Must. Stop. Eating. Cookies.

Must. Stop. Eating. Cookies. Where does all this extra skin come from any way?

Well, I jumped on the scale this morning at mom's behest and had a little panic attack. I guess I will have to give up eating Grandma's cookies. But they're so good!

She uses real sugar, not Splenda and they have oats and other good for you stuff in them, so why are they so bad for you? It's not fair! I guess I'll have to go on strike.

DO YOU KNOW HIM?

DO YOU KNOW HIM?

The Bible says my King is a seven-way king....He's the King of the Jews; that's a racial king....He's the King of Israel; that's a national King....He's the King of Righteousness....He's the King of the Ages.....He's the King of Heaven....He's the King of Glory....He's the King of kings, and He's the Lord of lords. That's my King. Well....I wonder, do you know Him? David said, "The Heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. My King is a sovereign King. No means of measure can define His limitless love. No far seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings. He's enduringly strong....He's entirely sincere....He's eternally steadfast....He's immortally graceful....He's imperially powerful....He's impartially merciful....... Do you know Him?

He's the greatest phenomenon that ever crossed the horizon of this world. He's God's Son....He's a sinner's Savior....He's the centerpiece of civilization....He stands in the solitude of Himself....He's august....He's unique....He's unparalleled....He's unprecedented....He's the loftiest idea in literature....He's the highest personality in philosophy....He's the supreme problem in higher criticism....He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology....He's the cardinal necessity for spiritual religion....He's the miracle of the age.... He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him....He's the only one qualified to be an all sufficient Savior...... I wonder if you know Him today?

He supplies strength for the weak....He's available for the tempted and the tried....He sympathizes and He saves....He strengthens and sustains....He guards and He guides....He heals the sick....He cleanses lepers....He forgives sinners....He discharges debtors....He delivers captives....He defends the feeble....He blesses the young....He serves the unfortunate....He regards the aged....He rewards the diligent....and He beautifies the meek....... I wonder if you know Him?

Well, my King....is the King....He's the key to knowledge....He's the wellspring to wisdom....He's the doorway of deliverance....He's the pathway of peace....He's the roadway of righteousness ....He's the highway of holiness....He's the gateway of glory....... Do you know Him?

Well....His office is manifold....His promise is sure....His light is matchless....His goodness is limitless....His mercy is everlasting....His love never changes....His word is enough....His grace is sufficient....His reign is righteous....and His yoke is easy, and his burden is light. I wish I could describe Him to you, but He's indescribable....He's incomprehensible....He's invincible....He's irresistible.

Well, you can't get Him out of your mind....You can't get Him off of your hand....You can't out live Him, and you can't live without Him....The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him....Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him....The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree....Herod couldn't kill Him....Death couldn't handle Him, and the grave couldn't hold Him. Yea!!!, that's my King, that's my King.

Father..."Thine is the Kingdom....and the Power....and the Glory....Forever"....and ever, and ever, and ever, and ever. How long is that? And ever...and ever...and when you get through with all the forevers, then.... AMEN!....AMEN!

- S.M. Lockridge

All I can say is take a look at the previous post. It'll knock you socks off too.

You Can Trust Him

You Can Trust Him

He's the one who made you, it is He who made us and not we ourselves. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork. No means or measure can define His limitless love and no farseeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supply. I'M TELLING YOU TODAY YOU CAN TRUST HIM!

No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing. He's enduringly strong and He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast and He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful and He's impartially merciful. He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world. He's God's Son, He's the sinner's Savior, He's the centerpiece of civilization. I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU CHURCH, YOU CAN TRUST HIM!

He does not have to call for help and you can't confuse Him. He doesn't need you and He doesn't need me. He stands alone in the solitude of Himself. He's august and He's unique. He's unparalleled, He's unprecedented, He's supreme, He's preeminent, He's the loftiest idea in literature, He's the highest personality in philosophy, He's the supreme problem of higher criticism, He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology, He's the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion, He's the miracle of the age, He's the superlative of everything good you can call Him. I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU CHURCH, YOU CAN TRUST HIM!

He can satisfy all your needs, and He can do it simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak and He's available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He sees. He guards and He guides, He heals the sick, He cleansed the Leper, He forgives sinners, He discharges debtors, He delivers the captives, He defends the feeble, He blesses the young, He regards the aged, He rewards the diligent, He beautifies the meek, I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU CHURCH, YOU CAN TRUST HIM!

