant healing be passed by the same means. Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

If a man or woman is holy, I mean they have clean hands before God, then something should pass through them that is grater than any sickness the world seem to put upon us.

We live in a day where it would be difficult to know when people at church lay their hands on us if we will get sick or healed.

I pray we have holy hands,

I pray we pass on life not death by our touch.

I pray we can see gods hands when we lay on our hands,

I pray we see the sick healed, but most of all

I pray for men and women to have holy hands.

Dose God make you angry?

2010-01-29T22:15:00.003-06:00

I talk to many people who are upset with God, they say he didn't answer prayer, or he took their child or wife.

Why would anyone think that Gods ways are our way, when the bible teaches just the opposite.

Who are we to argue with the one who with his breath breathed out the stars in heaven.

Who are we to contend with the almighty God.

The bottom line is not that God didn't answer, but our faith is weak, so weak that we think God is our servant rather than our King. We think in lines of time, and limit ourselves, as well as our vision of God.

Everything we have and work for on this earth will perish, only what we do for him will last forever.

My dad told me to always buy the best, because it last longer, he said never get caught up in fads, as they just fade away.

I want to make my investments into that which last, and eternity seem like it would last a long long time..

Faith, not anger, faith. You just might see a mountain move with it. God is a big big God.

How to have peace in your life

2010-01-21T21:29:00.003-06:00

We live in a world that is always in a hurry, whether going or coming home, we are always rushed.

We live in a world that is filled with people wanting what they want when they want it.

We live in a world that is filled with sorrow, heart ache, and death.

Yet the bible teaches that we can have a peace that passes all understanding, but if we focus on the problems of our day, we know any peace would be beyond our understanding.

If we could fist look at ourselves and find all of our selfishness, every ounce of it, we would find the truth about what angers us, and what is always stealing the peace from our lives.

A selfish person is a lonely person, a selfish person is always wanting more, and never content with anything. Paul said I have learned to be content. Contentment with life, understanding that God himself knows where we are, what we have, and why we are in the circumstances we are in.

Trusting God, and denying ourself, is the key to living a peaceful life.

Try it, after all, our selfish nature, always thinks that if it gets its way, that will bring peace.

How is that working out for you?

Try denying yourself and accepting the contentment god can bring through faith. God Bless

Lawmaker says SEC hindering House's Madoff probe

2009-02-04T20:57:00.000-06:00

WASHINGTON – House lawmakers on Wednesday accused the Securities and Exchange Commission of impeding their probe into the agency's failure to uncover the alleged $50 billion Bernard Madoff fraud.

The clash between lawmakers and high-ranking SEC officials at a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing came after the man who waged a decade-long campaign to alert the regulators to problems in Madoff's operations denounced the agency for its inaction. Whistleblower Harry Markopolos also said he had feared for his physical safety and would turn over new evidence that Madoff had not acted alone.

In loud, angry exchanges, lawmakers threatened to issue subpoenas to SEC officials to compel their testimony in the case.

Pennsylvania Democrat Paul Kanjorski, the panel's chairman, vented frustration after the SEC's acting general counsel said the five officials appearing at the hearing couldn't answer lawmakers' questions about the Madoff case because it's under investigation. The five SEC commissioners voted earlier to assert a privilege in not having officials answer lawmakers' questions.

Kanjorski accused the agency of impeding the panel's investigation, calling it a "lack of cooperation" and an "abuse of authority."

Linda Thomsen, the agency's enforcement director, said the SEC takes the Madoff case very seriously, but asserted there were confidential areas related to the ongoing investigation that could not be publicly discussed.

The SEC officials said the agency is looking at possible changes in the wake of the scandal, including more frequent examinations of investment advisers and improving its process for assessing risk.

Because of the SEC's inaction, "I became fearful for the safety of my family," Markopolos said.

"The SEC is ... captive to the industry it regulates and is afraid" to bring big cases against prominent individuals, Markopolos said. The agency "roars like a lion and bites like a flea" and "is busy protecting the big financial predators from investors."

While the SEC is incompetent, the securities industry's self-policing organization, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is "very corrupt," Markopolos charged. That organization was headed until December by Mary Schapiro, President Barack Obama's new SEC chief.

Markopolos discovered additional funds that funneled money to Madoff — whose managers he said willfully turned a blind eye to his improprieties because they were paid generous fees. Markopolos said he will present his findings to the SEC's inspector general. If proven, they would substantiate the assertions of many analysts that the alleged fraud was far too large for Madoff to have conducted alone.

In New York, a trustee liquidating Madoff's investment firm told a federal judge Wednesday that nearly $950 million in cash and securities has been recovered for investors. Trustee Irving Picard said $111.4 million in cash had been recovered from financial institutions and about $300 million in securities were identified although it was unclear what they were worth.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. last week said they would transfer a combined $534.9 million from Madoff's investment firm accounts to Picard. Investors have until July 2 to place their claims.

European investors who feared they lost millions investing with Madoff have a chance to recoup some or all of their money from the banks that marketed the stricken funds, according to lawyers in Europe who are preparing a possible U.S.-style class-action lawsuit.

Back in Washington, the SEC has been sustaining volleys of criticism from lawmakers and investor advocates over its failure to discover Madoff's alleged $50 billion fraud, which could be the biggest Ponzi scheme ever, despite the credible allegations brought to it over years. Against the backdrop of the worst financial crisis since the 1930s, the SEC is being accused of further eroding investor confidence and lawmakers of both parties are calling for a shake-up of the agency.

Madoff, a prominent Wall Street figure, was arrested in December after allegedly confessing to bilking investors in what the authorities say was a giant Ponzi scheme, possibly the largest ever. His repeated warnings to SEC staff that Madoff was running a massive pyramid scheme have cast Markopolos as an unheeded prophet in the scandal.

"The SEC was never capable of catching Mr. Madoff. He could have gone to $100 billion" without being discovered, Markopolos testified. "It took me about five minutes to figure out he was a fraud."

Markopolos, a former securities industry executive and fraud investigator, brought his allegations to the SEC about improprieties in Madoff's business starting in 2000 after determining there was no way Madoff could have been making the consistent returns he claimed using the trading strategy he touted to prospective investors.

Markopolos and his team of four investigators fruitlessly pursued the quest through this decade with agency staff from Boston to New York to Washington, raising 29 specific red flags regarding Madoff's operations. But the SEC never acted.

Now thousands of victims who lost money investing in Madoff's fund, which was separate from his securities brokerage business, have been identified. Among them are ordinary people and Hollywood celebrities — as well as big hedge funds, international banks and charities in the U.S., Europe and Asia. At least one investor apparently was pushed to commit suicide.

Markopolos disclosed that he anonymously conveyed a package of documents on Madoff to former New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer, but noted Spitzer took no action. Spitzer's family trust was among the victims that lost money investing with Madoff.

Markopolos also suggested that senior editors at The Wall Street Journal may have prevented a reporter from pursuing leads he provided because the newspaper "respected and feared" Madoff.

Madoff, who was at one point chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market and sat on SEC advisory committees, was "one of the most powerful men on Wall Street and in a position to easily end our careers or worse," Markopolos said.

Markopolos recommended ways to revamp the SEC, including replacing its senior staff and establishing a central office to receive complaints from whistleblowers.

In December, Christopher Cox, then the SEC chairman, pinned the blame on the agency's career staff for the failure over a decade to detect what Madoff was doing. He ordered the SEC's inspector general, H. David Kotz, to determine what went wrong. Kotz has expanded his inquiry to examine the operations of the divisions led by Thomsen, who has been the enforcement chief since mid-2005, and Lori Richards, who has headed the inspections division since mid-1995.

Schapiro has said that because Madoff carried out the scheme through his investment business and FINRA was empowered to inspect only the brokerage operation, it wasn't possible for the organization to discover it.

This is a great first step

2009-01-23T06:29:00.001-06:00

WASHINGTON -- Human rights activists and advocates of open government are cheering U.S. President Barack Obama's decisions to close the Guantanamo Bay detention center and to signal the start of a new era of clean government by signing strict new rules on transparency and ethics.

His actions on January 21 -- his first full day in office -- overturned policies enacted during the administration of George W. Bush that cloaked the government in secrecy and prevented reporters from obtaining information. Obama declared that his administration is making a "clean break from business as usual."

With a stroke of his pen, the new U.S. president froze the salaries of his top aides, limited the influence of lobbyists, and opened government agencies to public scrutiny.

It was a fulfillment of his campaign promise to change the way Washington operates and make government more accountable to the people.

"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," Obama said. "Our commitment to openness means more than simply informing the American people about how decisions are made. It means recognizing that government does not have all the answers and that public officials need to draw on what citizens know."

'That Era Is Now Over'

Obama's two executive orders and three presidential memorandums reversed controversial policies enacted by his predecessor, George W. Bush, that made it easier for the government to deny requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act and to keep secret the papers and records of former presidents.

...the United States intends to prosecute the ongoing struggle against violence and terrorism, and we are going to do so vigilantly, we are going to do so effectively, and we are going to do so in a manner that is consistent with our values.Obama called the Freedom of Information Act "perhaps the most powerful instrument we have for making our government honest and transparent, and for holding it accountable." He said he expects members of his administration to carry out not just the letter, but the spirit, of the law.

"For a long time now, there has been too much secrecy in this city. The old rules said that if there was a defensible argument for not disclosing something to the American people, then it should not be disclosed," Obama said. "That era is now over. Starting today, every agency and department should know that this administration stands on the side not of those who seek to withhold information, but those who seek to make it known."

Obama signed the orders in a room filled with his cabinet members and new staff, and told the group that public service is about "advancing the interests of Americans," not themselves.

That philosophy underpinned his decision to eliminate what is known as the "revolving door" in Washington, a lucrative practice rife with conflict-of-interest concerns that involves former government officials working as lobbyists, and former lobbyists working in government.

Obama said he decided to freeze the salaries of his top aides because most Americans have had to make financial sacrifices and his administration should not be exempt from the same hardship.

'Optimistic Start'

Ann Weismann, chief counsel of Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility In Government -- a Washington group that promotes ethics and accountability in government -- said Obama has set a clear tone of transparency by taking such sweeping action so quickly.

"We were especially thrilled that he [signed] all of these openness initiatives on his first day of office," Weismann said. "It just really highlights the serious commitment he seems to have and his administration will have towards transparency. So we thought it was an enormously important and optimistic start to the administration."

She said for the past eight years, the Bush administration had thrown up "a blanket of secrecy" around its actions and the work of governmental agencies, and Obama has made a "radical break" with the past.

"There was essentially a presumption of withholding during George W. Bush's administration, his eight years in office. And his attorney general had issued a memorandum that said, 'We'll defend your withholding'," Weismann said. "I think what this is signaling is the complete opposite, which is the presumption of disclosure, and really the burden now is going to be not on the [Freedom of Information Act] requester, but on the agency, in the process, to justify why it needs to withhold something. So I think it's a 180-degree shift."

Batteries Not Included

2008-12-01T02:34:00.003-06:00

How many time have we bought something and then we read batteries not included?
Then we make another trip to the store and make another purchase, and buy the batteries.
This is a good analogy of life itself.
We are born into this world, bone of the flesh. It looks like we have everything we need.
Yet there always seems to be something missing.
We think life should not work like this, life is too hard, to depressing, to difficult.
Then we hear about the new birth, the second purchase.
Being born of the spirit, seeing God for who he is, and our life in a whole new light.
Receiving the power source that will see us through the hard times in life.
Lift us above the difficulties.
You must be born again, because at your first birth the batteries were not included.

If you give your child a toy, and you do not tell them about the batteries, they will play with the toy, they will know something is missing, but what is missing,
and how would the toy work if it had the power it was designed to have.
It is our job as parents and grandparents, to make sure our kids know about the second purchase. The second birth.

This year let's all live with the light shining through us, so everyone can see there is a power source. Let the world see us using it to guide our lives.
Whosoever shall call on the name of the lord shall be saved.
God Bless

A Rich Man

2008-11-07T00:20:00.003-06:00

A rich man is a man.
That his wife loves him.
His children respect him.
His grandchildren admire him.
and His community trust him.

What more would anyone want.

Are you a Bible believer? a little test.

2008-11-06T07:00:00.005-06:00

The word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
That says that the word and Jesus Christ are one.
Let me ask a few questions.
The answer to all questions are yes or no.
The answer for all Christians should be yes.

Do you believe the bible?
Do you believe in a real heaven?
Do you believe David was king of Israel?
Do you believe that Jesus ministry changed the world?

These may be a little harder, because the world can not accept or explain these,
they take faith to believe.

Do you believe Jesus was born of a virgin?
Do you believe Jesus healed the blind man?
Do you believe Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead?
Do you believe in the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ?
Do you believe in creation?

These are the hardest, because they take more than just believing,
they take sacrifice on your part. Faith without works is dead.

Do you believe as a Christian you should turn your cheek when assaulted?
Do you believe in attending Church?
Jesus said forsake not the assembling together.
Do you believe in tithing your income, that is 10%.
The Bible say where have we robbed God in our tithes and offerings.
Do you believe in telling others about Jesus Christ?
Jesus gave the great commission to everyone.
Have you been baptized, since you believed?
One the day of Pentecost three thousand were saved, baptized, and added to the church.

If you answered yes to all the questions, then you do believe the Bible.
If you answered no to any of the questions,
then you can not honestly say you are a Bible believer.

The Bible is a book that you either believe it is Gods book, or you do not, there is no in-between.
Let your yes be yes and your no be no.
If you choose which Scriptures you believe, and some you do not,
then you have done what Revelation warns against.
You have added to, or detracted from the Bible, and there is a Stern warning against doing that.

I pray that all believe the Bible.
I pray that all who say they believe the Bible, honestly do, even when it calls for sacrifice.

Election of President Elect Obama

2008-11-05T06:39:00.002-06:00

I personally was not thrilled when I heard the the election results.
BUT
I am an American, I count it a privilege to have the right to vote.
I will pray daily for President Elect Obama, as I have for the Presidents before him.
I pray God will give him wisdom, and a clear path to follow.
We are all Americans, we are all different.
With those differences, we become what America is all about.
I Believe God has had and will continue to have his hand on America.
The freedom of speech has given us the ability to be the greatest nation in the world.
May God help the mending of relationships, that have been strained,
because of differences, in our views of who has the best policies for America.
Blessed are the peace makers, it is time to accept the election, and move forward.
The road ahead is not easy, it is never easy,
it will take a united America to face the challenges ahead.
United we will stand, divided we will always fail.
May God Bless President Elect Obama.
May God keep him safe, is my sincere prayer.
May God Bless America.

Abortion

2008-10-31T10:05:00.003-05:00

Jett is 3 1/2 I had the funereal for his brother Seth. He was born 23 week.

The Dr.'s at the hospital tried to talk my daughter into an abortion.

Because IN the United States it is legal up until 28 weeks to kill the babies.

They would have, if they could have, convinced my daughter Killed This Boy.

In this election we are ask to take the side of one who will help our finances or one that will help stop the killing of children like Jett.

To me it is personal.

To me it is real life.

To me I need to stand strongly when confronted with this issue.

This is Jett, he is now in preschool, and he is doing just fine, mentally, physically,

and he sets with me in my pulpit on Sunday mornings.

I went to the alter and knelt down to pray with someone, and I felt his little hand on my back,

as I was praying with them.

As long as it is lawful, there will be Dr. pushing women to abort anyone under 28 week. That is not choice, that is pressure.

I know, how it works, I deal with it every week.

Look at Jett, and you tell me it would have been OK to kill him, and it was his mothers free choice.

No it was no free choice, a Dr would of had to administer a killing interment into his head.

There is not one human that can live without an adult, for several years after birth.

Should it really be our choice, to not care for our child, and give them food, and housing.

I give the same argument, when does our responsibilities start?

When it comes to care for the child.

After they are born?

Is it really ok for a mother not to feed her child, and call it choice.I would think not. Life starts at conception, there is really no doubt in that.

Try destroying a sea turtle egg, and see what happens to you in this society.

I do believe in society laws, I would never bomb an abortion clinic, or shoot a abortion Dr.

I obey our laws, I think the laws need changed, just as I think the short selling laws need changed.

When will banks give loans: Joe Nocera Oct 24,2008

2008-10-25T12:19:00.002-05:00

“Chase recently received $25 billion in federal funding. What effect will that have on the business side and will it change our strategic lending policy?” Oct. 17, just four days after JPMorgan Chase’s chief executive, Jamie Dimon, agreed to take a $25 billion capital injection courtesy of the United States government, when a JPMorgan employee asked that question. It came toward the end of an employee-only conference call that had been largely devoted to meshing certain divisions of JPMorgan with its new acquisition, Washington Mutual. Which, of course, it also got thanks to the federal government. Christmas came early at JPMorgan Chase.The JPMorgan executive who was moderating the employee conference call didn’t hesitate to answer a question that was pretty politically sensitive given the events of the previous few weeks. Given the way, that is, that Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. had decided to use the first installment of the $700 billion bailout money to recapitalize banks instead of buying up their toxic securities, which he had then sold to Congress and the American people as the best and fastest way to get the banks to start making loans again, and help prevent this recession from getting much, much worse. In point of fact, the dirty little secret of the banking industry is that it has no intention of using the money to make new loans. But this executive was the first insider who’s been indiscreet enough to say it within earshot of a journalist. (He didn’t mean to, of course, but I obtained the call-in number and listened to a recording.) “Twenty-five billion dollars is obviously going to help the folks who are struggling more than Chase,” he began. “What we do think it will help us do is perhaps be a little bit more active on the acquisition side or opportunistic side for some banks who are still struggling. And I would not assume that we are done on the acquisition side just because of the Washington Mutual and Bear Stearns mergers. I think there are going to be some great opportunities for us to grow in this environment, and I think we have an opportunity to use that $25 billion in that way and obviously depending on whether recession turns into depression or what happens in the future, you know, we have that as a backstop.” Read that answer as many times as you want — you are not going to find a single word in there about making loans to help the American economy. On the contrary: at another point in the conference call, the same executive (who I’m not naming because he didn’t know I would be listening in) explained that “loan dollars are down significantly.” He added, “We would think that loan volume will continue to go down as we continue to tighten credit to fully reflect the high cost of pricing on the loan side.” In other words JPMorgan has no intention of turning on the lending spigot.It is starting to appear as if one of Treasury’s key rationales for the recapitalization program — namely, that it will cause banks to start lending again — is a fig leaf, Treasury’s version of the weapons of mass destruction. In fact, Treasury wants banks to acquire each other and is using its power to inject capital to force a new and wrenching round of bank consolidation. As Mark Landler reported in The New York Times earlier this week, “the government wants not only to stabilize the industry, but also to reshape it.” Now they tell us.Indeed, Mr. Landler’s story noted that Treasury would even funnel some of the bailout money to help banks buy other banks. And, in an almost unnoticed move, it recently put in place a new tax break, worth billions to the banking industry, that has only one purpose: to encourage bank mergers. As a tax expert, Robert Willens, put it: “It couldn’t be clearer if they had taken out an ad.”Friday delivered the first piece of evidence that this is, indeed, the plan. PNC announced that it was purchasing National City, an acquisition that will be greatly aided by the new tax break, which will allow it to immediately deduct any losses on National City’s books. As part of the deal, it is also tapping the bailout fund for $7.7 billion, giving the government preferred stock in return. At least some of that $7.7 billion would have gone to NatCity if the government had deemed it worth saving. In other words, the government is giving PNC money that might otherwise have gone to NatCity as a reward for taking over NatCity.I don’t know about you, but I’m starting to feel as if we’ve been sold a bill of goods.The markets had another brutal day Friday. The Asian markets got crushed. Germany and England were down more than 5 percent. In the hours before the United States markets opened, all the signals suggested it was going to be the worst day yet in the crisis. The Dow dropped more than 400 points at the opening, but thankfully it never got any worse.There are lots of reasons the markets remain unstable — fears of a global recession, companies offering poor profit projections for the rest of the year, and the continuing uncertainties brought on by the credit crisis. But another reason, I now believe, is that investors no longer trust Treasury. First it says it has to have $700 billion to buy back toxic mortgage-backed securities. Then, as Mr. Paulson divulged to The Times this week, it turns out that even before the bill passed the House, he told his staff to start drawing up a plan for capital injections. Fearing Congress’s reaction, he didn’t tell the Hill about his change of heart. , he’s shifted gears again, and is directing Treasury to use the money to force bank acquisitions. Sneaking in the tax break isn’t exactly confidence-inspiring, either. (And let’s not even get into the less-than-credible, after-the-fact rationalizations for letting Lehman default, which stands as the single worst mistake the government has made in the crisis.)On Thursday, at a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee, the chairman, Christopher J. Dodd, a Connecticut Democrat, pushed Neel Kashkari, the young Treasury official who is Mr. Paulson’s point man on the bailout plan, on the subject of banks’ continuing reluctance to make loans. How, Senator Dodd asked, was Treasury going to ensure that banks used their new government capital to make loans — “besides rhetorically begging them?”“We share your view,” Mr. Kashkari replied. “We want our banks to be lending in our communities.”Senator Dodd: “Are you insisting upon it?”Mr. Kashkari: “We are insisting upon it in all our actions.”But they are doing no such thing. Unlike the British government, which is mandating lending requirements in return for capital injections, our government seems afraid to do anything except plead. And those pleas, in this environment, are falling on deaf ears.Yes, there are times when a troubled bank needs to be acquired by a stronger bank. Given that the federal government insures deposits, it has an abiding interest in seeing that such mergers take place as smoothly as possible. Nobody is saying those kinds of deals shouldn’t take place. But Citigroup, at this point, probably falls into the category of troubled bank, and nobody seems to be arguing that it should be taken over. It is in the “too big to fail” category, and the government will ensure that it gets back on its feet, no matter how much money it takes. One reason Mr. Paulson forced all of the nine biggest banks to take government money was to mask the fact that some of them are much weaker than others.We have long been a country that has treasured its diversity of banks; up until the 1980s, in fact, there were no national banks at all. If Treasury is using the bailout bill to turn the banking system into the oligopoly of giant national institutions, it is hard to see how that will help anybody. Except, of course, the giant banks that are declared the winners by Treasury.JPMorgan is going to be one of the winners — and deservedly so. Mr. Dimon managed the company so well during the housing bubble that it is saddled with very few of the problems that have crippled competitors like Citi. The government handed it Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual because it was strong enough to swallow both institutions without so much as a burp. Of all the banking executives in that room with Mr. Paulson a few weeks ago, none needed the government’s money less than Mr. Dimon. A company spokesman told me, “We accepted the money for the good of the entire financial system.” He added that JP Morgan would use the money “to do good for customers and shareholders. We are disciplined to try to make loans that people can repay.”Nobody is saying it should make loans that people can’t repay. What I am saying is that Mr. Dimon took the $25 billion on the condition that his institution would start making loans. There are plenty of small and medium-size businesses that are choking because they have no access to capital — and are perfectly capable of repaying the money. How about a loan program for them, Mr. Dimon?Late Thursday afternoon, I caught up with Senator Dodd, and asked him what he was going to do if the loan situation didn’t improve. “All I can tell you is that we are going to have the bankers up here, probably in another couple of weeks and we are going to have a very blunt conversation,” he replied.He continued: “If it turns out that they are hoarding, you’ll have a revolution on your hands. People will be so livid and furious that their tax money is going to line their pockets instead of doing the right thing.
Let’s hope so

Now Enforce It.

