America - Home of the . . . ?

I grew up with the slogan that America was the "land of the free and the home of the brave". This statement is a foundation of this country for one basic reason: WE NEVER GIVE UP! The USA was founded upon Biblical principles embedded in the Declaration and the Constitution.

How many movies and documentaries have you seen where the enemy is closing in but we "never give up" and triumph in the end. We have faith in our God and in the country He gave us. We stand strong as proud Americans in the free world BUT there is now a strong underlying move to drastically change this country.

Do remember or maybe you never heard of the short concept of putting a frog in hot water and watch him immediately jump out. He recognized the danger but put a frog in cold water and slowly turn up the heat and he will become comfortable until he is dead. This what is starting to happen in America. It blows me away that the term "SOCIALISM" is even being discussed to change our country! Socialism is anti-democracy. It is also anti-God. Are we being put into a slow cooker of cold water waiting for the heat to come up? Well, I think the heat is starting to rise with candidates running as DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS"!

Where are the brave in this country? Yes, there are the first responders and our brave military but I am referring to the people of this country who need to get out and voice their opinion in the voting booth!

After watching Nancy Pelosi last night tear up Trump's speech in angry defiance shows exactly what we as a country are facing. These people don't want a free country. They have so much hatred for President Trump, it is blinding them. The Democratic Party is not the party I am familiar with of years ago. They have become a radical leftists group. Now is the time that we stand up for what is right in this country by VOTING!!! It appears that Trump will win the election but we can't be lazy and assume he will win and not show up at the polls.

This is a great country and we need to keep America great! Since I now have an online store, I custom design products and here are a few with respect to showing our pride. www.chaplainbobstore.com

MY STORE!

A couple of months ago I was reading the news feed on my Facebook when I saw an AD from a printing company. Usually, I just skim over all ADs unless they express things for graphics or video editing. Well, this day I was scrolling when this AD shows up and caught my attention. So, I decided to check it out and see what they were promoting.

As I was reading the material and watching their video, I was thinking this looked pretty easy. They were explaining how to start a business in "printing on demand" which I had never heard of before. I have been involved in graphic layout work for about 30 years covering all types of printing from business cards to billboards. So spent some time reviewing all the material but wasn't sure if I could do this when God reminded me of Pastor Ron Carpenter teaching from 2 Kings 4: 1-7. This scripture was talking about the widow woman and her 2 sons going to the prophet Elisha. She told the prophet how her creditor was coming to take her 2 boys as slaves because she was in debt. Elisha told her to get all these jars and
fill them with oil and sell them to get out of debt. Basically, the concept Ron Carpenter was teaching was to use whatever talent you have that God gave to make money to live on. Use whatever you have at hand. Money doesn't flow out of the sky but God gave us talents to use for His glory.

That's how it started. That scripture the Lord showed me said to use my graphic design ability to bring in more income. I live on a pension and it's always tight each month. I prayed and began to learn what I needed to do to get started. After several weeks of reading and watching training videos, I set up my online store. I chose what items I wanted to promote and began creating graphics for those items.

Today I have 'THE CHAPLAINBOBSTORE". Much prayer is going into it and I am standing on God's word that I will bring in serious income. I have a vision and I'm going with it! Check it out!
www.chaplainbobstore.com

My First Book!

I am so excited that I have written my first book! It's called, "PUT YOUR HANDS UP! AN ARREST WARRANT FROM GOD". It's my personal testimony about how I went from being an atheist cop to a Christian cop. The concept of the book is to show what type of environment I grew up in and how God brought me through circumstances to the point where finally someone approached me to tell me about Jesus.

We live in a world that is growing slowly away from God as the Bible had predicted  My home life was void of any Godly influence especially since my father was a German atheist! But my mother was an Irish Catholic! I can't explain that one! I won't go into it here basically because I want you to buy the book! The goal was not to make money but to get my testimony out as Jesus told us to do.

