This . . .
I used to cut Taylor and Elliott's hair with a Flow-Bee. I don't think Nathan ever had the pleasure. This is the cutter that hooks up to a vacuum cleaner. It sucks your hair up, cuts it off even and then whisks the trimmings off to the vacuum dirt bag. I had such authority back in those days that they actually let me do this to them even while all the animals were running away. I got it down out of the attic today and gave myself a haircut. The animals still ran.
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That . . .
I went to the Revival Center Church here in Monticello to take pictures at their pastor and his wife's appreciation Banquet. Everyone kept asking me where I got my hair cut. When I told them that I cut it myself, they would tilt their heads a bit and roll their eyes a little and say, "Oh, really". Actually no one commented on my hair, they were way to kind. I enjoyed the afternoon, being able to sit in on a congregation and see a bit of their hearts. They were full of praise and love for the Lord and honored their pastor, his wife and three kids with genuine love and respect. Several spoke, all good. The pastor's nine year old daughter did an interpretive dance that was just really, really good. A couple of men did the same. Several sang - WOW! And then a pastor from Memphis preached a short message. It was powerful and very skillfully delivered. I left wondering why black people and white people have such a hard time coming together under the Kingship of Jesus.
A time of unity IS coming. The bride of Christ will be in unity, without spot or blemish when our Bridegroom comes.
Oh, how He loves you and me - us and them. Come, Lord Jesus.
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This is That . . .
Three words caught my attention as I listened today. I have a bit of an idea what they mean to me, but I would like to hear what they mean to you. Here are the three words: Praise, Worship and Endure. What is the difference between praise and worship and what is God's word saying to us when it often encourages us to "endure"?

The Twig Lives

This . . .
Don't ever give up on a twig. If you think there is no hope - that the branch is gone - that surely chopping, tossing and burning has taken place - that the "fat branchey" is singing . . . think again!
It turns out that "the branch" in the neighbors yard was not annialated as I thought, but only moved to another spot in the yard, namely the "in progress flower garden" right in front of the house, where it is easily seen every time I drive up the driveway. Somehow, seeing this small branch again, has caused my hope to be renewed.
So the saga continues. What will happen to this seemingly insignificant piece of fallen tree?
I'll keep you posted. In the mean time, never give up . . . things are not always as they seem.
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That . . .
I mowed the yard today. It started out without incident, but got more exciting towards the end.
At first, there were no neighbors in site. As I was mowing, I was thinking, "how could this mow job be worthy of blog?"
Then the mother and two dogs came out of the neighbors house. I was dissapointed that the others remained inside, not thinking it was worth it to venture out. (Their loss.) The mom seemed to be totally ignoring me, but the two dogs were watching my every move with tails wagging in eager anticipation.
The weather was pretty nice, with only a couple of non-threatening clouds.
Then it happened. As I came around the house, and towards the front yard, out of the sky, a bolt of lightning came out of nowhere and struck a tree just as I mowed past. The flash was blinding and the sound deafening. My every hair stood on end - literally. Of course the dogs went absolutely biserck as I jumped off of the mower screaming, "I've been hit!"
NO WAY! You might say.
And you would be right. I just made that all up. But wouldn't it have been cool if it had really happened that way?
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This is That . . .
I am looking forward to church tomorrow. It is always a great blessing to meet with like-minded believers and go hard after the things of God with wholeheartedness. While private Bible study, prayer and worship are certainly beneficial, there is something special about sharing in all of those things with others.
I heard a good definition of worship this week. Here it is.
"Worship is anything you do to love God back".
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So . . . I encourage you to "love Him back" in church tomorrow.

This . . .
My neighbors hired a whole crew to manicure their lawn today. There were at least three men yielding mowers, weedeaters, bushtrimmers and blowers. Somewhere in the mix, "the branch" got carried off to twig heaven. I was really sad to see it go. I can't describe the way I strangely miss it . . . life is hard.
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That . . . has no social redeeming value.
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This is That . . .
What an enjoyable time I had this evening. Shared a meal with a friend and solved all of the world's problems.
Well maybe not "all" of the world's problems, but at least some of "our" problems.
Or maybe it was just "his problems". Wait a minute, he doesn't have any problems.
OK, maybe it was my problems, but I'm not sure that we solved anything.
For sure we talked about Jesus and considered many things about "The Kingdom" - past, present and future.
I came away encouraged, and ready to press in another day.
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Friends are a good thing.

Does anyone know how to get rid of the big blank space above and move my blog to the top? It is really annoying me!
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This . . .
My neighbors have a tree limb in their yard. It might be more accurate to say a branch leaning toward a twig. My mom could easily pick it up.
The reason it is interesting is . . . that it has been there for about six weeks. The neighbors yard is neatly mowed and landscaped. The branch is easily seen from our kitchen sink window, so we see it and think of it often. When the person they hire, mows their yard, he always just moves the branch over a little and mows around it. I am interested to see whether it ever gets picked up and carried off, or just shrivels up and disintegrates. I think I'll put a nice red ribbon on it.
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That . . .
Holy Moley, Batman!
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This is That . . .
Take a moment to meditate on the word "Holy". What does that word mean? Can we choose to be holy? What makes something holy? What makes a place holy? What makes a people holy? How do you keep a day holy? Can we be holy like God is holy?
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Exodus 20:8
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Leviticus 19:2
You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.
Deuteronomy 14:2
For you are a holy people to the LORD your God
I Samuel 2:2
No one is holy like the LORD
Isaiah 6:3
And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!"
Habakkuk 2:20
But the LORD is in His holy temple.
I Peter 1:15
but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct
I Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation
Revelation 4:8
Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
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Three strikes and your out. Three holies, and your God. (I don't have a clue what that means, I just thought it and typed it).
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The Bible talks about the Holy Spirit, a holy thing, a holy day, a holy offering, holy garments, a holy place, a tithe that is holy to the Lord, holy water, a holy congregation, the Most Holy Place, the Holy One of Israel, His holy name, the holy hill of Zion, the Holy City, holy angels, a holy kiss, and alot more holies.
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Holy Cow!