2008-10-15T09:53:00.003-05:00

RIN 3235-AK06"Naked" Short Selling Antifraud RuleAGENCY: Securities and Exchange Commission.ACTION: Final rule.
SUMMARY: The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") is adopting an antifraud rule under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 ("Exchange Act") to address fails to deliver securities that have been associated with "naked" short selling.
The rule will further evidence the liability of short sellers, including broker-dealers acting for their own accounts, who deceive specified persons about their intention or ability to deliver securities in time for settlement (including persons that deceive their broker-dealer about their locate source or ownership of shares) and that fail to deliver securities by settlement date.DATES: Effective Date: October 17, 2008.

Judas

2008-10-08T13:47:00.003-05:00

Some thing we may want to keep in mind about Judas.
He was chosen by Jesus, in Matthew 10,
I wonder what he was thinking when Jesus called his name?
I wonder if he thought this guy lines up with my political views, I want Israel to be a independent state, not subjects of the Roman empire. Jesus will make this happen.
I wonder what Judas thought when he saw Nicodemus come to Jesus in John chapter 3.
Maybe he thought this was good now they have someone with some money to help with his personal agenda, and missed the message about being born again.
I wonder what Judas thought when he saw Jesus talking to the woman at the well,
perhaps he thought the Samaritans would be strong in numbers when the rebellion to Rome startes.
I wonder what Judas thought when he saw the lame man walk, and the blind man see,
maybe he thought many of these illnesses are just psychological, and Jesus is a good motivator.
I wonder where Judas was when Jesus walked on the water, I guess he was just asleep in the boat.
Judas the one who betrayed Jesus, the one who hanged himself,
Judas was there all the time, but missed the true purpose of Jesus ministry.
He missed it and it cost him eternity.
How many go to church today and never get the message, they are asleep in the boat,
because they are looking for a political angle, or a financial angle, or even just a friendly place to be.
The message of the church today has not changed the gospel.
You must be bone again, you must submit to him totally.
Do you want the abundant life? The peace that passes all understanding.
Ask him into your heart today, and put him first, do not try to change the Bible or the message,
allow the Bible and the message to change you.

Naked Short Selling That Toppled Wall Street

2008-10-05T00:23:00.001-05:00

October 2nd, 2008 by Mark Mitchell
The Wall Street Journal stated in a lead editorial last week that the SEC was“reasonable” to “clamp down” on naked short selling. Well, that was progress ofsorts, though one wonders how it could have taken all these years for thenation’s most important newspaper to suggest that it might be “reasonable” toput an end to criminal activity that has eviscerated hundreds of companies anddestroyed countless lives.And now that this criminal activity has been implicated in the Humpty Dumptyingof our financial system, one grows wistful for the golden age of journalism wheneditorialists (people working for famous newspapers, not just cyber weirdos)would express a little outrage, demand that heads roll – muster something betterthan “reasonable” to describe the limpid “clamp down” of an SEC that bows inoily servitude to the very short-sellers who manhandled our markets.Alas, The Wall Street Journal is not angry about the scandal of naked shortselling. To the contrary, it devotes most of its editorial to tut-tutting theSEC for taking the mild step of requiring hedge funds to disclose their shortpositions. This, the Journal laments, means the government wants to “slap ascarlet letter on short sellers.” And (shed a tear) hedge funds will now have to“worry that their strategies will be put on display for the world to see.”Might the world like to see which hedge funds are employing the strategy ofillegal naked short selling – offloading huge chunks of stock that they do notpossess – phantom stock – in order to drive down prices? No, nothing to seethere, says the Journal. Having thoroughly investigated the matter, theeditorialist reports that there is “no evidence of widespread naked shorting offinancial stocks in this panic.” Indeed, the Journal assures us that there is noevidence that short sellers have engaged in any market manipulation whatsoever.That is a mighty bold claim. As the Wall Street Journal itself reported, the SEChas ordered two dozen hedge funds to turn over trading records as part of itsinvestigation into possible short-seller manipulation of six big financialinstitutions — American International Group, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers,Morgan Stanley, Washington Mutual, and Merrill Lynch.The SEC has never in history prosecuted a major case against a short seller, andthere is no reason to believe that it is actually going to nail someone now. Butit is not difficult to see why the SEC feels that is has no choice but toinvestigate.Read the rest of this story at http://americandream2009.angelfire.com

Naked In Wonderland Patrick Byrne

2008-09-29T09:03:00.002-05:00

Recent concerns about short-selling have culminated in a regulatory flurry of emergency orders and amendments. What should be of concern, however, is not short-selling per se: As its devotees frequently remind us, short-selling is a vital and legitimate market activity. What should be of concern are specific types of stock manipulation that cloak themselves within legitimate activities such as shorting, and which, in one way or another, rely upon loopholes in our nation's system of stock settlement. "Settlement" is the moment in a stock trade when the seller receives money and the buyer receives stock. Our settlement system has gaping loopholes that allow sellers to sell shares but fail to deliver them. In such cases, the system creates IOUs for shares, and lets those "stock IOUs" circulate in the expectation the seller will soon correct his error. This is harmless--as long as the IOUs are inadvertent, temporary and few. Manipulators are exploiting these loopholes, however, selling stock they do not intend to deliver. This is often referred to as "naked short-selling" (short-selling because they feign selling borrowed shares; naked because they don't really borrow shares, but instead deliberately rely on loopholes to generate and hide stock IOUs). However, naked short-selling is just one form this manipulation takes. Other forms include failed long-sales, abuse of the option-market-maker exception, failed offshore deliveries and ex-clearing abuses. The common denominator of these manipulations is that they flood the system with stock IOUs that are deliberate, persistent and massive.By whatever name, these actions create small, medium and large problems. The small problem is that stock IOUs corrupt corporate democracy because the system has trouble distinguishing real stock with real votes from stock IOUs with fake votes. In 2006, Bloomberg Markets wrote, "A robust market for stock loans puts into circulation billions of borrowed shares that can create multiple votes that corrupt corporate elections." Bloomberg quoted Registrar & Transfer CEO Thomas Montrone: "It is an abomination. ... A lot of the time, we have no idea who's entitled to vote and who isn't. It's nothing short of criminal." Bloomberg suggested arbitrageurs are exploiting this, and concluded that until it is fixed, "double and triple voting on one share will continue to make a mockery of shareholder democracy." The medium problem is that manipulators selling millions of stock IOUs drive down share prices: If they choose the right target (e.g., a large financial firm already weakened by exposure to the mortgage crisis, or a small biotech company sipping at capital as it develops drugs), this can crash the firm. According to former Undersecretary of Commerce for Economics Dr. Robert Shapiro, "There is considerable evidence that market manipulation through the use of naked short-sales has been much more common than almost anyone has suspected, and certainly more widespread than most investors believe." His research turned up at least 200 companies that were destroyed, for "a combined market loss of more than $105 billion." Shapiro added, "we believe that this type of stock manipulation has occurred in many hundreds and perhaps thousands of cases over the last decade. ... Illicit short-sales on such a scale or anything approaching it point to grave inadequacies in the current regulatory regime." The large problem is that unsettled stock trades create systemic risk. Imagine that a hedge fund generates IOUs on 5 million shares of a $1 stock and carries this as a $5 million liability. To settle these IOUs, the fund must obtain stock. However, the act of buying 5 million shares of a thinly traded stock forces its price up (i.e., a "squeeze"). The fund must pay more than $1 per share, so the $5 million liability balloons. The Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed that, during the second quarter of 2008, there were $14.9 billion in stock IOUs at just the tip of the non-settlement iceberg. The commission refuses to reveal (and, in fact, may not know) the size of the whole iceberg. Public data suggests the entire bucket may be over $150 billion; settling it would cost more than $150 billion, but perhaps far, far more. Our settlement system lies within a black-box called the Depository Trust & Clearance Corporation. The DTCC is essentially unregulated, but is owned by those who benefit from seeing these activities continue--investment banks, which in return for prime brokerage fees, enable manipulative hedge funds. When these loopholes began to be exposed this winter, Wall Street started to eat its own. In a moment of Shakespearean irony, Bear Stearns--with its legendary willingness to provide cover to manipulative hedge funds--became the target. Stock IOUs in Bear Stearns spiked, as they subsequently did in Lehman Brothers (nyse: LEH - news - people ), Merrill Lynch (nyse: MER - news - people ), Fannie Mae (nyse: FNM - news - people ) and Freddie Mac (nyse: FRE - news - people ). In an absurdity worthy of Lewis Carroll, the SEC promulgated a temporary (and now expired) emergency order against doing to these and 16 other firms what has been illegal for seven decades: selling non-existent stock and deliberately relying upon stock IOUs. That the 19 companies protected included prime brokers widely thought to be enabling naked shorting against other firms may only be described as "Kafkaesque." Since its Aug. 12 expiration, four of the 19 firms have been lost. The rest of the financial market balances on a precipice as the SEC temporizes, adopting half-measures with Nerf penalties, draconian measures (such as forbidding all shorting in financial stocks), contradictory measures (re-opening the option-market-maker exception for financial stocks), and "don't ask, don't tell" measures (such as yesterday's, requiring option-market makers not to sell puts to someone they think is increasing a net short position in a financial stock). While the SEC performs its best headless chicken imitation, we must not be distracted from the fundamental problem: Our system is rife with unsettled trades that are deliberate, persistent and massive. Commenting on this last year, Warren Buffett's partner, Charles Munger, said, "Those delays in delivering sometimes reflect tremendous slop in the clearance process. It is not good for a civilization to have huge slop. Sort of like how it isn't good to have a lot of slop in nuclear power plants." Charlie Munger is known for many things, but careless word choice is not one of them.Patrick M. Byrne is the chairman and chief executive officer of Overstock.com and writes for DeepCapture.com. http://www.forbes.com/opinions/2008/09/23/naked-shorting-trades-oped-cx_pb_0923byrne.html

True Assets

2008-09-21T07:42:00.000-05:00

Calculating Your Net Worth
How does a person calculate their net wort?Many would say you start with real assets, the house, car, bank accounts.Then subtract your liabilities.What are your real assets? What is first on your list?Let's take a look at our real assets, the things you do not want to loose.The things you would never put a price on.Family, wife, husband, children, grandchildren, parents, friends.If you have ever lost any of these you know exactly what I am talking about.I have lost a brother, a grandson, and some really close friends.I have learned these are real assets, these are of real value. They can never be replaced.Money comes and goes, cars rust, houses need continual upkeep.Family and friends need our time, or values, or attention.Take some time and assess your true net worth.With these assets, there are few liabilities.

Short Selling abuse

2008-09-19T07:34:00.002-05:00

It is so simple, but those wanting to feed off the beast can not see it.
If you own it you can sell it, if you do not own it, you have no right to sell it.
If you have a purchase agreement to buy it, you can sell it, but you must deliver,
no exceptions.
If you sell a company short and it goes BK, your debt becomes a asset to the owners of that company,and all debt needs to be collected. No more canceling stock in any company until all settlements are collected.
It is so simple, a preacher can understand it.
When you through ethics out the window, you only have anarchy left.
Oh; but we must make a market, tell me the difference between enron,
and the way the market is now doing business.
Everyone would love to sell things they do not own.
Hypothetically, if I know a restaurant that looks like it will fail. can I sell that restaurants equipment to you, and not own the equipment?
Then when when the restaurant goes BK, I owe you nothing.
Only in the stock market does it work that way,
IMO end it and end it now

I wrote this Jan 27th, look at wall street now.

2008-09-18T06:27:00.002-05:00

Sunday, January 27, 2008

Change the laws that govern our market
Can the US stock market be cleaned, can it restore the confidence needed to bring a vibrant market to earnest investors. A good market is built on rewarding companies that are successful, Rewarding investors that placed they earning in those companies.There is a old saying build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door.That is true of a private company, where the owner has complete control over earnings and expenditures. A private company knows its worth. If you sell a private company, how would you set a price, 2 1/2 times the gross income, 3 times the net. That would be entirely up to the seller, the owner seller has absolute control.In a public company it is different. If you own stock in a private company, and you do not want to sell, and say no one that owns shares in the company wants to sell. Then you would think as the demand for your company goes up so would the price per share.It isn't like that in the public market, see a broker can sell your shares to someone else, just by borrowing your shares. What if you do not want to loan them, no problem, he can borrow them and sell them anyway. That alone will devalue your ownership by 50%. They call that making a market. I call it making up a market. Selling something they do not own, so they can make commissions on a sale. The price goes down, you can not take that much loss, so you sell. The reason you sold for a loss was because someone without your permission, already had sold your shares.
Then there is the selling of shares you don't own. The short selling adds even more shares to the market, yet no one has sold, this is all buying, you buying first, then the market maker selling your shares they borrowed without you knowing, or approving, the short sellers see the price going down, and they jump in. They have no investment in the company and the own no shares, they sell with a promise to buy at some future time. The price continues to go down, and it picks up speed.The snowball rolls so fast that the short sellers, continue to sell, they may sell as many as 20 time the amount of total shares in the company float. The company fails. Those who have shorted never need to buy anything, the company has failed, those who invested lost all, to those who never invested, but just sold with a promise to invest later walk away with the money.
Let's do some math. Company A, has 1000 shares for sale. 500 preferred shares not for sale.you and a few friends buy 1000 shares, yep you own it all. $1 a share.The company does well, more people want to buy, but you do not want to sell.The price per share goes to $2, then $3, then $4 you still do not want to sell.The market maker sells anyway, he doesn't need your approval, he just borrowed your shares.Now he sells 1000 share that you own, for $4 a share to me. You did not sell, so you get no money, where does the $4000 go? good question. The answer to that is why they borrow your shares, and help destroy your company.It get even worse. The price drops to $3 because the number of shares have doubled.That attracts Short sellers, now they do not own anything, but they can sell shares in your company, after all, there needs to be a market, a unfair, a unethical, and a totally manipulated market. The short sellers sell 2 thousand shares, the price goes down even further to $2 a share, as long as it goes down the short Sellers sell. Why not, they get the money and have not invested anything in your company.That attracts another group, they see that the company is falling fast, so they sell short as long as anyone is buying they are selling. They may sell as much at 20,000 shares. How can they do that, there never was more than 1,000 shares and they were not for sale. no mater it is called making a market. The key is to drive the company into receivership and share prices into sup penny, yes sub-penny. now the parts per share is $.0001 and they buy all they shares they sold for $4,$3,$2, $1,$.50,$.10,$.01$.001, they buy all 21,000 share back.Most investors would love to buy something for $.0001 and sell for $4, but that is almost impossible, but selling for dollars and buying for pennies, is going on unchecked in our market every day.One more point, what if you still do not sell you 1000, and the other investor, that would be me, that paid $4 did not sell, then they would fail to deliver, and someone would be in trouble.First of all the failure to deliver laws as seldom enforced, and when they are it is always too late.Just in case there is a problem, the off shore hedge funds they usually naked short a company out of business, cut a deal with the owner of the 500 preferred shares, and in the fine print you will see that preferred shares can be converted to common shares, at the rate to 1000 to 1.Now you have plenty enough to knock out any real investors.The problem is most of this is looked on as legal in our market. The US market is not designed to build companies, it is designed to destroy the investors, and in so doing destroying the company.The laws we have need to be governed by ethics, a law with not ethical enforcement is not a law at all it is just a license to rob.We need some real changes, or our market is lost, people are catching on, and the investment dollars will soon dry up. and there will be no one left to rob.

Baggage Claim Oct 9th-12

2008-09-15T13:58:00.001-05:00

To my family and friends,

It is has been my great joy to be theater director at our church.

Our production of "Baggage Claim, A Modern-day Parable" is opening
on Oct. 9th and will continue through Oct. 12th.

This powerful and compelling play is preceded by a full service meal which is accompanied by a live jazz band.

As most of you know, my background is in live theater, and I've had the pleasure of receiving professional training. My cast is comprised of folks from all walks of life, and varying degrees of acting experience. I am proud of their work.

I invite you to come with your friends, and enjoy a wonderful meal served by our gracious wait staff, listen to jazz by a band that should have a recording contract! and witness a performance that you won't soon forget!

We are selling tickets, now, and seating is available for meal and show, or show, only.

To learn more about the play and to purchase tickets, please visit our website at http://www.heritagechurchofgod.org/

Or, you can call me at 419-283-4813.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Brinda

sales@ducatdirect.com http://ebay.ducatdirect.com/

Palin Politics

2008-09-08T15:18:00.004-05:00

I am not much into politics, I think we have better things to do.
To see any person being crucified for their Christian belief, like a Christian can not hold office because they have faith in a living God should upset every Christian living.
No matter what political side you set on, no Christian should be put down because of their faith.
Most know me as a believer in the kingdom of God, and believing that God has the rule over any king or kingdom, so who sets as president is neither here nor there to me. Both seem to sell out, and both parties have their share of crooks.
To set back and tolerate a person being tagged as a Christian as being a bad thing, or disqualifying one to serve this country is over the line. Way over the line.
Yes it offends me as a born again Christian. It should offend you too.
The presidential race should be about the issues, and neither candidate has addressed the nationalizing of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac .
I do not like a presidential candidate owning a brewery either, alcohol has been and still is one of the worst things that has hit this country. Now I have offended both the Republicans and Democrats, so be it. If you are offended, your politics are stronger than your faith, God help us all.
You see I am non partisan. I am Christian first, and last.
What the media is saying and doing to Sarah Palin is a disgrace.

