The Craziest Dad

I'm Not That Crazy

2012-01-28T09:07:00.001-06:00

     On Friday I drove the family to Buena Vista for their yearly ski trip. My wife had planed to get on the road about 6:30 but it was after 7:00 before we left and than before we were even a mile from the house we had to turn around because of forgotten items. The drive itself started out great but turned nasty about half way there. With a windshield wiper that didn't want to work correctly, heavy snow coming down and unplowed roads, I was down to35 mph but we arrived safely at the slopes and about an hour later the snow quit and the sun came out.

     At the slopes, I stayed indoors and took care of the 2 year old as I'm not crazy enough to ski - I prefer to keep my limbs in one unbroken. The other six kids had a great time skiing and snow boarding. At one point I did have to have my wife help change a messy diaper. It wasn't because I was unable but it was so bad it was a two person job and it was smelling up the entire third floor of the chalet.

     After a quick stop at Grandma and Grandpas afterwards for some mashed potatoes and gravy and to drop the oldest off for a few days we hit the road for home. A stop at McDonalds on the way through Baudette gave us a chance to stretch and we were given some pies and than we were soon home only to find it had not snowed.

     Besides the ski trip the week was busy including my wife's trip to Thief River Falls for a dentist appointment and shopping, A trip to Roseau for my Daughter's senior pictures. take a picture with Sparky night at Awana, staying late at work to do some training and my wife's trip to the side walk banging up her knee.

I wonder what next week will bring?

Rain or Snow or Both

2012-01-20T10:54:00.000-06:00

This last week I got to watch it rain while it was snowing. On Wednesday I brought a group of people from the department at work down to the test chambers to watch a water test which is the equivalent of rain hitting a window at 45 mile an hour to see if it leaks. (Sounds like I may get to watch these test every month now) In the meantime it was snowing outside as winter finally arrived.

This past week has also been a week of cold as temps reached over 20 below zero several times. The cold even brought the cancellation of our kids ski trip. I think they'll try again next week when it should be in the 20's above zero. When we go to the ski trip I usually sit in the lodge with the little ones and leave the crazy stuff (putting on skis and going down the hill) to my wife and kids.

Tenting, Testing, Tripping and Books

2012-01-13T09:53:00.001-06:00

     Last night it was 5 below zero, last night 2 of my girls slept in a tent - in the living room. Beyond that not too many crazy things happened this week around our house hold.

     The kids have been busy doing their CAT tests and the oldest got started on her college classes she's taking on-line.

     On Wednesday I was part of a group from my department at work that took a trip to our Grafton plant for a tour. It was an interesting trip and I decided to sit in the back of the big van to see what it was like since my kids always sit in the back of our big van. Because of the trip I think I was on the clock for almost 12 hours. It was a long day and when I got home I turned around and went back to town to guard a hot tub - from within it. It was swim night for the Awana club of which I'm one of the leaders and the kids are not allowed in the hot tub but of course that's where they all want to go.

     The last of my books that I ordered with the gift cards I got for Christmas arrived this week. The books - 8 in total - all revolve around apologetics in some way. The books I got include

The Creation Answers Book
Alien Intrusion
Darwin's Demise
Refuting Compromise
Evolution Exposed
Icons of Evolution
If God, Why Evil?
The 10 Most Important Things You Can Say to a Mormon

I should have plenty to read for awhile. I still have more books I want but they'll have to wait.

First week 2012

2012-01-06T20:57:00.000-06:00

     Have you kept your New Year's Resolutions? I haven't set mine yet so I haven't been able to break them.

     I survived my first week of work for 2012 with my new job. The week was only suppose to be Tuesday to Thursday because Monday was a holiday and we are on 4 day weeks but we were so busy that our dept worked Friday to try and catch up. Anyway - Tuesday I got myself set up on the computer at the desk I know have and on Thursday I had to do it again as the computer department came out and reset the computer to my name. I also had a phone set up which would hang up as soon as you answered it or if you tried to make a call it would hang up before you could finish dialing. - over all - a good week.

     The kids spent time outside building a snow fort with what little snow we have as temps sored into the 40's above zero - it should be 40 below zero this time of year.

Mook

2011-12-31T09:42:00.000-06:00

I think it's in the story about P.J. Funnybunny who at one point wants to be a moose but decides he can't make good moose calls which in the book is "mook." For Christmas I got a pair of slippers with moose heads on them so I've been chasing the little ones around with them while going "mook" and the kids have been having a blast.

In the mean time, I am all done working nights and am looking forward to straight days (5:30 - 14:00) starting in January. One of the nice parts about getting done so early in the day is it will still be light out when I get home which will be nice if we ever get some snow to blow.

2011-12-24T08:27:00.000-06:00

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!" When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us." And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. - Luke 2:1-20 (ESV)

Merry Christmas Everyone

New Job

2011-12-14T16:45:00.000-06:00

I got word today that starting in January I'll have a different job. Instead of being a production senior for the department I'm in, I'll be a quality senior for the department. Before I transfered over to the department I'm currently in to be a production senior, I was a quality senior for about 6 years or so I don't remember exactly anymore.

With the change I've already started tapping the depths of my mind (what there is of it) pulling up my quality training so I'll be ready come Januray.

Nothing Crazy

2011-12-13T15:26:00.000-06:00

Nothing crazy has been happening as of late. Over the last few days I've been enjoying my last 5 day weekend before the big change in the schedule at work - and trying to get ahead on some of my blogging posts for while we are celebrating Christmas. Of course Christmas time means lots of goodies being baked and my wife and kids have been busy making things.

Christmas shopping is more or less done and I'm just waiting for the last item to arrive in the mail and than we have a few misc. things to pick up. that and waiting for some snow.

Almost

2011-11-25T20:17:00.000-06:00

I don't think it's really a crazy thing to put a Christmas tree up the day after Thanksgiving and that's what we did this evening.We even started to put packages under it.

Tomorrow is / was suppose to be my last scheduled Saturday of work that I would have to work since we will not be working Saturdays next year, however, due to inventory next weekend and since I'm some where between management and production I'm required to work. Depending on how the day goes it could be a long day as we go until we are done, even if it means working 12+ hours. Of course it will be all overtime which will be nice.

Christmas Shopping

2011-11-11T21:29:00.001-06:00

Have you started to do your Christmas shopping yet? When you take the 9 in our family, the 9 we drew names for on my side of the family, the 9 we drew names for on my wife's side of the family and than add to that something special for both sets of parents we end up with a lot of presents to get. So, with that many gifts to get I figures it was time to start shopping and I'm about a third done - sort of. Stuff has been ordered but we are still waiting for it to arrive. Give me another two weeks and I'll have the tree up and we've already started to listen to Christmas music - in fact I'm listening to it now.

Updated

2011-11-04T19:24:00.000-05:00

Today I went all out and upgraded my computer - I changed out the motherboard, processor, and memory. In the process I found lots and lots of dust. Once everything was back together I reformatted the hard drive and loaded not Windows but Linux - Ububtu to be exact. I'm now running with a dual core processor and 8 gigs of ram. I have my email and web browser all up and running - with out losing an email or a bookmark. I still have another day of work to do on it as I finish loading up programs, etc.

Quick Trip

2011-10-30T18:51:00.000-05:00

We're back!!!! - After making a quick trip to Brainerd over the weekend to take care of some computer problems for my folks and drop off cookie dough and help put some watercraft away for the winter and take a ride looking for deer who knew deer season was closing in and decided to hide and we did some shopping including two stops for McRibs which are back - yum, yum!

Upgrading

2011-10-27T10:37:00.000-05:00

As a thank you for my soccer coaching this year - I received a fair amount of cash. In deciding what to do with such a wonderful gift, I've decided to do some upgrading on my computer as it has been giving me some problems as of late. I've decided to upgrade my motherboard, CPU, and memory and add a card reader. When I complete my upgrade, parts that I'm upgrading will be used to upgrade other computers as well.

While this may not sound like a crazy thing to do - I'm going to make Ubuntu (a Linux operating system) my main operating system putting windows into a virtual box to run a few things that I still need it for - mainly my Bible programs.

Change is in the Air

2011-10-19T17:01:00.000-05:00

Change is in the air - and I'm not talking about the weather. Today at work I learned that our work schedule is going to be changing at the beginning of next year. While we don't have all the specifics yet - we will be doing away with our current 4 week rotation of 3 weeks of nights and 1 week of days and we will also be doing away with 10 hour works days. What we will end up with is M-F 8 hours a day with straight day and straight night shifts - no more rotations.

A little sore

2011-10-12T16:47:00.000-05:00

     What do you call it when things are back to normal but there not back to normal because normal is crazy?

     Yesterday brought our soccer season to a close and in so doing I spent nearly 2 1/2 hours on the soccer field playing against all the kids. First the parents played against the junior team and won 3-2 and than with a little help from alumni players the parents took on the older kids and beat them 3-2 also. As a result of the running I am very sore and will more than likely be the rest of the week.

     Our soccer season ended with two losses in the tournament but it wasn't because the kids played poorly. In both games the played hard and kept the goalies on the other teams very busy while keeping ours bored.

     Maybe I can sit around and blog now.......

Victory

2011-09-23T16:51:00.000-05:00

This past week the Junior soccer team I coach posted their first win of the season with a 3-1 victory. The one head butted the ball into our own goal in the previous game decided to score 2 goals for us this time. In the Senior game, the seniors also scored 3 goals but unfortunately they scored them in the wrong net and lost 0-4. It was exhilarating to have the kids win and tiring by the time we got home. The weather was perfect for the game as well.

Jack Pine Retreat 2011

2011-09-18T18:16:00.000-05:00

The Jack Pine Retreat for 2011 has now come and gone. The theme this year was "Input, Output" and the massages were broke down to cover:

Why does it matter
Keeping out the Trash
Think on these things
Making the change

      Early in the week we had temps down to 25 but for the retreat it warmed up. The first night was around 42 and the second night was about 54 With the highs Saturday and Sunday close to the mid 60's. As for rain - it held off till Sunday morning about the time we were bringing things to a close. I'm not sure how many attended but it was somewhere between 50 and 60 with several new people. Due to high fire danger we did not have the big bonfire and met around some small campfires in the area where the Williams' family camps for the first three gatherings and under the shelter for the final meeting.

     As for out family - getting there was an adventure. Friday afternoon as many people were arriving we were getting ready not only for the retreat but for a couple of soccer games and the arrival of the cookie dough my daughter sold for the swim team. Well, after the games, we hit the Dairy Queen for a bunch of $5.00 specials that included a 1/4 burger, fries, pop and a mini blizzard. From the DQ we headed home to finish loading up and head out to the camp ground only to find that the keys for the topper in which we had put all our sleeping bags had disappeared and we had to go digging through the house for more blankets. It made for a cool night of sleeping but we survived.

     What was really crazy was Saturday night. My 9 year old daughter join 4 other girls about the same age and slept not in a tent but in a make shift fort out in the woods, while the teenage boys went to bed early.

     Sunday when all was done we loaded up our car, big van and trailer with kids and stuff in the rain and headed home - now the oldest two are off to youth group and the house is trashed, hopefully it will be back to normal (crazy) soon as we have another week of soccer and swimming ahead of us. Oh, yeah, it felt good to get a showere once we got unpacked.

Crazy week - weekend

2011-09-16T13:08:00.000-05:00

This past week has been crazy around our house and this weekend is planning to continue the tradition. during the past week we had...

Monday - Soccer practice, music lessons, swimming practice
Tuesday - Soccer game, swimming practice - keys locked in a car with a sleeping almost 2 year old.
Wednesday - Swimming practice, Awana meeting
Thursday - Soccer practice, swim meet
Friday (today) - getting ready for camping at the Jack Pine retreat, soccer game, swim team cookie dough arrives. Jack Pine Retreat (our family host's it)
Saturday - Jack Pine Retreat
Sunday - Jack Pine Retreat and clean up.

Of course this doesn't include school or many other things I'm sure I missed out on while I was at work.

During the past week, those of us in Northern Mn have experienced over a 60 degree temperature change from the upper 80's to the mid 20's on the Fahrenheit scale if you go by Celsius it was still a big change from about 30 above to 5 below.

Another Game

2011-09-14T20:31:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday the Warroad Panthers played their second soccer game of the season. Jv team lost 0-3 and the Sr team lost 0 - I can't count that high. It was about 40 degrees cooler than our first game with a strong wind. Our next game will be Friday and it should be a little warmer - we're going to try and split the difference on the temps. In the mean time we're trying to put the finishing touches on getting ready for the Jack Pine Retreat, plus getting ready for AWANA club to start plus swimming plus.........

Not Enough

2011-09-10T17:32:00.000-05:00

As if yesterday's exploits were not enough I spent the day chaperoning kids from 8 to 13 in age for 7 hours and finished the sunburn on top of my head.

Soccer

2011-09-09T19:33:00.000-05:00

     Here's something crazy - playing soccer in Northern Minnesota in September when the temp is near 90 in the shade and there is none. Today was are first official soccer game of the season and I think we did all right. We scored first and held that 1 goal lead till close to the end of the game when TRF (the team we played against) tied it up and that was how the game ended 1-1. The senior team didn't fair as well as they lost 0-2

   Standing on the side line coaching the kids went pretty well other than a little sun burn on the top of the head. I must say my defense shocked me. They were playing the way I've been trying to get them to play for years and it made a difference.

   Our next game will be next Friday - same time, same place, different team and it should be about 25 degrees cooler. If anybody is coming up early for Jack Pine they are welcome to come watch the kids play at 3:00 and 4:30 Just give us a heads up if you need directions to the field

Full Swing

2011-09-03T21:18:00.000-05:00

     Summer is about over and it's been busy (or should I say crazy) at our house. Soccer season is in full swing and our first game is coming up on the 9th. In the mean time swimming has gotten under way for my daughter and she has already had her first meet.

     Soon it will be time for our annual Jack Pine Retreat which we are busy preparing for and than - who knows what crazy things we'll be doing.

     On top of this - an opportunity opened up at work for a straight day position that I've applied for am hoping to get. Time will tell if I get it or not.

Here We Go

2011-08-16T16:52:00.000-05:00

Things are about to go crazy at our house - or maybe they already are. This week the oldest started swim practice as she decided she wanted to be on the high school swim, team this year. Furthermore Soccer season starts this week for the next 3 oldest kids plus myself as I'm again coaching the junior team. Early estimates show 22 kids for the team and I'm sure there are more.Swimming will go M-F and soccer M,T.,T F

Bluegrass

2011-08-07T19:27:00.000-05:00

     This past weekend, Aug. 5-7 was the Lake Itasca family Music Festival at the Pioneer farms just North of Itasca State Park.