He's the key to knowledge, He's the well spring of wisdom, He's the doorway of deliverance, He's the pathway of peace, He's the roadway of righteousness, He's the highway of holiness, He's the gateway to glory, YOU CAN TRUST IN HIM!

He's the master of the mighty, He's the captain of the conquers, He's the head of heroes, He's the leader of legislators, He's the overseer of the overcomers, He's the governor of the governors, He's the prince of princes, He's the king of kings, He's the Lord of lords, YOU... CAN... TRUST... HIM!!!

His office is manifold, His promise is sure, His life is matchless, His goodness is limitless, His mercy is everlasting, His love never changes, His word is enough, His grace is sufficient, His reign is righteous, His yoke is easy, His burden is light, I wish I could describe Him too you, He's indescribable because He's incomprehensible, He's irresistible because He's invincible. You can't get Him off your hands, you can't get Him off your mind, you can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him. Pilate couldn't stand it when he found he couldn't stop Him, and Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. And the witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree and Herod couldn't kill Him, and death couldn't handle Him and thank God the grave couldn't hold Him.

There was nobody before Him and there will be nobody after Him. He has no predecessor, He'll have no successor, you can't impeach Him and He's not going to resign. YOU CAN TRUST HIM!!!

-S.M. Lockridge

There is very little that I can add to this. WHEW! Only this, "You CAN trust Him!"

A New Fellowship

Sunday, Kathleen and I had the great fortune to share worship with a new (to us) fellowship just a few miles from our home. We flipped a coin, so to say, and chose to visit Grace Community Church (Wiggins and Yelm Hwy, for those who want to know).

To say we came away feeling like we were at home would be an understatement. Those of you in our immedate family know that we have found it hard to find a fellowship where in we truly felt we fit in. We may have found it here, however.

I do not like "church shopping". It feels wrong. What do they believe on this, and how about that, and so on. You look for this and that but you don't really see anything at all. I guess it is more about the "feel" you get.

At Grace Community Church we "felt" like we were home from the first anthem. Yes, it was a good ol' anthem - hillbilly style, complete with harmonica, fiddle, yukalaylee, drums and guitar. Almost all the worship team were "greybeards" except for the fiddle player. How funny is that!

Really, from the very beginning, there was a spirit that seemed to permiate into my soul. Perhaps I truly was that needy, or perhaps God just had something that special for me that day. Either way, I am truly thankful that we chose to visit Grace Church.

I think that Kathleen feels the same way too...you will have to ask her.

Blessings,
Michael

The Fog of Morning?

My eldest daughter Kassie has a Blog, http://ketchumsblock.blogspot.com/ , where she shares many of her feelings and thoughts. Her latest post entitled 'Controlled Abandon' is perhaps one of her best. In it she shares about having been awakened early in the morning, much like Samuel in the old testament, having felt a touch and heard a voice calling out her name.

Of course, there was no one there. No one to touch her or to speak her name, and yet, she surly felt a touch and heard her name called out. Many of us, who call our selves Believers, have had similar experiences, times where, in unexpected ways, God gets our attention. And, just like Samuel, we too are slow to recognize what is really happening. We are slow in understanding, that it is God himself, who is endeavoring to get our attention.

Is it the fog of morning, waking suddenly or just the confusion of a mind not yet engaged that makes us so slow with recognition? Why does it take three or four attempts on His part to get our attention? Is something wrong with me?

I am more and more convinced, almost daily, that my problem with recognizing His voice quickly has more to do with the continual over stimulation of my senses, minute upon minute, hour after hour, day upon day, to where I just am unable to discern Him calling out my name. How much do you tune out every day? What do you allow in? What do you block out?

I am very cognizant of the lack of quiet time in my life. My goal for the next few weeks, is to see if I can recover some time in my day, to just be quiet. Perhaps then I will be a little faster in recognizing God’s voice when he calls out my name.

Is War the Answer?

Please know that this is not about Iraq...it is about war.

My son-in-law, JR, posted a statement, well more than a statemen, on his blog, http://jarcaines.blogspot.com/, this week that really has caused me to revisit a difficult subject; Is war ever right? He had watched the movie "Gandhi" and it had prompted him to ask a few questions. Difficult ones I might add.

