Happy Reformation!

This was originally printed October 30, 2010.

Are you familiar with the Reformation? If you're a Christian, please accept my wishes for you to have, and celebrate, a true holiday...a holy day known as the Reformation.

Here on the farm, we don't "celebrate" halloweenie because it's not a holiday...not a holy day. I've never been a fan of death, dieing and destruction; I'm a child of Light and celebrate Life and choose not to associate with nor decorate with things signifying death and destruction. Why on earth would any sane human being, deliberately, invite such into their lives? Nor, have I ever understood the "need" some folks have to watch horror movies and be frightened out of their minds. I just don't understand but, to be truthful, haven't spent a whole lot of time trying to figure it out. I'm tolerant, just don't want the sordid mess at my doorstep. 

Dr. Martin Luther, on October 31, 1517 posted his 95 Theses or Disputation Against Indulgences on the castle door and mailed same to various local Catholic bishops and, forever, changed the Catholic church's stronghold on the Christian faith. Luther taught that salvation through acceptance of Jesus Christ is a free gift solely through the grace of God and cannot be purchased with money nor earned through good deeds. In effect, Dr. Martin Luther challenged Pope Leo X and the entire Catholic church and further stated the Bible should be in German, the language of the people and not, solely, in Latin, the language of the Catholic church. Just thirty years before Luther's birth, Johannes Gutenberg invited printing from movable type and, it's been said, Gutenberg's invention allowed Martin Luther to "throw ink at the devil". 

Radical thinking.

So, Happy Reformation. Because of a monk's great courage almost five hundred years ago, you and I have salvation through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Alone. Not because it can be purchased with filthy lucre nor earned by doing good works. 

Radical thinking. Even more radical to accept.