     We started our trip to the festival Friday morning, leaving the house before 7 stopping for some shopping at Walmart along the way to do some shopping and get some last minute groceries. From there we headed off to Grandma's house to drop off the dog and than to the camping area to set up camp.

     We arrived around noon, quickly set up camp and than tried to stay cool.the rest of the afternoon. During that time we some of us wondered the grounds, and played at the "park" area which included three slides some swings, a sandbox and a merry-go-round which was the big hit.

     Around 4:30 or so the sky started to turn black and about 5:00 as the music was to get under way - the storm passed us by. The wind picked up and the temps dropped about 10 degrees but the rain went else where - nearly 2 inches worth. The rest of the evening was spent trying to listen to music. I say trying because two little kids kept us very busy - they didn't want to sit and listen. At one point I took of with kids for a walk and found the miniature trains running and we were able to get rides - several of them. Kids also took rides the next two days as well.

     Once the music was done for the evening I headed to bed - everyone else in the family had already headed back to the tents, - only to find that our air mattresses had loss most of their air. Sleep was not very comfortable that night. - nor the next night as they lost their air again.

     Saturday morning was filled with workshops, cooler temps and light rain showers. Thankfully the rain was light and didn't hamper the events much. In the afternoon the music started up again and went on till10:00 PM or so. For supper we took up the $25 limit per family special on roast beef sandwiches with mashed potatoes, gravy and green beans. Aaron and one of his friends took a bike trip into the park and did some kayaking in the evening as well.

     Sunday morning started with a hymn sing, a group, a message by one of the groups and than two more groups to end the festival. We had most all packed by the time things started and Shelly and several kids visited the beach at Itasca for awhile after the hymn sing. When all was done we ate lunch, finished packing and headed back to grandma's to get the dog and than fill up with gas and head home in time for the oldest two to leave for youth group.

     Now for a shower and bed and we'll leave the unloading for Monday when the bugs aren't so bad.

     Next years festival is Aug 3-5 - Don't miss it

Her Birthday

2011-07-26T16:04:00.001-05:00

     Yesterday was my wife's birthday and to celebrate it I could say I didn't do a thing - sort of. One of her girl friends invited her to go with to Grand Forks to shop and go to a Mongolian restaurant. She went and I stayed behind since I didn't work and ran the kids around to their various activities.

     Tracy took charge of making meals and some cup cakes that we put candles on latter in the day and Jason took charge of making some cookies so we didn't go hungry

     She was ver tired when she got home but enjoyed the day.

Cooled Down

2011-07-23T10:08:00.000-05:00

     Things have cooled down finally Today it's supposed to rain almost all day with a high in the upper 60's - I think I can handle that.

     I'd say nothing more crazy has happened this week like kidney stone attacks or slicing my wrist open for about 10 stitches but I decided to go blueberry picking in the heat on Friday and Saturday. One has to be crazy to put on long sleeves when it's in the 80's but it's that or a ton of bug spray. Any way, it was very slim picking on the berries both days. We'll have to try a few more spots while I'm still on my five days off.

     I'm also working at cleaning up my desk - I couldn't find it the other day.

A New Way To Keep Cool

2011-07-18T17:29:00.000-05:00

     At home today one thermometer read 99 while the other 101. It was and still is hot here in Northern Minnesota just like everywhere else - but we're not built for heat we're built for cold - like 20 below zero.

     At work the only AC is in the offices and meeting rooms so there isn't very many places to go to keep cool - so how about a trip to the clinic for stitches after all they have AC. Well, that's what happened but not intentionally.. I was working on repairs when the putty knife I was using slipped and sliced my wrist open - It took about 10 stitches and my fingers are still numb. On top of it all, because it happened during work they require a drug test which meant getting poked again for more blood - they got me the first time this time.

     Maybe I'll just stay in bed the rest of the week :)

Changed Plans

2011-07-16T15:21:00.000-05:00

     My plans for this weekend were to go blueberry picking not to the emergency room in pain.

     It was sometime around 11:00 PM Friday evening when the pain hit in the lower right of my abdomen or there about. Taking Tylenol didn't help and the pain got worse so got dressed and my wife took me yo the ER 35 miles away through the fog.

      One there and checked in. the tests began. It took three tries to get a needle in to draw blood it didn't take me three tries to hit the cup for the urine sample. They gave me a shpt in the butt of pain medication which pnly helped a little. Shortly after that they did a scan and said we would have to wait an hour for the results. While we waited they decided to put an I V in. and that took them another 3 or 4 pokes. Once it was in they gave me some morphine for the pain - that stuff worked.

      It didn't seem to be too much longer after that when the results from the scan came back - I had a kidney stone which appeared to be close to coming out and an-infection. I was put on meds for the infection and I was given something stronger for the pain if needed for for the pain and told to drink lots of water to finish forcing the stone out and was told they would like the stone when it comes out so I have to filter for it.

     In the mean time I've been trying to catch up on sleep and being driven crazy by David.

HOT!

2011-07-05T17:17:00.000-05:00

     Anyone who would stand outside in 90+ heat has got to be crazy.

     This year for the 4th of July weekend we headed to town as a family 3 days in a row.

     On July 2nd a hot day - we loaded our trailer with bikes and headed to town to do some biking on the bike trail. Afterwards we ended up at the outdoor pool and I even put on my swimming trunks and got wet.\

     On the 3rd - again hot - we loaded up and went to town to take in some of the 4th of July festivities. I hit the chili cook off to sample 7 different kinds of chili, the kids played at the park for a while, we went and watched a lumberjack show and than we chased paper plates, or at least the kids did. Each year Warroad sponsers a paper plate drop from an airplane down by the lake. The plates have different "prizes" on them and this year we got a 50% of any size tornado (like a blizzard for DQ) and a $5.00 off newspaper subscription for the local paper. The kids also caught a couple other plates but gave them away.

     On the 4th itself we arrived in town about noon and stopped to fill up a 64 oz jug with pop at the local Holiday Station and than headed to the point down by the lake to participate in the activities. Starting at noon was the nickel registration and ice cream cones for 12 and under sponsored by Marvin Windows. That was followed at 1:00 by races for the kids and adults sponsored by a local church with the winners getting a dollar, 2nd getting $.75, 3rd getting $.50 and everyone else a quarter. 4 of our kids raced in three different events, running, sack race, and 3-legged race. In the 3-legged race they had a father/daughter race and I decided I would go with Tracy (the oldest) and we took 1st place in our heat. I surprised myself. My wife had told the kids earlier they had to race to earn money to by cotton candy.

     After the races it was time for the kids to go on the big blow up mazes/climbing things/jumpy things. 4 of the kids got arm bands so they could go on them over and over and over again. It was suppose to go till 8 but a storm brought it to a close 2 hours early. While the kids were doing this I took the youngest and went and claimed our spot for the parade with hopes of getting him to sleep - It worked. An hour and a half later the parade got under way and the kids loaded up with candy. Even David the 19 month old figured out what to do and was having a blast - he'd get a piece - bring it to mom to unwrap - shove it in his mouth and go get more.

     After the parade we went and filled out jug up again with pop, went and bought sparklers and than headed back to the point. On the way we drove by the bank and the sign in front of it said the temp was 90. Earlier it had read 91 at hear at home our thermometer said it reached 94. Twenty to thirty degrees cooler would have been much better. We did have one year we needed coats on the fourth. Anyways, back at the point we bummed around until fireworks time, dodged a storm with quite a bit of lightening. and listened to the local band.

     Finally, at about 10:30 the fireworks got underway. - they had to wait that long for it to get dark - I put the 2 little girls on top of the van and we watched away. Once the final barrage went off, I got the kids down and we did sparklers while we were waiting for the traffic to thin out. Once we got done with those we headed home and headed to bed - It was probably 11:30 when we got home and midnight before I got to sleep only to awake by 4:00 to get ready to go to work.

     Yes, I 'd do it all again and more than likely will next year. I just hope it's cooler so I don't end up sunburned again. By the way - did I say it was hot over the weekend?

GF Trip

2011-07-01T15:16:00.000-05:00

     I must be crazy - I got out of bed this morning at 2:45 so we could make a trip to Grand Forks. We had to be at the hospital at 6:15 to get checked in for David's dental restoration. Once we arrived everything seemed to go like clock work and it wasn't long before they took David back to put him under and fix his teeth. Nurse said he did well when they took him away from us and put him under. It took about an hour and a half to do the work which included removing one tooth,caps, crowns, x-rays, cleaning or something like that.

     After they brought him back too it took about 45 minutes before he was ready to leave. A trip to Menards - where my wife had fun filling the shopping cart - gas and McDonalds and we were on our way home. Both David and my wife slept coming home - I couldn't - so I laughed at my wife - she fell asleep with her finger on the radio trying to find a station to listen too.

     It must be nap time now.

Work Schedule

2011-06-24T09:12:00.000-05:00

     Sometimes work schedules can be quite crazy. After working the last 4 days mine is heading in that direction and it will soon catch up to me as I went crazy along time ago.... Any ways I now have 3 days off than work 1 than 1 off than work 2 than 4 off than work 1 than 2 off than work 2 than 1 off than work 4.

     Other than a trip to the pool to sit in the hot tub and than take everyone too DQ, nothing much has been happening at least from my stand point. Of course the kids are keeping busy with school and music. Yeah we're crazy as the kids are doing school through the summer. If I remember right the older 4 are all doing Spanish and Geography, while the oldest is doing physics and the next oldest is doing biology. and of course music involves violin, guitar and piano. and lets not forget swimming class. I think they may be busier than I am at work some days.

     Speaking of work it has been deiced that I'll start training a person to do the job of running our router so I'm not stuck on it all day everyday so I can do the job I'm suppose to do. Believe it or not, I've been there at Marvin windows for 19 years now.

     Now to find something to do on this beautiful day - the sun is to shine and temps could hit mid 70's and it's not suppose to rain.

More Word Fun

2011-06-16T03:21:00.000-05:00

I want to amaze you with a maze of maize said Mr. Mays.

Found guilty of murder they would hang her with a hanger in a hangar

A parrot wore a parachute to pare a pair of pears

Each Sneetch on the beach would teach a leech on a peach to reach

Could the checker check her with a checker

In earnest did an ern try to earn an urn

Crazy?

2011-06-12T13:06:00.000-05:00

     Well, I turned a year older since last I posted. My B-day was last Friday a day I took off from work to stay home and work. Yeah, I'm crazy. Last Sunday we picked up a metal shed kit on the way home from Bemidji to store lawn mowers and bikes in. Well, on Friday I braved the mosquitoes and with the help of several of the kids we started putting up the shed. By late afternoon we had the walls up and the roof on but the mosquitoes got to be too much so we quit for thew night. Some where in there I opened presents (candy) and replied to over 20 birthday wishes.

     Saturday morning with the help of kids again we finished fastening the roof and put the doors together and put them in place. and than worked at cleaning up. I wanted to go to the state park that day but timing didn't work out as company was to arrive in the afternoon.

     My Parent's arrived from Brainerd and after some visiting and going through sevral boxes and bags of stuff they brought up, it was time for the Birthday cake - which was blueberry cheese cake smothered in candles. After we let that set for a while it was off to town as my folks took us out to eat but we had a problem. Our big van's battery was about dead as someone had left an interior light on for a couple days. After trying to jump it unsuccessfully we all piled into our smaller van and headed to town. After the meal we hit the pool and DQ and than came home and settled down for bed or should I say I settled down - the kids were wound up on sugar.

   Sunday morning we had church service an hour early followed by getting the van started (jumper cables were bad) and a Turkey dinner with all the goodies. Shelly than left with the older two girls for a Bible Bee picnic and my folks headed home. Now it's time to sort through all the old computer stuff they brought in the boxes and figure out what all they brought - (It came from my Grandpa who passed away earlier this year.)

Frost

2011-06-09T16:40:00.000-05:00

This has got to be crazy. This morning as I headed to work I had to SCRAPE my windshield. YES! it was covered with frost. Makes me wonder if I live in the same state as those who were experiencing 100+ temps the other day.

Less than 24 hours

2011-06-06T16:58:00.000-05:00

     This past weekend we took a trip to Bemidji to hear a missionary from the Ukraine. Afterwards we did some shopping at Menards where we found a 20 inch bicycle for 20 dollars after rebate. We decided to get it for Melissa. Less than 24 hours later it is ready for the trash heap but not because of poor quaility.

     My wife was preparing to take the kids to town to the so they could ride bikes on the bike trail and in so doing she asked the 12 year old to load his bike and Melissa's in the back of the van and the 15 year old to turn the van around so the trailer could be hooked up. Well, one bike got loaded and the other was left leaning against the back of the van. Than, with out looking to make sure things were out of the way, the van was backed up, right over the top of the new bike.

     I'm not sure I'll be able to fix it and if I am able it may cost more than what we payed for the bike. To top it off, we put training wheels back on Melissa's old bike and handed it down to the next child in line so now she doesn't have a bike.

A little windy

2011-06-02T18:12:00.000-05:00

It's been a little windy around here as of late. On my way home today the wind was blowing the car around on the road and the local radio station said the forecast was for winds blowing 16 to 22 mph but the were supposedly blowing from 22 to 28 mph. That didn't seem right so I looked at the computer when I got home and the winds were was actually blowing around 35 with gusts up to 49. I don't think I'll fly a kite today - not sure I want to go to OZ for a visit.

When the wind blows trees often start to come down and there has been at least three down close to home. The first one noticed was just off the edge of the yard than the kids found another blown into the power lines not far from the house and this afternoon they found a third tree across the road to the south of us.

Rainy Weather

2011-05-31T16:16:00.000-05:00

     My 5 day weekend is drawing to a close and it's been a wet one. After blogging last - 2 days ago - I put together our new grill. The guy at Walmart said it would only take a half hour to do - it took over two. I thought I would have had more help from little hands but they had too much fun playing with the big box the grill came in.

      Monday the rain continued but I put the grill to use for lunch between showers. We grilled hamburgers and brats and added baked beans, potato salad, chips and dip and a few other things. Perfect. Other than cleaning out our van from the trip to Bemidji we than did very little the rest of the day.

     Tuesday (today) it's back to school for the kids as they will be doing some school most of the summer. A couple kids went to the pool for swimming while I stayed home with a crabby boy and the other 4 kids and tried to clean my desk which I finally found. After lunch a trip to the DMV to license the new trailer we bought.was in store and since we were there a trip through the grocery store filled up the trunk. A little bit of blog work and a little nap complemented the day.

     I suppose that the weather will clear up now and be sunny as I head back to work tomorrow.

Celebrating?

2011-05-29T19:24:00.000-05:00

     Well, This crazy dad just returned from a weekend trip to Bemidji.