God created us with the ability of free choice and along with that attribute comes the ability to be influenced either by choice or by no choice. No choice doesn't mean to be forcefully influenced but influenced in a way that you might not be aware of. Just watching TV can influence you. Years ago there was a situation called "subliminal advertising" which is now illegal where movie theatres could put one frame of a picture of a particular refreshment they were selling in one frame of the film. Your eye couldn't see it but your mind did! It would make people thirsty or hungry where they then would go out to the lobby and buy the items! It still might be used in different places today.

But the point that I'm trying to make is that we are influenced, good and bad, and that influence will eventually show up in our lives. That is what happened to me. I was influenced by my father, school, the NAVY and college to believe that there was no God. So pick up the book and try to get it to someone who does not have a relationship with Jesus. Let the book influence someone! It is sold on Amazon right now. $9.99 won't break the bank! Here's a link to Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/s?k=put+your+hands+up+an+arrest+warrant+from+god&i=stripbooks&crid=SXM05WL5Z52F&sprefix=put+your+hands%2Caps%2C157&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_14

30 DAYS TO LIVE

Sometimes in life events come our way that get us to open our eyes. These events are sometimes called "Life Altering". No one is immune to them and if you're not in one now, rest assured one will be coming your way. Jesus said that these events would come and that we must trust in him to either get us out of the event or that he would go through it with us to get us to the end. When these events come, the best case scenario for us is to gain wisdom and grow stronger for the next time.

But suppose there won't be a "next time"? What if you went to your doctor for a checkup, he takes a blood sample and then sends you home. A couple of days later you get a call from the doctor's office for you to come in to see him review your lab results. Instead of getting the general good report from him he tells you that you have a very bad situation and that you probably only have 30 days to live and there is no cure!

After being picked up off the floor from the shock of the report, you head home in despair having not exactly prepared for such a report. So now, what do you do? There are a lot of choices you can make and roads that you can go down but really then what are your priorities in the days to come? A thousand thoughts enter your mind! What about this, what about that person? Where do you begin? Then comes the reality check about God! Yep, you will be finding out the truth very shortly! Is there a "God" and if there isn't, then not too much to worry about except the people around you. BUT, if God does exist, you could be swimming in fire and pain for eternity! Maybe it's time to check your relationship with God RIGHT NOW!!!

With this totally new life direction that has been placed upon you without warning, maybe it's time also to check our your relationships with the closest people to you and make amends because holding bitterness or anger towards someone no matter what they did to you, will potentially end your butt in hell according to God and his word, the Bible. So, take some time out and think about what you would do in this situation and ask yourself maybe I should be doing this anyway! Eternity, as you know, is forever. And by the way, yes, God does exist!

CLOGGED ARTERIES!

It is a well-known fact that when you eat certain foods, they will clog your arteries causing a heart attack over a period of time. I am guilty, having 2 stents put in my heart. When your arteries are clogged, your blood has a hard time trying to flow, thus causing a heart attack. When you put junk IN your mouth, you get the variety of results.

• • • It's the same with letting junk come OUT of your mouth! The more junk you watch and listen to, the more that junk will probably clog your mouth! Like your arteries, when your mouth is clogged with verbal junk, criticism, swearing, hate, controlling attitudes, anger, etc, the good, uplifting, affirmative, blessings, inspirational, loving, and helpful words cannot flow through your mouth! We all say the wrong things at times and sometimes regret it for the rest of our lives Words can hurt or heal, love or hate. The problem is, once those words are our, they cannot return. There is no undo button to push!

• • • God says, "Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Those who love it will eat its fruit". - Proverbs 18:21

Authority!

• • FROM THE CHAPLAIN'S OFFICE: Just because I gave my life to Jesus Christ 35 years ago and have gone to Bible college and seminary does not mean I know everything about God and the Bible. I have a long way to go but there is one thing I learned early in my walk: SATAN IS REAL!

• • It's a really sad state that many churches shy away from teaching the reality of Satan and what he does. We will never have all the answers to the situations that go on every day. There is one truth that I have learned in looking at these situations and that is I ask myself, "who gets the glory out of this?" Who gets the glory out of all these police officers being killed? Who gets the glory of abortions? Who gets the glory when we see our military being killed?

• • Friends, evil is evil! You can't stick your head in the ground and pray to God that everything will be OK. Read the Bible! Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy! Not God!