This . . .
A little boy was watching his mother put cold cream on her face.
"Mommy, why are you putting that stuff on your face?", he asked.
"To make myself beautiful", she replied.
The little boy continued to watch and soon his mother began to take off the cold cream.
"Did you give up, mommy?
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That . . .
I got a "Holiday Greeting Card" catalog in the mail today. Out of around 300 choices, the word Christmas was used about twice and a manger scene maybe three times. There was one with a scripture verse on the front.
I googled "Christmas Cards" and found the top site offered about the same. One of the cards was labeled, "Christian Christmas Card". That is pathetic. Thankfully they didn't have any "Mooney Christmas Cards".
I am not going to belabor this, but may I suggest . . . if you are a Christian, and you send out Christmas cards, make it a card that will serve as a witness to what you believe about Jesus.
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This is That . . .
Why are we so afraid of offending someone by saying to them, "Jesus is the only way to heaven". It seems harsh to say, "Unless you receive Jesus as your saviour, you will go to hell when you die". I fear that we often let our brains fall out in the name of being open minded.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me". It is important for believers to boldly procaim the truth. Maybe imparative would be a better word.
I have said before that it is going to get harder and harder to sit on a fence and be lukewarm. If we cannot boldly confess Christ in our present "relatively unthreatening" circumstances, how do you think we might do in the face of much higher stakes? The good thing is, I think we will do better than we think.
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Now I am sitting here wondering whether or not I should click the publish button. Sometimes I offend myself, but I guess that is ok.
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Click.

This . . . The Ant and the Grasshopper
In a field one summer's day a Grasshopper was hopping about, chirping and singing to its heart's content. An Ant walked by, grunting as he carried a plump kernel of corn.
"Where are you off to with that heavy thing?" asked the Grasshopper.
Without stopping, the Ant replied, "To our ant hill. This is the third kernel I've delivered today."
"Why not come and sing with me," said the Grasshopper, "instead of working so hard?" "I am helping to store food for the winter," said the Ant, "and think you should do the same."
"Why bother about winter?" said the Grasshopper; "we have plenty of food right now."
But the Ant went on its way and continued its work.The weather soon turned cold. All the food lying in the field was covered with a thick white blanket of snow that even the grasshopper could not dig through. Soon the Grasshopper found itself dying of hunger.
He staggered to the ants' hill and saw them handing out corn from the stores they had collected in the summer.
Then the Grasshopper knew:
It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.
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That . . . The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins
Matthew 25
1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.
2 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.
3 Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them,
4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.
5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.
6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’
7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.
8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.
9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’
10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.
11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’
12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’
13 “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.
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This is That . . . Selah
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WOW! Pigs Won.
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http://www.extremeprophetic.com/videoplay.php?id=http://www.propheticmedia.net/video/video_tvshow/ep05_02_AbortionHIGH.wmv

This . . . Tiger lost it's cubs at birth and entered into a state of depression. It was feared that she would die if babies were not found for her to mother. No tigers available, only a litter of pigs. Mother and pigs are doing fine.
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That . . .
The nation of Israel failed in it's covenant relationship with the Lord and was scattered over many nations. The gentile church in history also failed and was scattered into thousands of denominations. Just as Israel has been re-gathering to it's inheritance in the natural, there is a spiritual re-gathering of the church to it's spiritual inheritance.
Rick Joiner
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Romans 11
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
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This is That . . .
The Jews returned to their land in 1948 and reclaimed Jerusalem and became the "Nation of Israel" again in 1967. They are beginning to understand that the only true friends they have on this earth are the Christians. They are regaining their sight. God is calling us to stand with his chosen people thru much trouble which lies ahead. When the fullness of the Gentiles comes in, all Israel will be saved. Then the Jews and the Gentiles will come together in unity and Jesus' prayer will be answered . . . "Father make them one as we are one."
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Sounds as unlikely as a mother tiger mothering a litter of pigs.

This . . .
Why is it so easy to get a rock in your sandal, but so hard to get it out?
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That . . .
No matter what kind of cards you are dealt in life, you musn't assume the victory is won or lost, for unseen things can cause defeat when victory seems sure or victory when defeat seems imminent. You may hold the A, K, Q, J, and 10 of hearts, or a pair of two's, a six, and a joker, but there is pride right before a fall and/or His mercies are new every morning.
In light of great cards, we must remain humble, display meekness and retain a poor spirit or in other words, know our need of God . . . or the house of cards we are standing on may come tumbling down.
When we are dealt really bad cards, we must lean not to our own understanding, but trust in God in all our ways and He will guide our paths. Believe God's word, trust His promises and know that His plans for us are good.
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Rash Hashanah (The Jewish New Year) was Saturday and Sunday, September 23 & 24.
Yom Kippur is tomorrow, Monday, October 2.
Sukkot (The Feast of Tabernacles) begins on Saturday, October 7 and ends on Sunday, October 15.