     On Friday it was child # 5's birthday, Yep, on Friday Melissa turned 7 years old and while she received a bunch of Zoobles, she really wanted to go to Bemidji to Grandma's and to "Putt n Go," so much so that Thursday night she cries herself to sleep because nobody had packed to go. Well, Friday afternoon we all packed up and went to Bemidji so she could have her birthday wish but we had to wait to go to Putt n Go because of rain. On Saturday after a lunch of pizza burgers we loaded 6 of the kids in the car and headed out to shop and go to Putt n Go while Aaron stayed behind and helped Grandpa fix an antifreeze leak on grandpa's car.

     Once we got to Putt n Go the kids had a blast but they couldn't go down the slide as it was not warm enough for them to open it up. First they hit the bumper boats and David cried when the ride ended and he had to get out, Next they did the go carts and that's where I got dragged in to drive. Once they were done three kids headed over to the mini golf and before they could finish, down came the rain.

     From there, we went to Menards to check on and pick up a couple things like a teeball set and a 48 inch beach ball and a few more items. Walmart was next where we got a new bike for Jason and a new grill which the kids are anxiously waiting to put together.

     Sunday we went to church in Bemidji and was able to witness a baptism which is always a special event. The gal that was baptized was my wife's brother's wife's sister's Mother-in-law. After a lunch of Tacos we packed up and went shopping one more time and bought a trailer. Half way home we were tempted to use it to haul a crabby child.

     Upon are arrival home we were attacked by swarms of vicious mosquitoes. As a result we left the van unloaded until tomorrow when hopefully the mosquitoes will have died down a little.

     All in all it was a wonderful weekend and it's still not over. Hope your weekend is just as fun filled.

Loooooooooooooooooooong Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek

2011-05-20T15:20:00.000-05:00

     I think I just survived the first week back to 40 hours a week of nights with little to do, so little that we actually shut down the sash area Thursday night - for some reason or another we talked a lot about music and old shows. After that I wanted to sleep in on Friday but guess what - all kids were up by 7:30, kids that would sleep all morning if you let them. oh well what's sleep any ways.

     Since the kids left home wouldn't sleep.... (3 of the girls are at track and field day at Kitchi Pines and my wife is shopping - she took the big van, I may be broke by the time she gets home.) I took the kids to town and dropped 2 off at a sleep over and took the littlest 2 to the Dairy Queen for a blizzard and than to the park.

     Now that I'm home I'll need to try and stay cool as it is 82 out and 79 in. and wait till every one comes home. Tomorrow will be graduation for the home school group up here followed by open houses and it's suppose to rain - not snow- I think I'm missing winter all ready as I've been typing this I've had to keep slapping at mosquitoes..

The Phonetic Alphabet

2011-05-15T09:05:00.000-05:00

     Sometime back I got this in one of my e-mails. I found it and thought I'd share it If you need to spell something out use this code

A - as in Are                           B - as in Bee                             C - as in Cite

D - as in Double-U               E - as in Eye                             F - as in Five

G - as in Genre                       H - as in Hoe     I - as in I

J - as in Junta                         K - as in Knot    L - as in Lye

M - as in Me    N - as in Nine                            O - as in Owe

P - as in Pseudonym              Q - as in Queue                        R - as in Rap

S - as in Sea                            T - as in Tsunami                      U - as in Understand?

V - as in Vie                             W - as in Why                            X - as in Xylophone

Y - as in You                             Z - as in Zero

Today

2011-05-14T22:10:00.000-05:00

     Today brings to an end 32 hour weeks / 8 hour days at work - starting next week we are back to 10 hour days / 40 hour weeks and of course it just so happens that I'll be working the night shift next week from 4:00 PM to 2:30 AM. To work those hours one must be crazy.

     Today also marked the beginning of fishing season in Minnesota and no I didn't go, In fact I haven't gone for many years but I can remember getting up and going out fishing at Midnight as soon as it opened - yeah, I was crazy.

     Had some fun with Melissa and Laura earlier this evening with North, South, East, and West. With Laura on my shoulders Her and Melissa kept trying to get me to go some where by hollering out a direction but they couldn't remember East and were having all kinds of trouble (fun) trying to get me where they wanted me.

     This past week I got to hear the whipper wills which have returned to the area. Some nights it seems like they call all night long. Night sounds when you live out in the state forest can become loud.

More Word Fun

2011-05-12T08:56:00.000-05:00

Oh, to have a tutu or two too.

If I could only see a "C" on a sea.

The beau with a bow took a bow from the bough

Word Fun

2011-05-11T20:34:00.000-05:00

The bare bear could barely bare to bare another bare bear.

Mr. T spilled tea on his T shirt while preparing to tee off on the ninth tee against a T-rex.

Is was plain to see he was using a plain plane in a plane over a plain plane.

Name Change

2011-05-08T18:17:00.000-05:00

Well, I did it - I changed my blog name again thanks to my little girls who think I'm the craziest dad.

Normal

2011-05-07T21:40:00.001-05:00

     Survived another sleep over last night. I think the kids had fun, the boys that spent the night brought their air soft guns and the kids did a bunch of shooting around the yard. The only problem I had with their fun was the smudges all over my safety glasses they borrowed.

     On Wednesday we celebrated my oldest daughter's birthday - she's now 17 But that didn't take place until; after my wife made a trip to a dentist in Grand Forks for David. It appears as if his teeth are as bad as his older siblings (Melissa and Laura) He'll need to spend a day have crowns, caps, etc done to a bunch of his teeth.

     On Thursday evening my wife took the younger kids to a fund raising carnival and than to the pool only to realize that when we had made a trade off earlier in the day she had forgotten to transfer her swim suit and check book.

     Now it's Saturday evening and everything is back to normal, normal, normal, normal.....

Lazy Weekend

2011-05-03T18:23:00.000-05:00

     This past weekend was a 5 day weekend for me and I really didn't do much of anything news worthy.

     On Friday the older boys went to a sleep over, On Saturday the rest of us went to a memorial service, On Sunday we went to my daughter's violin recital, than to McDonalds and than took kids to youth group than let then went to DQ to waste time as it was to cold for the kids to play at the park than picked up kids from youth group and headed home. Monday my wife did some sitting for an older person that had fallen while I took kids to swimming, volleyball and the park.

     Today I finished reading the last of the books I got for Christmas. It was on Christian Apologetics and I was disappointed with it. The more I read the book the more it seemed like it had Catholic over tones to it. When I researched the authors on the internet I learned I was right - they're both professors at a Catholic University. I think they should have read the Bible before they wrote the book.

A box and A present

2011-04-29T12:57:00.000-05:00

The other day the little girls were playing with a bigger box that we had got with the purchase of a new medicine cabinet for one of the bathrooms. The girls kept having fun getting inside the box and pretending they were a present for me. With a little bit of help they had someone make a tag that said to "Michael Trott" I took out my name tag and said my tag says I'm "Mike Trott" so this present must belong to someone else. They than had the tag re-made to say "Mike Trott" so I pulled out my drivers license and claimed it said I was "Michael Trott," so this present must be for someone else. This time they wrote the tag to say to the "Best Dad in the world" so I looked at it and hollered "Grandpa! I have a present for you." Not to give up they wrote the tag to the "Craziest Dad in the world." I had to open the present than...Now I'm thinking about renaming this blog "The Craziest Dad."

Weekend In Review

2011-04-25T17:18:00.000-05:00

Easter this year was spent in Bemidji for our family. We left Friday after eating Steak and potatoes only to realize we had forgot to bring the sewing machines along so we could drop them off in Bemidji to get fixed. When we arrived the younger girls had lots of fun with their cousins, actually they had fun with them all weekend long and we unpacked and relaxed.

Saturday we took the kids and went to the tanker base for the DNR (Our friend works there as a dispatcher) and got to climb inside the plane including the cockpit. From there we headed out to look at trailers - but we didn't buy one and we checked out the new Menards where the youngest three got balloons. From there it was time to pick up a few groceries and than back to grandma's for some more play time. Somewhere in there I also helped grandpa with the picnic table he was building.

Sunday morning we were going to go back to Walmart but never made it. Went to church and than back to the house where we had a big turkey dinner for 22. After that the kids did an Easter egg hunt and we passed out stockings (they were left over from Christmas.) We than finished packing up and headed for the gas station. It only cost $105 to fill the tank. A stop at McDonalds so the kids could play it was off to home.

Once home we unpacked and had another Easter egg hunt and soon it was bed time.

Today has brought warmth and the kids have decided it is shorts weather. Even David is running around outside with nothing on but a diaper. - scratch that, he just took it off...

Going on a Trip

2011-04-22T09:36:00.000-05:00

       This past week has been a little uneventful again. I worked the night shift and on Wednesday I took off half the night to go to our Awana's award night where three of our kids brought home awards for Bible memorization.

   We did get more snow this past week but it has melted away and ever so slowly the yard is drying out.

     Last year for Easter our family took a trip to Brainerd with a quick stop at Bemidji. So, this year we are going to Bemidji with maybe a quick stop in Brainerd. I'm hoping for the possibility to check out the new Menard's in Bemidji while we are there and we may be looking for a trailer big enough to haul both of our riding mowers on as the kids have a summer mowing job.

Quiet Week?

2011-04-15T21:14:00.000-05:00

Not much in the way of excitement around the house this week. We've had warm days - close to 70 - and we've had snow. The roads have been improving. the kids had a fire in the fireplace so they could roast marshmallows, Wife made a trip to the mill to get flour, oatmeal, and rice, sent two boys to a sleepover, had our last official night of Awana with awards next week, we still have snow in the yard, got to eat a Cadbury egg, set the tent up in the living room, let two little girls go play at the "rainbow park" for an hour in the cold wind, took a nap - yeah, just a quiet week.

What Stinks

2011-04-12T19:48:00.000-05:00

No Wonder the bathroom stinks :)

Nice Link, Etc..

2011-04-09T12:56:00.001-05:00

      I love Christian Apologetics and recently I came across this link to several series of talks on apologetics here. Since than I've been doing lot's of down loading.

      Yesterday the girls participated in a local home-school tournament and brought home several ribbons. After they got home we than put up the trampoline which the kids have been enjoying.

      My wife also brought home about 20 dozen eggs that were given to her.

     This past week I made my 100th post on my blog Everyday Thankfulness. And saw three robins in the front yard which looks more like a lake and the frogs have begun to sing.

Spring Is Here

2011-04-06T16:47:00.000-05:00

     Today the water level under the house got to the point where we needed to start a pump to move it out. If we let it get too high it ruins our well pump as we have learned in the past. So, when the well pump starts sounding funny as my wife told me it was we know the water is high and I start the pump and the kids have more water to play with.

      We can also tell spring is here because the lovely gravel roads are becoming a mess. Up until the snow we got last Sunday they had been doing pretty good but as of today they're not. The last 1/2 mile is the worst.

     Another sign that spring has arrived is on our thermometer. Today it read 60 degrees.

     If everything continues with the warmer temps and melt down of the snow, this Saturday I'm going to help the kids put the trampoline up.

Happenings

2011-03-26T17:44:00.000-05:00

     It's been a couple of weeks since I updated this blog but not to worry, nothing exciting has happened.

     I've been busy working on my New Years goals and have spent some time cleaning. I did end up going for about two weeks with out shaving as my Razor got left behind in Bemidji but it's back now thanks to my wife who decided to go to Bemidji and do some shopping and visit her Mom.

     The boys have been having sleep overs - one here the other at their friends house.

     We missed out on a big snow storm and than got cold again but than again we've had plenty of colds going around the house.

     Been working at figuring out issues with vehicles and hopefully have the problems figured out and should soon have them fixed.

Made it Home

2011-03-13T18:14:00.000-05:00

     Leaving on Friday afternoon and returning Sunday afternoon, Our family has been enjoying friends and family at the Benidji Winter Retreat. But I did wonder if we were going to make it.

     As we headed south on 72 the transmission on our big van started acting up. Thankfully when I turned off the overdrive it seemed to help some and we made it down. Before we left to come home we added something to the transmission that should help and while it hasn't cured thr problem totally, it seems to have helped so far.

     While in Bemidji, we did get a little bit of shopping done and found the newest Veggie Tales movie along with a few supplies.

    I would like to again say thank you to the church in Bemidji for a great weekend, to my in-laws for putting us up for two nights and For Jason Corder for some great messages.

Weekend In Review

2011-03-07T17:17:00.000-06:00

     Well, we made it home minus one child who decided to stay at Grandma's for the week.

     We made it to Brainerd Friday at 1:00 - the exact time we said we would be getting there - and shortly thereafter David decided to start throwing up which he proceeded to do more of on Saturday and Sunday. By Sunday afternoon Shelly ran out of clean clothes to wear thanks to David throwing up all over them. Any way by Sunday evening he was back to normal and Emily decided to take her turn. Unlike David, she didn't make a mess.

     Saturday at my Grandpa's memorial service, there were about 120 people there including 18 color guard which proceeded to give a 21 gun salute and play taps as my grandpa had spent 3 years in the coast guard during WWII. During the time at the church where the service was held, I got to meat up with a lot of family that I hadn't seen in awhile.

     Sunday we stuck around and went to church in Brainerd and enjoyed a fellowship dinner after listing to Dale Blanshan bring the message. The rest of the day was spent relaxing.

     This morning than, we packed up and said goodbyes and headed north. In Bemidji we traded Emily for the dog, had some lunch with the other grandparents and than headed home.

     Now to put things away and relax

Weekend is Coming

2011-03-03T15:58:00.000-06:00

     This evening we will be getting things ready for a weekend trip to Brainerd and On Saturday we will be attending my Grand Father's memorial service. My wife has been asked to put together some picture boards for display and I've been asked to read some scripture passages.

     When my Mom called to ask me to read, she said my Dad would also be reading and wanted me to call her back when I had something picked out. While picking them out - I chose John 14:1-6 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, one of the kids asked how we (my Dad and I) were going to keep from picking the same ones. When I called my Mom back and told her what I picked I heard my Dad in the back ground asking what I had picked for him to read. We got our answer. Later I called back with some ideas for him and he was going to check them out.

      When we get some spare time I'm also hoping to get in a little shopping / pricing and I'm sure lots of visiting.

A Mixed Day

2011-02-28T14:59:00.000-06:00

     On Sunday we celebrated Laura's 4th birthday with cake, ice cream and princess type presents including Disney's Princess and the Frog and the My Little Ponies - Princess Promenade which of course had to be watched.

   Later in the day the older kids had youth group which included making pizza's - what a thing for teenagers - we made our own while they were gone.

   That was the bright side.

      Early in the morning my Mom called crying - they were calling family together because they didn't expect her dad (my grandpa and last living grand parent) to make it through the day. In the evening we got the call that he had passed on. Later in the week we will be heading back home for the service which is tentatively being planed for Saturday.

