Sleepin' for Lester Barrett

This . . .
Why did the chicken cross the road?
Because some goofball built a million dollar bridge.
.
I spent the week-end selling t-shirts and
photographing a girls softball state tournament.
8 yrs old thru 16 yrs old. 32 teams.
A lot of girls. Really hot.
Go to http://www.taylorjamesdesign.com/
and click event login to see about 5,000 action photos.
The 8 year olds were particularly impressive.
They use a pitching machine.
One third base girl could continuely throw people out at first base.
One time the bases were loaded with no outs.
The batter hit a pop up to third.
Everyone ran. This third base girl caught the ball,
stepped on third (two outs) then threw the ball to first.
The runner got back by a half a step.
Almost an eight year old triple play.
.
That . . .
Back in high school, I drove a tractor one summer
for a farmer (Lester Barrett) in western Kansas.
There were two tractors, I drove one and
an old farmer guy drove the other one.
He didn't talk much. Mostly just one word at a time.
First thing each day, "Morning".
When we would stop he would say,
"Hot", or sometimes, "Dirty" depending
on which he was thinking about the most.
As one tractor goes around it has a disc that
makes a mark for the other tractor to follow.
You just keep your right tire on that mark and all is good.
One morning I went to sleep and drove off into the middle of nowhere.
I woke up and got back in line,
but no way to hide this from the other guy.
When we stopped for lunch he asked, "Sleepin'?"
.
This is That . . .
Jesus?

It's ALL about ISRAEL

This . . .
Israel is 280 miles long and 70 miles wide.
The land has forests, green valleys, deserts,
fertile farm land, and a mountain range.
.
The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth.
The Jordan river, where Jesus and many
others were baptized, flows into the Dead Sea.
There is no life in the Dead Sea.
.
About 6 million Jews were killed in the holocaust.
About 6 million Jews live in Israel.
About 6 million Jews live in the USA.
There are about 17 million Jews worldwide
.
That . . .
586 BC
The kingdom of Israel conquered by the Babylonians.
538 - 333 BC
Exiled Jews return to land and build 2nd Temple.
0 - 70 AD
Life, death and resurection of Jesus.
Apostles, Pentecost, early church.
70 AD
Roman army conquers Jerusalem.
Jewish people exiled and dispersed.
Temple destroyed.
May 14, 1948
After almost 2,000 years,
State of Israel becomes a nation again.
1967
Arab armies threaten to annialate Israel.
Against impossible odds,
Israel is victorious in six day war.
Israel occupies Sinai desert, the Gaza Strip,
the Golan Heights and the West Bank.
Jews return to Judea and Samaria which was
part of Biblical Israel.
.
This is That . . .
Romans 11
God has not forgotten the Jews or the land of Israel
It's all about Israel and the Jews.
The Jews have had and have a blindness to who Jesus is.
.
Gentile believers have been carrying the spread of the Gospel,
but the Jews are still God's primary chosen people.
Jews and non-Jewish believers in Yashewa will eventually come into unity.
At the return of Jesus, all living Jews will be saved.
All the nations will gather to Israel to war against
Jesus, Israel and raptured believers.
Jesus wins.
The earth is cleansed from sin as
Jesus rules the world from Jerusalem.
.
"What in the world is going on?"
God is after his people.
.

Working On It

This . . .
What if some big "in charge of TV guy" called
you up and offered you the opportunity to speak
to the whole world for one hour on TV.
What would you say?
What if you were the editor of the world
newspaper for just one week.
What would you publish?
.
That . . .
What if you had an opportunity to talk to
just one person, for just a little while?
.
This is That . . .
I'm not sure either, but I'm working on it.

Jesus - You're My Idol

This . . .
I didn't watch American Idol this year.
But I have to admit that a Christian worship leader
from Conway got my attention . . .
and so I watched last night and tonight.
.
That . . .
The world is very tempting, very talented, very enticing.
KISS, Santana and Black Magic Woman.
Lucifer was the head musician (worship leader)
in heaven before his fall.
He has imparted much to the enemy camp.
Who can endure?
.
This is That . . .
Watching American "Idol" seemed like a prophetic
picture of what's going on in the world.
The battle is raging.
Judgement is coming.
Sin is on the rise and on the way to coming to fullness.
Unity, perfection, and
the full power of God are coming.
God is raising up an army of love sick worshipers.
God is very merciful, loving and kind.
Both in His judgements and His blessings.
Wholeheartedness is required.
This is no time time to sit back,
back off or turn on the cruise control.
Don't back off, press in.
Prayer matters.
So pray.
.
We are NOT the champions.
God is the Champion . . .
The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.
In the end . . . JESUS wins.
.