Kingdom of God

2008-09-04T19:20:00.000-05:00

John the Baptist came preaching, as recorded in Matthew chapter three verse two.“Repent ye: for the Kingdom of God is at hand.” The scripture then reports in Mark chapter one verses fourteen, and fifteen. “Now after that John was put in prison Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye; and believe the gospel.
John and Jesus spoke very clearly about the kingdom of God. The term kingdom is used throughout the New Testament, and is refereed to more than one hundred times.
The term born again, sanctification, and kingdom have all been used to divide Gods people, but all of these term if understood should, and will bring unity to all believers.
There never has been any argument about the preaching, or message of John the Baptist referring to Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the messiah. He is the king of kings. When the angle in Luke chapter one verse thirty-three said. “He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” All Christians agree Jesus is king of the everlasting kingdom.
The controversy has always been that man has tried to make this kingdom of God an earthly kingdom. Jesus spoke very plain on this subject, in Luke chapter seventeen verses twenty, and twenty-one.“And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say, low here: or low there: for, behold the kingdom of God is within you.”
The kingdom is not a worldly kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom headed by Christ, and made up of born again believers.
Jesus even cleared up for us when the kingdom would be setup. In Matthew chapter sixteen, verse twenty-eight Jesus said. “Verily I say unto you, there is some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom.” In Luke twenty-one verse thirty-two. “Jesus said verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till ALL be fulfilled.
The point that Jesus made here is so clear that it leaves no room for any other interpretation than the obvious. The only point that might be challenged, is how long a generation is, but I am sure that in our wildest imagination a generation could not reach two thousand years. The number we would probably come up with would be more like forty years. The number of years the children of Israel were in the wilderness. Then Jesus said some shall not even taste death, till they see the son of man in his kingdom.
The words that Jesus spoke while hanging on the cross were, it is finished, but some may question, if it was finished or not. Jesus being the messiah had fulfilled all the prophecies. Jesus stated this in Luke chapter eight verse thirty-one. “Then he took unto him the twelve and said unto them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man shall be accomplished.” Jesus was the word that was made flesh. The New Testament is a testimony of his life, and teachings. The cross was the final defeat for Satan, and when Jesus said it was finished, it was over the scriptures had been fulfilled.
If we can see what it is to be born again, and sanctified unto God, it will not be hard to understand what Jesus was talking about in Luke chapter eleven, and verse twenty. “The kingdom of God is upon you.” Jesus had finished his work. Pilot had asked Jesus art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered thou sayest. He is defiantly the king, but a king without a kingdom is no king at all. The kingdom of God is here now it is within the heart of every believer, and has been sense Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament. John speaking through the spirit in revelation chapter one verse nine. “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom.” John knew he was in the kingdom at that time, he also knew the Christians he was addressing were also in the kingdom. Luke also speaks on this subject in the eighteenth chapter, and the verses’ twenty-nine, and thirty. “And he said to them, verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or parent, or brother, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of Gods sake, who shall no receive many times more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting.” Notice the phrase in this present time. Jesus is speaking of the kingdom being already in existence and the believers being part of it then, and there. Jesus speaking again in Luke chapter twelve verse thirty one.“But rather seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not little flock; for it is your father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”We are not to be waiting on the kingdom of God, we are to be seeking it, and it is the father’s good pleasure to give it to you.
Still there are some that do not believe that Jesus fulfilled all the prophecy as he said he did. They believe that Daniel’s seventh week must be fulfilled at some later date, and Jesus must return to do that. I chose to take the word of Jesus rather than that of man on this subject. The problem is if Jesus did not fulfill the prophecy then he wasn’t the messiah, and it really wasn’t finished when Jesus said it was.
How then do we deal with the woman in Revelation chapter twelve, where she is with child, and cried travailing in birth, and pain to be delivered? Then in verse five the scripture says she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations, and her child was caught up to God, and to his throne. There cannot be any doubt that this is talking about Jesus Christ. Then we read in verse ten “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brothern is cast down. Salvation, strength, and the kingdom is come, now notice how all three are used together. The word travail, or tribulation coming before the kingdom could be scriptural. Let us take some time and explore this. The whole creation groaning together from the time John the Baptist started his ministry until the time Jesus completed his ministry. The bible even tells us that when Jesus died the graves opened, and the sun turned black. The spiritual warfare had to be beyond description. The day heaven, and hell meet. Jesus was victorious. Man could live again not under the law of discipline, but in the kingdom of God. If you need to fit in the seven years, I believe this is a very good place to do that.
Another word we hear is millennium. The word millennium means a thousand. Some theologians use it to refer to a period of time for an earthly kingdom. Jesus answered this himself and so did the angle of God, and every Christian knows in his heart, that there is no end to the kingdom of God, not in a thousand years, or ten thousand years. The kingdom of God cannot be put in a box.
The question then comes up about Revelation chapter twenty, verse two.“He laid hold on the dragon that old serpent which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit; and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should not deceive the nations any more.” This verse means what it says Satan cannot deceive the nations, because the kingdom of God cannot be deceived. Satan lost his power over this world when Jesus defeated him on the cross, and if this did not happen at the cross than what did happen to Satan there, does he have the same power he did before, or are his movements limited, and where are they limited? These are not only limited, but totally powerless in the kingdom of God.
The next word is Armageddon as referred to in Revelation chapter sixteen the sixth angle poured out his vial upon the Euphrates, an three unclean spirits like frogs came out of the dragon’s mouth, they are the spirits of the devil. These go forth to the kings of the earth to gather them together to battle. This is taught by some to take place at the end of the tribulation. Now it is the belief that the church will be in heaven at this time. Then what is to take place is that, Jesus is to lead an army consisting of the Christians in heaven, and these dear saints will come out of heaven, and fight earthly men, and kill then. The slighter will be so bad that the blood will run as high as the bridle on the horses.
If I believed in soul sleep I would have an easier time trying to understand this line of thinking, but I don’t believe in soul sleep.
Paul tells us to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When our body dies, we go directly to heaven to be with the Lord, and he will wipe away every tear.
In John chapter fourteen Jesus says let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me. In my father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Heaven is a place. We go directly there. We do not pass through purgatory, or limbo. The reference to Jesus coming to take us to heaven is referring to our physical death.
Then after we are in heaven, having communion with the saints, listening to the angelic choir sing. Then we are to take up a sword, and fight a battle that Jesus has already won.
The New Jerusalem as spoken of in Revelation chapter twenty-one, verse ten. “The angle carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.” We need to remember that John saw this city, and the angle made no mention of it being an illusion. Then in the sixteenth verse it tells us the length, breath, and height, all fifteen hundred miles each. The scripture tells us in the book of Galatians chapter four, verses twenty-five, and six. “For this is Agar in mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children, but Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.” Notice verse twenty-six Paul says the Jerusalem which is above, that is in the present tense, and the same verse says which is the mother of us all, again in the present tense. The New Jerusalem is already in place, and has been throughout the kingdom age. Christians may be in this natural world, but we are not of this world.

Stock Manipulation

2008-08-09T07:45:00.001-05:00

If it seems odd to you that respected and influential news publications would urge the government to provide get-out-of-jail-free cards to criminal stock manipulators…well, welcome to the Deep Capture team. We’ve witnessed a lot of freakish journalism during the past few years, but it never ceases to amaze.
A nice example can be found in the latest Barron’s magazine, where the lead editorial chides the SEC for issuing an emergency order to “stop unlawful manipulation” that threatens to crash the American financial system.
According to Barron’s, the SEC “waved a newspaper and swatted the imaginary fly of naked short-selling. It made a big noise, but there’s no dead bug.”
That word “imaginary” has a ring of familiarity. “Seeing shadows on the wall,” is how Bethany McLean of Fortune magazine once described concerns about naked short sellers. “Seeing UFOs” was the phrase employed by CNBC’s Herb Greenberg, then writing for MarketWatch. But in the face of all the evidence, those journalists have been silent on the issue for months, and now everybody from the Secretary of the Treasury on down says that illegal naked short-selling is an abomination.
Certainly, there is nothing “imaginary” about the SEC data showing that as of March 31, $8.7 billion worth of stock had “failed to deliver.” Most of those failures were the result of illegal naked short selling – hedge funds and their brokers offloading stock that they had not, and never intended, to borrow. Experts agree that there is at least ten times more of this phantom stock in parts of the system – such as “ex-clearing” – for which the SEC provides no public data.
Barron’s is right, there’s “no dead bug” – naked shorting is alive and well. But that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be swatted. Maybe the SEC just needs a better newspaper – something other than the limpid Barron’s.
But wait. Here’s a newsflash: Naked short selling is good clean fun – nothing illegal about it. “Aggressive short-selling isn’t a crime,” Barron’s writes. “Even naked short-selling – selling shares before borrowing them – hasn’t been against the rules. Until last week, a short-seller could enter a naked trade in almost any stock if his broker had reasonable grounds to expect that an adequate number of shares could be borrowed by the day of settlement.”
That is technically true, but its is plainly disingenuous for Barron’s to suggest that the SEC is cracking down on legal behavior. The problem, as Barron’s editors surely know (they do cover Wall Street, don’t they?), is that short-sellers and their brokers routinely offload stock without having “reasonable grounds” that they can borrow it. That is why more than $8 billion of stock “fails to deliver” on a typical “day of settlement.” Moreover, the data shows that most of this phantom stock is targeted at specific companies, and that much of it remains undelivered for months, even years, at a time.
In an earlier issue, Barron’s itself described the case of Cal-Maine Foods, the country’s largest egg producer, noting that, “Of the 55% of Cal-Maine’s stock that’s available to the public, more than 100% is sold short. That suggests short sellers…are executing sales before taking the normal step of securing shares to borrow.”
There is no legal gray area where hedge funds are allowed to sell more of a company’s stock than actually exists. This sort of naked short selling is not some technical glitch. It is illegal market manipulation. It is clear-cut fraud. And it is happening on a massive scale.
That is why the SEC seems to want to crack down. Its emergency order protects only 19 big financial firms, but hopes are high that the Commission will extend its protection to the many companies, such as Cal-Maine, that are far more seriously affected. The hedge fund lobby and Barron’s will whine loudly, but it seems like common sense that short-sellers market-wide should be required to pre-borrow (i.e. have real stock) before they dump it on unsuspecting investors.
Really, I challenge Barron’s, or anybody else, to name just one expert (people working for hedge funds don’t count) who has published a study casting doubt on the thesis that naked short selling is routinely used to illegally manipulate markets – with potentially catastrophic consequences. I have yet to come across any such expert, and there is no evidence that Barron’s has either. Indeed it’s editorial contains no facts or data – just platitudes.
It’s only real-world example is the much-discussed demise of Bear Stearns. Short-sellers, we are told, had nothing to do with the bank’s collapse. All the rumors were true. The only falsehoods were told by Bear Stearns spokesmen, “who declared that everything was hunky-dory.” That’s how it happened – take Barron’s word for it.
Ugh. This “debate” is like arguing over how many Froot Loops are in the box. It’s absurd – let’s just take them out and count. We did that, and the number we got was 1.2 million. That’s the number of Bear Stearns shares that were sold on March 12, but remained undelivered after the 3 days allotted for settlement. The shares were undelivered because they were as fake as the Froot in your Loops.
And note that the increase in phantom shares on March 12 was at least ten times the increase in the total volume of trading in Bear Stearns stock, suggesting that selling of real shares was comparatively light. In other words, there was no panic among investors until after those 1.2 million phantom shares (and probably a lot more in ex-clearing) flooded the marketplace, creating the illusion that somebody was panicking. .
That afternoon, CNBC, working from information provided by a hedge fund, reported (as if it were fact) the bombshell that Goldman Sachs had cut off Bear’s credit. This was the first time the media had reported anything so drastic about the bank. And the report was completely false. Message to Barron’s editors: the rumors were not true. May I humbly suggest that you investigate this.
The truth is that on the morning of March 12, Bear Stearns was an unhealthy company, but it had $17 billion in cash, and few people believed that it was on the brink of collapse. Nobody had cut off its credit. No major clients had pulled out their money.
The next day, everybody pulled out their money. Bear Stearns was gone. What was the trigger? I’m open to other suggestions (Barron’s provides none), but it seems quite obvious there is only one explanation: A whole lot of phantom stock (the illusion of panicked selling) on March 12, combined with a well-timed media atrocity that afternoon, precipitated a real panic the following day.
We can assume that the SEC agrees with this version of events. That is why it believed that rumor-mongering naked short sellers had the potential to destroy 19 big financial firms. Maybe those 19 institutions are all bad companies. Maybe they should all be out of business. If so, let them fail naturally and gradually. Don’t allow law-breaking hedge funds to manufacture mass hysterias that could crash the financial system.
It’s hard to say why Barron’s doesn’t grasp this, but perhaps it is significant that it felt compelled to include in its editorial a little disclaimer about the magazine’s relationships with short-sellers. The editorial notes with apparent pleasure that Barron’s is “sometimes known on the Street as ‘Bear-ons’….[and] it prides itself on offering accurate negative news about companies as much as it does about passing on accurate good news. Good news is plentiful, and therefore cheap. Bad news has to be dug up….Short-sellers read Barron’s with special interest, and they also make good sources of information that our reporters can check and publish if true.”
I’d be hard pressed to provide a better description of what plagues certain segments of our financial media. Start with the appalling notion that “good news” is “cheap.” The way I see it, all news is equally valuable – so long as it’s true and interesting. It’s a bit rich to suggest that good news is more “plentiful” when short-sellers have become such “good sources of information.” In any case, interesting, nuanced truths usually contain some good news, some bad. And they tend to be discovered by independent thinkers who do their own research, not by some ping-pong headed note-taker who bounces between the conniving short and the corporate VP of Puff until deadline comes and confusion reigns, but one thing is certain – the editor has decreed that good news is “cheap.”
Even worse than the bias for bad news is Bear-on’s implicit assumption that because short-sellers are “good sources of information,” the government (and the media?) should leave them alone, even if they’re committing crimes. There is nothing wrong with journalists talking to short-sellers. But while they’re at it, they might ask some short-sellers why their target companies are buried under heaping piles of phantom stock.
Barron’s has worked closely with some pretty dastardly shorts while obligingly keeping its nose out of their shady business dealings. Short-seller David Rocker, for example, was a popular source and Barron’s columnist while he was conspiring with a disreputable outfit called Gradient Analytics. Gradient advertised itself as providing “independent” research, but former employees say its falsehood-laden hatchet jobs were often dictated by Rocker, who illegally traded ahead of them, while one of Gradient’s managers was accumulating multiple aliases and fake IDs to hide his activities.
Most of Rocker’s short targets appeared on the SEC’s list of companies victimized by excessive levels of phantom stock – purely coincidence, no doubt, but Barron’s might have asked him about it.
For a long time, Barron’s editor Cheryl Straus Einhorn published a steady stream of biased stories that generated financial rewards for associates of her husband, a hedge fund manager and master of distortion named David Einhorn. Meanwhile, Barron’s couldn’t get enough of the “good information” provided by short-seller Anthony Elgindy, a gun-toting, Mafia-connected goon who was well-known for selling phantom stock, bribing FBI officials, extortion, blackmail – you name it.
Barron’s has since fired Ms. Einhorn, Elgindy is now doing 11 years in a federal penitentiary, and Rocker slunk into retirement in Florida (and got a “homestead exemption” protecting his assets from seizure) after the government issued him with a subpoena.
Fortunately, Barron’s still has some “good sources of information” and no doubt they are all model citizens. But the latest editorial shows that the magazine is as reluctant as ever to publish the bad news about short-sellers’ crimes.
Funny that – with good news being so “cheap” and all.
Mark Mitchell is the former editor of the Columbia Journalism Review’s on-line review of business journalism. He has also worked as an editorial writer for the Wall Street Journal in Europe, and as a correspondent for Time magazine in Asia, and the Far Eastern Economic Review.
http://yourstockworld.com/2008/08/08/stock-market-crash-newspaper-editorial/

Fear

2008-07-28T07:14:00.002-05:00

Fear is a great motivator, the problem is it usually motivates us in the wrong direction.
Fear will control our lives if not confronted.
What can help over come fear, faith.
Faith will confront fear and they can not exist together, it is like water and oil, they do not mix. Faith in knowing God will and can take care of you, he knows your circumstances,
he has your best interest at heart.
Let's say you have a fear that your are going to get laid off from your job.
If the boss sends you a letter stating that your job is secure, then the faith in what the boss has written will overcome that fear.
God has sent us a letter that says that he cares for us, and he has our names in the palm of his hands. Believing what God has told us, will help to overcome the fear, and stop the worry.
Take your burdens to the Lord and leave them there.
Trust God

Heaven or Hell

2008-07-27T20:51:00.003-05:00

The Bible teaches of two distinct places which are eternal.
One is Heaven, it is reported the 9 out of 10 Americans believe in Heaven.
Heaven is seldom preached about, but it seems that the song writers have found a great way to express what Heaven is going to be.
The Devil will not just come out and say there is no Heaven he will just try to make it boring, and unattractive to those who want to experiance life. The truth is that Heaven is exciting, beautiful, satisfying, and completes life itself. In Christ you have the abundent life.
Hell on the other hand is a place that is spoken of even more than Heaven in the new testament, yet it seems that few really believe that it exist. How can anyone doubt one place without doubting the other. How can one choose to believe in one destiny and totally ignore the other.
To me that would not fit into logical thinking, yet that type of thinking is done today,
even in many so called Bible believing churches.
Both Heaven and Hell are motivators, they motivate us do better, to live better, and they teach us that there is an accounting for how we live.
If we can catch the concept of heaven and hell we will live a life more compelling to what real Christianity is supposed to be, and the rewards for our commitment will follow.
God Bless you as you contemplate the reality of Heaven and Hell.

A great statement

2008-06-14T14:09:00.000-05:00

“The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.”“Since man created government to help secure and safeguard [inalienable] rights [from God], it follows that man is superior to government and should remain master over it, not the other way around.”Ezra T Benson, Former Secretary of Agriculture

For our troops

2008-06-11T09:03:00.000-05:00

This offer expires when you do

2008-05-31T22:58:00.002-05:00

While on vacation I saw a young boy wearing a t-shirt with a neat saying on it.
It said.
Salvation and redemption is your for the asking,
This offer expires when you do.
I thought that was one of the most original statements I have ever seen.
It is also a true statement.

Catching Wild Hogs

2008-04-29T16:11:00.000-05:00

There was a chemistry professor in a large college that had some exchange students in the class. One day while the class was in the lab the professor noticed one young man (exchange student) who kept rubbing his back and stretching as if his back hurt.
The professor asked the young man what was the matter. The student told him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been shot while fighting communists in his native country who were trying to overthrow his country’s government and install a new communist government.
In the midst of his story he looked at the professor and asked a strange question. He asked, ” Do you know how to catch wild pigs?”
The professor thought it was a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man said this was no joke.”You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in the woods and putting corn on the ground.
The pigs find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put a fence down one side of the place where they are used to coming. When they get used to the fence, they begin to eat the corn again and you put up another side of the fence.
They get used to that and start to eat again. You continue until you have all four sides of the fence up with a gate in the last side. The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come through the gate to eat, AND THEN you slam the gate on them and catch the whole herd.
Suddenly the wild pigs have lost their freedom.
They run around and around inside the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to eating the free corn. They are so used to it that they have forgotten how To forage in the woods for themselves, so they accept their captivity.
The young man then told the professor that is exactly what he sees happening to America. The government keeps pushingus toward communism/socialism and keeps spreading the free corn out in the form of programs such as supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income, tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc.
WE ARE SLOWLY AND UNWITTINGLY BEING TAKEN CAPTIVE LOSING OUR FREEDOMS JUST A LITTLE AT A TIME.

Healing

2008-04-29T07:16:00.002-05:00

(Mat 12:15 ) But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;(
Mat 14:36 ) And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.
(Luke 6:19 ) And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.
(Mat 8:16 ) When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:
(Luke 4:40 ) Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto him; and he laid his hands on every one of them, and healed them
(Acts 10:38 ) How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him

Woman at the well: John 4:1-30

2008-04-29T07:01:00.002-05:00

V-4 he must needs go through Samaria
1 People of samurai 2 why did he need to go
Rejects Seeker
V-7 he ask give me to drink
Shows his humanity, to give us his divinity
We must see him as Jesus, to receive him as Christ.
His humanity is under attack/movies/books
V-8 why do u ask me for water?
Jesus is always asking sinners to take a look at him.
V-11 you have nothing to draw with!
The first thing a sinner does when they see what Jesus did on cross, is ask how does that help me.
V-14 ask and you will never thirst again.
A well springs up inside of you refreshing you
V-15 she ask GIVE ME THE WATER
Jesus answers NO or go tell your husband
What he is saying is repent first.
Easy believe-ism today, but you must repent
V-18 Jesus has a way of letting us know who we are
Remember asking Jacob what his name was? Or Peter he would deny him?
V-19 she started to get it.
V-22 you worship you know not what
The world worships, rock stars, ball players, politicians, preachers, money.
V-25 I know messiah cometh
The world believes, but Jesus is the only way to heaven.
V-26 I AM HE
V-28 she left her water pot
Perhaps she forgot it a lot of things get forgot when u get saved. All my sins/old places you hung out
Perhaps she thought it would hinder her. Lay aside every weight that so easily besets you.
Perhaps she thought Jesus had need of it. You become a giver.
Perhaps she took the whole well with her.
V-29-30 she was a soul winner.
She testified, a sure sign a sure sign of being saved.

Raising Children, and Grandchildren

2008-04-19T09:07:00.002-05:00

Give your kids music lessons, on any instrument they ask to take lessons on.
They may not learn to play it, but they will learn to appreciate good music.
They will learn how hard it is, to learn to play a instrument, and they will appreciate those who have mastered the instrument.My dad bought me a guitar , and I took lessons,
I did not learn how to play it.
My dad bought me a Hawaiian guitar, I took lessons, I did not learn how to play it.
Then I wanted a trumpet, he said nothing about the other two instruments setting in my room, he bought me a trumpet, I did not learn how to play it.
What I did learn.
I learned to appreciate those who do play, I know the sacrifice they made to learn how to play,
I love good musicians.
I played baseball and football in school, I do not play now, but I love to go to the games.
I appreciate the game.
I will buy my grandchildren any instrument they want to take lessons on,
I will buy ball, art, mechanical, and fishing equipment,
I will buy lessons on almost anything, gymnastics, music, art, swimming, karate,
but Never
will I buy fads,
I do not want them to be like all the other kids, I want them to be themselves.
IMO; when we buy into the fads with kids, we are allowing a 9 year old to teach them their values.
Parents should teach values to their children.
Now if you buy them every thing little Johnny has down the street, so they can be like little Johnny, it could be really hard to get your influence back if Johnny goes bad.
You gave Johnny that influence over your child.
Teach your kids, what is good, spend time with them, buy them things that will teach them,
not things that make them part of a instant gratification group,
that at some point, you will do everything you can to get them out of that group.

Raising kids is not easy, and we learn so much, when it is too late.
I do have good kids and grandkids, I love them dearly.
I have seen that many of there misjudgments, they have made,
I allowed them to be taught by others.
When My kids were young it was the Guess jeans group.
I wished many times I would have just guessed again.

