on the lighter side; political; prayer requests and answered prayers; religious @ 24 Feb 2009 02:10 pm by DrBill
Dear friends and family:
First, some random political thoughts:
The Economy… Now math was not my strong suit, it was Marilyn’s and Rand’s; science was mine and Dan’s, and the arts Tim and David, with plenty of overlap on all fronts. That being said, it seems to me that when you add a stimulus bill of about 800 billion, to a deficit of about 700 billion you get a deficit of about 1.5 trillion (give or take a billion or so). Now when the president says he wants to cut the budget in half by the time his first tenure is complete, next four years, the press acts like he is a genius. Is it just me or can’t people see that he has already doubled it and all he plans to do is return to the original deficit? That is not cutting it in half. Cutting it in half would be to reduce it to about 350 billion… you know, give or take.
Breaking News: What is going on with the VP and his family?
From Reuters: “A fund of hedge funds run by two members of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden’s family was marketed exclusively by firms controlled by Texas financier Allen Stanford, charged by regulators with an $8 billion fraud, the Wall Street Journal said.
The $50 million fund was jointly branded between the Bidens’ Paradigm Global Advisors LLC and a Stanford Financial Group entity, and was known as the Paradigm Stanford Capital Management Core Alternative Fund, the paper said.”
Hold on tight for more on this story and the close ties with Stanford and the Democratic Party. Can you remember the last VP to be involved in financial scandal? Wasn’t it Spiro Agnew and didn’t he resign? Can you remember the treatment Cheney was given because of his ties to Halliburton or Neil Bush because of the Savings Bank Scandal? But don’t hold your breath because this is the ‘free press’ which never holds the feet of Democrats to the fire. If they did would Blagojevich still be unindicted, Rangel still be in Congress and the Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, and Timothy Geithner be Sec. of the Treasury?
Not a natural disaster, but the mess in Washington Mall after Inaugural Celebration created by Obama supporters (some kind of environmentalists!)
That reminds me, why hasn’t former Governor Blagojevich yet been indited?
Can it be that Democratic Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has lost his lust for victory when he realized that the Blagojevich scandal may reach all the way to the White House? Since Blogo and the President both come out of the Chicago Machine, could it be Blogo actually does know where ‘the bodies are buried’ and an indictment would reveal dirt on President Obama? And finally, where has Democrat Patrick Fitzgerald’s prosecutorial vigor gone? Is this the same ‘pit bull’ we witnessed go for the jugular, when Vice President Cheney and Scooter Libby were in the cross hairs?
NRA Warning:
That bastion of civility, the State of Illinois, is said to be flirting with the requirement of a liability insurance policy for gun owners. They would have to carry two separate policies, one for accidental discharge, and one for self defense, according to Fox News. The NRA states that not only would the policies be extremely expensive, but there are virtually no underwriters to date.
Before we list our prayer requests, consider that today is Ash Wednesday. Take a moment to sacrifice something, even if it is symbolic, for Lent, and fasting a meal or two a week to improve our prayer life. Remember Jesus did not say IF you fast and pray, He said WHEN you fast and pray.
Prayer Requests and Updates:
Praise:
Alberto and Anna – Anna did have her baby (C-section) on Valentines Day and all is well with Mom and daughter (Sophie). Alberto is on new medications and likely it was allergies and not an auto-immune disease.
Good friend Ken’s son-in-law (Katie) has been hospitalized with pneumonia and is recovering.
Son Dan received the accommodations for our grandson Scott, his promotion, and accomplishments. Once again, our pride, congratulations, and prayers. Hard to believe I have a married grandson who is a Marine!
Prayer Requests and Updates:
< Niece Rhonda in hospital for infection, please pray.
My good friend and prayer partner Bill M (Congestive heart failure) is at his daughter's home recovering. They still have to do more testing on his liver. He will be receiving a new pace maker and is still weak. He can only be reached by dialing his home phone number (he is still with his daughter but it will ring there).
No news on our cousin, Pastor Sam, and his diagnosis of prostate cancer. Please continue to pray for guidance and healing.
Friend Norm is having hernia surgery on Friday.
Former patient and good friend, Mary C. was just diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. No update, please continue to pray.
Mary-Ann, who is 44 has been undergoing some medical tests and at the moment the probability of lung cancer seems great- no update.
Pastor Mark’s wife - breast cancer
Barbara - substance abuse
Keith - mental illness
Friend and Christian mentor, Jim F - no update...
Brother Les is about the same. The burden is heavy. Please keep Val and Les both in prayer.
Transplants: Good Friend Keith - liver, Brother Pat - liver; Good Friend Jim - kidney … please keep praying for their well being.
My friend and personal physician Dr Hal P. passed away recently, continue to pray for his family.
Sister Jane, Cousins Janet and Karen for strength. All suffering from MS.