• • Jesus gave us the authority over all the power of Satan but the church is not using its authority in so many areas. The battlefield is in our minds and you can take authority over all your thoughts. If Satan had any power, we'd all be dead a long time ago but he plays with people's minds to convince them to do his bidding. One of his main mental battle plans is to convince you that he doesn't exist! Do you believe that he exists?

• • God created the heavens and all you see. All he wants is to have a relationship with you, his child. Seek him!

Dazed and Confused

It's now after Thanksgiving and headed for the Christmas holidays. 2017 has been some year, hasn't it? There has been so much depression, confusion, hatred, in this world from all the events that have occurred. Sometimes you get so burden heavy from all of this that you begin to wonder where is God in all this.

Stress has always been around and will continue because Satan is not going asleep. He prowls around seeking whom he can destroy with his demons. He looks for all the weak links in all of us. We all have them. That's because we are not perfect and need what is NOT perfect for us to be filled with help from God. That's a void only Jesus Christ can fill even though as humans in this world try to fill it with so much other stuff. When we do that, it causes confusion and chaos in our lives. You get to be dazed and confused. As the saying goes, "stuff happens". We can expect that stress will attack us almost any time and probably when we least expect it. As a police officer, I had to be as prepared for what I might encounter out in the street each shift. You just never know what to expect but you had better be ready. That's why training is so important. Officers need the right equipment and must be ready to fire their weapon at a moments notice.

Here's another example. Your out on a boat having a great time when the boat is rocked somehow and you fall overboard! You're splashing around trying to stay afloat when you're thinking, "Why didn't I have my preserver on?" Well, it's the same with everyday life! You know that the potential of some type of stress can happen to you when you leave home if you have not already encountered stress in your home! How do you prepare for stress? It doesn't matter what type of person you are because God says that if you trust in him, let him run your life, he will either get rid of the stress or get you through it and have peace at the end.

35 years ago I gave my life to Jesus Christ and there are no human words can explain the peace that I have experienced through major trials such as divorce and heart attacks. If you have not asked God to run your life, please consider today to do so. Just ask Jesus Christ to run your life and ask him to forgive you for all the sins you have committed. We all have sinned! There are no exceptions except Jesus. I know life is better because I put God in my life as a life preserver.

There's No Cops in Heaven.

Hold it! Before you draw your weapons at me, read on. As a former atheist, becoming a Christian was a big thing. After all, I was a cop packing my Baretta and other weapons to do my job. Each day I faced a myriad of problems that could arise at a split second. I dealt with reality each day. What did I care about heaven or God?

Then came that day when I decided to check this "Jesus thing" out. I had NYPD officers(and others)  telling me about the Bible and what Jesus could do for me. Initially, I told them to put the Bible where the sun don't shine. That did not bother them at all! I thought they were all screwed up! Over a period of time, I began to seriously consider what brother officers were telling me about Jesus Christ until I said the prayer asking Jesus to run my life. To say the least, life changed drastically!

To make a very long period of time shorter, I did a lot of studying and reading the Bible. I listened to many teachers and preachers and realized that the Bible was in fact the inspired word of God. But during this time I came to a very "eye-opening" conclusion. There are many religions and denominations all saying they are going to heaven. People think that because they are nice, they too will see God. But when you read the Bible. you find something of importance that denominations won't tell you. They are not in the Bible!! The names of religions and denominations are all man made up!

Man has given titles to everything not just religion but in all aspects of life. It's not the titles of people who go to heaven but only the people who have given their lives to Jesus Christ irregardless of what title they may have had. So to say that there are no cops in heaven is true because those titles don't exist there. BUT they also don't exist in hell! When you die, those titles either fall off going to heaven or they burn off going to hell! So you can say that Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, etc. all don't go to heaven because it's not their religions that get them there but their relationship God. Have they accepted Jesus as Lord?

The bottom line is that you don't let strangers in your house and neither does God! My badge won't get me to heaven but only my relationship with His son Jesus Christ. Where is your relationship with God? He sent His son down here for a reason! If you died today, where would you spend eternity?