Giving parent

2008-04-15T09:21:00.000-05:00

Just for this morning, I am going to step over the laundry, and pick you up and take you to the park to play. *Just for this morning, I will leave the dishes in the sink, and let you teach me how to put that puzzle of yours together. *Just for this afternoon, I will unplug the telephone and keep the computer off, and sit with you in the backyard and blow bubbles. *Just for this afternoon, I will not yell once, not even a tiny grumble when you scream and whine for the ice cream truck and I will buy you one if he comes by. *Just for this afternoon, I won't worry about what you are going to be when you grow up, or second guess every decision I have made where you are concerned. *Just for this afternoon, I will let you help me bake cookies, and I won't stand over you trying to fix them. *Just for this afternoon, I will take us to McDonald's and buy us both a Happy Meal so you can have both toys.. *Just for this evening, I will hold you in my arms and tell you a story about how you were born and how much I love you. *Just for this evening, I will let you splash in the tub and not get angry. *Just for this evening, I will let you stay up late while we sit on the porch and count all the stars. *Just for this evening, I will snuggle beside you for hours, and miss my favorite TV shows. *Just for this evening when I run my finger through your hair as you pray, I will simply be grateful that God has given me the greatest gift ever given. *I will think about the mothers And fathers who are searching for their missing children, the mothers and fathers who are visiting their children's graves instead of their bedrooms, and mothers and fathers who are in hospital rooms watching their children suffer senselessly, and screaming inside that they can't handle it anymore. *And when I kiss you good night I will hold you a little tighter, a ittle longer. It is then, that I will thank God for you, and ask Him for nothing, except one more day.............. <>

Pope St. Leo I (AD 390-461) Delivered on Easter,

2008-03-22T19:59:00.001-05:00

I. We Must All Be Partakers in Christ's Resurrection LifeIn my last sermon, dearly-beloved, not in- appropriately, as I think, we explained to you our participation in the cross of Christ, whereby the life of believers contains in itself the mystery of Easter, and thus what is honoured at the feast is celebrated by our practice. And how useful this is you yourselves have proved, and by your devotion have learnt, how greatly benefited souls and bodies are by longer fasts, more frequent prayers, and more liberal alms. For there can be hardly any one who has not profited by this exercise, and who has not stored up in the recesses of his conscience something over which he may rightly rejoice. But these advantages must be retained with persistent care, lest our efforts fall away into idleness, and the devil's malice steal what God's grace gave. Since, therefore, by our forty days' observance we have wished to bring about this effect, that we should feel something of the Cross at the time of the Lord's Passion, we must strive to be found partakers also of Christ's Resurrection, and "pass from death unto life," while we are in this body. For when a man is changed by some process from one thing into another, not to be what he was is to him an ending, and to be what he was not is a beginning. But the question is, to what a man either dies or lives: because there is a death, which is the cause of living, and there is a life, which is the cause of dying. And nowhere else but in this transitory world are both sought after, so that upon the character of our temporal actions depend the differences of the eternal retributions. We must die, therefore, to the devil and live to God: we must perish to iniquity that we may rise to righteousness. Let the old sink, that the new may rise; and since, as says the Truth, "no one can serve two masters," let not him be Lord who has caused the overthrow of those that stood, but Him Who has raised the fallen to victory.
II. God Did Not Leave His Soul in Hell, Nor Suffer His Flesh to See CorruptionAccordingly, since the Apostle says, "the first man is of the earth earthy, the second man is from heaven heavenly. As is the earthy, such also are they that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such also are they that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthy, so let us also bear the image of Him Who is from heaven," we must greatly rejoice over this change, whereby we are translated from earthly degradation to heavenly dignity through His unspeakable mercy, Who descended into our estate that He might promote us to His, by assuming not only the substance but also the conditions of sinful nature, and by allowing the impossibility of Godhead to be affected by all the miseries which are the lot of mortal manhood. And hence that the disturbed minds of the disciples might not be racked by prolonged grief, He with such wondrous speed shortened the three days' delay which He had announced, that by joining the last part of the first and the first part of the third day to the whole of the second, He cut off a considerable portion of the period, and yet did not lessen the number of days. The Saviour's Resurrection therefore did not long keep His soul in Hades, nor His flesh in the tomb; and so speedy was the quickening of His uncorrupted flesh that it bore a closer resemblance to slumber than to death, seeing that the Godhead, Which quitted not either part of the Human Nature which He had assumed, reunited by Its power that which Its power had separated.
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III. Christ's Manifestation After the Resurrection Showed that His Person Was Essentially the Same as BeforeAnd then there followed many proofs, whereon the authority of the Faith to be preached through the whole world might be based. And although the rolling away of the stone, the empty tomb, the arrangement of the linen cloths, and the angels who narrated the whole deed by themselves fully built up the truth of the Lord's Resurrection, yet did He often appear plainly to the eyes both of the women and of the Apostles not only talking with them, but also remaining and eating with them, and allowing Himself to be handled by the eager and curious hands of those whom doubt assailed. For to this end He entered when the doors were closed upon the disciples, and gave them the Holy Spirit by breathing on them, and after giving them the light of understanding opened the secrets of the Holy Scriptures, and again Himself showed them the wound in the side, the prints of the nails, and all the marks of His most recent Passion, whereby it might be acknowledged that in Him the properties of the Divine and Human Nature remained undivided, and we might in such sort know that the Word was not what the flesh is, as to confess God's only Son to be both Word and Flesh.
IV. But Though It is the Same, It is Also GlorifiedThe Apostle of the Gentiles, Paul, dearly. beloved, does not disagree with this belief, when he says, "even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know Him so no more." For the Lord's Resurrection was not the ending, but the changing of the flesh, and His substance was not destroyed by His increase of power. The quality altered, but the nature did not cease to exist: the body was made impassible, which it had been possible to crucify: it was made incorruptible, though it had been possible to wound it. And properly is Christ's flesh said not to be known in that state in which it had been known, because nothing remained passible in it, nothing weak, so that it was both the same in essence and not the same in glory. But what wonder if S. Paul maintains this about Christ's body, when he says of all spiritual Christians "wherefore henceforth we know no one after the flesh." Henceforth, he says, we begin to experience the resurrection in Christ, since the time when in Him, Who died for all, all our hopes were guaranteed to us. We do not hesitate in diffidence, we are not under the suspense of uncertainty, but having received an earnest of the promise, we now with the eye of faith see the things which will be, and rejoicing in the uplifting of our nature, we already possess what we believe.
V. Being Saved by Hope, We Must Not Fulfil the Lasts of the FleshLet us not then be taken up with the appearances of temporal matters, neither let our contemplations be diverted from heavenly to earthly things. Things which as yet have for the most part not come to pass must be reckoned as accomplished: and the mind intent on what is permanent must fix its desires there, where what is offered is eternal. For although "by hope we were saved," and still bear about with us a flesh that is corruptible and mortal, yet we are rightly said not to be in the flesh, if the fleshly affections do not dominate us, and are justified in ceasing to be named after that, the will of which we do not follow. And so, when the Apostle says, "make not provision for the flesh in the lusts thereof," we understand that those things are not forbidden us, which conduce to health and which human weakness demands, but because we may not satisfy all our desires nor indulge in all that the flesh lusts after, we recognize that we are warned to exercise such self-restraint as not to permit what is excessive nor refuse what is necessary to the flesh, which is placed under the mind's control. And hence the same Apostle says in another place, "For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it;" in so far, of course, as it must be nourished and cherished not in vices and luxury, but with a view to its proper functions, so that nature may recover herself and maintain due order, the lower parts not prevailing wrongfully and debasingly over the higher, nor the higher yielding to the lower, lest if vices overpower the mind, slavery ensues where there should be supremacy.
VI. Our Godly Resolutions Must Continue All the Year Round, Not Be Confined to Easier OnlyLet God's people then recognize that they are a new creation in Christ, and with all vigilance understand by Whom they have been adopted and Whom they have adopted. Let not the things, which have been made new, return to their ancient instability; and let not him who has "put his hand to the plough" forsake his work, but rather attend to that which he sows than look back to that which he has left behind. Let no one fall back into that from which he has risen, but, even though from bodily weakness he still languishes under certain maladies, let him urgently desire to be healed and raised up. For this is the path of health through imitation of the Resurrection begun in Christ, whereby, notwithstanding the many accidents and falls to which in this slippery life the traveler is liable, his feet may be guided from the quagmire on to solid ground, for, as it is written, "the steps of a man are directed by the Lord, and He will delight in his way. When the just man falls he shall not be overthrown, because the Lord will stretch out His hand." These thoughts, dearly-beloved, must be kept in mind not only for the Easter festival, but also for the sanctification of the whole life, and to this our present exercise ought to be directed, that what has delighted the souls of the faithful by the experience of a short observance may pass into a habit and remain unalterably, and if any fault creep in, it may be destroyed by speedy repentance. And because the cure of old-standing diseases is slow and difficult, remedies should be applied early, when the wounds are fresh, so that rising ever anew from all downfalls, we may deserve to attain to the incorruptible Resurrection of our glorified flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. Amen.

Seven Words of Christ on the Cross

2008-03-21T21:40:00.002-05:00

First Word: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing": Lk.23:34. - Second Word: "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise": Lk.23:43. -
Third Word: "Jesus said to his mother: "Woman, this is your son". Then he said to the disciple: "this is your mother": Jn.19:26-27. -
Fourth Word: "And about 3 o'clock Jesus cried out with a loud voice: "Eli, Eli, lema sabackthani?" which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?": Mt.27:46, Mk.15:34. -
Fifth Word: "I thirst": Jn.19:28. -
Sixth Word: "It is finished", "it is accomplished": Jn.19:30. -
Seventh Word: "Jesus, cried out in a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit": Lk.23:46.

Presidential Passports

2008-03-21T12:10:00.002-05:00

I know that passport information is considered private.
I also believe if a person is running for the presidency of the united states,
their travel outside of this country should be a open book.
Anyone running for president, should open their passport records and make them public.
Why would they want their overseas travels hidden.
To me that is a scary thought.

Jesus hands

2008-03-16T21:50:00.000-05:00

There was once a cowboy who listened attentively to the story of the first Palm Sunday. After hearing it, . . . he had only one small response to make to the story. In his own straight forward way, . . . the cowboy simply stated, . . . Jesus must have had wonderful hands. But his words only confused the others around him. Out of curiously they asked, . . . What do you mean by that statement? Well, the cowboy replied, . . . if Jesus could sit on a colt . . . on which no person ever sat, . . . an untried, . . . unbroken animal; . . . if he could soothe it . . . and control it . . . and guide it . . . while people were shrieking hosannas in its ears, . . . waving the branches of palm trees in front of its eyes, . . . and throwing down clothes in front of its feet, . . . Jesus must have had wonderful hands!
Those hand reached out to people from every walk of life. Those hands touched the sick and dying, raised the dead, feed a hungry throng of people. Those hand of Jesus calmed the wind, were folded in prayer as he prayed to the father for the strength to carry on his mission. Those hands of Christ are hands that now reach across the span of time and touches our lives through his Holy Spirit.

Rescue Station At the Gates of Hell: C.T. Studd 1860-1930

2008-03-12T09:49:00.001-05:00

C.T. Studd gave up fame and fortune to follow Jesus to the unreached peoples of China and later aftica. These quotes are taken from several of his sermons.
"We shall go crusading for Christ. We have the men, the means, and the ways-steam and electricity and iron have leveled the lands and bridged the seas. The doors of the world have opened wide for us by our God. We pray and preach; we bow the knee; we receive; we administer the Holy Communion of the Passion of Christ; we recite the Creed triumphantly; we are optimists everyone; we shout 'Onward Christian soldiers, marching on to war,' and then? . . . and then? . . . we whisper, 'I pray Thee have me excused!!!' What glorious humbugs we are!'
"'Follow Me,' says Jesus. 'I will,' we reply, yet somehow forget that Christ pleased not Himself, deliberately made Himself poor to save others and became the first foreign missionary. We all pray to be like Jesus, yet refuse to pay the price."
"Five hundred millions of heathen have not yet been evangelized, so it is computed! Yet our great Missionary Societies have reached high water-mark, and if they have not already begun to retrench, are seriously thinking of doing so. Meanwhile, the heart of Asia, the heart of Africa, and well nigh the whole continent of South America, are untouched with the Gospel of Christ.
Last June at the mouth of the Congo, there awaited a thousand prospectors, traders, merchants and gold seekers, waiting to rush into these regions as soon as the government opened the door to them, for rumor declared that there is an abundance of gold. If such men hear so loudly the call of gold and obey it, can it be that the ears of Christ's soldiers are deaf to the call of God, and the cries of the dying souls of men? Are gamblers for gold so many, and gamblers for God so few?
'My Montenegrins,' said King Nicholas, 'will henceforth spill their blood for their persecuted compatriots.' When shall God be able to say to the devil, 'Hast thou seen My Christians of today? No longer do they seek for gold or pleasure, for honors or ease. From henceforth My Christians will spill their blood for the love and cause of My beloved Son and the salvation of the neediest of men."
"There are more than twice as many Christian 'officers' at home among peaceful Britain's 40 million evangelized inhabitants, than the whole number of Christ's forces fighting at the front among 1,200 million heathen! And yet such call themselves soldiers of Christ."
"Yes, when? When indeed shall we see a real 'Church Militant here upon the earth?' "Christ's call is to feed the hungry, not the full; to save the lost, not the stiff-necked; not to call the scoffers, but sinners to repentance; not to build and furnish comfortable chapels, churches, and cathedrals at home in which to rock Christian professors to sleep by means of clever essays, stereotyped prayers and artistic musical performances, but to raise living churches of souls among the destitute, to capture men from the devil's clutches and snatch them from the very jaws of hell, to enlist and train them for Jesus, and make them into an Almighty Army of God.
But this can only be accomplished by a red-hot, unconventional, unfettered Holy Ghost religion, where neither Church nor State, neither man nor traditions are worshipped or preached, but only Christ and Him crucified. Not to confess Christ by fancy collars, church steeples or rich embroidered altar-cloths, but by reckless sacrifice and heroism in the foremost trenches...
I am more than ever determined that no ring or limit shall be placed around us, other than that of our Lord Himself, 'To the uttermost parts,' 'To every creature.' I belong and will ever belong to 'The Great God' party. I will have nought to do with 'The Little God' party...
Nail the colors to the mast! That is the right thing to do, and, therefore, that is what we must do, and do it now. What colors? The colors of Christ, the work He has given us to do-the evangelization of all the unevangelized. Christ wants not nibblers of the possible, but grabbers of the impossible, by faith in the omnipotence, fidelity and wisdom of the Almighty Savior Who gave the command. Is there a wall in our path? By our God we will leap over it! Are there lions and scorpions in our way! We will trample them under our feet! Does a mountain bar our progress? Saying, 'Be thou removed and cast into the sea,' we will march on. Soldiers of Jesus! Never surrender! Nail the colors to the mast!"
"The difficulty is to believe that He can deign to use such scallywags as us, but of course He wants Faith and Fools rather than talents and culture. All God wants is a heart, any old turnip will do for a head; so long as we are empty, all is well, for then He fills with the Holy Ghost. The fiery baptism of the Holy Ghost will change soft, sleek Christians into hot, lively heroes for Christ, who will advance and fight and die, but not mark time.
"Believing that further delay would be sinful, some of God's insignificants and nobodies in particular, but trusting in our Omnipotent God, have decided on certain simple lines, according to the Book of God, to make a definite attempt to render the evangelization of the world an accomplished fact. For this purpose we have banded ourselves together under the name of 'Christ's Etceteras,' and invite others of God's people to join us in this glorious enterprise.
We are merely Christ's nobodies, otherwise Christ's Etceteras. We rejoice in and thank God for the good work being carried on in the already occupied lands by God's Regular Forces. We seek to attack and win to Christ only those parts of the devil's empire which are beyond the extremest outposts of the regular army of God . . . Our method is to search and find out what parts of the world at present remain unevangelized, and then by faith in Christ, by prayer to God, by obedience to the Holy Ghost, by courage, determination, and supreme sacrifice, to accomplish their evangelization with the utmost despatch.
Too long have we been waiting for one another to begin! The time for waiting is past! The hour of God has struck! War is declared! In God's Holy Name let us arise and build! 'The God of Heaven, He will fight for us,' as we for Him. We will not build on the sand, but on the bedrock of the sayings of Christ, and the gates and minions of hell shall not prevail against us. Should such men as we fear?
Before the whole world, aye, before the sleepy, lukewarm, faithless, namby-pamby Christian world, we will dare to trust our God; we will venture our all for Him; we will live, and we will die for Him, and we will do it with His joy unspeakable singing aloud in our hearts. We will a thousand times sooner die trusting only in our God, than live trusting in man. And when we come to this position, the battle is already won, and the end of the glorious campaign in sight. We will have the real Holiness of God, not the sickly stuff of talk and dainty words and pretty thoughts; we will have a Masculine Holiness, one of daring faith and works for Jesus Christ."
C.T. Studd was a wealthy and famous Criket player in London. He gave up his fame and fortune to follow Jesus to the unreached peoples of the interiors of China and Africa. In 1885, he led the Cambridge Seven to China. Ten years later, he was instrumental in the start of the Student Volunteer Movement which thrust hundreds of university students into the harvest fields. Then, at the age of fifty, he initiated a campaign to reach the largest unevangelized region of Africa at that time. C.T. embodied the heroic spirit, the apostolic ambition, of which this generation is in need.

Law & Grace

2008-03-02T22:01:00.001-06:00

Dr. Ironside's favorite illustrations of law and grace: It is the story of the young Indian lad who had never been off the Navajo reservation until Dr. Ironside brought him to Oakland. He had been a Christian only about two years. When he came to Oakland, he was taken into a group of Christian young people one Sunday night when they were discussing law and grace. He listened to them as they argued back and forth about the various aspects, and then the leader called on him to say a few words. He said something like this:
"Me been listening to you talk about law and grace, and the longer me listen, the more me think you don't know what law or grace is."
He said,
"Let me tell you what I think: When Mr. Ironside ask me to go to Oakland with him, we get on a big train down in reservation. I never been on a train before, and we ride and ride and ride all day long, and, finally, we come to Barstow out in desert."
And he said,
"Me very tired so me get off train to walk platform and stretch legs. While me walk around platform, me see sign that say, 'Do Not Spit Here.' Me look at sign, and me think, 'what strange sign white man put up -- Do Not Spit Here.'"
And then he said,
"While me look at sign, before I know what happen, me spit! I look all around platform and I see many people spit here. I think to myself, 'How Strange.' Sign say, 'Do Not Spit Here' but many people spit, and I spit."
And then he said,
"We got on train again and come long way, up to Oakland, and some friends meet us at train, and take us to beautiful home. I never been in such home. Mr. Ironside take me in and show me soft chair and excuse himself for awhile, and I left alone in room. I look around and everything is so nice -- soft, thick rug on floor, beautiful walls painted lovely color, pictures hanging on walls -- everything so nice. I walk around room and I think to myself about something, and I look all around room and all over the wall, and I try to find sign that say 'Do Not Spit Here,' but I cannot find sign. I think to myself, 'Too bad all this lovely room going to be ruined by people spitting on floor.' Then I look around on floor, and see nobody been spitting there -- and then it come to me: When the law say, 'Do Not Spit Here' it makes me want to spit, and I spit, and many people spit. But when I come into grace, and everything lovely and nice, I don't want to spit, and I do not need law to say, 'Do Not Spit Here.'"

Discouraged, WHY????

