Growing Old Gracefully

 

While he was visiting, my father asked for the password to our Wi-Fi.
“It’s taped under the modem,” 
I told him.
After three failed attempts to log on, he asked, “Am I spelling this right? T-A-P-E-D-U-N-D-E-R-T-H-E-M-O-D-E-M?”

777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777

 

We are all growing older each day on this side of heaven. But for many of us we will spend eternity in a brand new body. No more aches, pain, stress…

We will spend our time praising and worshiping the God who sent his son Jesus to this earth with one purpose. To sacrifice himself for the sins of everyone who has ever breathed our atmosphere.
However, those who have reached the age of understanding the gospel must make a decision. We must choose between eternity with God in heaven or eternity in hell with the father of all lies.
We are, as Christians, are celebrating the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, [Good Friday-Easter Sunday].
Let's all invite someone to join us in Heaven where we will be forever young.

 

2 Corinthians 5 [NIV]
Awaiting a NEW BODY

 

 

5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, ³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.

much love, Dennis
 

 

 

 

 

 

PC = BS

 

It frustrates me to see what our Constitutional Freedom of Speech has become in the name of Politically Correctness. Our Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. It does not say that we can be limited in what we say because it might offend someone. I know that we have laws concerning libel and slander. I'm sure that there are instances where libel and slander are used and those that use them should be held accountable for lies spoken or written. In today's world we find that our "Freedom of Speech Right" has many more teeth than it should have. The latest story that has bothered me is listed below. Am I the only one who believes that getting your feelings hurt is not a legal matter?

 I'm having trouble with my computer, Try this link to view the video.
 http://youtu.be/xTmp119b878

Much love , Dennis



　

Public Speaking

There was an old country preacher who had a teenage son, and it was getting time the boy should give some thought along the line of choosing a profession. Like many young men, then and now, the boy didn't really know what he wanted to do- and he didn't seem overly concerned about it. 

One day, while the boy was away at school, his father decided to try an experiment. What he did was, he went into the boy's room and placed on his study table these three objects: a Bible, a silver dollar, and a bottle of whiskey.

"Now then," the old preacher said to himself, "I'll just hide behind the door here, and when my son comes home from school this afternoon, I'll see which of these three objects he picks up. If he picks up the Bible, he's going to be a preacher like me, and what a blessing that would be! If he picks up the dollar, he's going to be a businessman, and that would be o.k. too. But if he picks up the bottle, he's going to be a drunkard - a no-good drunkard and Lord, what a shame that would be."

The old man was anxious as he waited, and soon he heard his son's footsteps as he came in the house whistling and headed back to his room. He deposited his books on the bed, as a matter of routine, and as he turned around to leave the room he spotted the objects on the table.

With a curious set in his eye, he walked over to inspect them. What he finally did was, he picked up the Bible and placed it under his arm. He picked up the silver dollar and dropped it into his pocket. He uncorked the bottle and took a big drink...
"Lord have mercy," the old man whispered, "He's going to be a politician!"

I have friends who are politicians and I hope they don't think this is directed at anyone in particular.

I am beginning to feel very comfortable speaking in public, sharing my faith and explaining my circumstances. There are occasions when my voice will become very weak and I really don't understand why. Fortunately, I have never had a problem on the occasions where I publicly share. A couple of times at our weekly FCA meetings, my voice has diminished. That is not too much of a problem because I am in a secondary leadership position. Linda is the sponsor and the primary leader.
I recently spoke at an event sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. It was a collaboration of several FCA groups from different towns and it was also open to the public. The day before I was to speak, my voice began to deteriorate. I prayed that I would be able to be understood and just before I was introduced, my friend Max prayed over me, asking for my message to be heard and understood.
As I began to speak, my voice was not any better. I can normally stringing together 4-6 words before taking a breath. That night for most of the time 2 words were all I could put together. I had to cut short much of what I had planned on saying.
I really felt like I had let down the Lord, the people in attendance and those who are part of the group that I help with in Fairview. When Cheri and I returned home, I told her that I was very disappointed in myself.
I'm very thankful to have a wife who listens to God. She reminded me that as Christians we have an enemy, Satan.
 John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I (Jesus) have come that you may have life, and have it to the full

I was actually allowing Satan to steal my joy and it was my decision whether or not to accept my attempt at speaking as a success or a failure. I had spent many hours composing and revising what I had planned for that evening. I did my best and that is what God was expecting me to do.
It was kind of like I was standing at the edge of a tall building, getting ready to jump into a huge pity party. I thank God for my wife and her advice in this situation. There was no pity party that night or any time since then. I did my best and I am counting on God to handle the things that I could not do that evening. I am going through the valley, but I'm not setting up camp and staying in the valley. I continuing my journey on through.
Much love, Dennis

The Tragedy of 9/11

I'm sure everyone knows that today is the anniversary of the attack by terrorists on US soil. Those old enough to remember probably can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing when they 1st heard about this tragic event. When I heard the 1st tower had been struck by a passenger plane I was alarmed because of the tragedy that I presumed was unplanned and just a bad situation. A few minutes later when it was announced that the 2nd tower had been hit by another plane, my heart sank. Just like most people, I understood that this was an attack against Americans on American soil.

Today was our FCA meeting. All of the students knew about the tragedy at the twin towers but none of them were old enough to understand the implications of the event. I think that the oldest one of our group was 6 at that time.
I personally felt vulnerable and insecure after finding out that there were also 2 other planned attacks. A third plane, American Airlines Flight 77, crashed into the Pentagon. 

 The fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93, targeted Washington, D.C. but crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, after its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers.

 The images and video that consumed television brought about a sense of insecurity to most Americans. Churches all over the nation suddenly were receiving people who had never or rarely been attending. It is sad that some people ignore the value of a relationship with Jesus until they are in the middle of a tumultuous situation. The phrase "There are no atheists in foxholes" seems to be appropriate here. There are some people who believe that they will live their lives however they desire until they are in a situation that they can't handle on their own. They then are ready to seek God.  I suppose that may work out for a few people, but I am not willing to gamble like that with my eternity in the balance.
Much love, Dennis