Default Programming

When we are born, we are born with a software program that leads eventually to hell. By default, EVERYONE is born with it. No one is exempt! We can go through life thinking we're programmed right because things might seem OK but they're not.

As life progresses, we check out different software programs that exist in life, some good, some bad. But we all have a choice of what program to choose to install. Some programs use food while others use drugs. Some use sports, some use hobbies. There are a multitude of programs to choose from and you can have multiple programs at the same time. But sometimes programs can become corrupt due to viruses that infect our programming. The problem is when a virus hits, it can be too late to recover from the problem and technical surgery must be performed. The infected program must be removed or other programs might become infected and a shutdown could happen.

There are some great programs out there. Sports programs are great for it's physical and mental attributes. We all should exercise to some degree. Healthy living is very important. We all need to be physically and mentally healthy. But there is one topic that is left out here. That is spiritually healthy.

To become spiritually healthy, there is a program available to us called church. This program comes in different sizes and styles. Some of these programs only work one day a week while others work 24/7. Do you know how to tell which of these programs are really working? You can tell by what the program produces in the user of the software program. When a virus hits this particular program, if the software was installed right, it deletes the virus or blocks it. A good functioning program like church is established because of how it was created.

There is a manual for the church program called the Bible. It's a great program only if it's read. But reading it alone does not help the church program. There is one other program that must be installed along with this church program and it is called a relationship with Jesus Christ. This last software activates the Bible program which activates the church program! The output of this last software program results in the ultimate program called heaven.

So I ask you. . . . what are you programmed with? Don't leave home without it!

The Alarm Clock is Ringing!

It's Saturday morning and I'm just sitting drinking my fresh coffee looking outside at the morning sun. I ponder over the latest events in my life and begin to ask God why. . . and what is going to happen? Did you ever get there? Even as a Christian, I wonder why and what will happen and God knows that I ask those questions just like millions before have asked the same. Nothing new for HIM. He knew we would ask those questions.

So I'm sitting outside just seeing the world going by and the continuation of all the problems that are going on. When I take the time just to sit and talk to God, sometimes He answers me right then. It's in His Word what is going on and what will happen. He said as in the days of Noah, so shall it be when He returns. You see, right before the flood, life was just going on and on. People working and partying and not willing to hear or see the truth about what God says. They choose to be blind and disregard what is being declared. It's like your alarm clock going off and off and off and you not acknowledging it. Don't you hear it ringing and ringing and ringing?

In Noah's time, people just scoffed him because who ever heard of building a huge boat on land? It must have been some sight! I could see how people would make fun of such a thing. But all they had to do was listen to what Noah was saying about God. But they didn't and God knew that.

This morning I sit and think of all the topics occurring in the world: Isis, Nuke talks with Iran and their talk of bombing Israel, our elections, Law Enforcement under attack, Black lives matter, police lives matter, abortion, California fires, Russian military invading Ukraine, Clinton's email problems, the EPA floods, shooting in churches, malls and schools, and the list goes on and on. Somewhat depressing because I never grew up with all these things happening.

So as in the days of Noah, so it is today. Jesus said all this would happen BUT we are supposed to discern these events and understand that He

will be returning soon. Of course, as a former atheist I used to scoff at Christians who told me about "end times" also. But now my eyes have been opened because I CHOSE to seek the truth. After all, in the "norm", end times talk sounds like something in the movies. Of course, when your eyes are opened to the truth, you see that it is Satan who uses the media to deceive the world just like Jesus said he would. I was deceived but now my eyes are opened. Jesus said that no man knows the "day or hour" of His return, not even Jesus knows when... only God. But Jesus said that we are to be ready at all times because just like a thief in the night, He will return BUT that we are to know the signs of His return! The signs are all around us. Yes, we've had problems like these for many years but never all at the same time! Have you taken time to seek the the truth in the Bible? 

                                    THE ALARM CLOCK IS RINGING. . . . . .     

     

It's All in Your Mind!

How's your brain today? Your mind is a storehouse of all the things that have entered it from that day you were born. Your brain is like your computer hard drive. Sometimes you have to defrag it to clean it up so it functions better. What's stored up in your mind will determine your attitude.