2008-02-25T22:49:00.000-06:00

Psalm 34:19
Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
Isaiah 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.
Romans 5:3-4
And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope.
2 Corinthians 4:17
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,
Isaiah 30:21
Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left.
Psalm 37:23-24
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the LORD upholds him with His hand.
Psalm 4:7
You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased.
Matthew 28:20
Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Amen.
Romans 8:31
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Psalm 43:5
Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I shall yet praise Him, the help of my countenance and my God.
John 14:27
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.
Zechariah 4:6
So he answered and said to me: "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’says the LORD of hosts."
Mark 9:23
Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."
Deuteronomy 29:9
Therefore keep the words of this covenant, and do them, that you may prosper in all that you do.
1 John 5:14-15
Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
1 Corinthians 3:16
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
John 14:16-17
And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
Philippians 4:13
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
2 Timothy 1:7
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Hebrews 2:18
For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
Psalm 20:1-2
May the LORD answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob defend you; May He send you help from the sanctuary, and strengthen you out of Zion.
Psalm 103:8-10
The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities.
Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
John 15:5
I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Psalm 33:13-14
The LORD looks from heaven; he sees all the sons of men. From the place of His dwelling He looks on all the inhabitants of the earth.
Psalm 103:19
The LORD has established His throne in heaven, and His kingdom rules over all.
Ephesians 1:3-5
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.
Psalm 62:5
My soul, wait silently for God alone, for my expectation is from Him.
Luke 1:37
For with God nothing will be impossible.
Psalm 61:2-4
From the end of the earth I will cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
Philippians 4:6-7
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Ways To Reduce Stress

2008-02-23T07:39:00.000-06:00

Never borrow worry from the future. If you worry about what may happen tomorrow and it doesn't happen, you have worried in vain. Even if it does happen, you have to worry twice.
1. Pray
2. Go to bed on time.
3. Get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
4. Say No to projects that won't fit into your time schedule, or that will compromise your mental health.
5. Delegate tasks to capable others.
6. Simplify and unclutter your life.
7. Less is more. (Although one is often not enough, two are often too many.)
8. Allow extra time to do things and to get to places.
9. Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
10. Take one day at a time.
11. Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do any thing about a situation, forget it.
12. Live within your budget; don't use credit cards for ordinary purchases.
13. Have backups; an extra car key in your wallet, an extra house key buried in the garden, extra stamps, etc.
14. K.M.S. (Keep Mouth Shut). This single piece of advice can prevent an enormous amount of trouble.
15. Do something for the Kid in You everyday.
16. Carry a Bible with you to read while waiting in line.
17. Get enough rest.
18. Eat right.
19 Get organized so everything has its place.
20. Listen to a tape while driving that can help improve your quality of life.
21. Write down thoughts and inspirations.
22. Every day, find time to be alone.
23. Having problems? Talk to God on the spot. Try to nip small problems in the bud. Don't wait until it's time to go to bed to try and pray.
24. Make friends with Godly people.
25. Keep a folder of favorite scriptures on hand.
26. Remember that the shortest bridge between despair and hope is often a good, "Thank you Jesus."
27. Laugh.
28. Laugh some more!
29. Take your work seriously, but not yourself at all.
30. Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
31. Be kind to unkind people (they probably need it the most).
32. Sit on your ego.
33 Talk less; listen more.
34. Slow down.
35. Remind yourself that you are not the general manager of the universe.
36 . Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before. GOD HAS A WAY OF TURNING THINGS AROUND FOR YOU.
"If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8:31)

The Kingdom of God

2008-02-22T10:52:00.000-06:00

John the Baptist came preaching, as recorded in Matthew 23:2. Repent ye, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.
The scripture then reports in Mark 1:14-15. Now after that John was put in prison Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye; and believe the gospel. John and Jesus spoke very clearly about the kingdom of God.
The term kingdom is used throughout the New Testament, and is refereed to more than one hundred times. The term born again, sanctification, and kingdom have all been used to divide Gods people, but all of these terms, if understood, will bring unity to all believers.
There never has been any argument about the preaching, or message of John the Baptist referring to Jesus Christ. Jesus is the messiah. He is the king of kings. When the angle in Luke 1:33 said, He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. All Christians agree Jesus is king of the everlasting kingdom. The controversy has always been that man has tried to make this kingdom of God an earthly kingdom. Jesus spoke very plain on this subject, in Luke 17:20-21. And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said. The kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall they say, lo here, or lo there, for, behold the kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom is not a worldly kingdom, but a spiritual kingdom headed by Christ, and made up of born again believers. Jesus even cleared up for us when the kingdom would be setup. In Matthew 16:28 Jesus said. Verily I say unto you, there is some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the son of man coming in his kingdom. In Luke 21:32. Jesus said verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till ALL be fulfilled. The point that Jesus made here is so clear that it leaves no room for any other interpretation than the obvious. The only point that might be challenged is how long a generation is, but I am sure that in our wildest imagination a generation could not reach two thousand years. The number we would probably come up with would be more like forty years. The number of years the children of Israel were in the wilderness. Then Jesus sad some shall not even taste death, till they see the son of man in his kingdom.
The words that Jesus spoke while hanging on the cross was, it is finished, but some may question, if it was finished or not. Jesus being the messiah had fulfilled all the prophesies. Jesus stated this in Luke8:31. Then he took unto him the twelve and said unto them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the son of man shall be accomplished. Jesus was the word that was made flesh. The New Testament is a testimony of his life, and teachings. The cross was the final defeat for Satan, and when Jesus said it was finished, it was over the scriptures had been fulfilled. If we can see what it is to be born again, and sanctified unto God, it will not be hard to understand what Jesus was talking about in Luke 11:20. The kingdom of God is upon you.
Jesus had finished his work. Pilot had asked Jesus art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered thou sayest. He is defiantly the king, but a king without a kingdom is no king at all. The kingdom of God is here now, it is within the heart of every believer, and has been sense Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament. John speaking through the spirit in Revelation 1:9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom. John knew he was in the kingdom at that time, he also knew the Christians he was addressing were also in the kingdom. Luke 18:29-30 . And he said to them, verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or parent, or brother, or wife, or children, for the kingdom of Gods sake, who shall no receive many times more in this present time, and in the world to come life everlasting. Notice the phrase in this present time. Jesus is speaking of the kingdom being already in existence and the believers being part of it then, and there. Jesus speaking again in Luke 12:31 But rather seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not little flock; for it is your fathers good pleasure to give you the kingdom. We are not to be waiting on the kingdom of God, we are to be seeking it, and it is the father’s good pleasure to give it to you. Still there are some who do not believe that Jesus fulfilled all the prophesy as he said he did. They believe that Daniels seventh week must be fulfilled at some later date, and Jesus must return to do that. I chose to take the word of Jesus rather than that of man on this subject. The problem is if Jesus did not fulfill the prophesy, then he wasn’t the messiah, and it really wasn’t finished when Jesus said it was finished.
How then do we deal with the woman in Revelation chapter twelve, where she is with child, and cried travailing in birth, and pain to be delivered? Then in verse five the scripture says she brought forth a man child who was to rule all nations, and her child was caught up to God, and to his throne. There cannot be any doubt that this is talking about Jesus Christ. Then we read in verse ten, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brothern is cast down. Salvation, strength, and the kingdom is come, now notice how all three are used together.
The word travail, or tribulation coming before the kingdom, that is scriptural. Let us take some time and explore this. The whole creation groaning together from the time John the Baptist started his ministry until the time Jesus completed his ministry. The bible even tells us that when Jesus died the graves opened, and the sun turned black. The spiritual warfare had to be beyond description. The day heaven, and hell meet. Jesus was victorious. Man could live again not under the law of discipline, but in the kingdom of God. If you need to fit in the seven years, I believe this is a very good place to do that. The 3 ½ years of Johns ministry and 3 ½ years of Jesus ministry.
Another word we hear is millennium. The word millennium means a thousand. Some theologians use it to refer to a period of time for an earthly kingdom. Jesus answered this himself and so did the angle of God, and every Christian knows in his heart, that there is no end to the kingdom of God, not in a thousand years, or ten thousand years. The kingdom of God cannot be put in a box.
The question then comes up about Revelation 20:2. He laid hold on the dragon that old serpent which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit; and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should not deceive the nations any more.
This verse means what it says Satan cannot deceive the nations, because the kingdom of God cannot be deceived. Satan lost his power over this world when Jesus defeated him on the cross, and if this did not happen at the cross than what did happen to Satan at the cross? Does he have the same power he did before, or are his movements limited, and where are they limited? We might say he has been chained. Satan is not only limited, but totally powerless over the kingdom of God. Remember Jesus told Peter I give you the keys to the kingdom, whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.We have a exit, when we are born again, we exit the worlds authority and enter the kingdom of gods athrority.
The next word is Armageddon as referred to in Revelation 16:6 angle poured out his vial upon the Euphrates, and three unclean spirits like frogs came out of the dragon’s mouth; they are the spirits of the devil. These go forth to the kings of the earth to gather them together to battle. This is taught by some to take place at the end of the tribulation. Now it is the belief that the church will be in heaven at this time. Then what is to take place is that, Jesus is to lead an army consisting of the Christians in heaven, and these dear saints will come out of heaven, and fight earthly men, and kill then. The slighter will be so bad that the blood will run as high as the bridle on the horses. If I believed in soul sleep I would have an easier time trying to understand this line of thinking, but I do not believe in soul sleep.
Paul tells us to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When our body dies, we go directly to heaven to be with the Lord, and he will wipe away every tear. In John chapter fourteen Jesus says let not your heart be troubled you believe in God believe also in me. In my father house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also. Heaven is a place. We go directly there. We do not pass through purgatory, or limbo. The reference to Jesus coming to take us to heaven is referring to our physical death.
Then after we are in heaven, having communion with the saints, listening to the angelic choir sing. Then we are to take up a sword, and fight a battle that Jesus has already won. I think not.
The New Jerusalem as spoken of in Revelation 21:10 The angle carried me away in the spirit to a great high mountain and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. We need to remember that John saw this city, and the angle made no mention of it being an illusion. Then in the sixteenth verse it tells us the length, breath, and height, all fifteen hundred miles each. The scripture tells us in the book of Galatians 4:25-26. For this is Agar in Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children, but Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. Notice verse twenty six Paul says the Jerusalem which is above, that is in the present tense, and the same verse says which is the mother of us all, again in the present tense. The New Jerusalem is already in place, and has been throughout the kingdom age. Christians may be in this natural world, but we are not of this world.
We have a real King, Jesus Christ, who presides over a real Kingdom, of which we are citizens of now.
That kingdom is in our hearts, and it gives us victory over the world. Jesus told us how to live in the kingdom, and though we are in the world, we are not to be part of it. We have different values, we have different goals, we are empowered by him, and protected by him. Jesus is a real king, he rules now. Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord I will repay.
Our king has everything under control.

The White Devil, The Evil of Unbelief 1678

2008-02-20T22:18:00.000-06:00

This doctrine of coming to Jesus Christ for life, informs us of the evil of UNBELIEF; that wicked thing which is the only or chief hindrance to the coming sinner. Doth the text say, "Come"? Doth it say, "And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out"?
Then what an evil is that, that keepeth sinners from coming to Jesus Christ? And that evil is unbelief: for by faith we come; by unbelief we keep away. Therefore it is that by which a soul is said to depart from God: because it was that which at first caused the world to go off from him, and that also, that keeps them from him to this day. And it doth it the more easily, because it doth it with a wile.
This sin may be called THE WHITE DEVIL. For it ofttimes, in its mischievous doing in the soul, shows as if it were an angel of light: yea, it acteth like a counsellor of heaven. Therefore, a little to discourse of this evil disease, I observe:
1. It is that sin, above all others, that hath some show of reason in its attempts. For it keeps the soul from Christ, by pretending its present unfitness and unpreparedness: as want of more sense of sin, want of more repentance, want of more humility, want of a more broken heart.
2. It is the sin that most suiteth with the conscience. The conscience of the coming sinner tells him, that he hath nothing good! that he stands inditable for ten thousand talents; that he is a very ignorant, blind and hard-hearted sinner, unworthy to be once taken notice of by Jesus Christ; and will you (says unbelief) in such a case as you are now, presume to come to Jesus Christ?
3. It is the sin that most suiteth with our sense of feeling. The coming sinner feels the workings of sin, of all manner of sin and wretchedness in his flesh; he also feels the wrath and judgment of God due to sin and ofttimes staggers under it. Now, (says unbelief) you may see you have no grace; for that which works in you is corruption. You may also perceive that God doth not love you, because the sense of his wrath abides upon you. Therefore, how can you bear the face to come to Jesus Christ?
4. It is that sin above all others that most suiteth the wisdom of our flesh. The wisdom of our flesh thinks it prudence to question awhile, to stand back awhile, to hearken to both sides awhile, and not to be rash, sudden, or unadvised, in too bold a presuming upon Christ. And this wisdom unbelief falls in with.
5. It is the sin above all others, that continually is whispering in the ear the soul, with mistrusts of the faithfulness of God, in keeping promise to them that come to Jesus Christ for life. It also suggests mistrusts about Christ's willingness to receive it, and save it. And no sin can do this so artfully as unbelief.
6. It is also that sin which is always at hand to enter an objection against this or that promise, that by the Spirit of God is brought to our heart to comfort us. And if the poor coming sinner is not aware of it, it will by some exaction, slight, trick, or cavil, quickly wrest from him the promise again, and he shall have but little benefit of it.
7. It is that above all other sins, that weakens our prayers, our faith, our love, our diligence, our hope and expectations. It even taketh the heart away from God in duty.
8. Lastly, this sin, as I have said, even now, appears in the soul with so many sweet pretences to greater safety and security, that it is, as it were, counsel sent from heaven; bidding the soul be wise, wary, considerate, well-advised, and to take heed of too rash a venture upon believing. "Be sure, first, that God loves you; take hold of no promise until you are forced by God unto it; neither be sure of your salvation; doubt it still, though the testimony of the Lord has often been confirmed in you.
Live not by faith, but by sense; and when you can neither see nor feel, then fear and mistrust, then doubt and question all." This is the devilish counsel of unbelief, which is so covered over with specious pretences, that the wisest Christian can hardly shake off these reasonings.
But to be brief, let me here give the Christian reader a more particular description of the qualities of unbelief, by opposing faith unto it, in these particulars.
Faith believeth the word of God, but unbelief questioneth the certainty of it (Psa 116:24). Faith believeth the word, because it is true; but unbelief doubteth thereof, because it is true (1 Tim 4:3; John 8:45). Faith sees more in a promise of God to help, than in all other things to hinder; but unbelief, notwithstanding God's promise saith, 'How can these things be?'(Rom 4:19-21; 2 Kings 7:2; John 3:11,12). Faith will make thee see love in the heart of Christ, when with his mouth he gives reproofs; but unbelief will imagine wrath in his heart, when with his mouth and word he saith he loves us (Matt 15:22-29; 25:24).
Faith will help the soul to wait, though God defers to give; but unbelief will take offence and throw up all, if God makes any tarrying (Psa 25:5; Isa 8:17; 2 Kings 6:33). Faith will give comfort in the midst of fears; but unbelief causeth fears in the midst of comforts (2 Chron 20:20,21; Matt 8:26; Luke 24:25).
Faith will suck sweetness out of God's rod; but unbelief can find no comfort in his greatest mercies (Psa 23; Num 12). Faith maketh great burdens light; but unbelief maketh light ones intolerably heavy (Mal 1:12,13). Faith helpeth us when we are down; but unbelief throws us down when we are up (Micah 7:8-10; Heb 4: 11). Faith bringeth us near to God when we are far from him; but unbelief puts us far from God when we are near to him (Heb 10:22; 3:12,13).
Where faith reigns, it declareth us to be the friends of God; but where unbelief reigns, it declareth us to be his enemies (Heb 3:18; Rev 21:8). Faith putteth a man under grace; but unbelief holdeth him under wrath (Rom 3:24-26; Eph 2:8; John 3:36; 1 John 5: 10; Heb 3:17; Mark 16:16; John 8:24). Faith purifieth the heart; but unbelief keepeth it polluted and impure (Acts 15:9; Titus 1:15,16). By faith the righteousness of Christ is imputed to us; but unbelief shuts us up under the law to perish (Rom 4:23,24; 11:32; Gal 3:23).
Faith maketh our work acceptable to God through Christ; but whatsoever is of unbelief is sin. For without faith it is impossible to please him (Heb 11:4; Rom 14:23; Heb 11:6). Faith giveth us peace and comforteth our souls; but unbelief worketh trouble and tossings, like the restless waves of the sea (Rom 5:1; James 1:6).
Faith maketh us see preciousness in Christ, but unbelief sees no form, beauty, or comeliness in him (1 Pet 2; Isa 53:1-3). By faith we have our life in Christ's fulness; but by unbelief we starve and pine away (Gal 2:20). Faith gives us the victory over the law, sin, death, the devil, and all evils: but unbelief lays us obnoxious to them all (1 John 5:4; Luke 12:46).
Faith will show us more excellency in things not seen, than in them that are; but unbelief sees more in things that are, than in things that will be hereafter (2 Cor 4:18; Heb 11:24-27; 1 Cor 15:32).
Faith makes the ways of God pleasant and admirable; but unbelief makes them heavy and hard (Gal 4:6; 2 Cor 12: 1O,11; John 6:60; Psa 2:3).
By faith Abraham, Isaac and Jacob possessed the land of promise; but because of unbelief, neither Aaron, nor Moses, nor Miriam could get thither (Heb 11:9; 3:19). By faith the children of Israel passed through the Red sea; but by unbelief the generality of them perished in the wilderness (Heb 11:29; Jude 5). By faith Gideon did more with three hundred men, and a few empty pitchers, than all the twelve tribes could do, because they believed not God (Judges 7:16-22; Num 14:11,14). By faith Peter walked on the water; but by unbelief he began to sink (Matt 14:22-33).
Thus might many more be added, which for brevity's sake, I omit; beseeching every one that thinketh he hath a soul to save, or be damned, to take heed of unbelief; lest seeing there is a promise left us of entering into his rest, any of us by unbelief should indeed come short of it.
— By John Bunyan

Visit a Church

2008-02-20T08:00:00.000-06:00

I have had the privilege of traveling the world, I have stood on mountain tops, shorelines, and beautiful valleys. I have seen the Eiffel tower, leaning tower, and the twin towers in New York before and after 911. I have never seen anything more beautiful than the church. There is a warmth, that I have felt in every church I visited, no matter what country, or when it was built, or what Christian group built it.
There is always a feeling of being at home, being safe, being among friends.
No matter where you go this year on vacation, visit a church, new, old, Sunday or Monday, and check out what I have posted. I think you will find the same thing I found.
Gods presents.