Unity for our family
Tolerance, Christ’s Love, and Understanding for our families, friends, and enemies
Newlyweds: Son Rand and wife Erin, niece Cassy and husband Tom, niece Julia and Steve, and grandson Scott and Chelsa for long happy and prosperous relationships centered on our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
Bonnie Erbie (author accusing Christians of being knuckle draggers), prayer for salvation.
Pray for wisdom and spiritual guidance in rearing children for our family as well as the renewal of the nuclear family; pray that marriage stays as one man, one woman, but rights are extended to same gender unions.
Pray for our troops each evening at 9:00 pm. every night … pray that America wakes up to evil before it is too late (thank you Pres. Obama for stressing this fact in your Inaugural Address).
Nephews John and Ryan – Ryan in Iraq and John in Virginia (both in the Navy)and grandson Scott who is a Marine
Prayer partners Bill, John, and Ron … for continued blessings
Please continue to pray for health issues for five of our nieces, sister Jane, and Marilyn.
Pastors: Dan, John, Tom, Lyell, Steve D, Ben, Estes, Gail, Sam, Whittikers, Neil, and Steve T for their ministries, ease of stress, and courage to spread the gospel; wisdom for all leadership at Yates, Greater Toledo 1st Baptist, Clermont Baptist.
Clermont Sunday School:
Kevin L needs a closer walk with the Lord.
Vicki’s sister Gina will have medical tests this week.
Chuck D will have hip joint replacement surgery on March 4.
Jobs for Ron G, Bob S and Wanda S.
Garry S asked us to pray that his school registration will go up for next year.
Charlie Mae B’s sister came home from the hospital. Charlie Mae will be flying to New York on Friday to help her for a couple of weeks. Pray for safety and healing.
Ned and Kathy M’s friends Judy and Dr. S have needs.
Prayer for Cindy, daughter of Jan & Dave H – mass on her breast. They lost one of their daughters a few years ago to breast cancer.
Traveling mercies for Chris, Wayne, Donna and Bill.
Dave, Bill, and Marilyn were ill today.
Pray for families to embrace their purpose
Laura – Jack and Linda’s daughter to get back in fellowship with God & his people.
Daphne’s grandson 14 year old Janoy, unspoken request.
Becky & Herb’s grandson with ADHD.
Pray for those who have unspoken prayers. And for our Sunday School teachers .
Lighter Side:
Marilyn… So You Think You Had a Bad Day Well Then, Consider These:
In a hospital’s Intensive Care Unit, patients always died in the same bed, on Sunday morning, at about 11:00 am , regardless of their medical condition. This puzzled the doctors and some even thought it had something to do with the super natural. No one could solve the mystery as to why the deaths occurred around 11:00 am Sunday, so a worldwide team of experts was assembled to investigate the cause of the incidents. The next Sunday morning, a few minutes before 11:00 am all of the doctors and nurses nervously waited outside the ward to see for themselves what the terrible phenomenon was all about. Some were holding wooden crosses, prayer books, and other holy objects to ward off the evil spirits. Just when the clock struck 11:00, Pookie Johnson, the part-time Sunday sweeper, entered the ward and unplugged the life support system so he could use the vacuum cleaner.
The average cost of rehabilitating a seal after the Exxon Valdez Oil spill in Alaska was $80,000.00. At a special ceremony, two of the most expensively saved animals were being released back into the wild amid cheers and applause from onlookers. A minute later, in full view, a killer whale ate them both.
A woman came home to find her husband in the kitchen shaking frantically, almost in a dancing frenzy, with some kind of wire running from his waist towards the electric kettle. Intending to jolt him away from the deadly current, she whacked him with a handy plank of wood, breaking his arm in two places. Up to that moment, he had been happily listening to his Walkman.
Two animal rights defenders were protesting the cruelty of sending pigs to a slaughterhouse in Bonn , Germany . Suddenly, all two thousand pigs broke loose and escaped through a broken fence, stampeding madly. The two helpless protesters were trampled to death.
Iraqi terrorist Khay Rahnajet didn’t pay enough postage on a letter bomb.
It came back with ‘Return to Sender’ stamped on it. Forgetting it was the bomb, he opened it and was blown to bits. God is Good!
Richard with some Biblical Humor:
LOT’S WIFE
The Sunday School teacher was describing how Lot’s wife looked back and
turned into a pillar of salt, when little Jason interrupted, ‘My Mommy looked
back once while she was driving,’ he announced triumphantly, ‘and she turned
into a telephone pole!’
GOOD SAMARITAN
A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good
Samaritan. She asked the class, ‘If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all
wounded and bleeding, what would you do?’
A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence,
‘I think I’d throw up.’
DID NOAH FISH?
A Sunday school teacher asked, ‘Johnny, do you think Noah did a lot of
fishing when he was on the Ark ?’
