Signs of problems....

Ball games are better attended than Church services.
People would rather watch TV than study the Bible and pray.
People more concerned with today rather than eternity.
People put their trust in government rather than God.
People spend more time working out than exercising faith in God.
"Gay" marriage is okay and others just want to live together.
Death penalty is condemned but abortion is not.
People want others to pay higher taxes so they can receive more free services.
People are more concerned with themselves rather than the future of our children.
People would rather spend time on Facebook than helping their neighbor.
A political candidate is supported on party affiliation rather than character.
People put self-interest ahead of national interest.
People desire physical pleasure at expense of spiritual understanding.
People talk about God with their mouth and reject by their actions.
People turn to government in the face of natural disaster rather then God.
People would rather believe a lie than the truth.
Moral people are put down and immoral people are lifted up as good examples.
People are offended when challenged to consider where they will spend eternity.
People would rather believe they evolved from a monkey or slime rather than being created by God in His image.
Societies have problems around the world whether we want to admit it or not.

Earthquake reveals

Earthquake that hit east coast of USA revealed that very few were prepared, realized what was happening or really knew what to do during an earthquake. Good news was that the 5.8 quake damage was fairly minor and no building collapses that would have result in injuries and even deaths. All of those people who depend on the government to run their lives and bail them out of problems must also be shaken by revelation that government can not take care of your every need. The government not only did not warn citizens in advance of the quake but had not even put out information on what to do during or how to prepare for an earthquake.
Now USA east coast has been warned to prepare for major hurricane heading north toward it. So government stepped up to give warning, tell them what to do, guess they can only complain that government did not pay someone to come do their preparation for them.
Some people always want someone else to pay their bills and take care of them, they believe that government is all powerful and therefore they trust in the government for everything. Bad news is government is made up of people who tend to put their own self interest ahead of needs of the people. Those who have their minds turned off will never understand the nature of government control or its limited life span. The most important thing in life is to be prepared for the end of your life on this earth. The needed information with instructions are found in the Bible, check it out so you can be prepared for eternity.

Winning the game

The game of chess is an interesting game. The game should be studied and the rules followed. In order to do well at the game you must not only plan your moves in advance but also assess and thereby try to anticipate your opponents moves as well. You have to be willing to sacrifice some of your game pieces in order to accomplish the greater good of coming out ahead and winning the chess game. At times during the game it may appear that you are being badly beaten by your opponent as you have to sacrifice pieces as you attempt to secure control of the game board or lose pieces as you have to react to your opponents moves. A good chess player never loses sight of the ultimate goal of actually winning the game even if they have to lose all but a few game pieces in the process. The object is not to see how many game pieces you have at the end of game but to actually win the game.

Life has some similarities with the game of chess. To win in life you must plan ahead while anticipating opposition which will come in many forms and from many sources. The object at the end of your life is not to see how much you have accumulated during your journey through this life. The object is to be accepted by God and allowed to spend eternity with Him. To win you must know the rules and be willing to face opposition which usually will mean having less than others who are going through life without any plan or concern about the final result. It is always easier to float downstream than to row upstream against the current but to get upstream you must put in the necessary effort to actually get upstream.
To win at life you must know the rules which have been provided by God in the Bible. You must be willing to change your plans to line up with the requirements laid out by God in the Bible and realize it is not how much you have accumulated at the end but where you end up spending eternity that determines whether you have won or lost. Losing at chess is no big deal but losing at life is the ultimate loss that can not be overcome. Plan well and be willing to face opposition and suffer temporary losses remembering the object is to spend eternity with God which is the final victory.