Robert Shapiro on Naked Short Selling

2008-02-18T21:44:00.000-06:00

To: Securities Exchange Commission Rules CommitteeSubject: File No. S7-23-03: Comments on the "Proposed Rule: Short Sales," 17 CFR 240 and 242, Release No. 34-48709From: Robert J. ShapiroDate: December 24, 2003
I am Robert J. Shapiro, chairman of Sonecon, LLC, an economic advisory and investment firm in Washington, D.C. I am also a Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution and Counselor to the U.S. Conference Board. From1998 to 2001, I was Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs. Previous to that, I was Vice President and co-founder of the Progressive Policy Institute and principal economic advisor to Governor Bill Clinton in his 1991-1992 presidential campaign. I hold a Ph.D. from Harvard University.
I commend the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) for, at long last, addressing the issue of abuses in short sales. No one questions that the legitimate use of short sales often promotes the efficiency and stability of our capital markets. Short sales alert investors to other investors' judgments that certain firms are over-valued; short sales also enable market makers, as necessary, to provide liquidity and offset temporary imbalances in the supply and demand for particular stocks. These legitimate and positive uses of short sales depend on two particular features of the transaction - namely, that the short sale is covered as required by SEC regulation, and not undertaken to manipulate a stock's price. Without these features, the use of uncovered or "naked" shorts to manipulate the price of targeted shares can present a significant threat to investors. When carried out on a large and widespread scale, naked shorts threaten the basic integrity of equity markets. In my judgment, the Commission's proposals would not materially reduce these threats.
Concern about the illegitimate use of short sales is as old as the SEC itself. The Commission writes that "Congress, in 1934, directed the Commission to 'purge the market' of short selling abuses, and in response, the Commission adopted restrictions that have remained essentially unchanged for over 60 years."1 It has been evident for some time that the regulations adopted in 1938, principally Rule 10a-1 restricting short selling in a stock while its price is falling, have not stemmed illegitimate short-selling. This failure suggests systemic problems with the short sale system that have eroded the basic integrity of the equity markets, including: 1) broker-dealers and investment firms apparently participating in the creation of significant numbers of sham short sales to artificially drive down the price of targeted firms, 2) apparently lax and faulty arrangements at the industry-owned Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and its National Securities Clearing Corporation (NSCC) subsidiary that have allowed millions of uncovered shorts to persist in the system; and 3) the apparent incapacity or unwillingness of the SEC to enforce existing short sale regulation by investment companies, the DTCC and the NSCC.
The SEC has definitively acknowledged the inadequacy of current regulation by proposing to replace Rules 10a-1, 10a-2 and 3b-3 with new Regulation SHO. Moreover, the Commission also now acknowledges that one reason for the proposed change is the failure of existing arrangements to prevent naked short selling on a large scale, signified by extended failures to deliver shares on a sufficient scale to affect the price of individual equities:
"(A)t times, the amount of fails to deliver may be greater than the total public float. In effect, the naked short seller unilaterally converts a securities contract (which should settle in three days after the trade date) into an undated futures-type contract, which the buyer might not have agreed to or that would have been priced differently."2
When the number of uncovered short sales in a stock exceeds its public float-or even the total number of shares issued or outstanding--the only plausible explanation is a concerted and illegal effort by short sellers to flood the marketplace with counterfeit or fictitious shares, in order to artificially drive down the stock's price and increase the value of the shorts. Massive naked short sales turn the equity market into a form of monopoly pricing for the firms that fall victim to such sales, in which the short seller sets the price at a level guaranteed to provide a quasi-monopoly return. These actions, in effect, destroy the integrity of the market system for firms targeted by naked short sellers and create a direct transfer of wealth from existing shareholders to the illegal short sellers. The firms targeted for such manipulation are generally smaller, younger public firms - the type of company which has generated many of the technological and organizational innovations that have contributed so much to the increases in business investment and productivity of recent years. As relatively small and young companies with much fewer shares in their public floats than their older and larger counterparts, their individual decline or destruction also generally attracts little public attention.
These illegal short sellers cannot achieve pricing power over a firm by themselves, since it involves creating hundreds of thousands or even millions of phantom or non-existent shares in direct breach of numerous regulations and laws. This undertaking requires the collaboration of broker-dealers who will carry out short sales without transferring actual shares, and the tacit countenance of the market organizations and regulatory bodies charged with clearing and settling those short sales. The fact that naked short sales occur on this scale, therefore, points to serious problems involving compliance with short sale regulation at the investment firms conducting these transactions for their customers. It also points to troubling problems involving the enforcement of these rules at the NSCC, where these transactions are supposed to be cleared and settled in accordance with the rules, at the NSCC's corporate parent, the DTCC, and at the SEC offices entrusted with overseeing the DTCC, the NSCC and investment firms.
The DTCC describes its responsibilities in this area in very unambiguous terms:
It is the job of [the DTCC and NSCC] to provide an efficient and safe way for the buyer and seller to exchange securities and money, thus 'clearing and settling' the transactions. … NSCC steps into the middle of a trade, becomes a contra-party to both firms and guarantees completion of the transaction. This guarantee assures all members that NSCC will complete trades on the original terms."3
The DTCC and NSCC further guarantee that all trades, including short sales, are promptly cleared and settled-since 1995, within three business days:
NSCC guarantees and settles transactions between market professionals during this time period [three business days] to ensure sellers are paid and buyers receive their securities in a manner that reduces risk, cost and post-trade uncertainties. … NSCC guarantees that a trade will be completed once it enters our system as compared, which means all trade details from the buyer and seller match up."4
Despite these intentions, there is considerable evidence that market manipulation through the use of naked short sales has been much more common than almost anyone has suspected, and certainly more widespread than most investors believe. I have studied one form of illegitimate short selling, based on the use of a convertible warrant guaranteeing the investor the right to convert his investment into shares at the lowest public share price over some look-back period, minus a substantial discount. The use of this financial instrument, commonly called "death spiral financing," was widespread in the 1990s and the recent turn of the century, and created strong incentives for large-scale naked short sales focused on small and medium-size public companies. This particular instrument creates conditions under which an investor can profit by short-selling the firm in which he is otherwise invested: If the investor can drive down the firm's share price through short sales, he profits from his shorts while his convertible warrant protects the value of his original investment, regardless of how much the stock declines. The investor also can use his warrants to produce the shares he needs to eventually close his short positions.
The appeal of the death-spiral instrument to a short seller intent on driving down a firm's share price is clear: It eliminates economic risk, since the warrant guarantees the delivery of shares equal to the investment plus a large premium, regardless of the stock's price. However, a short seller without such a warrant can also virtually eliminate his financial risk by undertaking short sales on a scale sufficient to drive down the stock's price. Normally, a legitimate short seller increases his exposure by expanding his short position. For a short seller operating on a sufficient scale to affect the stock price, however, the more extensively he shorts a stock, the greater his prospects of profiting and the greater his profits will likely be.
The more the share price falls, the greater the short-seller's return; and the greater the percentage of tradable shares that the shorts account for, the greater the price decline. The only difficulty facing a short seller intent on manipulating a stock's price is securing enough shares to cover such large-scale short sales. The typical solution is the large-scale naked short sales that the Commission has found--in some cases greater than the total number of tradable, outstanding or issued shares in the firm being shorted. As the Commission notes,
[N]aked short sellers enjoy greater leverage than if they were required to borrow securities and deliver within a reasonable period, and they may use this additional leverage to engage in trading activities that deliberately depress the price of a security."
My own research has found, thus far, that a sample of more than 200 companies that appear to have been victimized by this new form of "bear raid" posted a combined market loss of more than $105 billion. Others also have found substantial evidence of the ill effects of naked short sales. Two European economists, Professors Pierre Hillion and Theo Vermaelen, tracked 467 issues of floating-price "death spiral" convertible warrants by 261 U.S. firms from December 1994 to July 1998.5 They found that despite the strong bull market of that period, the shares of 85 percent of those firms fell by an average of 34 percent in the year following the issue of the convertible instrument. Nor were these declines consistent with comparable firms that had not undertaken this financing: The year before issuing these warrants, firms using this form of finance under-performed various market indices by 5 to 11 percent; a year after issuing the warrants, the same firms under-performed the same indices by 40 to 54 percent.
Considering massive naked short sales undertaken either with or without a floating-price convertible warrant, we believe that this type of stock manipulation has occurred in many hundreds and perhaps thousands of cases over the last decade.
Illicit short sales on such a scale or anything approaching it point to grave inadequacies in the current regulatory regime. In principal, it should be simple to identify short selling of the extent required to manipulate a stock's price. The stock exchanges track the short interest in every issue and can easily identify stocks with sufficient short-sale activity to raise questions of manipulation. It also should be simple to prevent the extended use of naked short sales, since an investor's broker-dealer will know of any failure to deliver the shares being shorted, the information systems within investment firms track such failures to deliver, and the NSCC is charged with monitoring the failures to deliver reported by investment firms.
The large-scale naked short-sales now acknowledged by the SEC and confirmed by research require broker dealers willing to look the other way as their customers carry out their short sale strategy, with some of these broker dealers perhaps relying on a customer's convertible warrant to guarantee that the shorts will be closed eventually. The success of these large-scale naked short sale strategies also depends on a persistent failure by the supervisors and employers of these broker dealers to question or investigate massive short sales transacted through their firms and followed, time after time, by the effective destruction of the targeted companies. The strategy's success further depends on NSCC staff willing to overlook thousands of instances in which large numbers of shares are not delivered for an extended period or on their supervisors' ignoring such reports.
Finally, these manipulations can occur only in a lax enforcement environment. The record shows that the SEC has not disciplined a single broker-dealer, a single investment firm, a single staff or official of the NSCC or DTCC in connection with the massive illegal activities which the Commission acknowledges have occurred.
The rules governing short sales must be tightened and, just as important, the new rules must be strictly enforced. I do not believe, however, that the SEC's proposals in their current form will have an appreciable effect deterring these abuses.
The proposed reforms of the "tick test" will do little to curb the serious abuses in short selling. The Commission writes that a strict "tick test" can prevent,
" … short selling at successively lower prices, thus eliminating short selling as a tool for driving the market down" [and prevent] "short sellers from accelerating a declining market by exhausting all remaining bids at one price level, causing successively lower prices to be established by long sellers."6
This analysis gravely underestimates the ability of sophisticated manipulators to drive down a stock price while technically complying with the tick test. A technically-sophisticated short-selling operation, for example, can carry out a trading strategy that creates or includes brief up-ticks of one-penny, as required under the new test. Whether a manipulated stock's pattern of price decline is smooth or punctuated by plateaus and penny increases on the long way down does not alter the manipulation. In addition, the new bid test, like the current one, would apply only to exchange-listed and NASDAQ NMS securities, and not to NASDAQ small cap, Over the Counter Bulletin Board, and Pink Sheet securities-the equities that are most vulnerable to such manipulation.7 Finally, the proposal to reform the tick test addresses the timing of short sales relative to the price set by immediately-previous short or long sales, but not the core issue of naked short sales.
The Commission considers another approach in the proposed Rule 203. The new rule would authorize the NASD to bar a broker-dealer from executing short sales in a particular security for 90 days for either his own account or the account of a customer who had failed to deliver 10,000 or more shares of that security sold short, within two days of its settlement date. In addition, the clearing agency for the failed delivery could deny the customer who had failed to deliver the benefit of mark-to-market on his short sales, which would freeze his collateral.
The 90-day bar in Rule 203, as currently written, will not "protect buyers of securities by substantially curtailing naked short selling" as the Commission hopes, because it would inhibit only those illegal short sellers working with only one broker dealer and working alone. Under the new rule, an investor caught using naked shorts to drive down the price of stock could find another accommodating broker-dealer or an associate could carry on the scheme the original broker dealer. I urge the Commission to revise the proposed rule to ensure its effective application under such circumstances.
The Commission's proposal to authorize the clearing agency for a failed delivery to deny a customer the benefit of marking to market on his short sales has more potential for curbing short-sale abuses, since it could freeze the profits of naked short sellers. By itself, however, the rule is insufficient: Based on the SEC's findings as well as independent research, we cannot assume that broker dealers or clearing agents always will follow the rules when they can profit from bending or breaking them. As the Commission writes regarding market makers,
"… [W]e believe that extended failures to deliver appear characteristic of an investment or trading strategy, rather than being related to market making. We believe it is questionable whether a market maker carrying a short position in a heavily shorted security for an extended period of time is in fact engaged in providing liquidity for customers, or rather is engaged in a speculative trading strategy."
I urge the Commission to improve the proposal by making the sanctions mandatory: In every case of an extended failure to deliver shares, the collateral will be frozen until the shares are delivered. If the shares are not delivered within five business days-almost twice the length of the normal clearance and settlement procedure-the investment firm should be compelled to use the collateral to buy-in the position and liquidate the short sale. Finally, the NSCC should publish the names of individuals who fail to cover substantial short positions in five days, and investment firms should be prohibited from conducting any transactions for 90 days for those individuals or the firms which employ them.
I also urge the Commission to heed the concerns about market makers noted above and develop rigorous criteria for distinguishing genuine markets makers from those claiming the role in order to escape regulation and, among genuine market makers, distinguish clearly those activities which fall under such market making and those which do not. In any case in which short sales are conducted under a cover of genuine market making for which they do not qualify, as in the example noted above by the Commission, the sanctions we propose for everyone else should apply to the so-called market maker.
Even such strict rules cannot guarantee compliance. Current regulations require that any uncovered short be covered within 10 days of settlement; but the NASD, DTCC, NSCC and SEC have failed to penalize their myriad violations. Nor would the new rules affect the abuses associated with death-spiral financing, since that instrument provides a short-selling manipulator with the shares to eventually cover his massive naked shorts. In all these matters, the NASD, DTCC, NSCC and SEC have not shown the commitment required to enforce rules which ultimately guarantee the integrity of the capital markets.
In this context, the Commission's proposal to suspend the tick test for two years for specified liquid securities could send a dangerous message to market participants.8 The tick test, as noted above, is not always effective in preventing short sale abuse; but its suspension in an environment of lax oversight of failures to deliver could substantially increase such abuses. I am particularly concerned with the Commission's comment that the purpose of this pilot program is to "assess whether short sale regulation should be removed, in part or in whole, for actively traded securities."9 I concur that strict regulation of short sales would "especially help smaller issues, whose securities may be more susceptible to the effects of naked short selling … and would promote capital efficiency in smaller, thinly capitalized securities that are more susceptible to manipulation."10 That does not mean, however, that larger issues are always invulnerable. Manipulating their shares would require greater resources and more cooperation from broker dealers and clearinghouse agents, but such efforts could certainly flourish if short sale regulation were removed.
Finally, the Commission has asked for comments on whether the proposed amendments will promote efficiency, competition and capital formation, as required under section 3(f) of Exchange Act. To respond, we must be clear about how short sale abuses impair economic goods. As noted earlier, manipulative short selling, in effect, introduces a form of monopoly pricing that undermines the efficiency of capital markets. The public perception that equity markets are vulnerable to such abuses and that the appropriate agencies are unwilling or unable to crack down, could sharply reduce public confidence in those markets. In turn, declining public confidence can materially damage market efficiency by reducing liquidity in many issues, ultimately reducing capital formation and impairing competition by inhibiting business creation and expansion.
In my judgment, the proposed regulations would not significantly reduce short sale abuses. To have a genuine impact on the efficiency and competitiveness of the equity markets, the regulations should provide much stronger disincentives for naked short sales. The integrity of the capital markets demands much stricter regulation than those currently proposed, much greater industry compliance than has occurred of late, and much tighter enforcement than has been seen thus far.
Robert J. ShapiroDecember 24, 2003

Under Attack

2008-02-15T05:01:00.000-06:00

Have you ever felt under attack? I am sure most of us have. How do we handle it, what do we do.
First find a safe place, Just like a football team sometimes needs to take a time out. Step back away from the battle, reassess what is happening. Many times when attack comes, it is because we have allowed ourselves to be lured into enemy territory. There are several ways to win a battle. Eisenhower said a army moves on its stomach, meaning if the food line is cut, the army will die. There are many things that can be done without direct confrontation.
The first thing we would need to know is why the attack, what is the motive. If motive can be established, than a plan can be developed. There are some attacks that are just evil, I have found when my character is under attack, I just need to remain quiet, the lord will take care of that, it is amazing how many times that a difference of opinion will result in character assassination. The personal attacks we have no need to worry about, we should spend more time in prayer for the one who mounted that attack, as the lord has said vengeance is mine I will repay, and his repayments are swift and sure.
Stick to the issue at hand, allow all venues to be searched. Flood everything with prayer, and you will find when your sling is empty, your arrow is shot in a venture, or your back is turned, God himself will deliver the blow, the one that will end in total victory.
It always amazes me how many people underestimate the power of our all mighty God.
Both those who attack, and those who are to rely on him, too many times underestimate his power.
There is a time when we are required to defend our position, but remember God himself will defend us.

Sinners in the hands of an Angry GOD

2008-02-12T13:35:00.000-06:00

A Sermon Preached at Enfield, July 8th 1741at a time of great Awakenings, and attended with remarkable Impressions on many of the Hearers.
By Jonathan Edwards, A.M.Pastor of the Church of Christ in Northampton.
Their foot shall slide in due time.Deuteronomy 32:35
In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained (as verse 28) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. — The expression I have chosen for my text, their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.
1. That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm 72:18. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction."
2. It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18,19. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!"
3. Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.
4. That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.
The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. — "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." — By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. — The truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.
1. There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. — He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?
2. They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" Luke 13:7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.
3. They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18. "He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. "Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.
4. They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell.
So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.
5. The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.
6. There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. 57:20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;" but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.
7. It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment. All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world, are so in God's hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case.
8. Natural men's prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or the care of others to preserve them, do not secure them a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do also bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world, and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death: but how is it in fact? Eccles. 2:16. "How dieth the wise man? even as the fool."
9. All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.
But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself — I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief — Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."
10. God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant.
So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.
So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.
Application
The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. — That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor.
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.
The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you, see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you were suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. — And consider here more particularly,
1. Whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. 20:2. "The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: Whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul." The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke 12:4,5. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
2. It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isa. 59:18. "According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries." So Isa. 66:15. "For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And in many other places. So, Rev. 19:15, we read of "the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is "the fierceness and wrath of God." The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehovah! Oh, how dreadful that must be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them! But it is also "the fierceness and wrath of almighty God." As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. Oh! then, what will be the consequence! What will become of the poor worms that shall suffer it! Whose hands can be strong? And whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this!
Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger, implies, that he will inflict wrath without any pity. When God beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment to be so vastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will God then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you shall not suffer beyond what strict justice requires. Nothing shall be withheld, because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. 8:18. "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them." Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock," Prov. 1:25,26,&c.
How awful are those words, Isa. 63:3, which are the words of the great God. "I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." It is perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, viz. contempt, and hatred, and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard or favour, that instead of that, he will only tread you under foot. And though he will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he will not regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt: no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
3. The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that end, that he might show what that wrath of Jehovah is. God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that would provoke them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and accordingly gave orders that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it. But the great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. Rom. 9:22. "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" And seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. 33:12-14. "And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites," &c.
Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. 66:23,24. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."
4. It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"
How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell? And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quiet and secure, should be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at Suffield, where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?
Are there not many here who have lived long in the world, and are not to this day born again? and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they have lived, but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, sirs, your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Do you not see how generally persons of your years are passed over and left, in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy? You had need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God. — And you, young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. — And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?
And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days; the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down and cast into the fire.
Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed."
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)

Finding Perfection in Church

2008-02-11T05:18:00.000-06:00

I know alot of people want nothing to do with Church because they see imperfection, and inconsistency, in the people that go to Church.
I have been in the ministry for over 30 years, and for the most part, Christians are imperfect, and too many times inconsistent.
I think we many times focus on the wrong thing when looking for perfection.
If we focus on Jesus and the Bible then and only then will we find what we are looking for.
To have an effective church, our heart and mind needs to focus on that which is perfect.
A preacher I had as a young kid would say, the Church is not a rest home for the saints, but a hospital for sinners. I think he had it right.
The hospital is for the sick, but we never judge the hospital by the sick, we judge it by the medical attention we receive when we go there or when a family member goes there.
If we focused on the sick people we would never go to a Hospital.
There is a group called weight watcher, have you ever been to a meeting at weight watcher? You will find that most of the people are heavy, now using the same analogy why would anyone go there to loose weight when everyone is heavy.
Most help groups are recognized by what they can do to help, and are not judged by those who attend.
What if I told you that Church was made up of people knowing they need help, knowing they are not perfect, but they want to do better, and want to learn how to have a better and more fulfilling life. I will tell you this after being in Church all of my life, that is exactly what it is.
Look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

Prayer

2008-02-09T15:45:00.000-06:00

Can prayer really change things.
There have been many books written about prayer.
The attitude, the structure, the content. How to get God to answer prayer.
There have even been best sellers, about positive prayer, and financial results.
Prayer is no big secret, it is communicating with God himself.
Communicating with the creature, the alpha and omega of life.
There is no secret to prayer.
Most people do not receive answered prayer, because they do not ask.
The Bible is clear, you have not because you ask not.
If you are in Christ you are a new creature, you life belongs to him.
Prayer is communicating with him, the Bible say we ask amiss, meaning we are asking God to do something against his nature to help our selfishness.
Trusting God is recognizing his as our Lord, allowing him to decide what is needed in our lives,
it is not complaining that God does not answer, it is being satisfied with what God does answer.
Prayer is simple, make sure you are totally committed to him.
Make sure your prayer is not selfish, that does not mean you can not pray for yourself, we all need strength, some need healing, all to help with his plan in our lives.
Then just ask him, and allow him to answer, and accept the answer God gives, after all he is God.

Logical Thinking

2008-02-08T11:05:00.000-06:00

How to think logically. Have you ever heard someone say; that just does not compute, or that makes not since. They are saying the point you are making is no supported with facts, or the facts do not support your argument.
Logical thinking is thinking with facts. Logical thinking takes work. It takes study.
Most people today are only taught to think in a box, they are given facts, shown how to connect the facts. That is being a good student, but thinking beyond the box, and expanding, takes logical thinking. Once you have all the facts, and you connect all the dots, you will then be able to see what is missing, you can then bring in a new idea, and support that idea with facts and work beyond the teacher student mode of learning.
Logical thinking is gifted to some people, it just seem that all the tumblers just fall into place, you can give them information and they can assimilate it as fast as they receive it. Most people are not that way, they will need to make a list, look at the list, study the list, look for the weaknesses in that list, and then make a calculated decision, with the information they have. Logical thinking includes all of the know information, and it also eliminates all information not pertaining or supporting the decision being made.
If you think logically, you will be able to take a stand, That stand will be supported with facts, and clear thinking. That stand will make you a leader. Leaders are hard to find. When you find one follow them, they see things you may miss, and assimilate a situation with due causation.
That will protect you, and encourage you, it will add light to your path.
The Bible say study to show yourself approved a workman that needs not to be ashamed. God is saying, study, and know what you are talking about, dig deep, connect the dots.
We sure could use logical thinkers, in every aspect of life as we know it.
May God help you to be one.

Just A question

2008-02-06T22:39:00.000-06:00

Would you take swimming lessons from someone that could not swim?
Would you take flight training from someone that was not a pilot?
The answer to both should be NO
The why take Bible study lessons, or allow doubt to be cast on the Bible,
from someone that does not believe the Bible.
A minister, or Bible professor that does not believe the Bible, can not teach it.
If there is one part they do not believe, how can you be sure about the part they say they believe.
Every false Bible teacher wants to be the final authority, but the Bible is the final authority, and it can not be taught without the teacher or preacher, stepping behind the Bible, and allowing it to speak through them.

SEC Chairman Cox

2008-02-05T20:52:00.000-06:00

SEC Chairman Cox Announces Creation of New Office, Appointment of Leaders, to Expedite Distribution of Billions to Injured Investors
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE2008-12
Washington, D.C., Feb. 5, 2008 — Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox today announced the appointments of the top two leaders of the agency's newly created Office of Collections and Distributions.
Richard J. D'Anna, an experienced manager in the financial services industry, has joined the SEC as the first-ever director of the new office. Mr. D'Anna will use his considerable private sector experience in tracking and managing financial assets to expedite the distribution of more than $5 billion in SEC recoveries to injured investors.
At the same time, Lynn M. Powalski will become Deputy Director of the Office of Collections and Distributions. Ms. Powalski has been an Assistant Director and Assistant Chief Litigation Counsel for Collections and Distributions within the SEC's Division of Enforcement.
"The Commission's strong commitment to recovering money from wrongdoers and returning it to investors is amply demonstrated by the more than $2 billion we distributed last year," said Chairman Cox. "In 2008, we can do more. Dick and Lynn bring exactly the right skill-sets to their new positions, and they will make an excellent team to lead the SEC's efforts to get money back to defrauded investors as quickly and efficiently as possible."
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act passed by Congress in 2002 for the first time gave the SEC authority to distribute financial penalties paid by securities law violators directly to injured investors. Using this authority, the SEC already has distributed more than $3.5 billion. The new office is intended to further expedite the return of more than $5 billion in so-called Fair Funds to harmed investors, while cutting red tape and the costs of the distributions.
Mr. D'Anna said, "I am very excited to join the SEC in this capacity and look forward to working with the professional staff there to accomplish the important goals the Chairman has provided. I have every confidence we will be successful."
Ms. Powalski said, "I look forward to this new opportunity and to working with the Office's exceptional staff. We expect to build on the Commission's continued success in depriving securities law violators of illegally obtained funds and ensuring that the funds collected are returned to harmed investors as quickly as possible."
Prior to joining the SEC staff, Mr. D'Anna was Senior Vice President at 1st Bridgehouse Securities and a Senior Vice President and Consultant at FITS, Inc., operating from his base in Baltimore, Md. He was previously the Senior Operations Officer at Fiserv Securities in Philadelphia from 2004 to 2005, and served as Managing Director of Correspondent Clearing, Custody Operations, and Prime Brokerage Services at Deutsche Bank/Alex Brown in Baltimore from 1996 to 2002. Mr. D'Anna graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1968 and served on active duty in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War as a Gunnery/Ordnance Officer. He later earned his MBA in Finance at New York University.
Ms. Powalski has worked in the SEC's Division of Enforcement since 2001. Her previous experience includes serving as a counsel in the Legal Division of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia (Alexandria Division). Ms. Powalski earned her B.A. in Political Science at William Smith College in Geneva, N.Y., and her J.D. from the Washington College of Law at The American University in Washington, D.C.

Is the Bible Believable?