95 Theses of Dr. Martin Luther

"Out of love for the truth and the desire to bring it to light, the following propositions will be discussed at Wittenberg, under the presidency of the Reverend Father Martin Luther, Master of Arts and of Sacred Theology, and Lecturer in Ordinary on the same at that place. Wherefore he requests that those who are unable to be present and debate orally with us, may do so by letter.
In the Name our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said Poenitentiam agite (Repent), willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance. 2. This word cannot be understood to mean sacramental penance, i.e., confession and satisfaction, which is administered by the priests. 3. Yet it means not inward repentance only; nay, there is no inward repentance which does not outwardly work divers mortifications of the flesh. 4. The penalty [of sin], therefore, continues so long as hatred of self continues; for this is the true inward repentance, and continues until our entrance into the kingdom of heaven. 5. The pope does not intend to remit, and cannot remit any penalties other than those which he has imposed either by his own authority or by that of the Canons. 6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring that it has been remitted by God and by assenting to God's remission; though, to be sure, he may grant remission in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in such cases were despised, the guilt would remain entirely unforgiven. 7. God remits guilt to no one whom He does not, at the same time, humble in all things and bring into subjection to His vicar, the priest. 8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to them, nothing should be imposed on the dying. 9. Therefore the Holy Spirit in the pope is kind to us, because in his decrees he always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity. 10. Ignorant and wicked are the doings of those priests who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penances for purgatory. 11. This changing of the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory is quite evidently one of the tares that were sown while the bishops slept. 12. In former times the canonical penalties were imposed not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition. 13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties; they are already dead to canonical rules, and have a right to be released from them. 14. The imperfect health [of soul], that is to say, the imperfect love, of the dying brings with it, of necessity, great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater is the fear. 15. This fear and horror is sufficient of itself alone (to say nothing of other things) to constitute the penalty of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair. 16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ as do despair, almost-despair, and the assurance of safety. 17. With souls in purgatory it seems necessary that horror should grow less and love increase. 18. It seems unproved, either by reason or Scripture, that they are outside the state of merit, that is to say, of increasing love. 19. Again, it seems unproved that they, or at least that all of them, are certain or assured of their own blessedness, though we may be quite certain of it. 20. Therefore by "full remission of all penalties" the pope means not actually "of all," but only of those imposed by himself. 21. Therefore those preachers of indulgences are in error, who say that by the pope's indulgences a man is freed from every penalty, and saved. 22. Whereas he remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to the canons, they would have had to pay in this life. 23. If it is at all possible to grant to any one the remission of all penalties whatsoever, it is certain that this remission can be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to the very fewest. 24. It must needs be, therefore, that the greater part of the people are deceived by that indiscriminate and high sounding promise of release from penalty. 25. The power which the pope has, in a general way, over purgatory, is just like the power which any bishop or curate has, in a special way, within his own diocese or parish. 26. The pope does well when he grants remission to souls [in purgatory], not by the power of the keys (which he does not possess), but by way of intercession. 27. They preach man who say that so soon as the penny jingles into the money-box, the soul flies out [of purgatory]. 28. It is certain that when the penny jingles into the money-box, gain and avarice can be increased, but the result of the intercession of the Church is in the power of God alone. 29. Who knows whether all the souls in purgatory wish to be bought out of it, as in the legend of Sts. Severinus and Paschal. 30. No one is sure that his own contrition is sincere; much less that he has attained full remission. 31. Rare as is the man that is truly penitent, so rare is also the man who truly buys indulgences, i.e., such men are most rare. 32. They will be condemned eternally, together with their teachers, who believe themselves sure of their salvation because they have letters of pardon. 33. Men must be on their guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to Him. 34. For these "graces of pardon" concern only the penalties of sacramental satisfaction, and these are appointed by man. 35. They preach no Christian doctrine who teach that contrition is not necessary in those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessionalia. 36. Every truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without letters of pardon. 37. Every true Christian, whether living or dead, has part in all the blessings of Christ and the Church; and this is granted him by God, even without letters of pardon. 38. Nevertheless, the remission and participation [in the blessings of the Church] which are granted by the pope are in no way to be despised, for they are, as I have said, the declaration of divine remission. 39. It is most difficult, even for the very keenest theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the abundance of pardons and [the need of] true contrition. 40. True contrition seeks and loves penalties, but liberal pardons only relax penalties and cause them to be hated, or at least, furnish an occasion [for hating them]. 41. Apostolic pardons are to be preached with caution, lest the people may falsely think them preferable to other good works of love. 42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend the buying of pardons to be compared in any way to works of mercy. 43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better work than buying pardons. 44. Because love grows by works of love, and man becomes better; but by pardons man does not grow better, only more free from penalty. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a man in need, and passes him by, and gives [his money] for pardons, purchases not the indulgences of the pope, but the indignation of God. 46. Christians are to be taught that unless they have more than they need, they are bound to keep back what is necessary for their own families, and by no means to squander it on pardons. 47. Christians are to be taught that the buying of pardons is a matter of free will, and not of commandment. 48. Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting pardons, needs, and therefore desires, their devout prayer for him more than the money they bring. 49. Christians are to be taught that the pope's pardons are useful, if they do not put their trust in them; but altogether harmful, if through them they lose their fear of God. 50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the pardon-preachers, he would rather that St. Peter's church should go to ashes, than that it should be built up with the skin, flesh and bones of his sheep. 51. Christians are to be taught that it would be the pope's wish, as it is his duty, to give of his own money to very many of those from whom certain hawkers of pardons cajole money, even though the church of St. Peter might have to be sold. 52. The assurance of salvation by letters of pardon is vain, even though the commissary, nay, even though the pope himself, were to stake his soul upon it. 53. They are enemies of Christ and of the pope, who bid the Word of God be altogether silent in some Churches, in order that pardons may be preached in others. 54. Injury is done the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or a longer time is spent on pardons than on this Word. 55. It must be the intention of the pope that if pardons, which are a very small thing, are celebrated with one bell, with single processions and ceremonies, then the Gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies. 56. The "treasures of the Church," out of which the pope. grants indulgences, are not sufficiently named or known among the people of Christ. 57. That they are not temporal treasures is certainly evident, for many of the vendors do not pour out such treasures so easily, but only gather them. 58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the Saints, for even without the pope, these always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outward man. 59. St. Lawrence said that the treasures of the Church were the Church's poor, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time. 60. Without rashness we say that the keys of the Church, given by Christ's merit, are that treasure; 61. For it is clear that for the remission of penalties and of reserved cases, the power of the pope is of itself sufficient. 62. The true treasure of the Church is the Most Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God. 63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last. 64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first. 65. Therefore the treasures of the Gospel are nets with which they formerly were wont to fish for men of riches. 66. The treasures of the indulgences are nets with which they now fish for the riches of men. 67. The indulgences which the preachers cry as the "greatest graces" are known to be truly such, in so far as they promote gain. 68. Yet they are in truth the very smallest graces compared with the grace of God and the piety of the Cross. 69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of apostolic pardons, with all reverence. 70. But still more are they bound to strain all their eyes and attend with all their ears, lest these men preach their own dreams instead of the commission of the pope. 71. He who speaks against the truth of apostolic pardons, let him be anathema and accursed! 72. But he who guards against the lust and license of the pardon-preachers, let him be blessed! 73. The pope justly thunders against those who, by any art, contrive the injury of the traffic in pardons. 74. But much more does he intend to thunder against those who use the pretext of pardons to contrive the injury of holy love and truth. 75. To think the papal pardons so great that they could absolve a man even if he had committed an impossible sin and violated the Mother of God -- this is madness. 76. We say, on the contrary, that the papal pardons are not able to remove the very least of venial sins, so far as its guilt is concerned. 77.  It is said that even St. Peter, if he were now Pope, could not bestow greater graces; this is blasphemy against St. Peter and against the pope. 78. We say, on the contrary, that even the present pope, and any pope at all, has greater graces at his disposal; to wit, the Gospel, powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written in I. Corinthians xii. 79. To say that the cross, emblazoned with the papal arms, which is set up [by the preachers of indulgences], is of equal worth with the Cross of Christ, is blasphemy. 80. The bishops, curates and theologians who allow such talk to be spread among the people, will have an account to render. 81. This unbridled preaching of pardons makes it no easy matter, even for learned men, to rescue the reverence due to the pope from slander, or even from the shrewd questionings of the laity. 82. To wit: -- "Why does not the pope empty purgatory, for the sake of holy love and of the dire need of the souls that are there, if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a Church? The former reasons would be most just; the latter is most trivial." 83. Again: -- "Why are mortuary and anniversary masses for the dead continued, and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded on their behalf, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?" 84. Again: -- "What is this new piety of God and the pope, that for money they allow a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God, and do not rather, because of that pious and beloved soul's own need, free it for pure love's sake?" 85. Again: -- "Why are the penitential canons long since in actual fact and through disuse abrogated and dead, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences, as though they were still alive and in force?" 86. Again: -- "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is to-day greater than the riches of the richest, build just this one church of St. Peter with his own money, rather than with the money of poor believers?" 87. Again: -- "What is it that the pope remits, and what participation does he grant to those who, by perfect contrition, have a right to full remission and participation?" 88. Again: -- "What greater blessing could come to the Church than if the pope were to do a hundred times a day what he now does once, and bestow on every believer these remissions and participations?" 89. "Since the pope, by his pardons, seeks the salvation of souls rather than money, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons granted heretofore, since these have equal efficacy?" 90. To repress these arguments and scruples of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the Church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies, and to make Christians unhappy. 91. If, therefore, pardons were preached according to the spirit and mind of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved; nay, they would not exist. 92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! 93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross! 94. Christians are to be exhorted that they be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, deaths, and hell. 95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven rather through many tribulations, than through the assurance of peace."

