Our Mentality

"I'm not smart enough."

"No one in my family has ever done that."

"My past disqualifies me."

     God isn't saying those things to us. Our history, our insecurity and our enemy, maybe. We're not being humble, but limiting...limiting what God wants to do through us.

     Well, it's always been this way. It'll never change. I'm just being realistic. Jesus says: With God all things are possible - Matthew 19:26. Possible not with our resume or excellent record...but with God.

     Our past does not define our future when God is involved. "They" might not do what we wish. But God can open a door. - Rev. 3:8. When He opens a door, no one can shut it. 

     There are giants, obstacles, roadblocks. Do we see ourselves in light of the giants or the light of our God? He delights in his children. He has plans we won't know until we reach out to him in prayer.   

Our pastor

Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing when she was 19 months old. Talk about giants, obstacles and roadblocks. She is known for 454 quotes, 14 books, lectures, political activity and more. She received a college degree. She was an "ardent believer" in a Christian denomination.   

Jimmy

 Betting the House 

Really?

     Before there was TV, yours truly was addicted to sports on the radio, or in person. In football season, I kept records on four teams - two high schools, one college and one professional. Forty wins was satisfying and expected.

     I never knew the word "betting." 

     Today, there are those who put their home up for sale to pay for a gambling debt. A counselor says, "It's all so accessible, now that you don't have to get in your car and drive to a casino. Sports betting has come under high profile FBI investigations. It is too tempting for players as well as fans." 

     "But fans are the ones who suffer most. Thanks to the rise of mobile sportsbooks, many Americans have found they just can't quit," the counselor says. "A few dollars leads to three-figure losses. Many don't even realize they are addicted."

     "Today, 39 states and the District of Columbia permit gambling. Mobile sportsbooks are legal in 32 states. Using prediction markets, even gamblers living in states that don't allow betting can wager on events. Gamblers wagered more than $148 billion last year, about 45 percent online. Nearly half of men under 50 have an account with at least one sportsbook." 

     What does this say about husbands, fathers, male teachers and voters, etc? We may follow up with this on Monday.

                Jimmy

Help in Difficult Times  

     Paul dealt with "much trembling." Soloman said, "I am but a little child." Gideon pleaded, "I am the least in my father's house." Moses moaned, "I am slow of speech. Please send someone else."

     We're needy during difficulties, but God assures us:  

                              "I will be with you" (Exodus 3:12)                                                                         "I will help you speak and teach you what to say" (Exodus 4:12)                                                "I will make a way in the wilderness" (Isaiah 43:19)                                                                   "I will supply all your needs" (Philippians 4:19)                                                                            "I will fight for you" (Exodus 14:14)   

                                     "I will rescue you" (Jeremiah 1:8)                 

              "I will restore you to health and heal your wounds" (Jeremiah 30:17)                                                        "I am a shield to you" (Genesis 15:1)                                                                 "I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten" (Joel 2:25);                                               "I will not leave you as orphans" (John 14:18)      

                              "I will not fail you" (Joshua 1:5)                    

                     "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5). 

     By Whitney Williams, a nurse in Dallas 

 Broken bonds

     "Cutting contact with parents won't heal children's wounds.

     "Idealization of the self will not heal emotional emptiness. Young people determined to forge their own identities forget (or don't know) that we are made and shaped by others as much as by individual personality traits.

     "It's only by seeing ourselves reflected in close, sometimes difficult, unions that we understand who we truly are. God, a relationship in himself, means to shape us in relationship, beginning with our mother's arms and father's voice. 

     "'Honor your father and mother' is a weighty command. To break that bond for self-centered reasons makes us weightless."  

Janie B. Cheaney, WORLD magazine

Who Says? 

     "The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them.

     "The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

     "The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 

     "They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

     Not possible? It will be normal during the millennium to come, when Christ returns to rule the world. The above is from Isaiah chapter 11, written centuries ago. Isaiah wrote many verses that interest all of us who believe and hope in the Lord. 

     In verse 10: "In that day, the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people..." 

We have little idea how great our Savior is, do we? 

           Jimmy

Peace in the Middle East 

     Should Americans care? Mike Huckabee is the U.S. ambassador to Israel. He had visited Israel some 25 times before this. 

     He had a front row seat to the war in Gaza, and Israel's fight against Iran and terror groups in Lebanon and Syria. President Trump made peace in the Middle East top priority, although some of his supporters question his investment in time and energy. A former Baptist pastor, Huckabee wants to convince skeptics that the U.S.-Israel relationship is vital. 

     The plan is for a board of peace to replace Hamas as the ruling authority over Gaza. President Trump will oversee every single person on that board. Members must be committed to creating a different kind of Gaza, he says, adding that "I really believe we're on the brink of something historic in the Middle East." 

     "And it wouldn't have happened without President Trump. He's the only person I know who could have gotten every one of the Arab nations to come to Sharm El Sheikh and sign that document...saying they're going to be a part of the future of Gaza." 

     Views understands the president's position, whether or not he is a Christian. We know what some of our leaders don't. Israel is God's nation. Jesus will rule the world from Israel when he returns. Plans for Gaza aren't central to all that. But, we know what the Jew-hating world doesn't. Satan leads the opposition. His primary goal is to overtake God's headquarters, and he will make trouble until Jesus returns and sends him into a hellish prison. 

     Trump and Huckabee alone can't save Israel, but they are on the right side of history.  

               Jimmy

  

 From WORLD's mailbag

 Immigrants, good and otherwise

     "Having worked my teenage years on the family's farm in the 1960s with illegal immigrants, I can attest to their value, hard work, ethics, and decent values. They crossed only for the harvest seasons, returning to Mexico every November, to return every April or May. 

     "They sent 90% of their paychecks back home. My brothers and I worked alongside them for 10-12 hours a day. They paid into Social Security without hope of collecting a dime. They sometimes begged to work for cash as they didn't have funds to buy fake documents. Back then, the INS hunted them down like animals and stole our helpers when we needed them the most. 

     "Now, millions are let in without vetting, and we will pay the price for that for years to come. Yes, we need immigrants, but we need them here legally, vetted, and based upon their ability to assimilate in the American economy. 

     "Canada vets immigrants and requires them to speak English or French and have a skill that can be employed in Canada. These types of requirements were introduced into Congress during Donald Trump's first term but never made it out of committee. Immigrants will save our economy, but drug dealers, gang members, sexual predators and worse must be vetted out. 

     "I pray for sound leadership, but before we reform the system and perhaps even provide a path to citizenship, we must cleanse our cities and land from the mess of illegal, unfettered, and dangerous immigrants who are not here to forward our interests." 

                   Craig Borgardt, Wisconsin