2008-02-02T21:51:00.000-06:00

I have been ask many times, if I believe the Bible.
Most of the time people ask because they are thinking of a question they have about a specific Bible statement that they are having trouble with.
The Bible is a life changing book, if read and applied it will give you abundant life.
It will give you God best life for you.
Whenever I am ask if I believe the Bible, I ask a few questions.
1. Do you believe in God?
2. Do you believe in life after death?
3. Do you believe in heaven?
Most of the people I deal with, would answer yes to those questions.
The next thing I ask is why do they believe? The answers will be a bit different, but it always comes back to the Bible. God, Heaven, and eternal life are all from the Bible,
and everyone want to believe at least that much.
There is a problem with only believing parts of the Bible, how would you be sure which part to believe. If a person has a problem with creation, then they will have a real problem with heaven. Did heaven evolve, or was it created by God, did Jesus say I go to prepare a place for you, if it were not so I would have told you. My point is, if God can create heaven which is much better than the earth, why couldn't he create the earth. I have been ask if I believe Jesus walked on water, my answer is; I not only believe that Jesus walked on the water, I believe Peter walked on water. If we stumble with our belief about the water walk, we will really have a problem with the resurrection from the dead.
I believe the Bible to be a life giving book, I think that Satan will do anything he can to try and keep you from that life, he will place questions, and doubts, just enough, that you will not commit your life, to live by the Bible. The Bible is not a pick and choose book, it is a God Book, Inspired, by God himself, to give us the best life we can have on earth, and eternal life in a prepared place heaven.
Yep I believe the Bible, I believe it all. Not because I am a minister, I am a minister because I believe it all.

Dealing with Problems

2008-02-02T07:58:00.000-06:00

Everyone has problems, yes everyone. Ours just look bigger because they are our problems.
The closer your get to anything the bigger it looks. I have found the problems we deal with are the same problems that others deal with, they are all the same size.
How do we deal with the problems we face in our lives?
The job problems, family problems, sickness, financial, relationships, respect, failures, just to name a few.
First you must step back from it, do not allow the problem to become the focal point of your life.
Stepping back is easy to say but hard to do, here are a few ways to do just that.
Stepping back will allow you to see the problem at its actual size.
First find someone you trust, clergy, uncle, aunt, someone you can trust that will give you honest advice. If you do not have anyone like that in your life, that in itself is a problem,
then look for a professional, take a recommendation from your doctor, or an acquaintance that will give you a person you can call for help.
Just talking to someone will allow your to step back from the problem, verbalizing it will allow you to take it from a worry to a need.
You can now create a plan on how to deal with a need, but a worry is like catching a bird in a jar. When my grandmother was alive, I would go and visit her, she was 96 when she died.
I trusted her, I knew she loved me unconditionally, I also know in the last 5 or 6 years of her life she could not give me much advice. I still went and talked to her, I told her some of the things I was dealing with, I verbalized the problem, that alone helped me to deal with it, she was someone that would listen.
In the Catholic church they have what is called confession, I am not of the belief that a priest can forgive sin, but I do think that the confessional can help alot of people. It allows you to put your finger on what you want to change in your life, it holds you somewhat accountable, it allows you to verbalize your problems.
It isn't the advice you get from the person you trust, it is, you isolation your problem, and someone agreeing with you about getting beyond your problem.
I have a job where people come to me for advice, mostly I listen, and let them know there is an abundant life all around us. The Bible say, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are noble, whatsoever things are just, think on these things. You can not think about your problem all the time and be healthy, or scriptural.
I might add, when I was in the Navy there were times I had no one to talk too. I would write down what problems I was dealing with, like a grocery list, and put it in my pocket, I had a time at the end of the day that I would deal with my pocket list. That kept me from thinking about those things all day long, it kept my worries from controlling me.
I use my computer alot, have you ever had too many windows open at the same time, it really slows the computer down, the same thing happens if you are allowing your mind to worry when you are to be doing something else, kids school grades will go down, adults work will slow down.
Then, if not dealt with properly it will just freeze up.
I am sorry to say, but that is what happens to us if we allow problems and worry to take over our mind.
If someone comes to you with a problem, don't worry about solving it, most the time no one giving advice can solve another persons problem. Just listen, and let them know you are there, let them know of others that have made it, let them know that you believe they can make it.
Be a cheerleader, be a friend, be there, take your time, and listen.

Marriage

2008-01-31T17:28:00.000-06:00

Marriage is built on trust and love.
To have any successful relationship, it takes trust.. When trust is lost or questioned,
the relationship breaks down. Trust can be lost because someone has broke a trust, I am not talking about another relationship, I am talking about broken promises, unfulfilled task, deadlines not taken seriously.
Let me make an analogy. You hire a carpenter to remodel your kitchen he does wonderful work, there is no better. There is a problem he never shows up when he says he will, the price he quoted you is not what he is now asking, and the material is not cherry it is oak. He looks at his work and say wonderful others look and say great, you look and see it is not what your ordered, the price was not what you were told, and it was not finished in time for your anniversary.
That is just how trust is lost in a marriage.
Some think as long as they never mess around, and come home at night, and work, everything should be OK. If you see my logic you will understand why it is not OK, and why maybe you are having problems that you do not understand.
The second thing is love. Love is more than a word, it must carry commitment. You can love someone, yet love yourself more, and do your best to please yourself, in so doing the love you feel for the other person will never be felt by them. Love is putting the other persons needs above your own needs. Love is overlooking their mistakes and shortcomings.
Love is 1 Corinthians 13
1Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.
3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.
4Love suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8Love never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
9For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
10But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
11When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
12For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
13And now abideth faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Great Marriages are build on trust and love, trust is earned, love is expressed.

Patience

2008-01-30T11:05:00.000-06:00

Patiences is a virtue, and it is better understood by the aged.
Waiting is something no one seems to enjoy, we live a world of fast food, scanners, computers, instant messages, and cell phones.
The Bible teaches that those who wait on the lord will renew their strength, they will mount up with wings as eagles and fly.
My grandfather would tell me not to wish my life away.
I am now starting to understand why the aged are more patience than the young.
My wife and I missed our plane in Paris, we arrived in Venice and there was not luggage.
I had a job for 3 years where I would fly sometimes every day, the airlines know my address, it seemed they lost my luggage every Friday.
There were many in line with me at the Venice airport, to let the airlines know that our luggage did not arrive. Many were really upset, so upset I am sure it affected their entire vacation. Learning from experience, I knew there was no reason to get upset, the airlines would just need a address, and they would deliver our luggage. Nothing would change by being upset.
We walked out of the airport with just our carry on bags, caught a bus, then walked about a block to a boat that took us to the old city, then arriving at our dock, we walked at least 6 blocks over 3 bridges to our third floor apartment. We laid down for a few hours to catch up on the jet lag, and there was a knock on our door, sure enough there was a man from the airlines, with our 4 over stuffed suitcase's. I tipped him and said thanks.
The best thing that happened that day was the airlines lost our luggage. I am not sure we could have made it to the apartment lugging all of those bags.
We missed our plane on the way back in New York, when we arrived in Detroit, yep no luggage, we smiled at each other and walked to our car.
Take life a little slower, roll with the punches, you will smile more, and people around you will catch on to the secret of Patience.

Isaiah 1:18

2008-01-29T11:24:00.000-06:00

Come now and let us reason together. Says the Lord.
He goes on to tell us
Though your sins are like scarlet
They shall be as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson.
They shall be as wool.
If you are willing and obedient
You shall eat the good of the land.
But if you refuse and rebel
You shall be devoured by the sward.
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

The verse is about a person in sin, and anger, in rebellion to God.
God says come and let's reason together.
God is saying talk to me,think about how you are living and acting.
If you continue in your rebellion and anger you will surly die.
I have found this true in relationships, friendships, and work situations.
Do you really have bad Friends, would you hang around with bad people?
No you wouldn't, at least give your self a little credit, and give them a break.
Those you love, and those who love you, need to be given a little respect.
God says instead of declaring war that will end in the death of a relationship,
try to reason together, allow yourself to give them the benefit of the doubt.
Rebellion and anger can be caused by many things, usually it is self serving, seldom does it involve others. A person that does not want to reason is a person that is in trouble, and in danger of loosing those around them, those they love, those who would do anything to help them.
The scripture is talking about being reasonable. Calm, collective, and the love of God himself.
Turing your check is a Godly thing.
If we continually point out the mistakes others make, there will be no others in our life.
A selfish person is a lonely person.

Change the laws that govern our market

2008-01-27T21:12:00.000-06:00

Can the US stock market be cleaned, can it restore the confidence needed to bring a vibrant market to earnest investors.
A good market is built on rewarding companies that are successful, Rewarding investors that placed they earning in those companies.
There is a old saying build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door.
That is true of a private company, where the owner has complete control over earnings and expenditures. A private company knows its worth. If you sell a private company, how would you set a price, 2 1/2 times the gross income, 3 times the net. That would be entirely up to the seller, the owner seller has absolute control.
In a public company it is different. If you own stock in a private company, and you do not want to sell, and say no one that owns shares in the company wants to sell. Then you would think as the demand for your company goes up so would the price per share.
It isn't like that in the public market, see a broker can sell your shares to someone else, just by borrowing your shares. What if you do not want to loan them, no problem, he can borrow them and sell them anyway. That alone will devalue your ownership by 50%. They call that making a market.
I call it making up a market. Selling something they do not own, so they can make commissions on a sale. The price goes down, you can not take that much loss, so your sell. The reason you sold for a loss was because someone without your permission, already had sold your shares.
Then there is the selling of shares you don't own. The short selling adds even more shares to the market, yet no one has sold, this is all buying, you buying first, then the market maker selling your shares they borrowed without you knowing, or approving, the short sellers see the price going down, and they jump in. They have no investment in the company and the own no shares, they sell with a promise to buy at some future time. The price continues to go down, and it picks up speed.
The snowball rolls so fast that the short sellers, continue to sell, they may sell as many as 20 time the amount of total shares in the company. The company fails. Those who have shorted never need to buy anything, the company has failed, those who invested lost all, to those who never invested, but just sold with a promise to invest later.

Let's do some math.

Company A, has 1000 shares for sale. 500 preferred shares not for sale.
you and a few friends buy 1000 shares, yep you own it all. $1 a share.

The company does well, more people want to buy, but you do not want to sell.
The price per share goes to $2, then $3, then $4 you still do not want to sell.

The market maker sells anyway, he doesn't need your approval, he just borrowed your shares.
Now he sells 1000 share that you own, for $4 a share to me.
You did not sell, so you get no money, where does the $4000 go? good question. The answer to that is why they borrow your shares, and help destroy your company.

It get even worse. The price drops to $3 because the number of shares have doubled.
That attracts Short sellers, now they do not own anything, but they can sell shares in your company, after all, there needs to be a market, a unfair, a unethical, and a totally manipulated market. The short sellers sell 2 thousand shares, the price goes down even further to $2 a share, as long as it goes down the short Sellers sell. Why not, they get the money and have not invested anything in your company.
That attracts another group, they see that the company is falling fast, so they sell short as long as anyone is buying they are selling. They may sell as much at 20,000 shares. How can they do that, there never was more than 1,000 shares and they were not for sale. no mater it is called making a market. The key is to drive the company into receivership and share prices into sup penny, yes sub-penny. now the parts per share is $.0001 and they buy all they shares they sold for $4,$3,$2, $1,$.50,$.10,$.01$.001, they buy all 21,000 share back.

Most investors would love to buy something for $.0001 and sell for $4, but that is almost impossible, but selling for dollars and buying for pennies, is going on unchecked in our market every day.
One more point, what if you still do not sell you 1000, and the other investor, that would be me, that paid $4 did not sell, then they would fail to deliver, and someone would be in trouble.
First of all the failure to deliver laws as seldom enforced, and when they are it is always too late.
Just in case there is a problem, the off shore hedge funds the usually naked short a company out of business, cut a deal with the owner of the 500 preferred shares, and in the fine print you will see that preferred shares can be converted to common shares, at the rate to 1000 to 1.
Now you have plenty enough to knock out any real investors.
The problem is most of this is looked on as legal in our market. The US market is not designed to build companies, it is designed to destroy the investors, and in so doing destroying the company.
The laws we have need to be governed by ethics, a law with not ethical enforcement is not a law at all it is just a license to rob.
We need some real changes, or our market is lost, people are catching on, and the investment dollars will soon dry up. and there will be no one left to rob.

Quality time

2008-01-26T10:40:00.000-06:00

Quality time with the family, you will never regret.I told the Church on the first Sunday of the year, I am going to live this year like it was my last.I have so far, and it has been rewarding.
I have overlooked things that I would not have, I have confronted things I would have over looked.
Life is wonderful, it is a great gift we have, and a privilege God has given us.
We own nothing, not even ourselves, when God serves the eviction notice, and our heart stops. Then we know who is in absolute control. My thinking is, give him control now.
I am far from selfish with my kids and grandkids, worldly things mean nothing compared to them.
Sometimes we will loose one before we realize just how precious they are.
I lost a grandson 3 years ago. Life has changed, values have changed.
I thank God for the changes, my life is richer, and I am content.
My plan is to take all of my kids and grandkids to Heaven with me.
I try my best to show them who God really is, and how faith can improve their lives today.

Influence, how to use it

2008-01-25T21:52:00.000-06:00

If you have influence, you have the ability to turn people that are neutral in your direction.
Influence should be used more as a trim tab on a airplane than a rudder.
I have found that to be effective with ones influence, you first need to be with a group that is headed the same direction you are. There would be no need to try and use your influence on a train going the opposite direction.
You will only be able to influence people if your direction helps them, in their direction.
Always use it with caution. Influence is a earned respect, years of it can be lost in seconds.
Here is the kicker, a man or woman with influence is seldom influenced by others.
Follow me, we all have been influenced by those whom we respect, and admire.
I am talking about the other side, when people see that you have respect and influence,
you become a target for those who want to go a different direction.
It is like being a gun fighter, they think if they knock you off they will have your followers.
They are so wrong, influence and respect is not gained by demising someones respected,
it gained by earning respect from the man or woman with respect.
Being a target, or being pressured from some one for you to go along with their plan, is what I am taking about, if they could just have you with them, they could get people to do what they want them too.
You must realize first that if they need you, they do not have enough respect to influence the move themselves. That being said; you can not be influenced by them.
People will be upset, they will say nasty things, all because you do not support them with your influence.
Respect is earned, it will make you a leader, it will come natural, not because you have the title, but because people trust you, they believe you have their best interest at heart.
If you want to lead, and be respected, and have influence, there is only one way, earn it.

Worship

2008-01-23T23:36:00.000-06:00

Worship is a word we use to describe our music service at Church,
but is that really what worship is?
Jesus said God is a spirit and those who worship him should worship him in spirit and in truth.
Ray Steadman made a statement about worship that I have never forgot.
He said it is not prayer, it is not praise, it is worship, it is not a specific time, it has nothing to do with the physical. Worship is spiritual.
Prayer deals with a man taking his needs to god,
praise deals with a thanks for what god has done for us.
Worship is understanding the greatness of god.
Look at creations, and see how big god is, look at all he has made.
When we see God for who he is, we stand in his awe.
We stand amazed in his presents.
We worship 24/7 we marvel in his greatness.
I am reminded at how Nancy Regan would look at her husband the president, with awe.
You could tell how much she admired him and respected him.
When we have true worship within us.
People can see it, people can feel it, people can experience it.
They see it flowing out of us, in our total amazement of Gods greatness.
Isaiah 6:1, I saw the Lord high and lifted up and his train filled the temple.
6:5 woe is me, for I am undone.
6:8 the lord said whom shall I send, and who will go. Then I said here am I send me.
That is true worship

Slick 50

2008-01-23T08:21:00.000-06:00

I started using slick 50 several years ago, I always had a used car that I drove. Terry drove the new car. About 2 years ago I bought a New Saturn for me. I had never used slick 50 in it.
I have almost always filled it with gas when the light comes on, that was around 285 miles, give or take 10 or so. I decided about 2 months ago to add slick 50 to the oil, cost was about $15.
Well the noticeable results, I now am over 300 miles before the light comes on. It is usually over 310. That to me is alot of gas savings, and at over $3 a gallon that is still a lot of money.
I am not sure how it will work in your car, but that is how it worked in my car.

Calculating Your Net Worth

2008-01-22T06:39:00.000-06:00

How does a person calculate their net wort?
Many would say you start with real assets, the house, car, bank accounts.
Then subtract your liabilities.
What are your real assets? What is first on your list?
Let's take a look at our real assets, the things you do not want to loose.
The things you would never put a price on.
Family, wife, husband, children, grandchildren, parents, friends.
If you have ever lost any of these you know exactly what I am talking about.
I have lost a brother, a grandson, and some really close friends.
I have learned these are real assets, these are of real value. They can never be replaced.
Money comes and goes, cars rust, houses need continual upkeep.
Family and friends need our time, or values, or attention.
Take some time and assess your true net worth.
With these assets, there are few liabilities.

Help

2008-01-21T06:32:00.000-06:00

I remember back to a old Beatles tune titled Help.
Have you ever needed help? Have you needed someone to step in and give you a hand. I have and sometimes they have and sometimes they have not. I always felt better when I received the help I needed. I also felt disappointed, and discouraged when I did not receive the help needed.
I have learned that the responses to my needs should never have any bearing on how I respond to others needs.
The two are not connected, but we connect them for only one reason. That reason being so we can be selfish with our time and have an excuse to not meet the needs of others.
The Bible teaches to be kind one to another.
Give a little of you, to make them have a better day.
You will not regret it.

Condition and Response of Law Enforcement

2008-01-19T15:31:00.000-06:00

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov most of us remember him from grade school. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904 for research pertaining to the digestive system. Pavlov is widely known for first describing the phenomena of how he was able to train his many dogs to drool on command.

Condition and response is used in almost ever business, demographics, social sciences.
To know how people will respond , always give you and advantage.

Most logical people already know this. Criminals know this too, they know just how much time it takes for the police to respond to a call, or who goes on the fire run.

In the stock market there are many white collar criminals, some are smart, they study the system, they know who will respond and how they will respond. They calculate their moves accordingly.
The problem in the market is the law enforcement, SEC and the over-site committees, have not kept up with the tactics of the criminals.
The crooks keep coming and the SEC and others keep responding in the same way they alwasy have.
There is a old saying; follow the money.

The first change that needs to be made is follow the money.
Find out who benefited from the loss of others.
The SEC will not respond by pulling all trading records on a company, why not?
The times have changed, and the market is all about money. Finding a criminal is not enough.
Finding the money will, stop manipulation.
Until the SEC starts looking for the money as well as a criminal to pin it on,
the money will continue to disappear.

The SEC need to change the way they continually do things.
The crook can not only read them like a book, but the crooks use them,
and the way they have always done it to their benefit.

We need some new laws, we need fresh blood in the SEC, and we need a quick and effective response. Then swift punishment, and make sure it cost more to break the law than to keep it.

I knew a Honest and Good Man

2008-01-18T21:23:00.001-06:00

My dad told me a long time age, he said remember a thief never will trust anyone.
I grew up in a the home of a good and honest man.
I was trusted as a young man to make good choices.
I know parents that do not trust their children with any decision.
I usually can see why, because the parent is not trustworthy.
The bible say know the truth and the truth will set you free.
Jesus was on trial, being falsely accused, Jesus said I am the truth.
Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life.
Truthfulness is something that has lost its appeal, being covered by bad business habits.
The love of money, and selfishness.
My dad was a salesman, and he did well, when I turned 16 he sold the 1963 corvette split window. He trained his sales men not to lie to get a sale.
He told us many times when we were kids, stories how he would get the sale, because he didn't lie.
How a competitor would tell people how much better their insurance policy was than his.
He would say I told the customer, no we are all regulated by the same laws, my policy not better, than his. They are the same. You choose who you want to do business with.
He would tell the customer to call the other insurance salesman on the phone and have him come when my dad was there. My dad had not fear, because he was honest.
I will always choose to do business with a honest man.
I have learned when a honest man makes a honest mistake, it is always forgivable.
When a man makes a mistake knowingly, to take advantage, it may be forgivable, but the trust has been lost.
My mom and dad raised 4 children, my younger brother is a minister, my sister is a children's minister, and my older brother was a engineer, that left his job to run our church state youth camp for six years.
My brother was 54 years old, he and his wife were visiting their son in Nashville, he went to bed, and never woke up. He was a honest man, as my dad and mother. His son Eddie, and Gloria Gather wrote the song recorded by Allison Durham Speer, Break This Heart
I am not saying we are always right, but we were taught by example to be honest.
God bless my dad, one of the finest men I have ever know.
Dad is now 87 and can not remember much form one minute to the next. Mom said he tells her how pretty she is about 50 times a day, because he forgets that he had already told her.
She doesn't mind helping him, because he is and was always good to her.
I will do my best to honer the most noble man I have know, by doing my best to be a Honest Man.

Fasting

2008-01-17T14:39:00.000-06:00

A “Fast” MessageIs. 58:6-8
. DefinitionFasting=a voluntary withdrawing from food and/or drink, or other fleshly appetite, for a specified period of time.

First mention of a fast in scripture is Ex. 34:28(law of 1st mention)27 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write thou these words: for after the tenor of these words I have made a covenant with thee and with Israel. 28 And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.
You may have noticed it said he didn’t eat OR drink…don’t anybody go and try that! That is a human impossibility apart from divine intervention…some have worked up to a 40 day fast from food, but no one could survive 40 days w/ no drink…this was a miracle!Jesus began His earthly ministry w/ prayer and fasting.Mt. 4:1-2—a 40 day fast Jesus completed!Jesus taught His disciples to fastMt. 6:1616 Moreover when (not if) ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance…Though fasting is never commanded, Jesus assumed that the disciples would want to in order to see great things happen!But it’s not something a Christian has to do, but can choose to do…not many guidelines given in scripture about fasting, either!Normal fast is no food, only liquids like water, juice, etc…it can last for 1 day (judges 20:26—1 day fast)That’s a good place to start!3 day fast (Paul did this right after getting saved)
In the partial fast you omit certain foods for a while, but not others.Dan. 1—he and 3 Hebrew children did a partial fast, and at the end were stronger and healthier than those eating what they wanted.Elijah did this on 2 occasions/John Wesley was well known for going days on end eating only bread and water/some give up meats for a time, eating only vegetables/just skipping a meal to spend time in prayer would be another example of a partial fast

II. Purpose of fasting:A way to seek God by denying the physical in order to focus on the spiritual……for this reason prayer and fasting must always go together
II Chron. 20: 3 And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. 4 And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.Ezra 8: 23 So we fasted and besought our God for this: and he was entreated of us.Nehemiah 1 1:4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven, 1 Corinthians 7 7:5 Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer when we fast it ought to be from ALL physical desires, not just food!Let go of the physical, focus on the spiritual!