Wrong is Wrong

This . . .
I saw this story in the Arkansas Democract this week.
Jermaine Cooper led officers on a 90-mph chase
before stopping suddenly at a Taco Bell in an
unsuccesful attempt to get a burrito before
going to jail.
.
That . . .
Here is the "James" recipe for bacon spaghetti.
Cook the spaghetti, it's too crunchy raw.
Fry up some diced bacon and then add
a diced up onion. Drain the grease.
Add tomato sauce and season however.
It doesn't hurt to add a little water
if the sauce is too thick.
Add tobasco sauce and you're good to go.
.
This is That . . .
President Obama had this to say about abortion.
"Sometimes we need to just agree to disagree."
What?
We need to agree to disagree that killing babies is OK?
We can agree to disagree about what kind of spaghetti
sauce is best, or which green shirt goes best with the
yellow pants, but abortion is in the right or wrong
category and we cannot agree
that a wrong thing is right.
.
I heard this conversation on the news this week.
Liberal: "Since you think waterboarding is OK,
how would you like to be waterboarded?"
Conservative: Since you think abortion is OK,
how would you like to be aborted?"
.

Don't Not Know This Is That

This . . .
I saw a guy walking two rats this morning.
Let me tell you, these were some big rats . . .
almost as big as dogs.
.
That . . .
I just got back
from photographing a 1949 Class Reunion.
Not very many were in attendance.
I was waiting for the go ahead and noticed the
lady in charge carefully counting the class members.
I waited til she had finished and then asked,
"How many are here?"
She immediately turned around
and started counting again.
.
This is That . . .
"It doesn't matter much to me whether Jesus
comes back before the tribulation (pre-trib) or if
he comes back at the end of the tribulation (post-trib).
I know it will work out in the end."
.
This sounds right, sounds good and seems wise.
But I believe,
this attitude is wrong, bad and not wise at all.
Please pray this prayer . . .
"God, WAKE ME UP!"
.
We are in the generation of the Lord's return.
It is a BIG thing. Bigger than Abraham's adventures;
Bigger than Moses leading God's people out of Egypt.
Even bigger than Jesus' first coming.
The end of this age will be more "Earth Shaking"
than the beginning.
.
Jesus is coming back to Jerusalem
as a Jewish man to be King of the earth.
You might want to read that again.
The present leadership of the earth will be out.
Jesus will be in.
At his return, everything will change.
The rulers of all the nations who are not
believers in Jesus will be tossed out and killed.
(They won't be happy about this.)
The dead in Christ will be raised and given resurrection
bodies along with all the living believers.
We aren't going to heaven, heaven is coming to earth.
The bride of Christ will live in the New Jerusalem . . .
the place Jesus has prepared for us.
We will be joint heirs and rule with Him for a
1000 years in the millennium.
I believe it will really get good after that.
.
This transition has already begun.
The pieces have been being put in place
since the fall in the garden.
This IS what God is doing.
This is the gospel that we share.
This is why people need to repent and be saved.
When tribulation escalades into the
GREAT TRIBULATION
believers need to know and understand what is
happening, and trumpet to all on the earth the truth
of God's sovereign intent to cleanse the earth of sin.
He will use the least amount of trouble possible,
to bring the greatest number of people,
to the deepest level of love,
without violating their free will.
.
Don't cast the knowledge of eschatology aside.
People get ready. Jesus is coming.
.

Cast out Stupidity

.
This . . .
When you're driving down the road in your car,
do your tires turn clockwise or counter-clockwise?
.
Which is worse?
Getting peanut butter in the jelly;
getting jelly in the peanut butter;
or licking the knife in between?
.
That . . .
I photographed a wedding today.
The groom was not very big, and not very tall.
The bride was considerably taller and fairly buxom.
So the preacher says to the groom,
"Turn towards your bride, and look her in the eyes.
"No, no, . . . her eyes, her EYES!"
.
This is That . . .
What we have in the world today,
is a considerable amount of stupidity.
It would be more accurate to say,
that there is an epidemic of deception.
I hear some people talk and I think,
"What is wrong with their brains?"
No, really, I can't figure out
how they can be so completely idiotic.
People who call the truth a lie,
and believe that lies are true.
People who think a tea party is a terrible thing.
People who see nothing wrong with
killing babies, but get very upset at the
thought of mistreating a whale.
People who embrace immorality and feel good about it.
People who believe Christianity
is the problem, not the solution.
Between the deception and the truth
is all this gray area which just makes
stupidity look less stupid, and more scarey.
So, what meanest thou this?
Satan is raging, but so is God.
Sin is on track to come into fullness while
believers in Jesus are on track to come into perfection.
The light of the Word of God is getting brighter,
while darkness is getting darker and darker,
causing those in the shade to be more and more
decieved, and in need of a Saviour.
There is still time to pray, still time to tell,
still time to cast out the darkness and be salt and light.
God, set us on fire with love for you,
and empower us to do and be all that you desire.
We cast out deception and speak forth light and truth.
Help us God, Amen.