Each day you see and hear things that go into your mind which will effect your attitude at some point in life. We all have a tendency to become the people we hang with. So, who are your friends? The Bible says, "As a man thinks, so is he". What do you put in your mind each day? What is in your mind, will eventually come out! What you put in your fridge, you will eventually eat!

The attitude you have keeps you going or stops you dead in your tracks. You have a choice to make decisions in your life each day. We make excuses and blame others for the situations we get into. Much of the problems we face are due to the bad attitude we have. How many times officer, have you gone on a call and the other officer, who showed up had an attitude that raised the problem worse!

You have seen all the videos and news reports about officers getting into trouble because of their actions. But remember that those actions had a foundation from the mind. We will always have problems that we must face and most we didn't expect but it is what we have put in our minds determines how we react to those problem. You are not a puppet controlled by someone else. Yes, there are rules and laws we must obey created by someone else but we do have a choice how we react. No one is perfect and we all make bad decisions at times but we have a choice of how we deal with those mistakes. It's only God that can really clean your hard drive.

Today, take some time and think about your life, what you look at, what you listen to and who are your true friends. How you look at those things will determine your future starting now. Maybe it's time to defrag your mind for there is no "undo" button in your mind.

The Sun's Rays

Sunset on the Gulf

My wife and I love to spend time at a jetty in Venice Florida right on the Gulf of Mexico. As you can see they have beautiful sunsets there! This is practically a daily experience seeing such beauty especially when there are some clouds in the sky that reflect the sun's rays.

We get there a little after 1 pm and enjoy the warmth of the sun with the breeze that blows off the water. It's such a peaceful location with no "boom boxes", party people and such. Just people who appreciate the beauty that God created.

There are times in life when you must take some time out and see what God has created. He created many things around the world just for us to enjoy yet we get so "busy" with life, we seldom enjoy these things. Sometimes it takes an event that "wakes us up" to see and experience life outside of our busy world. Remember that God did not make the world busy - we did!

There are many things in life that are right in front of us but we can't see the forest through the trees because of being blinded by life's situations. When the sun's rays are in front of you, you have a hard time seeing because of the intensity of the sun. Therefore, you put on a hat, sunglasses or even raise your hand up to block the sun. When you do that, you can obviously see what in front of you.

God shines His light all the time but it is not blinding yet many cannot see His beauty. As a police officer, I had to investigate crimes which required me to open my eyes to see evidence that might not be easily seen. If I didn't, I could miss valuable clues for evidence.

Take some time soon to look for God's beauty in this world. But to see His beauty, you must drop the world, put on His "Son" glasses, and view what many people never see. Jesus said He is the light of the world. Time is moving on and if you don't take time, time will take you!

Mirror, Mirror

Remember the story of Snow White? There was a part in the movie where the queen asks the mirror, "Who's the fairest in the land? And of course it would answer that she was until one day the mirror tells the queen that Snow White is the fairest in the land! WOW! That makes her extremely mad looking to get rid of Snow White. It's called "growing old".

Yes, believe it or not, the clock does not stop. It keeps on ticking forward. As you get older, you see your body changing into something that you don't like because it doesn't look like it did 30 or more years ago. Life goes on and we all change to some degree, some more, some less.

I am now 65 and don't like it. My mind has not caught up with my physical age. Maybe 45. But God has given us the ability to make choices how we view situations. As a police officer, I was faced with many different scenarios during which I had to make serious decisions in record setting time. But with aging, it just moves along at a turtles pace.

So I stand in front of the mirror gazing at myself and ask God why? God says don't be too concerned about your looks but be more concerned about your heart physically and especially spiritually. This body will eventually die but your spirit goes on forever. Again, God gives us choices, heaven or hell. God does not send people to hell. They send themselves to hell by not obeying what God has asked of us and that is accepting what Jesus did on the cross for us. He paid for our transgressions.

Our physical heart needs the proper nutrients to stay healthy but we live in a world of total junk food. If junk food didn't taste good, no one would eat it. The more junk food we eat, the more the mirror tells the physical truth! We should eat the right foods to stay healthy. But what about staying healthy spiritually?