God’s 9 main purposes for fasting: Is. 581. Fasting to get freedom from addictionsv. 6 “loose the bands”
2. Fasting to solve problems“undo heavy burdens” (v. 6)
3. Fasting for revival and soul winningv. 6 “let oppressed go free
4. Fasting to conquer mental and emotional problemsv. 6 “break every yoke
5. Fasting to meet the physical needs of othersv. 7 “deal”=share…to cut back once in a while and give that food or $ to feed the poor
6. Fasting for clearer insight in decision-makingDifferent that problem-solving. 8 “light break forth”…it’s like God turns on the lights and now you know what to do!
7. Fasting for health reasons or healingHave a loved one that’s terminal? Get serious and fast for them! When there’s no hope from a human perspective, put it in God’s hands…it may be His will to honor that.v. 8 “thy health shall spring forth speedily”
8. Fasting for a more righteous life and influential testimonyv. 8 “thy righteousness shall go before thee”
9. Fasting for the glory of the Lord, to protect us from the evil onev. 8b “rearward”=protection

Mt. 17:16-21I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him hither to me. 18 And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. 19 Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, why could not we cast him out? 20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 21 Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.

(II Sam. 3:35—Abner died, David fasted)
Most of us live to eat…few eat to live! When we get serious w/ God, He gets serious w/ us!

IV. Potential Dangers of Fasting
Attempting to manipulate God w/ our fastingvv. 1-9 Israel was living wickedly, but they would fast for things they wanted, but then when their fasting didn’t produce the desired results, they’d get mad w/ God and say, well, a lot of good it does to fast! God rebukes them here for fasting incorrectly…trying to appease a God angry w/ their sin!Fasting is meant to change our circumstances…and to change US, not to change God!Ill.—worship: why does God demand it…ego? No, He doesn’t require worship for what it does for Him, but for what it does for US!He’s not more holy or righteous because we worship Him…the rocks would cry out if we don’t!
B. Attempting to impress others w/ our fastingMt. 6—desire for people to know how “pious” you are. D. Becoming prideful about fasting

Message Boards & Stock Manipulation

2008-01-16T15:22:00.000-06:00

When investing be careful of message boards, e-mails and all the other stock promoting groups out there. Most seem to playing a shell game.
They tell you about a stock that has already move up, they look for investors, you see the stock run, you continue to listen to them.
After all they were right about the stock you invest in. They say hold, you hold and they sell, and sell and sell, driving the price so far down you can not get out.
When they are finished and you have lost all of your money, they call in the SEC, the good old SEC places a halt on the company, the blame goes to the company.
The market manipulators, that used these message boards as their pump and dump platforms, run off with your money.
You set with nothing, they have the money, and the SEC and company take the blame.
You can see it in any stock that is promoted on a message board, there will be people with talking points, setting on the board posting 24/7 bashing the company, the CEO, anything and anyone, to keep you from blaming them.
The SEC needs to start looking for the money in these type of situations.
As of right now, the SEC will not pull trading records. My question is why not? Trading records of any company are easy to pull, the Transfer agent should have a updated list of share outstanding.
It isn't enough to place blame of a drop in price per share.
We need to find where the money ended up.
We need a agency that will actually work for the honest investor. The SEC does not.
There is no way for the American market to make the gains it needs to make, when there is more money in shorting the company than in buying into the company.
Why are our public companies failing?
Ask the SEC in my opinion they are to blame for most of it.
Their refusal to find the money, when billions are missing, is a oversight that can not be forgiven.

Why did Peter deny Christ?

2008-01-14T22:30:00.000-06:00

Was Peter afraid, was Peter a coward?
He walked on water, he wanted to build temple at transfiguration, never afraid, not in his character.
Matthew 26:69 Now Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. 71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, this fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. 73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech betrayeth thee. 73 began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. 74 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him. Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.' And he went out, and wept bitterly.
1. John 13:6 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.'
2. Matt 26: 33 Peter answered and said unto him, Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended. 34 Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice Peter said unto him, Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.
He is getting TESTY see how he talked back to Christ.
3. Matt26: 40 And he cometh unto the disciples, and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not watch with me one hour?'
4. Matt 18:10 Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest's servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant's name was Malchus. Then said Jesus unto Peter, Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?'
What just happened, the last 4 times Jesus spoke to Peter he corrected him.
Peter in my opinion had an offended spirit.
He also had in my opinion a good reason to be offended. Good reasons are not good enough, to go against Gods commends.
Joseph brothers were offended and traded him off into Egypt
John 6: 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?' Jesus didn’t like the attitude.
Being offended is sin, Being offended is selfish, Being offended is putting yourself first, Being offended is all about you, Being offended Kills your testimony, Being offended gives you a bad attitude, being offended make you someone that no one want to be around. Being offended Kills your spirit.
Show me something Good that comes from anyone being offended, then show me in the Bible where God OK’s a bad attitude, A moody spirit. Going into that Depression zone.
If you get this it can change your life, you home and your church.
Bad things are going to happen, the Bible teaches that, but Can you accept that God wants and needs you at peace in the midst of the storm?
Let’s talk about someone other than you that is offended it is easier to see. Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord, I will repay.((Now you get on with your work, of winning others to Christ))
The bible teaches to turn your other cheek. Math 5: 38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:' But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.'
I don’t get mad; I don’t get even. Christian Ball Games, board meeting, business meetings, who sings when, what we sing, Hymns, courses, our kid is better than your kid.
Why we can get offended about almost anything.
There are things to stand up for, but you don’t stand against PEOPLE, you win them to Jesus Christ.
They can tell you are Christians by your Love, if you love me love one another.
In churches we have A big problem, with people being offended, get over it.
Satan's crowed will be in church and he will try to offend you out. Give me a church where people are so committed to the Mission and message of Christ that they will not be offended but turn their cheek.
How do you get over being offended, Repent. Repent. Repent, just as Peter did.
He had good reason to be offended, but it hindered his work for Christ, so he repented. And got over himself.
Jesus said as he hung on the cross, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.
It is all about our ministry for him, it is never about us.

What is, being born again

2008-01-14T22:10:00.000-06:00

Born again is a term Jesus used while talking to Nicadimous in the third chapter of the gospel of John. Jesus I believe used this term because it best describes what happens when a person accepts Christ into their life.
In the beginning God created man in his own image. God created him a little lower than the angles, and God breathed his breath into man and he became a living soul.
Man was unique, he was earthly like the animals, he could smell the flowers, taste the fruit, see the colors of the trees, feel the warm breezes of the wind, and hear the birds singing. Adam was a man created to live on the earth, and enjoy all that the earth had to offer.
Man was also heavenly like the angles, he had a soul that was alive. He could walk, and talk with God, and he had no problem in his heart comprehending eternity. Man was filled with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, meekness, and temperance. Man possessed all the fruits of the spirit. He had no jealousy, envy, strife, or hatred. Man lived in a very glorious earth, with an open relationship with the spiritual world.
One day when man was walking in the garden, he was tempted by the serpent, Satan, the dragon, or devil. He was asked to disobey God, and he partook of the forbidden fruit. The things that God said would come to pass did, mans soul died. He became totally earthly. He was strong in body, brilliant in mind, but dead spiritually. Seperated from God by sin. Man had chosen the earth.
The second Adam as described in scripture was the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, this is very important to understand Jesus was the son of God, the messiah he was prophesied about in the scripture, and he fulfilled all the prophecies. Jesus soul was untouched by sin, Jesus had an earthly body, but he had the nature of God, which the first Adam had lost.
The time came for Jesus to start his public ministry, he was thirty because this was what the law required at that time. The first thing Jesus did was go to John the Baptist to be baptized. The father spoke and said as Jesus rose up out of the water “This is my son, here ye him.” Immediately after Jesus was baptized Satan met him in the wilderness where Jesus was fasting. Satan tempted him in every way he could with the things of the earth. Trying to bring down Gods creation by causing the second Adam to fall, as he did the first in the garden of Eden. Satan ask him to turn the rock into bread, jump from the pinnacle of the temple, Satan even offered him an earthly kingdom. Jesus withstood, he did not bend, he did not bow, he did not fall, his soul did not die. Jesus did not sin as all men before had, sin had no hold on him, and because sin bringeth forth death, death had no dominion over him.
After the crucifixion Jesus stepped out of the grave, and very calmly walked into the garden. He ministered to his followers with complete authority. Satan had been defeated on his own field. Jesus had made a way through death, and in so doing he made a way for all mankind to be resurrected in him. Jesus made it possible for mans dead soul to live again.
Man from the time of Adam has gone through the same temptations, and each time has failed, this is the nature of man, because of sin. We cannot expect anything more, there is no life in his soul, the earth is all he can see.
Just as sure as we were born of the world, we must be born again in Jesus Christ. Nicodemous asks Jesus what must I do to be saved, and Jesus said you must be born again. Nicidemous expressed that he did not understand, he said, “Must I enter the second time into my mother’s womb?” Jesus answered, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh that which is born of the spirit is spirit, you must be born again of the spirit.” Jesus was expressing that man must see that he is earthly, and he bears the fruit of the earth. We are all sinners, and we must not only admit that, but in turning to Christ we must denounce the jealous, envy, and hatred, and allow Christ through the working of the holy spirit to change our nature, from a sinful nature to a heavenly nature of love, joy, and peace, which is the opposite of jealous, envy, and stiff which is the nature of the natural man.
This point needs to be made very clear. The heavenly nature can be copied by the natural man with a dead soul. He may be able to be kind, or express love, but when you are born again it is your nature to do so.
The Holy Spirit within us leads us, teaches us, guides us, and directs us in all things, just as Jesus promised he would do.
The earthly nature may also be copied by those who are saved, but the Bible calls this being carnally minded, which is enmity against God, because it is not the nature of a Christian to act, or react in this manner. Jesus said, “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
The Christian nature lifts us above our burdens so we think on terms of eternity. In the book of Ephesians the second chapter, and the first verse says “He has quickened us who were dead in trespasses and sins, and has raised us together and made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
If we can understand what it is to be born again, and being A new creature in Christ Jesus, we are on our way to understanding what God has in store for us.

Basic Economics

2008-01-14T21:28:00.000-06:00

We will start by about 15 of us living on a small island.
We have different talents.
Joe can build furniture, and Jerry can catch fish, and John well he is the best post and pan maker on the whole island.
We discover it is better to trade what we make for something someone else makes than for us to try to make something that we do not have the skills to make.
After trading for several years, we decide to just set aside Friday as trading day, and we will all meet at a designated place on the island at a certain time to do our trading, we will call that place the market.
After several years we get tired of carting all of our things to the market, and we know that 20 fishing hooks can always be traded for 2 fishing poles, and 50 hooks can be traded for 3 pots.
We decide to just carry fishing hooks and use that as our exchange item, because real assets never change value, we can always trade 50 hooks for 3 pots.
After a few years of carting hooks around in our pockets someone get to idea to put all of our hooks in drawers at the market, and just use paper to trade our hooks, write out how many hooks go from your drawer to the man with the pot, and now we just trade paper.
We will call the place where the hooks are stored the Hook Bank.
Someone at the hook bank gets all the paper and moves hooks from one drawer to another. What a system.
There is a ship that docks at our little island, and it is full of pots, pots from Pot Island.
Someone says we already have a man making pots, sorry we do not need you,
they say we really need fish hooks because the island where we come from we have no hooks.
MMM the value of the hooks are more off our island than they are on our island. A deal is cut, 12 hooks per pot. But what about John the pot maker, he can not compete. We will add a tax of 4 hooks, that will go to me because it is my island.
Now I collect hooks from a transaction, and no need for me to work. I will govern, and make laws. John still can not compete, and he goes out of business, no problem we have pots, and hooks. John can be retrained.
Time passes, and many ships come to our island, so many that no one on the island makes anything.
Then a ship comes in loaded with hooks, and they offer us so many hooks for what we have we just can not afford not to sell, after all we will be millionaires, our hook bank will be so full of hooks.
We look around and we have nothing but hooks everything we own is gone.
We make a trip to hook bank, now called the federal reserve bank of hook.
We ask for our hooks, after all they have some value, real money never changes value, and we can still get John to make us a pot for 50 hooks.
We are told hooks were hard to handle and the bank of hook decided along time ago to not do the physical transfer any longer, they just used the paper to keep track. The hook standard just wasn’t enough to keep up with all of the paper.
Here we set on our little island with a big piece of paper, and we have nothing, and we can buy nothing. This little island was raided right before our eyes.
America wake up.

Leadership

2008-01-14T17:04:00.000-06:00

Everyone wants to be a leader, but no one want to pay the price.
The price of leadership has not been discounted, no blue light specials, it cost the same today
as it always has. The world is screaming for someone to be a true leader.
A leader must take full responsibility, for the direction any group goes. He must be willing to sacrifice himself for his followers, the followers must know that about him.
That can not be faked, or copied, a real leader will lay himself all out for his followers.
A leader takes all the blame, and gives away all of the praise.
A leader must have vision, without vision people perish. Leadership is not a popularity contest, at times the leader is the least popular of anyone.
Leaders are not intimidated, by anything or anyone.
There has been a strong move toward leadership by intimidation. That is, the meaner the boss, the more they can get accomplished. That type of leadership is short lived, and much over stated. The lose of ones temper, the raising of ones voice, the anger, are all signs of weakness, that will be sensed by the followers, and they will look for a new leader.
A leader must be in control at all times, not just of the situations, but of themselves.
A leaders habits, life, and ethics are all important.
I have learned that leadership is not taught, it is caught, it is a responsibility you feel, it is not a big head about the position, but a servant attitude. A true leader sees themselves not as a conqueror with a crown, but a protector with a sword. A true leader is hard to find, in this day of money, education, and power.
There still are a few, find them, follow them, and your life will be enriched.

Evolution Creation

2008-01-14T10:37:00.000-06:00

Being a minister you would think that my mind would be to just accept creation as a fact.
Being a person educated in the 60's, during the space flights, moon walks, and computers, I have learned to question, study, and come up with some logical conclusions.
After over 50 years of education, and thousands of pages read on things I don't quit understand.
Is believing that God being big enough to create this world, is not out of the question?
Not if you believe in eternal life, and heaven being a better place than the earth.
The first thing I ask myself is, do I believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead,
that answerer is yes, for many reasons. I will address that in another topic.
If God did raise Jesus from the dead, and created a better place for us and gives us eternal life, then it is not a stretch for me to believe that God can create where we now dwell now.
The belief in evolution, to me would take more faith than I have, first, you need to find life from nothing, just a natural process, a process that we have no evidence of in all of our finding.
God said he created life and he created it abundantly. If we look at the small restricted place where we find life, this earth, and just a few hundred feet into the atmosphere, and just a shallow depth into the earth, you find life abundantly, each after its kind. Plant life, a banana will never be a apple, but it is a fruit that sustains life. A potato will never be a green been, but it does help us to sustain life. A horse will never be a dog, a bird will never be a worm. This earth is filled with life, everywhere you look, and it is abundant.
The age of the earth according to natural processes would need to be billions of years old, but even in billions of years, if you look at what is being taught as fact as to what the earth was like with the granite platforms developing, and mountains protruding, where is the earth, the dirt, where is the fertile soil, did it develop by rocks, and steal, eroding?
In the process of evolution where do we place a elephant? The elephant has knees on the front of all four legs, he rises on all four legs. Can you name on other four legged animal with knees on the front of all four legs? No you can not, and neither can I, how big would the elephant need to be before evolution moved his knees to the front? Look at the eye of a man a bird, a cat, all are different. In evolution where the fittest survive, why all the differences? We see there are many animals becoming extinct, and those who are worried about this, many are evolutionist. My thought would be. In the natural course of evolution, seeing more species of animals not less would be the rule.
If a person is a evolutionist, how can he not be a raciest, how could a evolutionist not believe that one race would develop above another. Where is the missing link? There would need to be a link between every spicy of animal, as well as plant. DNA would show common characteristics between all species. The more we study DNA we fined that we are all wondrously made.
The moon itself is amazing, when was it part of the earth according to evolution, most everyone believes it to be much younger than the earth, how could there be any life without the pull of the moon on the tides. If the world was all water as those who believe in evolution, where did that water go? Look at the grand canyon, it is beautiful, but where did all of that dirt go, you would think if it were erosion, we would see where it gathered.
After all of my studying, and assimilating my thoughts in a logical manner.
I believe in creation, there is more evidence of it, and a much more logical course of events.
We do find the tide turning around those who are studying the universe, most know that life could not have just developed and evolved here, so we put up the Hubble telescope to find where life began. Honestly if the evolutionist and scientist believed it evolved here, why spend the money on something like that.
If a person does not believe in God then evolution can be their best illogical explanation as the where we came from. Like my grandfather did not believe that man went to the moon, so he went his life believing that is was all just a movie. He did not understand it, so he could not accept it. Many can not understand Gods gift to man, so they can not accept it.
Creation is much more logical than evolution, with what we know today. Both evolution and creation take a step of faith, faith is the substance of things hoped for but the evidence of things not see. We honestly can not find any human history going back further than about 8 thousand years. It takes faith on both sides to believe anything beyond that.
I find faith in a big God makes life much more bearable, it helps when you walk away from a cemetery, it helps when you are in the hospital, it also helps when dealing with life's everyday struggles.

Power

2008-01-13T23:20:00.000-06:00

Remember Samson and Delila

Samson was a really strong man, it seemed he could not be defeated.
There was a questions ask by Delila, she said where does your strength come from.
That question tells us alot about what God is teaching us.
It tells us that Samson did not look strong, for observing him you could not tell where his strength came from. Many time when we see someone do something great, we know why, we can see why and how they did it. How about when we see just a average person do something great.
The lesson is, Samson received his power from God, we need more people relying on God and his power to move mountains in our lives, and clean this world up for our grandchildren.
We are to be the salt of the earth, presenting the light of the world, but we walk around trying to build our life in our own power, build Gods church with our own power. It just does not work that way, power to do the miracles, lies within him, and we must reach out to him to receive it.

If we have that power, and many do, and many churches do, there is only one thing you need to do to loose it, that is fall asleep. The church and Christians need to be on the cutting edge, always committed to his work. Always looking to do more, and expand our boundary's.

Stock Manipulation

2008-01-13T22:41:00.000-06:00

What happens when you want to buy stock in a company, but the float is already gone?
There is a Market Maker, that will sell you the stock, and borrow that share from the stock held in company name. What you then have is a diluted stock in the company you just bought.

Let's say the company has 1000 shares for sale in the float. All 1000 shares have been sold, but you want to buy 200 shares, The Market Maker will sell you the stock, borrowing from the 1000 they are holding, you now have 1200 shares owned but only 1000 shares for sale by the company. Your perches just lowered the pps of the company by about 20%. Making a market, is in fact manipulating the market.

With the power given to a Market Maker by the SEC, they can sell 1000, borrow 1000, and sell 1000, then you have 2000 owned and still only 1000 for sale. In banking that is called kiting checks.

How do they settle up, they do not need to, the SEC is so lenient, that the Market Makers, can sell 15,000 shares driving the price down so low, that those shorting the stock can sell for dollars, with no investment, and buy back for pennies the same shares. All 15,000 accounted for.

There is a real problem with naked short selling, because there is no accountability to the SEC for any of these transactions. Most of the time when the SEC looks at one of these companies, they seldom if ever pull trading records to see where the money went.

It is feasible for a off shore hedge fund, to sell millions of shares of a company they have never bought one share from, driving the price so low, just by diluting it so much, that the company can not survive. The company goes out of business, and the hedge fund, that sold all the shares by short selling, will never need to cover, because there is no company.

I have tried to get our government officials to look at this, it seem easy to prove just by pulling trading records on the company, but the SEC continues to look the other way. Money continues to flow from those who work and invest, into the hands of those that Ride these companies.

Why will the government not open these companies up, I think because it takes big money to do this kind of thing, and those with big money seem to always be protected, they donate to politicians, and there is no pressure for them to do anything.
I am not saying the politicians are crooks, they just do not do what they should do in many of these cases. The SEC officials do what they have always done, and the money continues to flow out of the county to fund everything we do not believe in.

I have studied many companies, and watch what groups get involved, and they target small companies, with a less than honorable CEO, knowing if anything goes wrong, the CEO will be the target of the SEC. The SEC hardly ever recovers any money, the shareholders always loose, a small time crook goes to jail, and the big time crooks that raided the company just walks away.
I believe that the raiders sometimes calls the SEC themselves, when they are finished with the company, and the SEC steps in and the company is finished. Everyone seems happy, but no money recovered, no trading records are ever pulled, if they are they are limited.

From what I see in the American market, it would be safer putting your money on black at a casino.
This needs to be fixed, if it continues to be ignored, or financial system as we know it will be in serious trouble.