‘No,’ replied Johnny. ‘How could he, with just two worms.’
HIGHER POWER
A Sunday school teacher said to her children, ‘We have been learning how
powerful kings and queens were in Bible times. But, there is a Higher Power.
Can anybody tell me what it is?’ One child blurted out, ‘Aces!’
MOSES AND THE RED SEA
Nine-year-old Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday
School.
‘Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a
rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt When he got to the Red
Sea , he had his army build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across
safely. Then he radioed headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers
to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.’ ‘Now, Joey, is
that really what your teacher taught you?’ his mother asked ‘Well, no,
Mom.. But, if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!’
THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD
A Sunday School teacher decided to have her young class memorize one of the
most quoted passages in the Bible – Psalm 23. She gave the youngsters a
month to learn the chapter. Little Rick was excited about the task – but he
just couldn’t remember the Psalm. After much practice, he could barely get
past the first line.
On the day that the kids were scheduled to recite Psalm 23 in front of the
congregation, Ricky was so nervous. When it was his turn, he stepped up to
the microphone and said proudly, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd, and that’s all I
need to know.’
UNANSWERED PRAYER
The preacher’s 5 year-old daughter noticed that her father always paused
and bowed his head for a moment before starting his sermon. One day, she asked
him why.
‘Well, Honey,’ he began, proud that his daughter was so observant of his
messages. Im asking the Lord to help me preach a good sermon.’
With the brutal honesty of kids, she asked ‘How come He doesn’t answer it?’
UNTIMELY ANSWERED PRAYER
During the minister’s prayer one Sunday, there was a loud whistle from one
of the back pews. Tommy’s mother was horrified. She pinched him into silence
and, after church, asked, ‘Tommy, whatever made you do such a thing?’
Tommy answered, soberly, ‘I asked God to teach me to whistle, and He did!’
TIME TO PRAY
A pastor asked a little boy if he said his prayers every night.
‘Yes, sir,’ the boy replied.
‘And, do you always say them in the morning, too?’ the pastor asked.
‘No sir,’ the boy replied. ‘I ain’t scared in the daytime.’
ALL MEN / ALL GIRLS
When my daughter, Kelli, said her bedtime prayers, she would bless every
family member, every friend, and every animal (current and past).
For several weeks, after we had finished the nightly prayer, Kelli would
say, ‘And all girls.’
This soon became part of her nightly routine, to include this closing. My
curiosity got the best of me and I asked her, ‘Kelli, why do you always add
the part about all girls?’
Her response, ‘Because everybody always finish their prayers by saying ‘All
Men’!’
SAY A PRAYER
Little Johnny and his family were having Sunday dinner at his
Grandmother’s house. Everyone was seated around the table as the food was being served.
When Little Johnny received his plate, he started eating right away.
‘Johnny! Please wait until we say our prayer.’ said his mother. ‘I don’t need
to,’ the boy replied. ‘Of course, you do,’ his mother insisted. ‘We always
say a prayer before eating at our house.’
‘That’s at our house,’ Johnny explained. ‘But this is Grandma’s house and
she knows how to cook!’
BEING THANKFUL
A Rabbi said to a precocious six-year-old boy, ‘So your mother says your
prayers for you each night? That’s very commendable. What does she say?’
The little boy replied sadly, ‘Thank God he’s in bed!’
Finally a reminder, should you wish to understand what is happening on the political scene read: The Rules of Saul Alinsky from “Rules for Radicals” the book from which our President condones and is a expert (he taught from this book):
1. “Power is not only what you have, but what the enemy thinks you have.”
2. “Never go outside the expertise of your people. When an action or tactic is outside the experience of the people, the result is confusion, fear and retreat…. [and] the collapse of communication.
3. “Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy. Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty. (This happens all the time. Watch how many organizations under attack are blind-sided by seemingly irrelevant arguments that they are then forced to address.)
4. “Make the enemy live up to its own book of rules. You can kill them with this, for they can no more obey their own rules than the Christian church can live up to Christianity.”
5. “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. It is almost impossible to counteract ridicule. Also it infuriates the opposition, which then reacts to your advantage.”
6. “A good tactic is one your people enjoy.”
7. “A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. Man can sustain militant interest in any issue for only a limited time….”
8. “Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose.”
9. “The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself.”
10. “The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. It is this unceasing pressure that results in the reactions from the opposition that are essential for the success of the campaign.”
11. “If you push a negative hard and deep enough, it will break through into its counter side… every positive has its negative.”
12. “The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative.”
13. Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. In conflict tactics there are certain rules that [should be regarded] as universalities. One is that the opposition must be singled out as the target and ‘frozen.’… When you’re ‘freeze the target,’ you disregard these [rational but distracting] arguments and carry out your attack…. One acts decisively only in the conviction that all the angels are on one side and all the devils on the other.
Be Blessed and Be a Blessing,
Dr B