Ponder this ~  God love you so much He sent His Son Jesus who loves you so much He died for you. 

Sabbath Keeping

"That my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.

O Lord my God,

I will give thanks to you forever!"

~ Psalm 30:12 ~

"I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers."

~ L. M. Montgomery ~

"We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, 
small (and yet really not small) gifts." ~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer ~ 

"Those blessings are sweetest that are won with prayer and worn with thanks."
~ Thomas Goodwin ~

"One of the main reasons that we lose our enthusiasm in life is because we become ungrateful..we let what was once a miracle become common to us. We get so accustomed to His goodness it becomes a routine." ~ Joel Osteen ~ 

"God has promised to supply all our needs. 

What we don't have now, we don't need now."

~ Elizabeth Elliot ~

"God says to give thanks in everything. That doesn't mean you need to give thanks FOR everything. You don't need to give thanks FOR that bad day. Or FOR that bad relationship. Or being passed over at work. Financial hardship. Whatever it is - you are not to give thanks FOR the difficulties, but rather IN the difficulties. That is a very important distinction, and one I think we often miss. Giving thanks IN everything shows a heart of faith that God is bigger than the difficulties and that He can use the, if you approach Him with the right heart and spirit, for your good and His glory."
~ Tony Evans ~ 

"We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the psalms, and that the habit of celebrating the greatness and graciousness of God yields an endless flow of thankfulness, joy and zeal." ~ J. I. Packer ~ 

