Welcome! Grab a cold glass of iced tea and let’s visit for a few minutes.
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The Word for Today
For those who would tend to excuse themselves for certain sins because of ignorance:
“Don’t excuse yourself by saying, ‘Look, we didn’t know.’ For God understands all hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all people as their actions deserve” (Proverbs 24:12 NLT).
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Do you walk into a hospital and assume that everyone there is whole, healthy and well? You don’t? Then why do you walk into a church and expect everyone there to be whole, healthy and well—to be perfect and respond to every situation exactly as they “should?” The church is a hospital. It’s a place of healing. Not a place full of perfect people. Just a place full of people doing their best with His help because they once were lost but for His amazing grace! – Debbie Black
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How God designed His church
“I will build my church” (Matthew 16:18).
Jesus is the Architect and the General Contractor of the church. Are you thankful to be a “workman” (II Timothy 2:15) assisting Him on this tremendous project? We should be humbled by the privilege of serving on His construction crew.
Let’s look at some of the design features of this spiritual enterprise called the church:
It was designed to be permanent. Although it was equipped to operate, as William Booth put it,“within a yard of hell,” Jesus promised, “[T]he gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He was declaring that the powers of darkness will not overcome it, be strong to its detriment, or hold out against it. It will be victorious. It is indestructible. That is the covenant 
Jesus made with His church. Are you glad to be in something that will ultimately overcome?
Through two millennia, the church has endured false teachers, governmental and sectarian persecution, and insidious hypocrites. It still stands, with its ensign of truth yet unfurled as a witness to the world. Governments can’t annihilate it, swords can’t behead it, fire can’t burn it, lions can’t eat it, and Congress can’t legislate it out of existence. And since the devil can’t overcome it, let’s just stay put until the Rapture. The church was designed to be active in the earth until then, when it will defy gravity and go “to meet the Lord in the air” (I Thessalonians 4:16,17).
It was designed to be holy. That means that He intended it to be separate—noticeably set apart—from the sinful activities of the unbelieving world. It is continuously sanctified by the Spirit of God as the members walk in the Spirit and do not fulfill the lusts of the flesh” (Ephesians 2:3; II Peter 2:18).
Born of God (I John 5:18; John 3:5), we choose to conduct ourselves and present both our inner and outward lives as “becomes holiness” (Titus 2:3), conducting ourselves according to His Word. That means we refrain from worldly activities that define non-Christians—including but not limited to immodest apparel, the wearing of ornamental jewelry, and discoloring the natural appearance of our bodies. His Holy Spirit within motivates us to not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, hang around with sinners, or mock and scorn those who serve the Lord in righteousness (Psalm 1:1).
Holiness is essential to retaining the operation of God’s power in our midst. Should we forsake our commitment to 
holiness, the church will lose its influence and power. That is why we choose to “follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14).
It was designed to be evangelistic. Jesus was an evangelist: “Let us go into the next towns, that I may preach there also: for therefore came I forth” (Mark 1:38). It was to continue the ministry of Christ by the power of the Spirit (Acts 1:1). “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature,” Jesus said (Mark 16:15; Luke 24:47). They were somewhat slow about getting out of the confines of Judaism and even Jerusalem, but as understanding of the extent of their mission pressed upon them, “they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following” (Mark 16:20). Their mandate was to begin making converts in Jerusalem, then in Judea, in Samaria, and on to the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
God gives us unction to motivate our action. He wills for the church to be an active force rather than a passive entity, just sitting around saying, “I’ve got it!” If we have it, take it. Preach it. Make disciples. We really have no prerogative in the matter—we must evangelize or fossilize.
We are commanded to reproduce ourselves. That has been God’s way from the beginning. When He saves us, it is not only us individually He had in mind. The Lord had Apollos in mind when He saved Aquila. When God saved you, He probably had someone else in mind, someone you would be able to win to the Lord. Have you contacted that person yet?
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Teacher suspended for reporting illegals and drugs in her school
A teacher in Texas has been suspended after allegedly sending tweets to President Donald Trump imploring him to do something about an overflow of illegal immigrants at her school, according to Yahoo Lifestyle.
The teacher’s name is Georgia Clark, and she is employed at Carter-Riverside High School in Fort Worth. Using a now-deleted Twitter account, Clark requested assistance from the president to deal with “illegal students” and “drug dealers” 
that she said were taking over the school.
“Mr. President, Fort Worth Independent School District is loaded with illegal students from Mexico,” Clark allegedly wrote on May 17, tagging Pres. Trump. “Carter-Riverside High School has been taken over by them. Drug dealers are on our campus and nothing was done to them when the drug dogs found the evidence.”
The school district has placed Clark on administrative leave with pay as they investigate the matter.
[Look back a few years and see how far we have drifted from our religious and patriotic moorings. Where will all this nonsense end?]
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Seems like the press keeps attacking the wrong people
According to one source, Planned Parenthood killed 321,259 people in 2017. NRA members: 0
Governments killed over 250 million people last century, but they feel free to lecture us about owning firearms.
I saw a Straight Pride Parade the other day. The line of cars around the Chick-Fil-A restaurant was causing a minor traffic jam. Awesome!
I heard Hillary Clinton said she wanted to see President Trump in prison. I doubt he’ll have time to visit her.
The President was found not guilty of collusion, but they want to prosecute him anyway. Hillary was found guilty of multiple violations of the law as Secretary of State and they refuse to prosecute her. What’s wrong with this picture?