      We could use prayers for safety in traveling for Family and Friends and especially for my Mom, her sister and her brother.

Mr Freeze

2011-02-25T22:09:00.000-06:00

     Looking at another night in the deep freeze tonight. Last night we hit 25 below and as of 10:00 tonight it is 18 below and still going down.

   With it that cold we don't do a lot of activity outdoors so I've been sitting around writing some blog stuff, listening to lectures on philosophical apologetics by Phil Fernades and some talks by Ravi Zaharias and entertaining little girls with My Little Pony shows.

     The older kids started their CAT testing today, my wife thought I might have been sick or desperate as I did some vacuuming - she's actually the sick one right now with a very soar throat which she thinks may be strep but won't know till Monday.

Mr Fix it?

2011-02-17T13:38:00.000-06:00

     Today I found my self repairing the mailbox again - It just fell off - no snowplow was needed. Hopefully it'll stay on now and not try to escape again.

      Today I also reformatted and reinstalled Windows XP and programs on the family computer as it had totally quit working correctly.

      If I can get some small nail latter I've got to bookshelves to fix before they totally collapse.

Snow Blower

2011-02-16T12:47:00.000-06:00

Since it is such a warm day again - and the snow is melting away - I decided to finally fix my snow blower. For some time now the chute has been broken and when it is used you get a constant spray of snow back at you. Well, with a couple of self tapping metal screws and a lid from a tin can I think I have it fixed. Now for some more of that white stuff :)

Last Night

2011-02-13T13:59:00.000-06:00

Last night Shelly and kids returned home safely around 9:30 from the cities. Along the way home they missed a dead Raccoon in the road. A couple hours later, friends of our hit the thing and ended up flipping their van sending themselves to the hospital. Thankfully, all will be okay, but for one of the boys, at least, there will be no physical activity for two months - he had 10 staples in the back of his head and a concussion.

Trip time

2011-02-11T11:19:00.000-06:00

This morning My wife left with the oldest 2 girls and David leaving me with the oldest 2 boys and the youngest 2 girls. She is taking Tracy to Sno Feast down at Kimball, Mn and than going visiting in the cities. In the mean time.......

Windshield

2011-02-10T18:05:00.000-06:00

This week we got the windshield fixed on the Alero. It's only been broke since early spring 2009 when a stray softball hit the edge of it while practicing for a track and field event. We took the car to town and dropped it off on Tuesday evening so it would be done by the time we got to town Wednesday evening. It was but it wasn't dry yet and the guy who fixed wanted to keep it in his shop overnight to let the glue set and said he'd drop it off at work the next day when he picked up another car to work on. So, my wonderful wife got up this morning and brought me to work and when I got off work the car was in the parking lot ready to go. Now it's ready for Tracy to use when it's time for her to take her road test to get her DL.

Playing Around

2011-02-06T15:47:00.001-06:00

Now that my other two blogs are well under way I thought I would play around with this one a little bit. Sooner or later I'll figure out how I want it to look but in the mean time it will more than likely go through several changes. In the end I'll just be posting about things that occur with my Northern Bunch of kids, wife, and self. Over time I'll be removing all my Puppet stories and Sermon thoughts from this blog and re-posting them all on the Pupperville Ponderings blog.

Hard Drive

2011-02-02T21:15:00.000-06:00

I finished upgrading my hard drive capacity on my computer today. I've had a 259 gb drive which was starting to get filled up so I added a 1 terabyte drive and than successfully rearranged everything on the drives. I needed to upgrade as I keep finding lots of wonderful resources to download.

Taxes

2011-01-25T23:20:00.000-06:00

This week we started working 8 hour shifts and since it is my week of nights I'm getting off work at 10:30 PM instead if 2:20AM. Well, instead of using that extra time to go to sleep, last night we sat and worked on our federal income tax. Maybe tonight I'll go to bed early.

New Goals

2011-01-11T12:15:00.000-06:00

It's a new year - has been for 11 days now, anyways along with the new year comes new goals and for me that involves my blogging. I have started two new blogs this year called Everyday Thankfulness and Pupperville Ponderings (the links are on the side). The first blog is to encourage thankfulness on an everyday basis. As for the second one, I'm going to be taking my Puppet Stories from this blog, adding some things to them to ponder about and than re posting them. Over time this blog it delf will go through changes but as of now I'm not exactly sure what.

It's A Boy

2009-11-25T10:32:00.002-06:00

David Allan Trott
Tuesday, November 24 at 5:32 P.M.
9# 4oz and 22" long

TURNING GREEN

2009-09-07T14:36:00.000-05:00

A Look At Envy

INTRO - A little snail that lived by the ocean noticed with envy the big and beautiful shell in which the lobster lived.
"Oh! How this little shell of mine pinches," whined the little snail. "What a grand palace the lobster carries on his back! I wish I lived in his place. Oh! Wouldn't my friends admire me in that shell! Think of a snail living in a mansion like that!" In time a wonderful thing occurred. The watching, envious snail beheld the lobster work right out of his shell to grow up in another, larger one. When the empty, metallic green shell of the lobster lay neglected on the beach, the snail said, "Now I shall have my wish. Hurrah! The little snail is going to live in a lobster shell!" In his pride he cried out to the birds overhead, "Ah, the little snail is going to live in a lobster shell." He cried to the cattle in the field, "Oh, oh! Now you shall see. The little snail is going to live in a palace." So the birds and the cattle in the field were curious and they watched the little snail. The snail pulled himself loose from his own little shell, and cried, "Well, I'm glad to say I'm through with you. Goodbye. You've pinched me and pressed me for the last time. I am going to live in the grand lobster shell." The birds and the animals saw the little snail proudly crawl into the towering lobster shell and he huffed and puffed and blew and gasped in an effort to make himself fit. But with all his efforts he felt very small inside the grand lobster shell. He grew tired, too. That night he died because the great empty shell was so cold. A wise old crow then said, "You see! That's what comes of envy. What you have is enough. Be yourself and save yourself from a lot of trouble. How much better to be a little snail in a comfortable shell than to be a little snail in a big shell and freeze to death!"
(Bible Illustrations)
According to Oxford, envy is defined as a discontented or resentful longing aroused by another's possessions, qualities, or luck. Many times in the Bible envy and jealousy are interchanged.

I. STORIES OF ENVY
A. Philistines of Isaac’s Flocks - Gn 26:14
B. Joseph’s Brothers of His Dreams & Treatment - Gn 37:11
C. Korah of Moses’ Position - Nm 16:3 / Ps 106:13
D. Satraps of Daniel’s Position - Dn 6:3-4
E. Chief Priest of Jesus’ Results - Mk 5:10

II. DANGERS OF ENVY
A. Envy is Comparable to Sheol - Ss 8:6 Put me like a seal over your heart, Like a seal on your arm. For love is as strong as death, Jealousy is as severe as Sheol; Its flashes are flashes of fire, The very flame of the LORD.
B. Envy Is Of The Flesh - 1 Co 3:3 for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?
C. Envy Rots Away At Us - Pv 14:30b But passion is rottenness to the bones.
D. Envy Drives People Away - Pv 27:4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, But who can stand before jealousy?
E. Envy Enrages - Pv 6:34 For jealousy enrages a man, And he will not spare in the day of vengeance.
F. Envy Brings Disorder And Evil - Jm 3:16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing.
G. Envy Kills - Jb 5:2 For anger slays the foolish man, And jealousy kills the simple.

CONCL - Envy demonstrates a lack of trust in God. We are not to set our desires on anything that belongs to someone else. Not only can such desires make us miserable, they can also lead us to many other sins. Envying others is a useless exercise because God is able to provide everything we really need, even if he does not always give us everything we want. - 1 Tm 6:7-8 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

MAYBE TOMORROW

2009-09-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

A Look At Slothfulness

INTRO -Sloths are very slow in their movements, when undisturbed. Reaching a tree limb, the creature advanced along it, body hanging underneath, suspended by the long claws of all four feet. So slowly did it take each step, so deliberately did it place each set of claws over the limb, that one would have thought it was stalking something rather than traveling. Because of their legendary slowness, writers have indulged in exaggerations: before they could come down from one tree and climb another, they were skin and bones, though they were fat when they started; and it took eight or nine minutes for them to move one leg forward three inches; and even in action, the second hand of watch often covers more distance! (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)
According to the Oxford dictionary, slothfulness is:
reluctance to work or make an effort; or just plain laziness. This is the third of the seven deadly sins and the focus for today.

I. STORIES OF SLOTHFULNESS
A. The One Talent Man - Mt 25 - from Jesus parable comes a lesson on laziness
B. The Athenians - Ac 17:21 at Mars hill Paul found these men.
C. Some Thessalonians - 2 Th 3:11- Instead of working the busybodied
D. The Unmarried Widows - 1 Tm 5:13 - Became busybodies.

II. DANGERS OF SLOTHFULNESS
A. Slothfulness Leads To Poverty
1. Pv 10:4a Poor is he who works with a negligent hand,
2. Pv 20:4 The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.
3. Pv 20:13a Do not love sleep, or you will become poor;
B. Slothfulness Leads To Deterioration
1. Pv 24:30-31 I passed by the field of the sluggard And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense, And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles; Its surface was covered with nettles, And its stone wall was broken down.
2. Ec 10:18 Through indolence the rafters sag, and through slackness the house leaks.
C. Slothfulness leads to hunger
1. Pv 19:15 Laziness casts into a deep sleep, And an idle man will suffer hunger.
2. Pv 13:4 The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, But the soul of the diligent is made fat.
D. Slothfulness Creates Busybodies - 2 Th3:10-11 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either. For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.
E. Slothfulness Is No Good For All
1. Pv 10:26 Like vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, So is the lazy one to those who send him.
2. Pv 15:19 The way of the lazy is as a hedge of thorns, But the path of the upright is a highway.
3. Pv 18:9 He also who is slack in his work Is brother to him who destroys.

CONCL. - Pv 6:6-8 Go to the ant, O sluggard, Observe her ways and be wise, Which, having no chief, Officer or ruler, Prepares her food in the summer And gathers her provision in the harvest.

ANGER DANGER

2009-08-22T11:21:00.000-05:00

A Look At Anger

INTRO - America is becoming a nation of angry, short-tempered people. From road rage to airplane rage, grocery store rage, and violence at youth sports events, the media has been reporting these emotional outbursts with unprecedented frequency. More than three-fourths of Americans believe angry behavior has increased in places like airports and highways, according to a recent USA Today CNN/Gallup Poll C. Leslie Charles, author of Why Is Everyone So Cranky? writes: I'm describing a fuming, unrelenting, sense of anger, hostility, and alienation that simmers for months, even years, without relief. Eventually, all it takes is a triggering incident, usually minor, for the hostile person to go ballistic.James Garbarino, human development professor at Cornell University, reports a major social shift: There is a general breakdown of social conventions, of manners, of social controls. This gives a validation, a permission, to be aggressive. (Illustrations for Every Topic and Occasion)
Oxford defines anger as a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, or hostility. Webster adds that it is oriented toward some real or supposed grievance. As one of the seven deadly sins, I would question if it belongs for if anger is an actual sin than Jesus himself was a sinner. I don’t believe that anger in and of itself is sin but uncontrolled can be deadly.

I. STORIES OF ANGER
A. Cain - Directed towards his brother (Gn 4:1-8)
B. Saul - Directed towards his son (1 Sm 20:30-33)
C. Asa - Directed towards a prophet (2 Ch 16:1-10
D. Jonah - Directed toward God (Jo 3:10-4:8)
E. Uzziah - Directed toward a priest (2 Ch 26:16-21)

II. DANGERS OF ANGER - It’s what it leads you to do
A. ANGER’S CHARACTER
1. Anger makes one weak - Pv 16:32 He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, And he who rules his spirit, than he who captures a city.
2. Anger makes one foolish
a. Pv 14:17a A quick-tempered man acts foolishly
b. Ec 7:9 Do not be eager in your heart to be angry, For anger resides in the bosom of fools.
c. Anger makes one sad - Gn 4:6-7 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? "If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it."
B. ANGER’S DESTRUCTIVE FORCE
1. Anger leads to unrighteousness - Jm 1:20 for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God
2. Anger stirs up strife - Pv 29:22 An angry man stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression.
3. Anger leads to evil - Ps 37:8 Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing

CONCL - Ep 4:26-27 BE ANGRY, AND yet DO NOT SIN; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

SATISFACTION UNGUARANTEED

2009-08-15T19:23:00.001-05:00

A Look At Pride

INTRO - In a certain pond on one of the farms in the East were two ducks and frog. Now these neighbors were the best of friends; all day long they used to play together. But as the hot summer days came, the pond began to dry up and soon there was such a little bit of water that they all realized that they would have to move. Now the ducks could easily fly to another place, but what about their friend the frog? Finally it was decided that they would put a stick in the bill of each duck, and then the frog would hang onto the stick with his mouth and they would fly him to another pond. And so they did. As they were flying, a farmer out in his field looked up and saw them and said, "Well, isn't that a clever idea! I wonder who thought of it!" The frog said, "I did..." (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)
It could be called a group of lions but it could be better defined as the quality of having an excessively high opinion of oneself. (Oxford) or an unreasonable and excessive vie of one’s self-esteem (Webster) It is when one thinks higher than self than one should. What is it? It is Pride the first of what was once classified as the Seven Deadly Sins by Pope Gregory the Great.

I. STORIES OF PRIDE
A. Pharaoh - Unable to let the Israelites go. (Ex 4-14)
B. Naaman - Unwilling to dip in the Jordan river (2 Kg 5)
C. Hezekiah - Showing off all his riches (2 Kg 20)
D. Haman - Thinking all should bow to him. (Es 3-7)
E. Nebuchadnezzar - Thought he did it himself (Dn 4)

II. DANGERS OF PRIDE
A. PRIDE AND GOD - Unhealthy pride is a form of self deification. (Making ones self out to be god.)
1. 1 Pt 5:5B for GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. - Pride is in opposition to God
2. Pv 16:5 Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished.
a. Pride is hated by God
b. Pride will be punished by God
B. PRIDE AND SELF
1. Pv 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before stumbling
a. Pride brings destruction
b. Pride causes stumbling
c. Pride leads to a many sinful attitudes and actions
2. Pv 29:23 A man's pride will bring him low, But a humble spirit will obtain honor. - Pride leads to humiliation
3. Pv 11:2 When pride comes, then comes dishonor, But with the humble is wisdom - Pride brings dishonor on one’s self
C. PRIDE AND ALIENATION
1. Psalms 10:4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, "There is no God." - Pride lures us into living independently of God. The proud person depends on self rather than on God.
2. Mt 13:58 And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief. - Pride undermines our faith.
3. Ep 2:14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall,
a. Pride distorts our view of our self and others. Jews and Gentiles alike could be guilty of spiritual pride—Jews for thinking their faith and traditions elevated them above everyone else, Gentiles for trusting in their achievements, power, or position. Spiritual pride blinds us to our own faults and magnifies the faults of others.
b. When one makes mistakes - and we all do - the bragger is often left to his own.

