I think it is safe to say that there are not to many people who have not been hit by this economic melt down that we are facing right now in this country. So many people afraid of losing their jobs. Afraid of whats around the corner. Living under, and being controlled by fear is not a good thing.
Fear causes stress, which causes illness, which causes premature aging. How does a baby have that smooth soft skin. Not a care in the world. Oh to be young again.
Let me know what you think about our economic situation in our country, and in our world. We live in a world economy. How has it affected you or someone in your family or a friend, co-worker. Sign on and let me know what you are feeling and what you are thinking today.
Visit my blog and leave a message as to how you are doing to make ends meet in this economy. I will be writing a series of articles about this subject and your comment and messages will help me. With your permission, I will be using some of your comments as well.
If you or someone you know is in need of another stream of income, weather it be part time or full time, go to Numis Network and see if this might be something that can help you.
I was watching a movie the other day called, ” John Adams “. He was the sixth president of the United States. The movie took place about the time when he was not president but a congressman from the state of Massachusetts. Actually they were not states back then, they were called countries. They were countries governed by their own laws.
Dr. Marting Luther King Jr.
They were convening in Philadelphia worrying about what to do with the British starting to breath down their necks. John Adams was the one who took the bull by the horns and pushed the notion of declaring our independence from British rule.
It was interesting to see how the movie showed the other side. The more personable side of John Adams, his wife and family. It showed his wife as very much a part of his life and career. Many times offering her advice and thoughts about the cases that he was trying. He was an attorney.
The one thing that stood out the most to me was the tremendous sacrifice that, he and all these men that were involved in forming the foundation for the freedoms that we all enjoy today. They were giving not from a compulsion to an office or a position to rule over anyone. They gave their fortunes, their time, and some of them, even their lives, for the freedoms of all Americans.
So it is with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was a minister. A very humble man who loved this country. He didn’t take. He gave. He gave for all the same reasons as John Adams and our fore fathers gave. He gave for the freedom and rights of all men. Not by the color of your skin, or religion, or gender, but by the quality and character of the heart. He gave the ultimate sacrifice, his own life on the alter of freedom. He belongs on the same plane as the freedom fighters our fore fathers were. All true American heroes.
I’m so tired of listening to the whining and moaning of people who only care about the quality of their own lives and of their rights. What belongs to me is all that will ever fog the lens of their selfish eyes.
And to those who come here with no other intention but to steal the resources that this great land has to offer. To murder, rob and destroy us of the very freedoms that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., John Adams, George Washington, and all of their company fought so hard for and gave to us. We must eradicate these evil people from off our shores.
As John F Kennedy said. ” …and so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
I would like to end this blog with a song that I thought was very appropriate.
Websters official definition for the word, missionary, is…..”a person sent by a church into an area to carry on evangelism or other activities”.
Gary and Siham Jasmund
There have been missionaries sent out by churches for thousands of years. There were missionaries that arrived in America way before the Pilgrims ever stepped foot on our soil.
The missionaries are always considered a very special people. They sell everything that they have. Leave their families and friends and go to a remote place that is far away.
Gary and Siham Jasmund are not any different. At least to us they aren’t. They are very dear friends of my wife and I, and they are missionaries to Ghana West Africa.
This process started years ago, when Gary and Siham would go on short missionary trips to Africa. They did various jobs and worked with different people, but what started to happen inside their hearts was a love for these people and the need that they had. Unaware to them, God started to perform heart surgery on Gary and Siham.
There was training and adjustments to the Ghana culture, and it has not been without it’s trials and bumps in the road. They sold all their belongings, business, and home and started walking on a path that God was clearing just for them.
They have been in Ghana West Africa for one year now and it has been a very difficult year, but God has clearly been with them. It has really been a year of them learning rather then them teaching anyone. Gary told me that a lot of people want to put them up on a platform that they don’t deserve to be on. ” We are just doing missionary work in Ghana West Africa, like all of you are doing missionary work right here where you live”, Gary said.
It has been one of the greatest blessings of my wife Lori, and my life, to know Gary and Siham Jasmund. They will probably will not like me saying all this about them, but I am going too.
God has given them both gifts that He wants now to use in Ghana West Africa. Gary has just such an easy and humble way that he presents himself, and the ability to talk to people. Siham has the ability to see inside a person’s heart and know if they are hurting or not.
They are back in the states for this Christmas holiday season and will be heading back to Africa in January. We are all very much going to miss them, but we are not very far. You see, they have a definite home in our hearts, and are always in our prayers. This is how God keeps us together and a part of the work that they are doing over in Africa, through our prayers and financial support.
If you would like to read more about Gary and Siham Jasmund, please visit their website at;http://www.jasmundoutreach.com
If God is leading you to give toward their financial support, click on the donate tab below. If you would like to ask them a question you can email or write to their address below. But one thing that you can do, and it’s free. Please keep them in your prayers!
Thank you and Merry Christmas.
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2764 N Green Valley Pkwy #214
Henderson, NV 89014-2120
I am sure everybody has their Thanksgiving dinner recipes out. All the Thanksgiving traditions and the Thanksgiving dinners, but do you know the real story behind the first Thanksgiving dinner?
In 1621, after a very difficult year, the fifty-three surviving members of the original 102 that landed on Plymouth Rock gathered together for a three-day Thanksgiving celebration. Of the fifty-three Pilgrims that survived, only five were women.