San Francisco is removing a mural of George Washington—literally whitewashing it—from a school that is named for that first president because some think he was racist. Looking around the streets of SF itself, there seems to be many other things that need whitewashing more than a founding father or a national hero. The liberal press loves to publicize such far left stupidity to give ideas to similar nutcases elsewhere.
Let a professed Christian do something wrong and the press is all over them like fleas on a dog. But Muslims, like those in Nigeria, who are on a crusade to wipe out all Christians from Africa’s most populous nation, seem to be given a free pass. The more Americans and Christians they kill, the more the talking heads of the media coddle them and criticize Christians. They like to call the terrorists and murderers “extremists.” Are all Muslims extremists? They all want to eliminate Israel from the face of the earth. They want to gain control of every country where they have a sizeable slice of the population. They want to impose Sharia law everywhere—and God help those who resist.
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Worth repeating
Heaven has a wall and a strict immigration policy, but Hell has open borders.
“Without religion, I believe that learning does real mischief to the morals and principles of mankind.” – Dr. Benjamin Rush (1783), one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence
“We fight not to enslave, but to set a country free, and to make room upon the earth for honest men to live in.” —Thomas Paine (1777). That is what makes America different from most other nations.
“This modern sentimentalism, which always attempts to embrace “both/and,” recommends itself to us as the ‘virtue’ of 
inclusivity. Under the umbrella of this inclusivity, we are told, we must welcome both the birth of children and the abortion of children, both the lifestyles of heterosexuals and homosexuals…both the rightness of natural death and the rightness of euthanasia. lnclusivity as preached today seems to suggest that no ultimate judgments or choices about the nature of reality can or should be made, and therefore we must construct one large umbrella under which all varieties of human experience, belief, and action can be sheltered. Conversely, any umbrella incapable of including all manner of belief and action must be regarded as too narrow, to exclusive, too intolerant to be itself any longer tolerated.”
– Joyce Little, an astute observer of the American socio/religious scene, submitted this studied observation in her book, The Church and the Culture War (Ignatius Press, 1995).
This just in:
Closing the border would cause a serious shortage of meth, heroin, MS-13 gangs, and new voters.
Californians hate drinking straws but encourage the use of taxpayer funded, single-use hypodermic needles for drug addicts.
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IHML makes it easy to win souls
Into His Marvelous Light
Available in English, Spanish, German & Italian
No other evangelistic Bible study has enjoyed the consistent results of IHML over the years. Often copied but never fully duplicated. It is attractive, well written, and doctrinally sound. Those who are seeking for 
truth will see that the new birth is absolutely essential and that Acts 2:38 constitutes that experience. Over 2 million copies sold.
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Guide For Living
A follow-up Study for the new convert. This little booklet can be given to the new convert to go through alone and then come back to you with any questions they may have. It covers what has happened to them through the new birth and ably presents what their responsibilities are now as a Christian.
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Lighten up!
Your bad days in Christ are better than your good days before you were serving the Lord! Your day can’t be nearly as bad as the one these guys are having!
Couldn’t pass these up:
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From the punography file:
I saw where the energizer bunny was arrested and charged with battery.
I am reading a book about anti-gravity. I can’t put it down.
I know a guy who is addicted to brake fluid, but he says he can stop anytime.
The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
The report said I had Type A blood, but it was a Type-O.
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A comparison test
Check the Bible version that best conveys the absolute deity of Jesus Christ in these sample verses:
Romans 9:5
___ “Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.” KJV
___ “Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.” NLT
Jude 4
___ “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, 
turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” KJV
___ “I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.” NLT
Jude 5
___ “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.” KJV
___ “So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful.” NLT
John 14:14
___ “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” KJV
___ “Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!” NLT
I Peter 3:15
___ “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.” KJV
___ “Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.” NLT
Titus 2:13
___ “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” KJV
___ “While we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed.” NLT
II Peter 1:1
___ “Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” KJV
___ “This letter is from Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to you who share the same precious faith we have. This faith was given to you because of the justice and fairness of Jesus Christ, our God and Savior.” NLT
II Thessalonians 1:12
___ “That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.” KJV
___ “Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ.” NLT
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The Last Word(s)
Some time ago I was the guest minister in a church where there was a very perceptive lady who listens carefully to every word a preacher says. A commendable practice. She is a world class Christian and keen of mind. A few weeks later I received from her a list of ten words an expert says are often mispronounced by speakers. She said it might be “something I could use somewhere in my writings.” I appreciated the submission for the blog, but I had to wonder—was it really inspired by my mispronunciation of some word while I was preaching? I daresay we all have stumbled over some words along the way. Here are the ten words on the expert’s list:
- Athlete
- incorrect pronunciation: ath-a-leet
- correct pronunciation: ath-leet
- Nuclear
- incorrect: nuke-you-ler
- correct: new-clee-err
- Utmost
- incorrect: up-most
- correct: utt-most
- Candidate
- incorrect: can-uh-dett
- correct: can-da-dett
- Sherbet
- incorrect: sherr-bert
- correct: sherr-bet
- Awry
- incorrect: aww-ree
- correct: uh-rye
- For all intents and purposes
- incorrect: for all intensive purposes
- correct: for all intents and purposes
- Often
- incorrect: off-ten
- correct: off-en
- [A two-for-one] prescription/prerogative
- incorrect: purr-scrip-shun/purr-ogg-uh-tiv
- correct: pre-scrip-shun/pre-rogg-uh-tiv
- [A three-for-one] Escape/espresso/et cetera
- incorrect: ex-cape/ex-presso/ex-set-err-uh
- correct: ess-cape/ess-presso/ett-set-err-uh
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