CONCL - Pp 2:3-8 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. - Pride, something we can live without.

The Seven Deadly Sins

2009-08-15T19:20:00.000-05:00

Some time back I put together a series of messages on the seven deadly sins and introduced each one with a puppet play. Over the next sevral weeks I'll post the puppet story and the message outline together. Hope you enjoy them.

ARE YOU READY TO PRAY FORGIVE US WE FORGIVE

2009-06-29T13:08:00.000-05:00

INTRO - How many of us have ever needed forgiveness? Unless we are perfect 100%, and the Bible reminds us that we are not, we are going to need forgiveness from those around us and from God. Since we all need forgiveness, the Bible has something to say about it, Jesus has something to say about it, in fact, He made asking for forgiveness a part of His model prayer. In Mt 18:21 Peter asks Jesus about forgiving someone else and Jesus tells us a story. - Mt 18:21-35 - When Jesus was teaching us the model prayer, He not only taught us to ask for forgiveness but to ask for it in a way that puts our need to forgive on the front burner. Mt 6:12 reads And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. But, how many of us are ready to pray for forgiveness the way Jesus taught, how many of us are ready to pray forgive me as I forgive?

I. REDEFINING FORGIVENESS - Two little boys had quarreled. But the next morning Johnny took his cap and headed for Bobby's house again. Surprised, an older member of the family said teasingly, "What! Going to play with him again? I thought you quarreled only last evening and were never going to have anything more to do with each other. Funny memory you have." Johnny looked a little sheepish, dug his toe into the carpet for a moment, then flashed a satisfied smile as he hurried away. "Oh! Bobby and me's good forgetters!" (Bible Illustrations) - What does forgiveness mean to you? The Oxford dictionary defines “forgive” in the following manner: 1) to stop feeling angry or resentful towards someone for an offense or mistake. 2) excuse. I somehow believe that there is mor to forgiving than that when Christ said to pray And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors
A. A Foreign Idea - F. W. Robertson writing on 1 Cor. 4:12 says Forgiveness was not a pagan virtue. The large-souled man might disregard offenses in cases where he considered them beneath his notice, but to forgive was weak-spirited. Even in the O. T., man's forgiveness of his fellow-man is infrequently mentioned. In those that are mentioned, each time the one asking forgiveness is in a position of subserviency, and is petitioning for that to which he has no just right. Unless it’s ourselves needing the forgiveness we often focus on the opposites - bitterness, hatred, anger, resentment, revenge, etc ... instead.
B. What Of These Debts - The word debts is here used figuratively. It does not mean literally that we are debtors to God, but that our sins have a resemblance to debts. Debtors are those who are bound to others for some claim in commercial transactions; for something which we have had, and for which we are bound to pay according to contract. Literally, there can be no such transaction between God and us. It must be used figuratively. We have not met the claims of law; we have violated its obligations; we are exposed to its penalty; we are guilty; and God only can forgive, in the same way, as none but a creditor can forgive a debtor. Debts here, therefore, mean sins, or offences against God - offences which none but God can forgive.

II. REQUIRING FORGIVENESS - God has given man certain responsibilities, certain things to do and not to do. Every man has failed at some point to do what he should. Certainly no man would ever claim he has fulfilled his duty perfectly, without any failure, without any shortcoming. Sin is universal. Everyone fails in his duty at some point to some degree. Everyone needs to pray "forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." for without forgiveness we’re lost.
A. We Are To Ask - One of our duties to God is to ask forgiveness when we fail to do His will.
1. In the O.T. We read Is 55:6-7
2. In the N.T. We read 1 Jn 1:9
B. We Fail To Ask - The Number one reason for praying this prayer is that we are "debtors", that is, sinners. Many people who repeat this prayer do not see themselves as sinners.
C. We Need To Ask - Sin creates barriers, it separates us from God, and from each other. Is 59:2,
1. Ep 1:7
2. Col 2:13-14

III. RECEIVING FORGIVENESS - How badly do we want forgiveness? Many people have the same concept of God as the German poet Heinrich Heine. Heine was on his death bed and his priest told him that God could forgive his sins to which the poet responded "Of course God will forgive me; that’s His job." Is it God’s job to up and forgive? What Jesus taught about forgiveness while teaching us to pray doesn’t agree with Heinrich.
A. The If / Than Statement. - Robert Louis Stevenson in his Picturesque Notes of Edinburgh tells the story of two unmarried sisters who shared a single room. As people are apt to do who live in close quarters, the sisters had a falling out, "on some point of controversial divinity." In other words, they disagreed over some aspect of theology. The controversy was so bitter that they never spoke to one another again! Yet, possibly because of a lack of means or because of the innate Scottish fear of scandal, they continued to live together in the single room. They drew a chalk line across the floor to separate their two domains. It divided the doorway and the fireplace, so that each could go in and out and do her cooking without stepping into the territory of the other. For years they coexisted in hateful silence. Their meals, their baths, their family visitors were continually exposed to the other's unfriendly silence. And at night, each went to bed listening to the heavy breathing of her enemy. Thus the two sisters (ostensibly daughters of the church!) continued the rest of their miserable lives. Jesus said "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors"? There is no way they could truly pray those words and remain bitter and unforgiving!
1. St. Augustine called this request "the terrible petition" because he realized that if we pray "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors" with an unforgiving heart, we are actually asking God not to forgive us, for "debts" here really means "sins." When you get to this part in the Model prayer you are in effect saying, "Lord if there is someone whom I haven’t forgiven then don’t forgive me." Ouch! Forgiveness is tough. Charles Spurgeon stated, "Unless you have forgiven others, you read your own death-warrant when you repeat the Lord's Prayer."
2. You see, forgiveness is conditional. We have sinned against God, and others have sinned against us. If we want God to forgive us, we must forgive those who have sinned against us. How can we expect God to forgive us, if we do not forgive those who have sinned against us? We can expect no better treatment than we give. This one concept was so important that Christ not only mentioned it in the model prayer he went back to comment on it and literally uses three time more words to define what he said then he used to say it. Mt 6:14-15 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions. While it may be easy to ask for forgiveness, it is much harder give forgiveness. - I forgive because I'm not bigger than God, but I'll never forget. - They won't get a dime from my will. - If they come within 500 feet, I'm calling the cops. Too often today we are shown that the only way to bring about closure is to seek revenge, retaliation. But that doesn’t bring about closure. A Chinese proverb says "Before starting down the road to revenge dig two graves" You don’t just forgive for the other person you need to forgive for yourself.
B. Dishing It Out - In 1994 a former pre-med student, Edward Summers, hijacked two young men in a jeep near a mall in Nyack, New York. He forced them out of the vehicle, had them lay down in the snow, and shot them both in the back of the head. Michael Falcone died instantly. Scott Nappi survived to point out the attacker in court. Summers was sentenced to 70 years to life in prison. Scott Nappi says his life has been changed irreparably. Friends and family avoid him. He told the reporter he wanted to know about his attacker's fate in prison. "Has he been threatened? Has he been beaten up yet? "I want to know if he's suffering yet. "That's what I'd really like. "I don't want him to go there and not be threatened. "He's paying for what he did, but I want him to pay even more." The reporter asked Nappi, "Can you see a time when you would ever forgive him?" "No, never. Never. Never, never." - While Jesus was hanging on the cross, after being unjustly tried convicted and flogged He said just the opposite Lk 23:34 "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing."
1. Joseph is another model of genuine forgiveness. Joseph was rejected, kidnapped, enslaved, and imprisoned. Although his brothers had been unfaithful to him, he graciously forgave them and shared his prosperity. Joseph demonstrated how God forgives us and showers us with goodness even though we have sinned against him. - Not only is our forgiveness of other necessary it’s also our duty.
a. Ep 4:32
b. Co 3:12-13
2. Mamie Mobley's only son was visiting relatives and friends in Mississippi one summer in 1956. Outside a general store, with boys playing games on the front porch, eleven-year-old Emmett decided to go into the store and buy some bubble gum and some candy. As Emmett and some other boys came out of the store someone asked Emmett, "How'd you like the lady in the store?" Emmett whistled his approval. Someone nearby heard his whistle and did not like an African-American whistling at a Caucasian woman. It was 2:30 a.m. the next Sunday when two men stormed into the house where Emmett was staying and took him at gun point. Three days later they discovered his badly beaten body. Years after the tragedy she was asked, "Don't you harbor any bitterness toward the two men?" Mamie's reply reveals the depth of her faith: "From the very beginning that's the question that has always been raised. What they had done was not for me to punish and it was not for me to go around hugging hate to myself, because hate would destroy me. It wouldn't hurt them. I did not wish them dead. I did not wish them in jail. If I had to, I could take their four little children and I could raise those children as if they were my own and I could have loved them." I believe the Lord meant what he said, and [I] try to live according to the way I've been taught." Through this terrible ordeal she can honestly say, "I haven't spent one night hating those people." - Real forgiveness does not keep track of offenses. The rabbis taught that people should forgive those who offend them - but only three times. Peter, trying to be especially generous, asked Jesus if seven (the "perfect" number) was enough times to forgive someone. But Jesus answered, "Seventy times seven," meaning that we shouldn't even keep track of how many times we forgive someone. We should always forgive those who are truly repentant, no matter how many times they ask.

CONCL. - In a recent article on the Daily Motivator by Ralph Marston the value of forgiveness was talked about. Here’s what the article had to say. “Forgiveness can indeed be difficult. Yet in the long run, it is far easier to forgive than to live with resentment or continuing retribution. Through forgiveness, you can move away from the pains of the past. With forgiveness, you can achieve real freedom. There are always opportunities to benefit from the value of forgiveness. You can forgive yourself, you can forgive others, and you can forgive even when you don't know exactly who to forgive. Because forgiveness is not about who is to blame or who is at fault. Forgiveness is mostly about letting go, completely and permanently, within yourself. Forgiveness is recognizing the reality that what has happened has happened, and that there's no point in allowing it to dominate your life. Forgiveness refreshingly clears the slate and enables you to move positively forward. Carrying around a load of resentment can be an enormous and unnecessary burden. Forgive early and often, and you'll considerably lighten your load. - While forgiveness definitely has positive results, it has to be given away before the benefits can be felt and enjoyed especially, the forgiveness that will come form God in return. So, are you ready to pray Forgive me as I forgive?

Thru The Bible

2008-12-06T21:45:00.002-06:00

I'm curious as to what kind of reading plan if any, my readers might have for reading thru the Bible in 2009. In 2007 I did just the N.T which turned out to be one chapter a day when read Monday thru Friday. Through this past year I've been focused on the books of poetry and for 2009 I have not yet decided.

A Psalm of Thanksgiving.

2008-11-27T07:51:00.002-06:00

Psalms 100:1-5 (NKJV)
¹Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
²Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
³Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.
⁴Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.
⁵For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE.

ARE YOU READY TO PRAY GIVE US THIS DAY

2008-11-16T19:05:00.000-06:00

INTRO - How Much Is $1 Billion? It is difficult to comprehend what $1 billion could be, but at least I have heard an explanation that clears the air. A man gave his wife $1 million. He told her to go out and spend $1000 a day. She did. Three years later she returned to tell him that the money was all gone. She wanted more. He then gave her $1 billion. He told her to go out and spend $1000 a day. She didn't come back for 3000 years. (Atlanta Journal-Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations) How many of you would be content with $1 million? With $1 million you could have almost anything. One of Larson’s Farside cartoons depicts a couple of cows in a luxurious house and the wife in her beautiful dress says “I’m not content.”
We live a society where we tend to think we need more and more and more. Maybe it’s because the society at large has come to believe that more is all there is. A few years ago one of the big fads was the “Prayer of Jabez,” taken from 1 Ch 4:9-10. It was a prayer for more.
Just before Jesus gives us the model prayer, He tells us in Mt 6:8b Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him. While God may know what we need Jesus teaches us to pray in Mt 6:11 Give us this day our daily bread. What does it mean to pray for our daily bread and are we ready to?

I. I WISH I MAY, I WISH I MIGHT - 1 Kg 3:3-5 - Would God grant your wishes?
A. The Things We Want - Have you ever sat down and made a wish list? Kids will often do so around their birthdays and Christmas, while adults may do so around tax return time. Sometimes we have running wish lists that we keep adding to. I have several of them myself. One hundred years ago it was figured that the average American had 70 wants. Now, a similar survey showed his grandson had nearly 500 on his list.(Beveridge Paper Co. - Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations) This sort of fits with the old saying “The more one has, the more one wants.”
B. In The Giving Business - Mt 7:7-11 - One sharp winter day, so runs a nursery tale, a poor woman stood at the window of a king’s conservatory, looking at a cluster of grapes, which she longed to have for her sick child. She went home to her spinning-wheel, earned half-a-crown, and offered it to the gardener for the grapes, He waved his hand, and ordered her away. She returned to her cottage, snatched the blanket from her bed, pawned it, and once more asked the gardener to sell her the grapes, offering him five shillings. He spoke furiously to her and was turning her out, when the princess came in, heard the man’s passion, saw the woman’s tears, and asked what was wrong. When the story was told she said, “My dear woman, you have made a mistake. My father is not a merchant, but a king; his business is not to sell but to give;” so saying, she plucked the cluster from the vine and dropped it into the woman’s apron. (Dr. Stanford.) - Through out the Bible God tells us that He wants to give to us.
1. Ps 37:4
2. Ps 145:19
3. Jn 15:7 If
4. Pp 4:19