They landed in Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. In a strange land in the middle of winter. This was not going to be easy.
In the first ten months they built seven dwellings, a meeting-house, and three small storehouses for food. They had provisions with them when they arrived, but those went quickly in the very harsh winter. Sickness and death found its way in among them, and forty-six Pilgrims died that first year. The winter was so harsh and food and warmth were getting so hard to find, that their food ration was five kernels of corn a day.
Why did these people go through all of this? Taking their families and leaving England to start a new life in a land that they did not know?
Think about that for a moment. Put yourself in their shoes. Their devotion to God and the freedom to worship Him as they see it in the bible, drove them from the land they were born. A land where all their prosperity had to be left behind. Friends and those family members that did not go, were probably never going to be seen again. They were giving up everything. For what?
I think if I were there, I would have told them to stay. Stay in England! This is where your roots are! So what if the government tells you how to worship, and where to worship, it’s not worth going to somewhere you’ve never been. Who knows what fate awaits you over there. Even the journey by sea was long and dangerous.
Outside of a brief try at life in the Netherlands, it was agreed to go to the new land. They were not the first ones who had been there, but they were among the first colonies to stay and lay down roots in a land they would call home.
Then there was the problem of trying to set up new relationships with the Indians of that land. These Indians had seen white people come before, but now to have them stay……that was another story. The Indians were very cautious of their new neighbors.
After watching them struggle and many of them dying, the Indians made a treaty with the Pilgrims and showed them how to fish and plant food that would grow well in the soil of their new home. If it were not for the Indians, many believe all of the Pilgrims would have died that first year.
That brings us to the first Thanksgiving celebration. It was not what we do today, because the English always had a celebration that they did every year, but this time they brought in their Indian friends. The harvest had been good, because of what the Indians had taught them, and they and about sixty of their Indian friends were going to worship God and give thanks.
Remember, there were only fifty-three Pilgrims left. They survived a long winter on rationing the last few corn stocks they had left. Some of their family and friends died. They were cold, and yet they were going to feast for the next three days with their new-found friends, on the provisions that God had provided for them.
That is just amazing to me. I know that times are hard right now for a lot of us. The economy is down. Many have lost their jobs. But we live in the greatest country on the face of God’s green earth. We can worship were we want too. We can worship what we want too. We have it so good today, and all I ever hear is people complaining. Some people are such whiners and complainers, that I think if you gave them a million dollars, they would complain that the bills are too stiff. You can never make them happy.
After everything that they had been through, these fifty-three people got down on their knees and gave thanks to God for all that He had provided.
Gratitude! The missing element in our society today. We live in a, ” You owe me,” society. Everybody grabbing, taking, and never giving a thought to say thank you.
I don’t know what your tradition is at Thanksgiving, but this year at your Thanksgiving celebration, give a thought to someone or something that you are grateful for.
Find someone who is struggling, and reach out to give them a hand so that they also may enjoy a heart of gratitude and thankfulness at their Thanksgiving Celebration.
You don’t see much of that around anymore;… truth. We live in a world where truth is relative. What is true for you may not be true for me.
The man that I quoted the title of this article from lived a very long time ago. He had, as I believe and many people believe, a lot to say about truth
and He had the qualifications to speak about the subject of truth also. But not many listened to him.
It used to be where a person could close a contract with another person and all they had to do was shake hands and give their word on it. That was
all that was needed to seal the terms and close the contract. Bam! It was law. Wow, have we come a long way from there.
What is a persons word today? It is based on the character and the quality of the individual giving it. Think about all the times we give our word to
someone and never follow through with it or never have any intention of following through on it. But yet we smile and say; ” you can count on me”,
” I won’t let you down.” ” I’ll be right there, just call me. ” ” I promise next week we will go for sure.” Sound familiar.
The number of students who cheat on exams is increasing, and when asked if they think it is wrong to cheat on an exam, many say no,
“because everyone is doing it.” People lie and cheat on resumes to get the job they want. People lie at the alter before they take their wedding
vows, and some have cheated on their fiance’ before they even got to the alter. Anybody remember Enron? Is it any wonder that we have no trust
in our society today?
With truth comes trust. Yes trust. That too is in short demand in our world. No one trusts anybody anymore. We don’t trust our government nor
the people, who swore an oath, and we elected to run that government. We don’t trust our neighbors, our spouses, our kids, our clergy, teachers,
and police officers. My mom always told me that if I ever got lost, I was to find the nearest policeman, and he could be trusted to get me back home.
The list could go on and on. Now I’m not saying that we can’t trust our police or government officials or any of these, all I am saying is that we have
come, to what I believe, is a crossroads in this country for truth and justice and doing what is right, no matter what the cost, and this, and only this,
will built trust in our hearts for each other. You see, it has to start from within. You can’t fake it.
What will built back the trust that we so desperately need?…….truth…… We are right back where we started……truth….. How? How do we get the
truth? How does everyone start telling the truth all of a sudden? Like I said before, truth comes from within. It starts in the heart.
The man that I quoted the title of this article, who lived a long time ago. His name is Jesus Christ. Here is the full quote of what He had to say.
“While he was saying these things, many people believed in him.
Then Jesus said to those Judeans who had believed him, “If you continue to follow my teaching, you are really my disciples
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:30-32
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