Cracker Barrel Encouragement

We've been enjoying the food and fellowship at the local Cracker Barrel for several years now, since I can't remember when. I'm encouraged
each week to meet with a group of dedicated guys. This table is actually too small for the group that comes on a regular schedule. I hope that we've built more than just a social hour, and that we've touched the very heart of God with our Bible study and prayer time.

This week, I stumbled upon a country song, which was playing at a particularly difficult time. It was a busy weekend. There were needed repairs to older vehicles, a fender bender, broken Christmas lights, miscommunication with a close loved one. It should have been a happy beginning of the Christmas season. I needed a big boost of encouragement.

As I listened to the words of this song, I was encouraged, and my spirit was reminded of the truth in God's Word where the encouragement
comes from. My wish, is that all who read this are encouraged as I was, and that every phrase of this song comes true in your life.

• I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

Ecclesiastes 3:22 So I saw that there is nothing better for a man than to enjoy his work,

Ecclesiastes 11:8 However many years a man may live, let him enjoy them all.

• and each road leads you where you wanna go,

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

and if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

Matthew 7:14 small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

• And if one door opens to another door closed,

Matthew 7:7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

Revelation 3:20'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.

John 10:7 So Jesus said again, "I tell you the truth, I am the door for the sheep.

• I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

Genesis 8:6 After forty days Noah opened the window he had made in the ark

• My wish for you, that this life becomes all that you want it to,

3 John 3:2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and
a future.

• Your Dreams stay big,

Acts 2:17 your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish

• Your Worries stay small,

Phillipians 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

1 Peter 5:7casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. Matthew 6:25" For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Consider the birds of the air...

Matthew 6:27"And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?

• 
  Carry just what you can hold,

Matthew 11:30"For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

1 Corinthians 10:13 God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

John 15:13" Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD appeared to him from afar, saying,"I have loved you with an everlasting love.

• Never look back, but never forget, all the ones who love you in the place you left,

Hebrews 11:39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something
better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.

John 17:20"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,

• I hope you always forgive, and never regret,

Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

and you help somebody every chance you get,

1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Galatians 6:2 Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.

James 1:27Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress,

• Find God's grace in every mistake,

Jeremiah 31:2 The people who survived the sword Found grace in the wilderness--

Luke 23:34 But Jesus was saying, " Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing

• Thanks be to God for His Word!
• Thanks to the Biblegateway.com
• Thank you to Rascal Flatts for this song:
  My Wish Lyrics

- I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow,

and each road leads you where you wanna go,

and if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose,

I hope you choose the one that means the most to you.

And if one door opens to another door closed,

I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window,

if it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile.

But more than anything, more than anything...

- My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

- I hope you never look back, but you never forget,

all the ones who love you, in the place you left,

I hope you always forgive, and you never regret, and you help somebody every chance you get,

Oh, you find God's grace, in every mistake,

and always give more than you take.

But More than anything, yeah, more than anything...

- My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish. Yeah.

- My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to,

your dreams stay big, your worries stay small,

You never need to carry more than you can hold,

and while you're out there getting where you're getting to,

I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too,

Yeah, this, is my wish.

Been there, paid the bill!

We had a great time in Orlando. Mickey and I had a great financial deal, and we both came away smiling in the end. Mickey had a big bill for salaries, electricity for all the rides we rode, and the cost of food for all the meals we enjoyed. All I needed to do was pay the final bill and enjoy the ride. And we sure did. I hope he can continue to come up with good movies like Narnia. I already have my calendar set for May 16th 2008 to see the 2nd in the series come out, Prince Caspian. I didn't get my picture taken with Buzz or Mater, just Mickey. I may have to go back another time to see Mike Wis..owski, because I laughed so hard when my daughter was called out to answer a question about Chester Virginia, a large Island in the South Pacific with the Eiffel Tower. Her answer was, yes... There's a lot about my home I didn't know!