II. WANTING, NEEDING, AND KNOWING - The Israelites, who had been in Egypt for 400 years serving as slaves, had been set free by the power of God. Throughout the 10 plagues, the Israelites had been protected & shielded as God brought both Pharaoh and the Egyptian empire to it’s knees. Yet, after seeing all of that, after experiencing God’s provision first hand, after experiencing His protection and deliverance, you would think the Israelites would have been willing to follow God anywhere, that they would trust him with anything. That they’d be confident that every single need they had, would be met. Well, just one month out of Egypt and we read in Ex 16:1-3 - God took care of them. He supplied their need of food not their want to return.
A. Our Daily Dessert? - Gertrude, a missionary on an island in Haiti is quoted as saying “Most American Christians don't need God.” She goes on “American Christians have everything they need, If they don't pray or read the Bible for weeks, it makes little difference in their daily lives. They still have food to eat, a place to sleep, regular income. They don't need to practice their faith every day.” We end up focusing on the extras, the deserts. In a recent report I heard on the radio it was noted that Americans have smaller families, bigger houses and need extra space to store their stuff. Let’s have some more please.
1. A Springfield neighbor was drawn to his door one day by the crying of children. When he got there, he saw Lincoln passing by with his two sons, both crying lustily. "What is the matter with the boys?" asked the man. "Just what is the matter with the whole world!" answered Lincoln. "I have three walnuts and each boy wants two." - (Christian Herald - Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)
2. Coming downstairs one morning, Lord Congelton heard the cook exclaim, "Oh, if I only had five pounds, wouldn't I be content!" Thinking the matter over, and anxious to see the woman satisfied, he shortly after handed her a five-pound note, then worth about twenty-five dollars. She thanked him profusely. He paused outside the door to hear if she would express her satisfaction and thank God. As soon as his shadow was invisible, she cried out, "Why didn't I say ten?" - (Prairie Overcomer - Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)
B. Wants Or Needs - A Japanese Proverb says “He who buys what he needs not, sells what he needs.” - Do our wants get in way of our needs? A prominent United states shoe manufacturer was asked to subscribe to a fund for supplying food to the suffering poor. He entered as his subscription one hundred sacks of flour and one hundred bushels of meal, to be used for the relief of every man in the district that could be found in need of bread, who neither kept a dog, drank intoxicating drink, nor used tobacco. The committee of the poor fund have not been able to claim a single cent from him yet, as their most persistent efforts have failed to find such a one. - (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations) Should we pray for our daily bread so we can spend it on our wants? Have you ever stopped to think about what causes our desires for more? What is it that convinces us that we have to have “It?” Commercials? Ads? Jealousy? Many people want what they don't need and need what they don't want.
1. Lk 9:25
2. Ec 5:10-12
3. 1 Tm 6:9-10
C. Our Daily Bread - Martin Luther wrote in 1529; What does daily bread mean? Everything that nourishes our body and meets its needs, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, yard, fields, cattle, money, possessions, a devout spouse, devout children, devout employees, devout and faithful rulers, god government, peace, health, discipline, honor, good fiends, faithful neighbors and other things like these…” Jesus says that we are to pray for our daily bread – NOT for our daily dessert…”
1. Lk 12:15- Now the word translated as greed – is a compound Greek word that means “to have more…” Jesus is telling them to guard themselves from the desire to have more… Millions of people are killing themselves for more….More choices, More experiences, More successes, More stuff. AND we’re bombarded, every day, by millions of messages that tell us that more, eventually, will lead to contentment.
2. The Apostle Paul, sitting in a jail cell sees things differently. He writes in Pp 4:11-13

III. SATISFIED WITHOUT - Mt 6:25-33- In praying for our daily bread, in praying for our NEEDS, we are saying:
A. I’ll Trust You Lord To Provide - When we pray Give us this day our daily bread we are saying We will, I will trust the Lord to provide. It says:
1. We can be dependent - Hb 13:5- Knowing that God will always be there for us helps us to realize we can depend on Him for our needs
2. We need not worry - Mt 6:34 - knowing that our need will be met eliminates worry and anxiety about tomorrow and the distant future.
3. We only need one day at a time - The word "daily" has been the source of a great controversy. The problem stems from the fact that this is the only occurrence of the word in all of Greek literature. It was found once in a nonliterary source on a papyrus fragment that contained a grocery list where it seemed to indicate the requirements of the day, though the meaning is not crystal-clear. Linguists today tell us the word can mean either "today's bread" or "tomorrow's bread," though many prefer the latter. Either way we need to trust Him to provide one day at a time
B. I’ll Be Content With Your Provisions - When we pray Give us this day our daily bread we are saying we will, I will be content with just my needs.
1. F. C. Blyth, M. A. Is quoted as saying “Contentment is a jewel which turns all into gold, yea, want into wealth. Covetousness is a canker which eats into the richest robes and the costliest treasures; a dropsy which, the more it drinks, the more it thirsts.”
2. Paul says to Timothy - 1 Tm 6:6-8
3. If you are not happy with what you have, how could you be happier with more? - (Complete Book of Zingers)

CONCL - Pv 30:7-9 - When we pray, we are allowed to ask for our desires, but we need to remember our needs. Problem is, too many are not willing to be satisfied with just their needs, they’re not ready to pray “Give us this day our daily bread.” Are you?

ARE YOU READY TO PRAY LET YOUR WILL BE DONE

2008-10-12T12:48:00.000-05:00

INTRO - I went on the internet and started looking at some of the headlines in the news. Here are just a few of the things I saw,
▸ A woman accused of starving her stepdaughters while keeping her biological children well-fed has pleaded guilty to abuse charges.
▸ A college student shot and wounded his roommate early Friday in their off-campus apartment, then killed himself.
▸ A baby sitter convicted of murdering three infants in her care nearly two decades ago was sentenced Friday.
▸ Armed men kidnaped a Briton from an oil rig in southern Nigeria.
▸ A suicide bomber struck an army recruitment center outside Baghdad, killing 15 people
▸ Cellphone videos appeared showing an Iraqi mob stoning and kicking to death a 17-year-old girl after she offended her minority community by eloping with a Muslim man.
▸ A gang of armed robbers forced a man to strip naked and then glued him to his exercise bike and sealed his lips with more glue while they ransacked his house
As we look around at all the “evil” and “violence” in the world. We may be tempted to pray as the Jesus taught us in Mt 6:10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Or in other words “God can’t you get things under control down here!” By the way, is that what it means to pray “Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.?”

I. WHAT IS GOD’S WILL - Have you ever heard the saying “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” or “The last will and testament of so and so.” But what is a will? One’s will could be described with any of the following words. It could be ones wishes, desires, intentions, purpose...
A. God Created Us - Gn1:26-27 - Since God created us should He not also be our instructor on how we should live? And what are purpose for being here is? And what He desires of us?
B. God Has A Will We Should Obey - Through out the Bible we not only read about the will of God but we read that we should be in obedience to it.
1. Mk 3:35
2. 1 Pt 5:1-2
C. God’s Will Is For Us - Have you ever taken the time to ask “What is it that God wishes and desires of mankind, of me?”
1. First and foremost God reveals to us that He wants us to be “Saved.”
a. 1 Tm 2:4
b. 2 Pt 3:9
2. O.T. and N.T. alike cover God’s will for us
a. Dt 10:12
b. Mi 6:8
c. Mt 12:7
d. 1 Pt 2:13-15
D. God’s Will Works In Mysterious Ways - Pv16:4- Sometimes we just don’t understand God’s will. What we think He should do, he doesn’t and what we don’t think He should do, He does. When one looks at the story of Joseph in the Bible for the first time, one may wonder why, but Joseph sums it up in Gn 50:19-21 - You see, God sees both the heart of men and the bigger picture as is show in this illustration
"This rabbi," said Merlyn, "went on a journey with the prophet Elijah. They walked all day, and at nightfall they came to the humble cottage of a poor man, whose only treasure was a cow. The poor man ran out of his cottage, and his wife ran too, to welcome the strangers for the night and to offer them all the simple hospitality which they were able to give in hard circumstances.
Elijah and the rabbi were entertained with plenty of the cow's milk, sustained by homemade bread and butter, and they were put to sleep in the best bed while their kindly hosts lay down before the kitchen fire. But in the morning the poor man's cow was dead.
"They walked all the next day, and came that evening to the house of a very wealthy merchant, whose hospitality they craved. The merchant was cold and proud and rich, and all that he would do for the prophet and his companion was to lodge them in a cowshed and feed them on bread and water.
In the morning, however, Elijah thanked him very much for what he had done, and sent for a mason to repair one of his walls, which happened to be falling down, as a return for his kindness.
"The Rabbi Jachanan, unable to keep silence any longer, begged the holy man to explain the meaning of his dealings with human beings.
" 'In regards to the poor man who received us hospitably,' replied the prophet, 'it was decreed that his wife was to die that night, but in reward for his goodness God took the cow instead of the wife. I repaired the wall of the rich miser because a chest of gold was concealed near the place, and if the miser had repaired the wall himself he would have discovered the treasure. - (John Oliver - Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)

II. COULD GOD ENFORCE IT - When we pray “Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven,” could we be meaning “God get everyone and everything else in control except me?” - We may have a will or desire to see God’s will or desire enforced here on earth as it is in heaven, but how would one or even God go about enforcing it? From my perspective, I only see two ways in which God could enforce it.
A. Eliminating Non Conformers - the first of the ways to bring about conformance to God’s will is to eliminate the non conformers, the one’s who do not do what God tells them to do. How many people in this world can claim to be entirely in conformance with God’s will. If you think you know someone, your fooling yourself.
a. Ec 7:20
b. Rm 3:23
If God were to wipe out all the non conformers. Who would be left? When we turn to the book of Genesis we find two occasions where God did just that.
1. The story of Noah - Gn 6:1-8,7:17-23
2. The story of Lot - Gn 19:12-26
B. Eliminating The Choice - I remember watching a show one where three boys got to make one wish each that would come true One of the boys wished that his parents would do what he told them. He got his wish. Kids are probably thinking yeah, great, way to go, but there was a problem. You see, while he got his wish for his parents to do what he told them, it was the only thing his parents would do. If he wasn’t there constantly telling them what to do, they wouldn’t do anything. In a sense, they had become puppets. Have you ever wondered what it would be like if we always did what we were told and never disobeyed? As I was working on this sermon I came across an article that addressed this issue in the magazine NGJ (No Greater Joy) I would like to share a part of that article with you.
The Bible tells us that the first man Adam was created “in God’s image”. The remarkable thing about the creatures in God’s image is that they are independent of any programming. They are not limited to living by instinct. They can think freely, separate from any predisposition of their creator. When God was creating a creature who could freely choose to love, he of necessity was creating a creature who could choose to withhold that love or direct it elsewhere.
“Why does God allow all the pain and suffering? Why not create a world where all is good and right, where no one ever dies, gets sick, or is sad?” He did. God did indeed create a utopia where there was no sickness or death. But the very first man, Adam, out of a desire to be independent, divorced his Creator and took all his posterity with him into a life of lonely estrangement.
“But, why not create a world where that couldn’t happen - where all is love and peace all the time, with no possibility of us messing it up?”
If all our thoughts were preprogrammed, there would be no thoughts except those of the programmer. If all choices were predetermined, there would be, in reality, no choice. Only in the absence of free will, which is equivalent to the absence of our humanity, would it be certain that no one would choose wrongly. “But God can do anything!”
If God would make free will (which is the essence of individual personality), he cannot make the will free and not free at the same time. A will that is indeed a will, is able to violate the will of its designer. The power to creatively think is the power to creatively choose, which means a person has the power to love or, on the opposite side of choice, the power to hate. It is inconceivable to imagine a human mind existing in a free and joyous state not having the ability to think independently.
To create a thing that can only do what it is programmed to do is not to create a person at all; it is to create a machine. Can a machine love you? Can there be any satisfaction from the loyalty rendered by a program? No one ever thanked an ice maker for giving them ice, but if your daughter brings a glass of ice water to you when you are working in the heat, there is love, thanksgiving - there is a life. There is meaning. No machine has ever been called a hero or had a medal pinned on it for bravery. That a person could love without choosing to do so is an oxymoron.
Yes, God could have created a world where sin was impossible, but it would have also been a world without expression of any kind, a world without success or glory or satisfaction.
In the popular children’s story, Pinocchio, the lonely old puppet maker Geppetto wanted a little boy. So he made a life-like puppet of wood and then, skillfully handling the strings, he danced with his creation. But, alas, his heart was not satisfied with the feigned fellowship he had manufactured, for he longed for a real boy who could reciprocate his love, one who could choose to dance and choose to please. When the magical fairy came along and imparted free will to the wooden boy, the little fellow did indeed choose to dance to the delight of his father. But in time, he also chose to disobey. He rebelled, indulged his appetite wantonly, and then ran away to live a life of self-gratification. The sinful life twisted the boy into manifesting attributes of a jackass, and eventually took him to the bottom of the ocean where he would die for his sins in the belly of a whale. His father loved him still, pursued him, delivered him, and persuaded him to have a change of heart, ultimately saving him from his self-made destruction.
Someone may have asked why the puppet maker would create a puppet that could descend to such low depths, resulting in pain and suffering for everyone. “Why not create a puppet that could do no evil?” The puppet maker had fifty such puppets hanging on pegs in his shop, their strings and limbs lying limp, waiting on the master to pull them in whatever direction he pleased, but they gave him no pleasure, and they experienced none.

III. SUBMITTING TO GOD’S WILL - Mt 16:24 So what’s the answer to God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven? How about this for an answer - submission? Putting God first instead of self.
A. A Prayer Of MY Will Be Done?- Sometimes we are really concerned with our will and claim it to be God’s
1. Years ago an old Scottish woman went to country homes to sell thread, buttons and shoestrings. When she came to an unmarked crossroad, she would toss a stick in the air and go whichever way the stick pointed. One day she was seen tossing the stick into the air several times. "Why do you toss the stick several times?" someone asked. She answered, "It has pointed every time to the road going to the right, and I want to go on the road to the left. It looks smoother!" She kept on throwing up the stick until it finally pointed toward the road she wanted to go. - (Walter B. Knight - Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)
2. An overweight business associate of decided it was time to shed some excess pounds. He took his new diet seriously, even changing his driving route to avoid his favorite bakery. One morning, however, he arrived at work carrying a gigantic coffee cake. Everyone scolded him, but his smile remained cherubic. "This is a very special coffee cake," he explained. "I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and there in the window were a host of goodies. I felt this was no accident, so I prayed, 'Lord, if you want me to have one of these delicious coffee cakes, let me have a parking place directly in front of the bakery.' And sure enough," he continued, "the eighth time around the block, there it was!" - (Illustrations Unlimited)
B. A Prayer Of THY Will Be Done - Since God gives us all a choice, and since God will not yet take that way and since God won’t yet eliminate us, the alternative is up to us. To pray thy will be done is to say I’m going to do your will, I’m going to do what you want not what I want
1. A young girl, who had struggled with the question of submission to God, said: "I could see easily enough that making God's way my way was very different from submitting just because I had to do it, or because I felt that it was my duty. I was on the way down to Miss Howland's to see about having my new dress made. I had some notion of how I wanted it to look, but when I showed her the materials she told me how it ought to be made and trimmed, and it wasn't the least bit as I had planned. I didn't altogether understand her, but I fell right in with her plan and was perfectly satisfied to have her go ahead with it. Now, it is just because I know Miss Howland so well, and we are in such perfect sympathy on questions of color, etc., that I am at rest in letting her work it out, though I don't know just how she is going to do it. She knows what suits me better than I know myself. And it seemed to me," dropping her voice a little, "that we ought to be just that way with God." If our hearts are in harmony, we will be able to say that His will is ours, even when we don't know what it is. He knows what is suited to us better than we can possibly know. - (Bible Illustrations)
2. At a meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Bobby Richardson, former New York Yankee second baseman, offered a prayer that is a classic in brevity and poignancy: "Dear God, Your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen." - (Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations)
C. Letting God’s Will Be Done - If we are going to pray “Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven” there are some things we need to do
1. First, I believe, we need to admit there is a twofold will for your life from God
a. The general things all Christians / people should be doing
b. The specific things He wants you to do
2. Second, we need to take the time to learn what it is that God wants of us. - Ep 5:17 "Understanding" suggests using our minds to discover and do the will of God. Too many Christians have the idea that discovering God's will is a mystical experience that rules out clear thinking. But this idea is wrong and dangerous. We discover the will of God as He transforms the mind Rm. 12:1-2; and this transformation is the result of the Word of God, prayer, meditation, and worship. If God gave you a mind, then He expects you to use it. This means that learning His will involves gathering facts, examining them, weighing them, and praying for His wisdom (Jm 1:5). God does not want us simply to know His will; He wants us to understand His will.
3. Third, we need to commit to doing HIS will. - In other words, just simply do it.