"There are three requisites to the proper enjoyment of earthly blessings: a thankful reflection, on the goodness of the giver; a deep sense of our own unworthiness; and a recollection of the uncertainty of our long possessing them. The first will make us grateful; the second, humble; and the third, moderate." ~ Hannah More ~

"Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoy now." ~ A. W. Tozer ~ 

"We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good, if bad, because it works in us patience, humility and the contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country." ~ C. S. Lewis ~

"When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted 
or take them with gratitude."
~ G. K. Chesterton ~ 

"I'm just thankful for everything, all the blessings in my life, trying to stay that way. I think that's the best way to start your day and finish your day. It keeps everything in perspective."
~ Tim Tebow ~

"Yes, give thanks for 'all things' for, as it has been well said 'Our disappointments are but His
appointments.'" ~ A. W. Pink ~ 

"Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it." ~ A. W. Tozer ~

"In happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

In difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

In quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

In painful moments, TRUST GOD.

Every moment, THANKS GOD."

~ Rick Warren ~ 

"Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria 

and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They 

stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"

When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, 

they were cleansed. 

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 

He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him-and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one 

returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?"

Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."

~ Luke 17: 11-19 ~ 

Please pray for ~ Steve ~ folks struggling to recover from recent storms ~ Gladys ~ Jim ~ Rebekah ~ (thanks for praying for me...toe isn't broken, only sprained, and healing nicely)

Still Over the Moon HaPpY!

Doesn't everyone need a face on their broom stick?

The house is liveable (although I'm living in somewhat controlled chaos), the barn workable, the view incredible, the shed has a three bay addition, all horses are in the same paddock, the cats haven't yet come to terms with being outside cats...but with a big, beautiful barn to live in plus they are fed on the back deck and in the barn...that's the short version. Now for some details...

Sam says, "They aren't with me so let me in now!" The black and Siamese kittens are from Bones' litter...you remember when I asked Dr. Anne if Bones was too old to be spayed? Dr. Anne exclaimed, "For a 120 years old, she's in great shape!" Of course, Bones isn't 120 years old but she is very old and it took me close to eight months to get her healthy when she showed up at the last farm. She's a gentle, sweet old soul who delights in being loved on but...but...about ten weeks after her clean bill of health, the hussy gave birth to four kittens who had to be helped along with eye droppers of milk because Bones didn't have enough. Oy vey! The kittens were born June 16 and named Inky One, Inky Two, Inky Three and Pixie is the little Siamese. The three black kittens are virtually indistinguishable, thus the shared name and they share Smudge Moonbeam's last name as well. The Southside VA SPCA pays for spaying and neutering and the five appointments are coming up very soon. Not soon enough to suit me but very soon. I've been thinking about re-naming Bones "Sarah"...get it? LOL

Mr. Molly, the fat portly yellow cat front center runs straight through the house to the back deck where he knows food awaits. Thankfully, most all of my animals are led by their stomachs.

I've always had porches but this is the first deck and I'm enjoying both space and view. The north facing deck is spacious and plans include a metal roof and finishing with either screening or a sun room.  The house faces the south paddock, has lots of seating and is a lovely place to catch the sun throughout the day. The deck faces the pond, woods and the upper soybean field but the view was

interrupted by lots of extremely tall pine trees. Some of those pines were 100 feet tall and as pines have extremely shallow root systems, I elected to have them safely removed before severe storms brought them down. Timmy Poore of PJ's Tree Service and Landscaping did the job and I am more than satisfied! I have videos of a small plane flying over Timmy's head, trees being cut down, etc. and will go to library and download this coming week so stay tuned. The pilot was over seeding rye on the soybean fields and he had a ball flying over Timmy's head as he was in the bucket at the top of the 100 foot tall pines. We all thought it lots of fun and the pilot even buzzed me while I was in the driveway taking photos.

Hmmmmm. Something is going wrong (me) with the camera and downloading photos so you'll have to return to see photos of new view, pole shed, etc.

Buggy Top has very reasonable prices and built, then delivered this studio shed all in about ten days. After the first of the new year the building will be finished inside...insulation, painted paneling, electricity, propane fireplace, air conditioner and painted floors covered with rugs. At the last farm Dave had the 'ham house' (where we cured ham, bacon, etc.) made into a studio and I vowed I would always have a place where I could spin, quilt, sew, work on crafts, etc. This building sits to the side, between the pond and house with a view of both. In front of the studio are the picnic tables and fire pits which are already in use. It's a lovely place to sit and contemplate the enormous blessings and gifts God has given me, read a book, pray or simply "be". Due to Dave's influence, I'm a great one for thinking; he always said, "You make your money while you think" and that's true. It's also true when I think and pray my plans go better than when I do not and the pen and paper I always have in pocket are ready to be put to use. I used to tell Dave's Mother, "A short pencil is better than a long memory" and that's also true. If it's worth remembering, it's worth writing down and my notebooks are legendary.