Powder keg

Europe has become a powder keg with a short fuse. People have grown dependent on government handouts to point of pushing their nations to financial ruin. When anyone in government moves to stop the financial suicide there is violence in the streets from those who have become slaves to government taking care of them. Whether in England, Greece, Spain or elsewhere the people look for an excuse to riot and loot to speed up the transfer of goods from those who are willing to work to get ahead and prop up their society inspite of government barriers. The people have come to believe in evolution so much that they have been living and acting like animals for to long. The evidence is overwhelming as you look at the percentage of unmarried people using various bc methods and abortions to handle the children who would not increase their government subsidy. Marriage and strong family ties are dying along with even common morality. The people have grown lazy and immoral which always tends to pair up when people no longer what to retain God in their knowledge. Any nation who refuses to acknowledge and seek God will have wisdom, knowledge and understanding forsake their land. The law of the harvest has not changed, you reap what you have sown. Even seeing this the USA is tracking down the same pathway. But even in dark times there is hope for those who will seek God and allow Him to change them through repentance and faith in His son Jesus the Christ. Seek Him while there is still time for the hour grows late.

Searching

Listen for wisdom and let your desire be to understand and obtain discernment. Look for wisdom as if searching for gold and silver or other hidden treasure. You will know when wisdom has been found when you understand reverential awe of the Lord and find true knowledge of God. The Lord God gives wisdom and from His word we receive knowledge and understanding. God reserves sound wisdom and discernment for the righteous and those who guard the pathway of justice. Discretion will keep you from shame. Understanding will deliver you from the way of evil and the perverse immoral speech of those who do not know God. May you always seek to Know and honor God through His son Jesus the Christ.

The World we live in

Ever wonder what is happening to this world we live in.
The powerful use their power to put down the weak so they can maintain their power.
The rich are willing to lie, cheat and deceive in order to stay rich.
The famous are willing to sell their soul to remain in the public spotlight.
The politicians are willing to tell you anything they think you want to hear in order to retain their elected position.
The obese are willing to deny the facts rather than admit they are addicted to eating.
The liar would rather lie than accept responsibility for their actions.
The poor are willing to accept handouts rather than putting forth the effort needed to improve their circumstances.
The self-centered are willing to harm others rather than care about them.
The homosexuals create lies and spread hate rather than acknowledge their choice to sin is the real problem.
The enablers will excuse the destructive actions of others rather than investing the time and effort required to help them break free of their bondage.
The weak-minded will always follow the PC crowd rather than think for themselves.

Now is it really any wonder our world and culture is in such poor condition.
What do you do when the lights go out....curse the darkness or work to restore the light.
Jesus is the Light of the world and those who walk in the Light must be willing to be reflectors of that Light so that others may find their way. The only hope of real change for our world is that person by person the choice is made to repent of our sin and allow God to change us from the inside out.

Plans...

Got any plans for today? What are they?
How about any plans for tomorrow.
Made plans for next week and ready to roll.
Made your plans or at least started to plan for Christmas.
Plans and goals for next year in place yet.
What about 5 years from now what are you planning.
20 years from now what have you got lined up as to what you plan on doing and goals reached.
After retirement got your plans lined up and prepared to implement.
Okay so far so good right....
Now for the next plan have you prepared for your death.. life insurance, funeral arrangements and burial ready.
Now the most important of all plans, have you planned for your future after your funeral?
You will spend maybe as much as 100 years on this earth that you planned for but what about eternity. Did you plan and are you prepared to live forever with God in Heaven.
Or have you dismissed the need to prepare for eternity and just planning to accept the default location and hope it is not to bad.
The choice to plan or not is yours but remember you will be where you have prepared for in your planning forever.
Plan Well!

Past, Present, Future...