Ravens/Patriots - Monday Night Football

Guess who I'm taking to a football game? My best friend for the last 20 years, my wife! She's brushing up on the rules so she'll understand what's happening. Don't try to get the code off these, they are especially protected and only allow us to enter the stadium. By the way, the tickets are for the Patriots game; I wonder if they will still be undefeated by then, and the Ravens will knock them off?

Shower The People You Love With Love

Shower The People You Love With Love, How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You, Going to Carolina, but not Our Town from the movie Cars.

I've long appreciated the music of James Taylor, although I only own one song, from the movie Cars, and he didn't sing it at the concert on Saturday night. Thanks to friends who weren't able to attend, my gentlewoman driver daughter and I went to see him in concert at the Siegel Center at VCU.

Oklahoma City

I've had the opportunity to visit Oklahoma this week for the first time. I've counted the number of States in the US I've visited, and I'm now up to 43. I was within 6 miles of the OK border in 1984 when traveling through Texas with the Continental Singers, and now I've finally arrived! I didn't know it could get so cold and rainy here. God is answering my prayer for rain, and I guess I need to be more specific and ask for it east of the Mississippi! It was about 45-deg and rained about 1 1/2 inches by yesterday evening when my coworkers and I ventured downtown to the city. I'd not paid any attention to the weather report, so didn't have a long sleeve shirt, but I did have my raincoat!

Before dinner at Mickey Mantle's in Bricktown, we toured the Oklahoma City Memorial. It's no secret what evil can enter into the heart of a man when seeing face to face the chairs that represent the people who died here. It was an act of pure evil for a man to plan and execute such a violent plan. I can empathize with those who lost loved ones here on that terrible day. I hope and pray that a greater good is being experienced these 12 years later.

Greek temples

This was as close as I could get to the ruins from the Greek temple located near the south coast of Sicily, Italy. My Italian work associate who grew up near here brought me after work, and the museum was closed. We could only view it from a distance, so best I could, I set my camera on the roof of his car and captured this shot.

The temple which used to be was from about 2500 years ago, and obviously did not stand the test of time, the standing seam metal roof customary in our time is long gone. I don't know that I'd enjoy the pew seating without a brick wall to block the sometimes harsh Mediterranian winds. I imagine that the reason it didn't survive was because the congregation didn't possess the one item in this world that is eternal, the Word of God.

Well, as a member of Ironbridge, I did my homework and visited Ironbridge.org to schedule my time to Fill God's House with His Word. As we do this, I'm sure that 2500 years from now, and if God taries, Ironbridge will not be a museum, lacking a roof, that is closed on a Wednesday night!

Psalm 119:11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.

God's Creation

I love this photo of the Giant Panda at the National Zoo in Washington. A friend's daughter took this photo who I'm envious of because the Pandas were never out the days when I visited. The photo is a reminder to me of how God created the animals according to their kind. My faith in a Creator God was challenged today at the local book club as we gathered to read the book, The Making of the Fittest, by Sean Carroll. The local group is a little 'left leaning,' so I expected some macro evolutionists would be present, and I'll loose no pride in saying that this group is more intellectual than myself. The writer went to great length to support the notion of an old universe; a chance that anything can happen; and that because we are here among the living creatures possessing DNA; that evolution must have occurred as Darwin theorized. I was asked by the group leader, what to me was more important to me, my believe in the creation, or my belief in the redemption (of Jesus); and my initial response was, redemption. The inference was that the credibility of Christians wanes as deep held beliefs in both are maintained, because in the view of science, the creation story (as told in Genesis) is an alogory. I'll maintain that our God is both Creator and Redeemer; in my view, the universe He created is complex in its nearly infinite dimensions to the cosmos; and is equally complex in the microscopic dimensions of the DNA molecule of life, and the proteins and amino acids that support that life. I believe that even if the world were 4.5 billion years old, that would not be enough time for chance to reveal what we observe in this one photo.

Genesis 1:24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.