Having all the furniture, still, I'll ever need, I forced myself managed had a ball buying a fabulous Donna M. Smith bench for the studio. Like an ejit I helped carry it into the living room but this weekend it's being moved to the garage prior to being placed in the studio. What possessed me to bring it into the house I'll never know because that sucker is made from a bed frame and heavy! It's going to look fabulous in the studio...wait and see.

I'm burning daylight and outside chores are waiting; as are the barn cats and horses. Tonight the family gathers here to celebrate Mom's birthday and Mom and Daddy's 66th wedding anniversary. I cannot begin to describe how happy I am to be close enough to not only celebrate but host the family as we gather. Menu includes birthday cake (thanks Beloved Sistah), baked chicken, roasted sprouts, baked sweet potatoes, cole slaw and sweet tea or water. Oh...and biscuits...can't forget the biscuits because I have just made molasses and home churned butter.

Life isn't good, it's GRRRREEEEAAAATTTTT!

Ponder this ~ when you fall, fall forward ~

Sabbath Keeping

"The everlasting God is your place of safety, 

and his arms will hold you up forever... ."

~ Deuteronomy 33:27 ~

" The soul hardly ever realizes it, 
but whether he is a believer or not,

his loneliness is really a homesickness for God."

~ Hubert van Zeller ~ 

"Learn first that I [Jesus] know what loneliness, desertion and solitude mean. Learn that every act of yours of faithfulness is a comfort to My Heart. Learn too that it was to those deserters I gave the task of bringing My Message to mankind. To those deserters, those fearful ones, I gave My Power to heal, to raise to life.
Earth's successes are not the ones I use for the great work of My Kingdom. "They all forsook Him and fled." Learn My tender understanding and pardon of human frailty. Not until man has failed has he learnt true humility. And it is only the humble who can inherit the earth."
~ God Calling ~

"If you're lonely when you're alone, you're in bad company." ~ Sartre ~

"Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely, and the unwanted according to the graces we have received and let us not be ashamed or slow to do the humble work." ~ Mother Teresa ~

"You cannot be lonely if you like the person you're alone with." ~ Wayne Dyer ~

"Some Christians try to go to heaven alone, in solitude. But believers are not compared to bears or lions or other animals that wander alone. Those who belong to Christ are sheep in this respect, that they love to get together. Sheep go in flocks, and so do God's people." ~ C. H. Spurgeon ~

"It is not darkness you are going to, for God is light. 

It is not lonely, for Christ is with you. 

It is not unknown country, for Christ is there.

~ Charles Kingsley ~ 

"In any trial, in any bitter situation, you are not alone, you are not helpless, you are not a victim. You have a tree, a cross, shown to you by the Sovereign God of Calvary. Whatever the trial or temptation, it is not more than you can bear. It is bearable. It can be handled. You can know as Joseph knew, "You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive" (Genesis 50:20)." ~ Kay Arthur ~

"Friendship needs no words - it is solitude delivered from the anguish of loneliness."
~ Dag Hammarskjold ~ 

"Look for yourself, and you will find loneliness and despair. 

But look for Christ and you will find Him and everything else." 

~ C. S. Lewis ~ 

"There are many things that God does not fix precisely because He loves us. Instead of extracting us from the problem, He calls us. In our sorrow or loneliness or pain He calls us-"This is a necessary part of the journey. Even if it is the roughest part, it is only a part, and it will not last the whole long way. Remember where I am leading you. Remember what you will find at the end-a home and a haven and a heaven." ~ Elisabeth Elliott ~

"If you feel a great loneliness and a deep longing for human contact, you have to be extremely discerning...and ask yourself whether this situation is truly God given. Because where God wants you to be, God holds you safe and gives you peace, even when there is pain. To live a disciplined life is to live in such a way that you want only to be where God is with you. The more deeply you live your spiritual life, the easier it will be to discern the difference between living with God and living without God, and the easier it will be to move away from the places where God is no longer with you."
~ Henri J. M. Nouwen ~