Spiritual food is the Bible, prayer and fellowship with other Christians. These are the 3 main ingredients for staying healthy with God. But you start with accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and let Him run your life.

I now stand in front of the mirror and ask myself who do I actually see, me or the Jesus in me? I obviously see the physical but am I able to see the spiritual side of me? Mirrors only see a part of you, not the whole. The mirror sees the physical truth but God sees the spiritual truth.

New Years Day 2015

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also"

—Matthew 6:21

As we enter into a new year, here is something to remember: When it's all said and done, we have three things we can offer God—our treasure, our talent, and our time. Each of these is given to us by God, and each of them should be given back in generous portions.

First, there is our treasure. I urge you to commit yourself to give faithfully and generously to the Lord in this coming year. Jesus said, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21 NKJV). Whenever we put our money into something, we develop a vested interest in it. It makes sense to us that we would place our treasures where our hearts are. If we love reading books, or being entertained, or the latest technology, we spend our treasure on those things. And if our heart's desires change, that changes where we put our treasure.

But it works the other way too: Where we put our treasures, our heart will follow. Do you want your heart to be in the things of God? Then put your treasures in the things of God! Develop a vested interest in God's kingdom.

The second thing we can give to God is our talent. God has gifted each believer in different ways. Everyone has something to offer for the work of the kingdom. Romans 12 says, "Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ's body. We are all parts of his one body, and each of us different work to do" (NLT).

Finally, there is our time. Let's say that one day your phone rang and it was the president of the bank that you use. He told you that an anonymous donor who loved you very much had decided to deposit 86,400 pennies into your bank account each and every morning. At first, maybe that didn't seem like a lot. But then you figured out that it was $864 a day. At seven days a week and 52 weeks a year, those pennies add up to almost $315,000 each year! But the bank president added one thing: "The anonymous giver said you must spend all of the money on the day you receive it! No balance will be carried over to the next day. Each evening the bank must cancel whatever sum you failed to use! Remember, what you don't spend is lost."

That may sound like fantasy, but here's the reality: Every morning, Someone who loves you very much deposits into your "bank of time" 86,400 seconds, which represent 1,440 minutes, which of course equals 24 hours each and every day. God gives you that much to use each day. Nothing is ever carried over on credit to the next day. There is no such thing as a 27-hour day. It's called time, and you can't escape it. Time is ticking away right now. The Bible tells us to "redeem the time"—to make sacred and wise use of every opportunity.

Offer God your treasure, your talent, and your time. Live this next year as if it were your last, because it could be. Make those minutes count!
 - Excellent words from Greg Laurie.

The Heart Satisfier

As human beings we are created by God to be happy and to feel good about ourselves. As a matter of fact, we must feel good about ourselves, or eventually we will develop some sort of unhealthy, uncontrolled behavior to get the good feelings we crave.

Think about it. A person who is addicted to drugs probably began using them because his pain was so intense he felt compelled to get rid of it, even if only temporarily. The same thing is true of drinking, or using food as a comfort. If we do not get good feelings from the inside, then we attempt to create them through outside means.

God created us that way and He's the only one who can satisfy us. When we go to something other than God to make us feel good about ourselves, we're really just replacing something real with a cheap substitute.

Whatever your emotional needs are today, know that only God can meet them. He is the only lasting source of life. Go to Him today, He's the only One who can satisfy your heart.

Easter and Relationship

32 years ago I made a decision for Jesus Christ because I finally realized that there is a difference between religion and relationship with God. There are no religions in the Bible because they are made by man. God wants a relationship with you and not a religion with you. If God was behind religion he would be multi divided within himself. 

I have been ridiculed by some police officers that I have worked with and by family members because of my stance with Jesus Christ. They look at you cross eyed when you tell them that God talks to you. When you have a relationship with someone, don't you talk to them? What kind of God would not talk to you? God talks to you in many different ways and he will get his message across to you in whatever means he has to if you are listening. If you take time, you will be able to hear his still small voice. 