Our present is primarily the result of our past decisions. The choices we make in the present will affect our future. If we do not like how things are going for us in the present then we need to learn from our past decisions which resulted in the things we do not like in the present. Many have taken the path of least resistance, going along with the crowd and the culture. When we look in the wrong place for direction we limit how satisfied we will be with our future. If we make excuses for our past circumstances or try to blame others than our future will be no better than the present.
To have a different future we need to change our present actions, relationships, thought process and make decisions that history has shown to work so there will be no reason for future excuses. It will take time and there are no easy fixes to overcome the poor decisions of the past. We have to change direction while still hindered by our past. With time the harvest of past decisions will diminish. Be patient for in due time present decisions will overcome those of the past. Then we will be on track for a changed future. But a lot of past good can also be overcome by poor decisions in the present.
Commit to change the future with divine help and Godly counsel in the present which will overcome past choices. Remember it will not be quick and amount of time needed will be dependent on how far off the past decisions were. As long as there is life there is hope. The path to a better future begins with a personal relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ today.

There is Hope

Serious health issues battle.....There is Hope.
On the verge of becoming homeless.....There is Hope.
Martial strife and stress overwhelming.....There is Hope.
Children out of control and headed for crash.....There is Hope.
Unemployed and no job prospects in sight.....There is Hope.
Medical bills crushing you.....There is Hope.
Life full of turmoil.....There is Hope.
No joy or peace.....There is Hope.
Drowning in debt with no way out.....There is Hope.
Addicted to alcohol.....There is Hope.
Addicted to other drugs.....There is Hope.
Gambling controlling your life.....There is Hope.
Lust for power, sex, or money controlling your thoughts.....There is Hope.
More expenses than income weighing you down.....There is Hope.
Single and feeling all alone.....There is Hope.
No friends and no one to care about.....There is Hope.
Feeling down or depressed.....There is Hope.
Believe you are worthless or not appreciated.....There is Hope.
Do not care about anything anymore.....There is Hope.
Fearful about your future.....There is Hope.
Tired of things not working out as planned.....There is Hope.
Lost your best friend.....There is Hope.
Having trouble coping with life.....There is Hope.
Feel all is lost.....There is Hope.
Your problem is______________.....There is Hope.

No matter what you face in life there is Hope. The key is to know where real Hope comes from. Real Hope comes from having a personal relationship with God through His son Jesus the Christ. It is both a simple matter but also a difficult thing. Simple because Jesus died to pay the price for your sin so you can be changed from the inside out and be given strength, joy, peace, wisdom with light for your journey through life. Difficult because you have to repent of your sin and by faith accept that God loves you and His son Jesus died and rose from the dead to set you free from the bondage of your sin nature. One born blind can not fully understand sight until their eyes are able to see.
Open the Bible and start reading in the book of John. Ask God to open your eyes that you might have faith to accept the Truth of who He is and allow Him to set you free.

Latest evidence

Wisdom and commonsense are getting more and more difficult to find. Latest evidence of same comes from a recent court case in Florida. Two year old child's decomposed body is found in swamp after being missing for over 6 months. The child was not looked for or reported missing until more than 4 weeks after last being seen. Even then it was not the mother of child who reported the two year old was missing but the grandmother. What was the mother doing you might ask, well she was out partying, clubbing, getting tattoos and lying to police each time she was questioned by police as to where her 2 year old daughter was. After the child's decomposed body was found in the swamp the mother was arrested and finally tried for the death of the child.
The lawyers representing the mother threw out all kinds of garbage and speculation to earn their pay. When the case was finished not one of the 12 jurors voted to convict the mother for the death of her little 2 year old daughter. They justify their decision by saying the death of the child might have been an accident and that the evidence presented did not prove exactly how the child died. Now think about that reasoning, they in effect thought the death might have been an accident set up to look like a murder. The police will be quick to tell you that many a murder has been set up to look like an accident, but never an innocent person staging an accident to make them look like a murderer. Now think about the 'well evidence was not clear on how the child was killed'. It was clear that the child was dead what difference does it make if they were suffocated, stabbed, beat or shot multiple times. Dead is dead and the only difference is how much pain they might have endured before dying.
Now the other evidence is the response by legal community and many in media as well as some in general public. The jurors and legal process are defended based on points of law and how they must prevail in our great judicial system. However think about this, how great can any judicial system be when justice is not the main object in every case nor is it the desired goal.