"Loneliness comes over us sometimes as a sudden tide. It is one of the terms of our humanness, and, in a sense, therefore, incurable. Yet I have found peace in my loneliest times not only through acceptance of the situation, but through making it an offering to God, who can transfigure it into something for the good of others." ~ Elisabeth Elliott ~ 

"It is so much easier to pray for a bore than to go and see one." ~

  C. S. Lewis ~ 

"Deep within there is a glorious and terrible empty space - loneliness. It is out of sight, pushing us to our best and to our worst. Behind every effort to make a friend - Behind ambition - Behind pride - Behind gossip - Behind memories of your mother's kitchen - Loneliness. We were created with the space carefully planted in our hearts. God created us with the loneliness that moves the heart to others, the loneliness that moves the heart at last to God. It is what moves us to become whole."
~ David Kidd ~

"When we are broken,

the Light can come in"

"If your life is empty, fill it with Christ."

~ Woodrow Kroll ~

"Earth has no words 

that can convey the holy calm

of a soul leaning on Jesus."

~ C. H. Spurgeon ~ 

"Jesus said, "Don't let your hearts be troubled.

Trust in God, and trust in me."

~ John 14:1 ~

Please pray for  ~  Somalia , Las Vegas, Texas, Florida ~ Jim and Gladys ~ Rebekah ~ Ryan ~ 
Dalton  ~ and me as I may have broken a toe ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"I will not forget you.

See, I have written your name

 on the palms of my hands... ."

~ Isaiah 49:16 ~

"since God in faithfulness remembers us,

we by faith must remember God."

"I made you.

Trust me.

I know what I'm doing."

~ love, God ~

"God didn't bring you out to deep waters to drown you, 

He brought you here because your enemies can't swim!"

~ Pastor Steven Furtick ~

The struggle is part of your story; 

God has a plan for your good and His glory.

"I'm a little pencil in the hand of a writing God, who is sending a love letter to the world."

~ Mother Teresa ~ 

God says NO to redirect, not to reject.

"We say then, to anyone who is under trial, give Him time to steep the soul in His eternal truth. Go into the open air, look up into the depths of the sky, or out upon the wideness of the sea, or on the strength of the hills that is His also; or, if bound in the body, go forth in the spirit; spirit is not bound. Give Him time and, as surely as dawn follows night, there will break upon the heart a sense of certainty that cannot be shaken." ~ Amy Carmichael ~ 

"I give them eternal life,

and they shall never perish;

no one will snatch them

out of my hand."

~ John 10:28 ~

Please pray for Jim and Gladys ~ Rebekah ~ Ryan ~ Dalton ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"Direct my footsteps according to your Word;

let no sin rule over me."

~ Psalm 119:133 ~

Love the sinner, 

Hate the sin.

"Other religions deal with sins; 

the Bible alone deals with sin."

~ Oswald Chambers ~ 

"There's one thing we need above everything else; it's something we don't talk about these days. We need a mighty avalanche of conviction of sin. ... We're living in an unprecedented day (when) evil is no longer evil. We've changed the terminology -- iniquity is now infirmity; wickedness is now weakness; devilry is now deficiency." ~ Leonard Ravenhill ~

"When a man is getting better he understands more and more clearly the evil that is still left in him. When a man is getting worse he understands his own badness less and less. A moderately bad man knows he is not very good: a thoroughly bad man thinks he is all right. This is common sense, really. You understand sleep when you are awake, not while you are sleeping. You can see mistakes in arithmetic when your mind is working properly: while you are making them you cannot see them. You can understand the nature of drunkenness when you are sober, not when you are drunk. Good people know about both good and evil: bad people do not know about either."

~ C. S. Lewis ~ 

"The temptation of the age is to look good without being good." 

~ Brennan Manning ~ 

"Men do not differ much about what things they call evils;
the differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable."
~ G. K. Chesterton ~

"Whatever weakens your reason,

impairs the tenderness of your conscience,

obscures your sense of God,

or takes off the relish for spiritual things

then it is sin for you however

innocent it may be in itself."

~ Suzanna Wesley ~

"Primarily, God is not bound to punish sin; He is bound to destroy sin. The only vengeance worth having on sin is to make the sinner himself its executioner." ~ George MacDonald ~ 

"As the salt flavors every drop in the Atlantic, so does sin affect every atom of our nature. It is so sadly there, so abundantly there, that if you cannot detect it, you are deceived."