Easter is not about an egg laying rabbit. Easter is about relationship. It is about God's relationship with his son Jesus and Jesus' relationship with mankind. What Jesus did on the cross can only be comprehended by a relationship with him. All relationships take time. Which relationships in your life are priority? 

As an atheist I only believed in what touched my five senses. Then one day someone asked me if that was true, how do I know I have a brain since I can't see it? We know we have a brain by the product of our thinking. We can't see air yet we know it exists because of wind. We know that God exists because of what he produces and created.

If you died today where would you spend eternity? What would be the basis for your conclusion to that question? If there is a God who created this whole universe, don't you think he can create a relationship with you? A casket is not a place to find out the answer to that question.

This weekend take time to think about your relationship with God. If you're not sure, as I was, just call out to him. It's not about religion, it's about relationship.

Time

Most people to day have some sort of mechanism that can tell them what time it is. Do you remember the song from the group Chicago, "Does anybody really know what time it is?" I believe it was one of their first songs to hit the charts. But the concept was that we are all so busy that we really don't know what time it is in our lives. We're all so busy doing "things" and "stuff" that what really is important in our lives goes by so fast and you can't push the undo button!

The concept of time exists because everything that has life dies so we measure that existence in increments of time. If none of us died, time would have no value. But we will all die eventually, physically speaking, but our spirits live forever. But our physical bodies don't last forever. What would you do if you were told you had only a month or couples of months left to live? What would be your priorities? How would you view the various things in your life?

Conforming to the World

The world - those we know and deal with on a daily basis - is continually trying to conform us to its image. You see it everyday especially on TV and other media!  Hollywood decides what the morals of this country should be. The word conform means "to be similar in form or character; to behave in accordance with prevailing modes or customs." 

Romans 12:2 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, ." And 3 John 1:11 says not to imitate what is evil, but to imitate the good things of God.

In James it says, "You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God."

People will always try to fit us into their mold, partly due to their own insecurity. It makes them feel better about what they are doing if they can get someone else to do it too. Very few people have the ability to be who they are and let everybody else be who they are.

Can you imagine how nice the world would be if we would all do that? If each person would be secure in who he is and let others be who they are? Then we would not have to try to conform and be imitations of each other. 

I want to encourage you today to believe you can be an imitator of Christ and break out of the world's mold!

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The Power of Words

I'm not a man of many words. I'm not an eloquent speaker even though I'm asked to speak at various places and give my testimony. Some people just have that "gift of gab" and sometimes  you wished there was a shut off button! But as a Police Officer, I was always to the point. "Sir, I pulled you over for this reason. License, registration and insurance card, please". Right to the point.

Politicians, salesmen all seem to say much but with no substance but still convince you to do something. Some try to convince you that nothing is wrong and everything is OK yet some will make it seem like a country is about to nuke another country if not our country.

Yet words in music can be so appealing and bring forth much emotion. The same with poetry. The right words expressed can illuminate your mind with many visuals.

Look at TV commercials. Millions are spent to express a product or service and get you to buy it in 30 - 60 seconds! And do people buy? Sure! The power of words.

News reporters express many stories on TV and give visuals that help enhance what they are saying. In radio, words have to be expressed clearly to the listener will have a full understanding of what is being expressed. How many stories have you heard about being misled because what was expressed was not stated properly or truthfully? The power of words.

God has given of His words and warnings on what words can do. In James 3:6, "The tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one's life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." It's really not difficult to get the point here. And God give many more examples in the Bible.

I can delete or undo words here as I type but words that are spoken can never be deleted. Once they are out there, they can't come back. That's why we must be so cautious about what we must say to people. Has anyone ever said something to you that hurt? Do you remember those words? Probably because we tend to remember the bad words that people say to us and not remember the goods ones! Bad words cut to the heart and it takes a long time to heal those situations.

So today, take some time and think about how you speak to people especially at home to your spouse and kids. I have regretted too often what has come out of my mouth. Even as a minister, I am imperfect and let my anger get the best of me at times. We all do. Today, try expressing something positive to the people around you and then make a habit of it. What you sow, you will reap! The power of words.
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