CONCL. - Ec12:13 - Christ came to show the way, He came and was submissive to God’s will, He showed us it could be done. While there are things God could do to force you into compliance with His will, He’s left that choice up to us, so are you ready to pray “Your will be done?”

Computers And The Free Stuff

2008-10-12T09:26:00.002-05:00

When it comes to computers and the software running on them - nothing beats a price tag of free. If your willing to experiment, Linux is a free alternative to handing out hard earned cash for Windows. My favorite Linux operating system so far has been Ubuntu. I have all three of the computers in our house set up to dual boot between windows and Linux so a new system can be learned. If your interested the newest version of Ubuntu will soon be out and is in my sidebar. With almost all of the major distributions you have an entire office sweet along with web browser and e-mail programs along with much more and all free. While it won't run Window's programs outright - there are free alternate programs that will do much of what the windows programs do and there is a program as such that will allow some windows programs to work.

ARE YOU READY TO PRAY LET THY KINGDOM COME

2008-09-21T18:43:00.000-05:00

INTRO - Have you ever wanted something to come only to wish it hadn’t after it arrived? In Lessons From Snow, by Alan Smith we read this. Dear Diary:
▸ AUG. 12 - Moved to our new home. It is so beautiful here, the mountains are so majestic. Can hardly wait to see snow covering them.
▸ DEC. 8 - It started to snow. The first snow of the season and the wife and I took our coffee and sat for hours by the window watching the huge soft flakes drift down from heaven. It looked like a postcard. So romantic we felt like newlyweds again. I love snow!
▸ DEC. 9 - We woke to a beautiful blanket of crystal white snow covering every inch of the landscape. Can there be a more lovely place in the whole world? Moving here was the best idea I've ever had. Shoveled for the first time in years and felt like a boy again. I did both our driveway and the sidewalks. This afternoon the snowplow came along and covered up the sidewalks and closed in the driveway, so got to shovel again. What a beautiful place; I love it here!
▸ DEC. 14 - Snow, lovely snow! 8" last night. The temperature dropped to -20. The cold makes everything sparkle so. The wind took my breath away, but I warmed up by shoveling the driveway and sidewalks. This is the life! The snowplow came back this afternoon and buried everything again. I didn't realize I would have to do quite this much shoveling, but I'll certainly get back in shape this way. I wish I wouldn't huff and puff so.
▸ DEC. 15 - 20 inches forecast. Sold my van and bought a 4x4 Blazer. Bought snow tires for the wife's car and two extra shovels. Stocked the freezer. The wife wants a wood stove in case the electricity goes out. I think that's silly. We aren't in Alaska, after all.
▸ DEC. 16 - Ice storm. Roads are too icy to go anywhere. Electricity was off for 5 hours. I had to pile the blankets on to stay warm. Nothing to do but stare at the wife and try not to irritate her. Guess I should've bought a wood stove, but won't admit it to her. Boy, do I hate it when she's right.
▸ DEC. 20 - Electricity's back on, but had another 14" of the nasty stuff last night. More shoveling. Took all day. Stupid snowplow came by twice. Tried to find a neighbor kid to shovel, but they said they're too busy playing hockey. I think they're lying. Called the only hardware store around to see about buying a snow blower and they're out. Might have another shipment in March. I think they're lying.
▸ DEC. 22 - Bob was right about a white Christmas because 13 more inches of that white mess fell today, and it's so cold it probably won't melt till August. Took me 45 minutes to get all dressed up to go out to shovel and then I had to use the bathroom. By the time I got undressed, went and dressed again I was too tired to shovel. Tried to hire Bob who has a plow on his truck for the rest of the winter; but he says he's too busy. I think the jerk is lying.
▸ DEC. 24 - 6 more inches. Snow packed so hard by snowplow, I broke the shovel. If I ever catch the guy who drives that snowplow, I'll drag him through the snow by his fingernails. I know he hides around the corner and waits for me to finish shoveling and then he comes down the street and throws snow all over where I've just been! Tonight the wife wanted me to sing Christmas carols with her and open our presents, but I was busy watching for the snowplow.
▸ DEC. 25 - Merry Christmas. 20 more inches of the messy slop tonight. Snowed in! The idea of shoveling makes my blood boil. Oh, hate the snow! Then the snowplow driver came by asking for a donation and I hit him over the head with my shovel. The wife says I have a bad attitude. I think she's an idiot.
▸ DEC. 26 - Still snowed in. Why did I ever move here? It was all HER idea. She's really getting on my nerves.
▸ DEC. 27 - Temperature dropped to -30 and the pipes froze.
▸ DEC. 29 - 10 more inches. Bob says I have to shovel the roof or it could cave in. That's the silliest thing I ever heard. How dumb does he think I am?
▸ DEC. 30 - Roof caved in. The snow plow driver is suing me for a million dollars. The wife went home to her mother. Another 9" predicted.
While this may be on the humorous side, what Jesus asks us to pray to come is not. When Jesus was teaching us how to pray in Mt 6:10 He taught us to pray “Thy kingdom come.” The question this morning is do we really want the kingdom to come? Are we really ready to pray “Thy kingdom come?”

I. HAS THE KINGDOM COME - Is 9:6-7 - Over the years conflicting interpretations have been given to the meaning of "your kingdom come."
1. Some have argued this is a prayer for the Second Coming of Christ and that is all - it has nothing to do with present life.
2. Others have seen "your kingdom come" as a call to social action and nothing else - a mandate to bring in the kingdom now through good works.
3. And then there are those who have seen "your kingdom come" as spiritually fulfilled in the salvation of souls.
A. Jesus Taught About A Kingdom
1. Mt 4:17
2. Lk 4:43
3. The word "kingdom" in the original language means "rule" or "reign". God’s Kingdom is unique-it is not a human kingdom. Earthly kingdoms rise and fall, but the reign of God will prevail and last forever. God’s program involves the rule of righteousness.
B. The Kingdom Was Compared - Many of Jesus’ parables emphasize the mysterious nature of God’s kingdom. For example, an insignificant mustard seed will grow a tree, as God’s kingdom will grow far beyond its inception (Mt. 13:31-32). The kingdom of God is like seed scattered on the ground. Some seed will fall on good soil, take root, and grow. Other seed, however, will fall on hard, rocky ground and will not grow. Likewise, the kingdom will take root in the hearts of some but will be rejected and unfruitful in others (Mt. 13:3-8). As wheat and tares grow side by side, indistinguishable from each other, so also the sons of the kingdom of God and the sons of the kingdom of darkness grow together in the world until ultimately separated by God (Mt. 13:24-30,36-43). - Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary
C. Has The Kingdom Come - In the book of Daniel we read about a dream of the future. Daniel than interprets that dream for us. Dn 2:36-44 - The fourth kingdom came - Did God’s kingdom come too? When Jesus was standing before Pilate, Pilate asked Jesus what kind of king He was; Jesus didn’t fit Pilate’s perception; He didn’t conform to the popular notion of a political ruler. Jesus responded, saying, "My Kingdom is not of this world." - Still Jesus had this to say:
1. Mk 9:1 some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power." - Is it here?
2. Lk 11:20 But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you - Is it here?
3. Lk 17:20-21 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst." - Is it here?

II. IS IT CHRIST’S RETURN WE WANT - Ac 1:11- There is another dimension to the Kingdom of God - a future dimension - beyond what is here now. Paul looks forward to the resurrection of the body and to changes that will sweep the universe. "The end will come, when [Christ] hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority and power" (1 Co 15:24). Even death itself will be obliterated. And we will participate in this consummation of time and anguish, when all that is wrong will be made right (1 Co 15). "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," Paul says (1 Co 15:50). But we will be raised from the dead, changed and fit for an eternal Kingdom. The scriptures, therefore, speak of the Kingdom as coming, at some unexpected future time, because the King Himself is coming again. - Discipleship Journal - I’ve always thought that when we pray “Your Kingdom come,” we are asking for Heaven, we are asking for Christ’s return.
A. What About Heaven? - Lk 10:20 The thoughts we have of heaven are usually wonderful thoughts based on scripture
1. 1 Pt 1:4
2. 2 Co 5:1
3. Mt 6:20
4. Rv 7:16-17
5. Rv 21:2-4
6. If this is what we want, we need something more - like an entrance day
B. Second Coming? - Mt 24:36
1. Repeated Promises Of Coming - Both the Old and New Testaments are filled with promises of the Second Coming of Christ. There are 1,845 references to it in the Old Testament, and a total of seventeen Old Testament books give it prominence. Of the 260 chapters in the entire New Testament, there are 318 references to the Second Coming, or one out of 30 verses. Twenty-three of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event. The four missing books include three which are single-chapter letters written to individual persons on a particular subject, and the fourth is Galatians which does imply Christ's coming again. For every prophecy on the First Coming of Christ, there are 8 on Christ's Second Coming. - Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
2. Columbus And Prophecy - An all too little-known fact from the life of the discoverer of America is that he predicted the end of the world. In all seriousness he wrote a volume called The Book Of Prophecies, in which he prophesied that the world would end in the year of our Lord 1656. He even states very definitely that "there is no doubt that the world must end in one hundred fifty-five years." - Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
3. One of the common threads of Cult's theology is their insistence of making "end time predictions." The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, reported that a third of the world's cults predicted the world would come to an end in the year 2000. - Reuters, 12-18-99
4. God’s Word fills the gaps:
a. Jn 14:3
b. Lk 9:26.

III. ARE YOU READY FOR HIS RETURN - Mt 24:42-44 - 'Twas the night before Jesus came and all through the house Not a creature was praying, not one in the house; Their Bibles were laid on the shelf without care In hopes that Jesus would not come there. The children were dressing to crawl into bed, Not once ever kneeling or bowing a head; And Mom in her rocker, with the baby on her lap, Was watching the Late Show while I took a nap. When out of the East there arose such a clatter, I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter, Away to the window I flew like a flash, Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash! When what to my wondering eyes should appear But angels proclaiming that Jesus was here, With a light like the sun sending forth a bright ray, I knew in a moment this must be THE DAY! The light of His face made me cover my head, It was Jesus' returning, just like He had said. And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth, I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself. In the Book of Life which He held on His hand Was written the name of every saved man; He spoke not a word as He searched for my name, When He said, "It is not here," my head hung in shame. The people whose names He had written with love, He gathered to take to His Father above. With those who were ready He rose without sound, While all of the rest were standing around. I fell to my knees, but it was too late; I had waited too long and thus sealed my fate. I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight, "Oh, if only we had been ready tonight." In the words of this poem the meaning is clear, The coming of Jesus is coming near. There is only one life and when comes the last call, We'll find that the Bible was true after all! - Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations
A. What Will Happen - When we think of the of the Lord’s return we need to think of more than just Heaven. We need to remember what is going to happen on that day.
1. Mt 25:31-32
2. 2 Pt 3:10
B. Will We Be Guilty Or Innocent - Or a sheep or a goat? God’s word makes it clear that there are those who will have no part in the coming kingdom.
1. Gl 5:19-21
2. Ep 5:1-5
3. Rv 22:15
C. Being Ready For The Kingdom -
1. Being a Christian, a member of the kingdom, means that we do not just always do what we want but what God wants. To pray "your kingdom come" is to repent. Of our wrong ways
2. This prayer also demands commitment. Jesus was very direct when he said, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God" (Lk 9:62). The kingdom of God is for those who have decided to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and do not keep longingly looking back. To pray "your kingdom come" is to commit ourselves to him.
3. Again, the kingdom is to be pursued above all else. Jesus again gave the authoritative word: "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Mt 6:33). Before all else we are to seek the kingdom in obedience to him. This dispels any idea of easygoing, do-nothing, armchair Christianity. We cannot pray the Lord's prayer with folded hands. To pray "your kingdom come" is to pursue it.

CONCL. - Jesus told us that the time of His return was even a secret to Him. He told us to watch and be ready but are we? When He finally returns there won’t be any more second chances. Are you ready for that day? Are you ready to pray “Thy Kingdom Come?”

2008-09-17T16:53:00.002-05:00

The last 24 hours have been very interesting. Yesterday afternoon we went to Thief River for a couple of soccer games. The junior team (of which I am coaching) lost 1 - 2 in very good game - it seemed like my entire offense was getting shots on goal. In the second game the seniors won 5 - 2. With the games done we headed for McDonald's for my favorite sandwich - the McRib. Than on the way home about a half hour from Thief River we opened up deer season. A young doe ran out in front of us. Even though I put the brakes on as soon as I saw her come out of the ditch, she still took out the grill, the passenger side headlight, and the radiator. It may have also sprung the hood as it popped open and than shut. It didn't set off the air bags however as I had slowed down enough before impact. With the radiator damaged and loosing all the antifreeze, we were unable to drive it home. A fellow half a mile from where we had hit the deer saw are hazard lights and came to investigate. He ended up towing our van too his place, and than loanded us his big car (that he doesn't hardly use) to get home in. It was very late by the time we got home. This morning we were able to borrow a suburban with a big trailor (used for hauling some kind of race car on) to go back town to our van, load it up, drop of the loaner car and come home. We took back roads coming home and tomorrow the body shop man will be coming over to look at it. Here is a pictrue of the damage.

Jackpine Retreat

2008-09-14T18:16:00.002-05:00

The Jackpine Retreat has finally come and gone for 2008. While this year turned out to be a wet year (the wettest I can remember since before I moved up here 16 years ago) it was another great retreat. The estimated attendance was 53. Thank you again to all who came and helped to make this year another great year.