~ C. H. Spurgeon ~ 

"You do not really care for God's mercy or His comfort either, so long as you live in any sin. And it is well that you do not; for you can have neither. Your peace will be like a river, when you put away your sin; but not one word of true peace, not one drop of true comfort, can you have till then."

~ Alexander Whyte ~

"You'll never be able to speak against sin

if you're entertained by it."

~ John Muncee ~ 

"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, not abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God."

~ 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ~ 

Please pray for ~ those affected by Hurricanes Nate, Marie, Harvey ~ the Las Vegas shooting ~ the earthquakes in Mexico ~ Sandra and Bill ~ Gladys ~ Jim ~ the families locally of the three young men killed in an auto accident this past week ~ 

Sabbath Keeping

"And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, 

who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."

~ Jeremiah 3:15 ~ 

"A good sermon is not like a club that beats upon the will

but like a sword that cuts to the heart."

~ Tim Keller ~

"It was strictly forbidden to preach to other prisoners. It was understood that whoever was caught doing this received a severe beating. A number of us decided to pay the price for the privilege of preaching, so we accepted their [the communists'] terms. It was a deal; we preached and they beat us. We were happy preaching. They were happy beating us, so everyone was happy." ~ Richard Wurmbrand, Tortured for Christ N/E ~  (click on Pastor Wurmbrand's name and listen)

"It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching."
~ Francis of Assisi ~

"When you are possessed by evil spirits, it is crafty manipulations that you follow; but when you are possessed by the Holy Spirit of God, it is wise discretion you pursue!" ~ Israelmore Ayivor ~

"The backslider likes the preaching that wouldn't hit the side of a house, while the real disciple is delighted when the truth brings him to his knees." ~ Billy Sunday ~

"I preached as never sure to preach again,

and as a dying man to dying men."

~ Richard Baxter ~ 

"We [pastors] have a balance to strike--not to preach Christ without preaching the text, and not to preach the text without preaching Christ." ~ Tim Keller ~

"Cartooning is preaching. And I think we have a right to do some preaching. I hate shallow humor. I hate shallow religious humor, I hate shallow sports humor, I hate shallowness of any kind." ~ Charles M. Schultz ~

"A man who first tried to guess 'what the public wants', and then preached that as Christianity because the public wants it, would be a pretty mixture of fool and knave." ~ C. S. Lewis ~

"It is the business of a virtuous clergy to censure vice in every appearance of it."
~ Patrick Henry ~

"The preacher is not a chef; he's a waiter. 

God doesn't want you to make the meal;

He just wants you to deliver it to the table without messing it up.

That's all."

~ John MacArthur ~ 

"The waters of good preaching are always running downhill to the stream of Christ, who He is, and how He has loved us." ~ David Mathis ~

"The test of a preacher is that his congregation goes away saying, not 'What a lovely sermon,' but 'I will do something!'"...  ~ Francis de Sales ~

"The gospel-logic moves [in a sermon are]: 'Here's what you must do,' then "Here's why you can't do it,' then 'Here's the one who did it for you,' and finally 'Here's how faith in Him enables you to do it too.' Following this logic in a sermon means that often you bring in practical application in more than one place." ~ Tim Keller ~

"If I had only one sermon to preach

 it would be a sermon against pride." 

~ G. K. Chesterton ~

"If Jesus preached the same message minister's preach today, 

He would have never been crucified."

~ Leonard Ravenhill ~ 

"Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth." ~ John Wesley ~

"The preaching of Christ is the whip that flogs the devil. The preaching of Christ is the thunderbolt, the sound of which makes all hell shake." ~ Charles Spurgeon ~

"God has ordained that our preaching become deeper and more winsome as we are broken, humbled, and made low and desperately dependent on grace by the trials of our lives." ~ John Piper ~

"Brothers, pray for us."

~ 1 Thessalonians 5:25 ~

Please pray ~ for pastors and ministers preaching Biblical truths ~ for those pastors and ministers preaching milksop ~ for those in Biblical ministry around the world ~ October is Clergy Appreciation Month - a good pastor stands in the gap between the congregation and hell. Likewise, a praying congregation stands in the gap between the pastor and hell. My suggestion to show your Pastor he is appreciated...a gift card to a nice restaurant so his family can benefit. Unless your Pastor is not married, the family is in service to God. How lovely for the spouse to also be shown your gratitude ~