God Bless America - Happy 4th of July!

Happy Fourth of July!

Dr. Stanley was preaching on television earlier. During his sermon, he asked all his listeners to commit to praying for our nation for the next 140 days. This will take us through, and beyond, the November elections. Let us all join with Dr. Stanley and keep our nation in prayer. If you would like to join Dr. Stanley, his web address is: http://intouch.org/resources/140-days-of-prayer If you join you will receive an e-mail each week with Scripture and prayer points to help unite us as a body of believers.

Listening to the Gaithers earlier, I received such a blessing as they sang the Battle Hymn of Republic. This hymn was one of my favorite songs to play on the piano, when I was a kid. Its a beautiful song that tells of the power and wrath of a mighty God, who is Lord of all, as He returns to restore justice. That day is before us, let us stay in prayer and walk with our God, He is returning soon!

Battle Hymn of the Republic
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord:
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:
His truth is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.
I have seen Him in the watch-fires of a hundred circling camps,
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps;
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps:
His day is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
His day is marching on.
I have read a fiery gospel writ in burnished rows of steel:
"As ye deal with my contemners, so with you my grace shall deal;
Let the Hero, born of woman, crush the serpent with his heel,
Since God is marching on."
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Since God is marching on.
He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat;
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat:
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet!
Our God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on.
In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
While God is marching on.
He is coming like the glory of the morning on the wave,
He is Wisdom to the mighty, He is Succour to the brave,
So the world shall be His footstool, and the soul of Time His slave,
Our God is marching on.
(Chorus)
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Glory, glory, hallelujah!
Our God is marching on. (Wikipedia.org)

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

"I Know"

There are a number of comics that I really enjoy -- Baby Blues and Pickles being a couple of them. Everytime I read Baby Blues I see Timmy and Serena and it just makes my day. Pickles just is so much "us", sometimes, and Nelson just picks up on Chris and Madison's reactions!!

The other day, while reading the comics, the phrase, "I know, but I don't believe" really hit me. How true that is of us. We walk around blind--enjoying everything in God's creation and yet not wanting to see Him or "believe".

How is it possible that by "chance" (big bang and evolution) beauty could be created, order created, harmony created or life created? How would our hearts, our minds and our souls be created? God truly is the creator of our world, the universe and all that is within it, which includes us--body, heart and soul.

We know the truth, yet so very often man just does not want to believe.
--Or, man partially believes so that He can put God into a box of man's design.
--Or, man changes the true Word, denying the power of God to preserve His Word, and claims corruption of the Word written by the prophets and the patriachs, thereby allowing himself to rewrite the Word of God. Thus, not having to use the Word to determine whether dreams and visions are of God, but changes the Word to make dreams and visions "acceptable" and "true".

Great Kings have acknowledged God and believed:

2 Kings 19:14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD. 15 Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said: “O LORD God of Israel, the One who dwells between the cherubim, You are God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.

Psalm 90:1 Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world,Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

3 You turn man to destruction, And say, “Return, O children of men.”

God waits for His children. He is a God of love and His kindness is beyond any measure we can comprehend or understand.

Nehemiah 9:16 “But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your commandments.

17 They refused to obey,And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them.

All In a Day's Work

Wednesday arrived. Kat, Andy and Christopher started working on the yard. They took turns with the rider, the push mower and the weedeater.

Kathleen was the last one to get a turn on the rider and she had the pedal to the metal and was really knocking the weeds and grass down!! Christopher and I were trying to get the weedeater going and we looked up and saw Kathleen at the far end of the 10 acre stretch. There she was, the queen of karaoke, belting out songs as she flew around the field!!

Andy has determined that the green stuff coming up is the oats the neighbor had put in earlier this spring. There had been one or two mighty strong east winds come through, so it is pretty likely! We have no idea where all our grass seed went. The normally prevailing west winds probably took it and added to his pasture grass! So...we got each other's crops!

Late this afternoon Kathleen sent Chris and I to get a load of dirt. There was a dark cloud on the horizon, but it look like it was a ways off. We were still in town filling out her list, a little more than an hour later, and a fast moving storm blew through. As we started on the road home the rain hit. Finally we arrived home with our truck filled with MUD!

Obviously, the time for working outside is over. Kat and family went to town to get Chris a pair of shoes and to get some apples. We are going to bake an apple pie tonight!! Life is good. God is good!