Soccer Season Is Here

2008-08-21T21:32:00.003-05:00

Tonight was our first practice session of the 2008 soccer season. On the first night we had 30 kids in attendance for the junior team. There is the potential for at least 10 more players bringing our total to around 40. We will more than likely need to split the players into two teams as had been done in the past. On this first night we split the kids into three groups and worked on running, passing and kicking. At the end of the night we did a quick scrimmage with all kids playing. The game gave the coaches a feel for areas we need to work on. Our next practice will be Monday.

Blueberries

2008-08-16T14:09:00.002-05:00

I had to do it again as the berries kept calling me. This time I took Jason and we picked another 4 qts. Over all, counting the 9 we picked with our friends, we have picked 66 qt or 16 1/2 gallons.

Blueberries

2008-08-15T20:45:00.001-05:00

Here we go again... Tracy and I headed out and with a little help from Melissa we picked another 4 qts of blueberries..

ARE YOU READY TO PRAY HALLOWED BE THY NAME

2008-08-12T11:40:00.000-05:00

INTRO - Ex 6:1-3 Then the Lord said unto Moses, Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. And God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: And I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my name Jehovah was I not known to them. (KJV) - In the Hebrew culture, a person’s name was more than a mere label—it was synonymous with his character or reputation. When a person’s name was mentioned, it brought to mind all that he was. In his book The Lord’s Prayer, E. F. Scott writes, “It was assumed in ancient thought that the personality of a man was somehow bound up with his name, so that when you uttered his name the man himself was affected.”
In Mt 6:9, when Jesus was teaching us how to pray He said these words “Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” My question for you is this - Are you ready to pray “Hallowed be Thy name?”

I. THE CHOICE OF A GOOD NAME - In his book, I Almost Missed the Sunset, Bill Gaither writes: Gloria and I had been married a couple of years. We were teaching school in Alexandria, Indiana, where I had grown up, and we wanted a piece of land where we could build a house. I noticed the parcel south of town where cattle grazed, and I learned it belonged to a 92-year-old retired banker named Mr. Yule. He owned a lot of land in the area, and the word was he would sell none of it. Gloria and I visited him at the bank. He looked at us over the top of his bifocals. I introduced myself and told him we were interested in a piece of his land. "Not selling," he said pleasantly. "Promised it to a farmer for grazing." "I know, but we teach school here and thought maybe you'd be interested in selling it to someone planning to settle in the area." He pursed his lips and stared at me. "What'd you say your name was?" "Gaither. Bill Gaither." "Hmmm. Any relation to Grover Gaither?" "Yes, Sir. He was my granddad." Mr. Yule put down his paper and removed his glasses. "Interesting. Grover Gaither was the best worker I ever had on my farm. Full day's work for a day's pay. So honest. What'd you say you wanted?" I told him again. “Let me do some thinking on it, then come back and see me." I came back within the week, and Mr. Yule told me he had had the property appraised. I held my breath. "How does $3,800 sound? Would that be okay?" If that was per acre, I would have to come up with nearly $60,000! "$3,800?" I repeated. "Yup. Fifteen acres for $3,800." I knew it had to be worth at least three times that. I readily accepted. Nearly three decades later, my son and I strolled that beautiful, lush property that had once been pasture land. "Benjy," I said, "you've had this wonderful place to grow up through nothing that you've done, but because of the good name of a great-granddad you never met." (-- Fresh Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching (Baker), from the editors of Leadership.)
1. Pv 22:1 A good name is to be more desired than great wealth,
2. Ec 7:1 A good name is better than a good ointment,
A. They Have A Reputation - Mt 7:15-18 "Beware of the false prophets,.... "You will know them by their fruits. - What do the following all have in common? Dell, Gateway, Apple, Microsoft, Nike, Stanley, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Menards, Polaris, Marvin, Kodak, Cannon, Sears, McDonalds, Burger King, China, IRS. They are all names with which we attach some kind of reputation.
B. Getting One Is Easy - How many of you have a name? Did you choose it or did someone assign it to you? How many of you have a reputation? Is it any good? While most of our names are assigned to us, our reputation is earned. The easiest way to get one is to do nothing, but than again, it won’t be much of a reputation we earn.
C. God’s Is... - What kind of reputation does God have? When we think of God we may think of Him as loving, giving, forgiving, listening, deaf, judgmental, involved, uncaring and distant... While in the Lord’s prayer God is called Father, he is also considered Holy. We need to Hallow His Name.

II. HOLY, HOLY, HOLY - Can you imagine saying the same thing over and over and over and over... Repetition can be tiring to listen to. I wonder if God get’s tired of hearing Himself being called Holy.
1. Is 6:1-3 Seraphim stood above ... And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."
2. Rv 4:5-8 And the four living creatures, ... ; and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come."
A. God And His Name Are Holy
1. Ex 15:11
2. Lv 19:2
3. Lv 21:8
4. 1 Sm 2:2
5. Ps 30:4
6. Ps 111:9
7. Hb 12:10
B. What Is Hallowed Anyway - Turning to Vines dictionary of NT words, He describe the Greek word “hagiazo” from which “Hallowed” is translated from in the following way - to set apart for God, to sanctify, to make a person or thing the opposite of “common” A couple illustrations will help make this a little clearer.
1. Xerox - The concept of hallowing a name appeared in modern times in a series of unusual magazine ads placed by Xerox Corporation. Their purpose was not to sell a product, but merely to stop people from using the word Xerox as a generic term for copier. The company wanted its name to be set apart, to be used only for copiers it deemed worthy of the trademark. When we pray, “Hallowed be Your name,” we are in part asking that God’s name would be set apart in a similar way—that people would not trivialize Him or take Him lightly.
2. Toothbrush - Another helpful illustration of “holy” compares it to your toothbrush. Your toothbrush is special and important to you because of the unique purpose to which it has been dedicated. You wouldn’t take kindly to anyone using your toothbrush for a different purpose. You might even have another toothbrush around the house, one used to clean shoes or another to polish the terminals on your car battery. You wouldn’t want the three confused. Imagine your reaction if your youngster comes in and announces that he has just brushed the dog’s teeth with your brush! In a similar manner, anything in the Bible that is holy has been dedicated for a special purpose and therefore is deserving of special treatment. To pray that God’s name be made holy is to acknowledge that it is unique and special. God’s name is not to be treated as common or everyday. God’s name is to be Hallowed.

III. TO USE NOT ABUSE - Ma 1:2-14 “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect ?' says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests who despise My name....
A. Warnings Of Misuse
1. Lv 18:21
2. Lv 19:12
3. Pv 30:8-9
4. 1 Tm 6:1
B. God Protected His Name - Throughout the Scriptures, we see God going to great lengths to protect His name. God brought the Israelites out of Egypt not because of any merit on their part, but He saved them for the sake of His name, That He might make His power known. (Psalm 106:8). David understood that God kept him on in the paths of righteousness For His name's sake. not for his own good, but “for his name’s sake” (Psalm 23:3). In the days of the prophet Ezekiel, God showed His mercy on stubborn and rebellious Israel not for their sake, but His (Ezekiel 36:22–23).
C. How We Abuse It - If we are going to pray “Hallowed be Thy name,” we must be willing to do just that, yet to often we do just the opposite, we misuse or misrepresent God’s name - Ex 20:7 "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. - The Hebrew word “vain” (lassaw) means empty, meaningless, thoughtless, senseless, frivolous, worthless, groundless. It means using God’s name in a thoughtless and insincere way. The root of the word (shawu) has the idea of a vapor that fades and vanishes away, a vapor that is meaningless and worthless. It also has the idea of a tempest, a storm, a tornado that is erratic, that jumps here and there, that causes destruction and devastation, that is totally senseless and destructive
1. With our words we abuse - The psalms are full of exhortations to praise God’s name, accompanied by specific lists of His mighty deeds and His glorious characteristics. We, too, should honor God’s name by telling others—both believers and unbelievers—about what we see God doing, but do we.
a. A person misuses God’s name or takes God’s name in vain by profanity and vulgarity.
b. A person misuses God’s name by false swearing.
c. A person misuses God’s name by using His name in some irreverent way, in some frivolous, dishonoring, or light way.
2. With our lives we abuse - We who are called God’s children represent Him here on earth. We provide a picture to the unbeliever of what He is like. On the same occasion that He left us the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus gave us a command: “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). Years later, Peter echoed Jesus’ words: “Live such good lives among the pagans that . . . they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).
a. A person misuses God’s name by hypocrisy. A hypocrite....
(1) Is a person who professes the name of God but lives for self and the world
(2) Is a person who uses God’s name to manipulate people (to get what he wants)
(3) Is a person who uses God’s name to secure support for projects that are not necessarily God’s will
(4) Is a person who uses God’s name to secure followers, to deceive people

CONCL - Make no mistake about it, our words and our actions have a powerful impact on the name of God. James reminds us of the power of the tongue - for good or evil. He cautions against words that contradict our prayers: "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh . (James 3:9-12)
Ps 111:9 He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name Are we ready to treat God’s name with the holiness it deserves? Are we ready to pray “hallowed be Thy name?”

Noah's Ark - Suess Style

2008-08-11T09:09:00.002-05:00

In a faraway land a long time ago
Noah the dude was a man on the go.
A nice little wife and three little boys
Who always took care of their God-given toys
When the boys grew old, they found them good wives
But on to the story, enough of their lives

The earth was wicked and wild and wrong
Not even a good praise-worthy song.
One day the Good Lord, Himself came down
Searching high, searching low, he searched all around
Looking for someone with which to find favor
He saw good old Noah who never did waiver.

I have some bad news for all of mankind
I am sending a flood to destroy all that I find.
So go build an ark, I have found favor with you
Along with your wife and your sons’ wives too.
You’ll fill the big boat with creatures galore
Creating a story going down in folk lore.

So two by two they started to come
Starting with animals that looked kind of dumb.
First to come in was a pink footed elegunt
Followed by a ribbed footed crinkle glunt
Than came a woosel in the color of orange
Who tripped on a small tiny creepy florange

What kind of creatures are these? Noah asked
As a blue striped webra slowly marched past
What’s going on? Noah’s wife asked with a fuss
As on marched a pair of green leffalupatus
Than green and white bibble birds flittered on in
And next slithered in a salamasin

All of theses animals and such a big boat
Everyone wondered if this thing would float.
Noah had faith in what the Lord said,
And no one was thinking of ending up dead.
“Watch your head,” shouted Noah out loud
To a giraffiga with his head in a cloud

Noah’s son came in running, shouting about
He had just seen a hungry tigerdelout..
It was chasing a helpless bit of a kanga-karouse,
A cross between a kangaroo and a mouse,
Who was chasing a baby platamaroo
It must have escaped from Dr. Suess’ zoo.
I wrote this years ago for Bible camp. It's a twist on Noah's ark that we used at a Bible camp

Dr. Suess’ Zoo is that where these came from?
Is that a great big red tuma tum tum?
A bugamaboo a freckled treetus
How will we fit in that Zathering Zuss?
“All aboard,” said the Lord. “It’s time to shut the door.
We’ve got all the animals and room for no more.”

For forty long nights it rained wogs and zats
And on the ark went to Mount Ararat.
And so they survived this horrid ordeal
With all of those creatures like the alligerneal.
This story’s almost done we need a bow in the sky
A platapatomus and a great big good bye.

Blueberries

2008-08-08T19:28:00.001-05:00

I sold another 4 qt at work today so off we went to the woods and picked another 6 qt bringing us to 49 = the ones are friend and us picked yesterday make 58.

Blueberries

2008-08-07T17:32:00.002-05:00

We went back into the woods today for more berries. This time we went to a spot I scouted out on Wednesday for a friend who wanted to come over and pick. When she made it over we took off with 7 kids and in about an hour and a half we and another 9Qts picked. We have two more spots scouted out that we never made it too - at least not yet.

Blueberries

2008-08-05T18:35:00.002-05:00

Today after work we headed back into the woods for more berry picking. In about 1 1/2 hours we managed to pick 11 more quart bringing our total to 43. however I just gave 8 Qt away. Earlier today the kids helped my wife pick about 15 Qt of raspberries at a friends house.

Blueberries

2008-08-03T15:38:00.002-05:00

Today after church I took 4 kids to the spot we found less than a mile from home and picked nearly 5 more Qt bringing our total to around 32 for the season.

Blueberries

2008-08-02T20:04:00.002-05:00

Today after work we took off for Blueberry Hill looking for berries and we found some. than on the way home we decided to drive down a trail less than a mile from our house and we went back until the road was under water stopped and the ground was blue. We'll be heading back there tomorrow I think. Anyway we have at least another 5 Qt putting our total to 27 or 28 now.

Blueberries

2008-07-28T16:31:00.002-05:00

Today, Tracy and I added another 7 qt to our collection of blueberries. we've now picked a total of 16 qt. for our freezer. Next time out we'll start picking for family.

Blueberries

2008-07-27T15:33:00.002-05:00

Sunday after church we headed south of Warroad looking for berries again. This time we brought back 4 quarts along with a bunch of wood ticks. That makes a total of 8 Qt for the freezer now.

Blueberries

2008-07-25T14:53:00.002-05:00

This afternoon we went looking for blueberries with some friends. Our family was able to pick 4 quarts. It looks like it will be another week before they will be at their best as we found lots and lots of green berries.

Blueberries

2008-07-20T20:19:00.002-05:00

Blueberries will soon be in season. This afternoon after church we went south of Warroad scouting around and managed to pick almost a quart the same as we did last year on our first time out. There appears to be lots of green berries so the picking should be good. I have some kids who are hoping to sell berries this year if they can pick enough.

Blueberries

2008-07-13T19:30:00.002-05:00

It's closing in on the time of year when the blueberries are ready to pick. On our way home form church today we stopped about 1/2 miles from our house to check out a patch of berries and we were able to pick about a half a small (Laura sized) hand that were ripe. There appears to be lots of green berries that should be ready in a couple weeks just in time for my 5 day weekend. Hopefully we'll be able to get out and fill the freezer - unless the kids decide to sell them.

Jackpine Retreat

2008-07-06T15:08:00.002-05:00

In just over two months on September 12-14, 2008 the Warroad Area Church of Christ will be hosting the Jackpine Retreat. We picked out a theme (Running The Race), we have started putting together a flyer and will soon be looking for volunteers to speak. If you would like to volunteer yourself or another :) to speak me know. If you would like to recive a flyer you can let me know as well. I'll try to keep things updated when possible.

Baptism

2008-06-30T18:06:00.000-05:00

Just over 14 years ago our first daughter was born. It was a time of great joy. On June 29, 2008 I experienced an even greater joy as I was privileged to baptize her into Christ. Congratulations Tracy, and welcome to Christ’s family.