Following is my reply to his wondering about war, being a follower of Christ's teachings and our choosing violence over other alternatives. This is a REALLY BIG SUBJECT and it would take volumes and perhaps even a life time or two to really do the subject a fair hearing.
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If you do not stand up to the bully next door you end up loosing everything. Should we become like Chamberlin and appease the Hitler's of our time and risk loosing our nation in the process?

There is a distinct difference between how we, collectivly as a nation, and how we, as Christian brothers and sisters, should act and react. It takes a nation to stand up to the bully who imparts great injustice, even unto death, on his citizens.

Love is very powerful and the desire to avoid conflict is heightened all the more by Christ's love in us, and yet, love, even Christ's love, without backbone, isn't love at all. It all too quickly degenerates into cowardice.

Once lines are drawn in the sand, and that line is crossed, action is required to make the bully back off. I don't think that we can go very far before we must draw some lines in the sand whether it is a personal boundry or one with global multi-national implications.

Even Gandhi drew a line in the sand and when the time came and he had to act he chose a "war" of sorts. He did not choose to "war" with violence but he did choose to "go to war" non the less. He was incredibly successful in influencing change in India.

In the end it was the one thing he choose not to do the was his undoing, showing us just how confusing and difficult these decisions are.

No sane person likes or wants violence a part of their life, yet it all too often happens, even within our own families.

The conflict we are engaged in in Iraq is not a "War on Terror" as we hear daily, but a "War on Terrorist" (those who would commit indescriminate terror). These are people who find pleasure in beheading their foe and do not mind blowing themselves up o further their cause.

It is not a war against the Iraqi people but a war on those who would destroy the Iraqi people. This is a VERY BIG difference.

What outcome would you really expect to achieve by turning the other cheek?

JR, please know that I am not a proponent of war. However, there are times when it is necessary. Alas, all too often it seems to be implimented way too soon.

And as Brandon so aptly put it: "War Sucks."

My Finest Fish

Well, here it is ... the world record Artic Char from my 2001 trip to Alaska. Can't tell you where I caught it though. But it was certified by a weigh-master and by the State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Face to Face with One of Wyomings Finest

We were fishing on my favorite stretch of water in Wyoming. A small creek that winds its way through a wonderful canyon filled with wild flowers and critters and then exits on to a flat plain. It winds like a slithering snake, back and forth through the valley below. You can fish what seems like miles of stream and actually only move along a few hundred yards.

I had just finished my turn catching a beautiful 15-inch brown trout on my third and last attempt. My first try ended with the fly stuck in the bushes somewhere behind me and my second was just a simple missed strike. But this one…the third attempt was right on. Wooshh…and a tight line. “Fish on,” I yelled. No one cared but me.

My fishing buddies had a bet going on whether I would be able to land the fish. Of course you have to know that they are going to do just about anything to make sure I won’t land it. Things like throw a net and try to break off the fish. Goose me while I intently try to reel it in or make loud noises that would make me jump out of my skin and make a big mistake causing the fish to go free.

These guys are supposed to be my friends…and yet this is how they behave. Well, you have to know…that…humm…yah, you need to know…I’m just as bad to them.

John had to slide down the overgrown bank and go knee deep in the soft, silt and muck to net my beautiful fish. Loren, on the other hand, had already started climbing up the bank on to the next bend.

“Oh Shit!” was all we heard. John jumped up out of the muck onto the bank in one leap. It normally would have taken a few minutes of tugging and pushing just to get his feet loose with the real possibility of having to go back down to retrieve a boot left behind in the mud. I, on the other hand, just needed to turn from my crouched down position to see what had spooked Loren so much.

There he was. Sliding back down the bank, running backwards across the water, with his rod going one way and hat another. He was moving so fast that his feet didn’t even leave marks on the stream bottom. His face said it all. FEAR. Terror. Intense concern for his own safety. He wasn’t thinking about us, just himself. Nice guy for a friend.

And there it was. Just a little fellow, oh, maybe 4 to 5 feet long. You would have thought it might have been those big, long teeth that causes all the commotion but it was the baby rattle he held in his tail that caused the most fear. It was here that Loren came face to face with a 5-foot Rocky Mountain Rattle Snake!