45,800,000 Citizens Now On Food Stamps- A New All-Time Record

Not much to add to this graph friends except that our "govment" told us in April 2009 that the recession ended. We need only look at this graph to make our own judgement as to when the recession has ended....

10 Times His Wages Were Changed and Yet He Still Comes Out Ahead!?!

Phase 1- Jacob flees to his Uncle Laban hundreds of miles 
away in Paddan Aram to escape the murderous grudge of his 
brother Esau. Jacob flees with no notable possessions.
Phase 2- Jacob agrees to work seven years for Laban's daughter
 Rachel. He's tricked after seven years and is given her sister
 Leah instead. 
Phase 3- Laban offers Rachel for seven more years of labour!!
Phase 4- Jacob marries Rachel as well.  Jacob tells Laban that for his wages he will merely take the speckled, spotted, and streaked lambs and goats from Laban's flocks as his wages. Laban immediately combs his entire herd and hides his speckled lambs and goats three days journey from Jacob. 
Phase 5- Jacob begins to initiate a breeding program in which speckled and spotted sheep are more likely to be born.

 (The LORD God actually pulls this off through favorable
 reproduction). During this time Laban repeatedly countermands his agreement with Jacob, wanting to keep the spotted sheep for himself!
Phase 6- The LORD sees how Laban as treated Jacob and does not forget him. 
Phase 7- The LORD orders Jacob to return to the land of Canaan where his father Isaac dwells and to the land God swore to his grandfather Abraham that he would give him. 
Phase 8- Jacob leaves Paddan Aram "exceedingly prosperous" as the Bible states it with menservants, maidservants, large flocks, donkeys, and camels. 
Phase 9- Laban confronts Jacob and is furious, though he does nothing because God told him to be careful not to say anything to Jacob whether good or bad. Jacob accuses Laban of changing his wages 10 times in 20 years of service! The two men swear an oath of peace and neutrality and Jacob continues to prosper because of the favor of the LORD God. 
These dramatic turn of events can be read in their entirety in Genesis 28-31. 

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

How wonderful is God's forgiveness! How great is the LORD's    
mercy! And how superlative is the Anointed One's promises!
 The kingdom of God is aggressively expanding to all who hear
 and obey Jesus' commands.  No matter how great one's sins are, 
as long as one repents and follows the path of Christ the Kingdom
 of heaven shall one day be their inheritance.  Thus, here is a real 
story of how the kingdom of God came to a sinner during Jesus'
 own lifetime. The story of Zacchaeus (taken from the NIV Bible)....
Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but being a short man he could not, because of the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.
When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a ‘sinner.’”
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”
 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”

How Many Kings Did the Israelites Kill in Their Conquest of the Promised Land?

A very important question and the answer can be found in 
the book of Joshua.  First off, the Hebrews, being led by 
the LORD God with Joshua as their commander 
conquered seven peoples who were living in Canaan.  
These included the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites,
 Girgashites, Amorites, and the Jebusites (Joshua 3).  
Whats more, these races were some truly powerful peoples 
in the ancient world during this time (1400 BC) and had large prosperous cities.  
As for the total amount of kings slain during this blitzkrieg of an invasion, 31 total were killed (Joshua 12) during the Hebrew onslaught. A quite significant number. 

What is Faith?

Simply could not say it better myself, therefore,            
I copied and pasted right from the Bible.  Hebrews 11:1-6


Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.  By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away. For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. 

I own Everything! It's Mine! (Or Not)

Naked I came from my mothers womb,
  and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
  may the name of the LORD be praised.


A bone chilling statement for somebody that has 
never thought about what is actually their own 
property.  What do you possess? Can you say-- that 
without any help from mother, father, friends, employee,
or employer, or GOD you would have anything that you 
lay claim to.  For friends the truth of the matter is that 
everything we own was given to us by the LORD God. 
And that we are merely stewards of God's creation while we are living on this earth.  For one day we will have to give an account of how we handled His possessions while they were under our care and supervision.  Keep that in your heart and mind friend. For its the truth!  (Above scripture came from Job 1:21)

A Time for Everything

  There is a time for everything, 

   and a season for every activity under heaven:

   a time to be born and a time to die,
   a time to plant and a time to uproot,
   a time to kill and a time to heal,
   a time to tear down and a time to build,
    a time to weep and a time to laugh,
   a time to mourn and a time to dance,
    a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
   a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
    a time to search and a time to give up,
   a time to keep and a time to throw away,
   a time to tear and a time to mend,
   a time to be silent and a time to speak,
    a time to love and a time to hate,
   a time for war and a time for peace.

What do workers gain from their toil?  I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

The above quote is taken from King Solomon of the Hebrews (Ecclesiastes 3). The Bible states that he was the wisest mortal man to have ever lived. His understanding led him to recognize the balance that we all need in our lives. Therefore, do not get overly stressed out when unexpected things come your way. These things must come.  Furthermore, do not become obsessed in things that are supposed to be out of your control (really everything isn't supposed to transpire at our convenience) and find how to make the most out of easy times and stressful times, profitable times as well as times of drought. Doing so is praiseworthy! GLORY TO THE LORD ON HIGH!

Turn it Up!

Here is three short golden minutes of BOOMING voices praising our great Defender.  Turn it up, this particular song is sung with musical instruments. 

Question of the Day: What is the 'Fear of the LORD'?

An often misunderstood concept in the Bible.  For those that are new and have wondered whether this phrase means to shake in terror, cower in abject fear, and be in a constant state of throat swallowing dread, I have great news for you!  For those that follow Christ and obey his commands it simply means profound respect and reverence for the Word and teachings of God.  It means to treat what God has commanded us, and what his Son Jesus has visibly shown us as holy.  For in following the example that Jesus set, we fulfill all righteousness and faith, making both daily visible. Now thats a great feeling! 
Furthermore, those that follow Christ know that if they continuously and knowingly disobey God then what they have to look forward to is that dreadful and terrible expectation of punishment. But for those that seek God, believe God, and joyfully obey God such grey expectations shall be far from them! Have an excellent and admirable day friends!    

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.  Proverbs 1:7

King Solomon visited by the Queen of Sheba. The Bible states that he was the wisest man

that ever lived. He wrote the above Proverb.

Inflation Strikes Back: Peanut Butter Prices Rise 24-40% In Last 12 Months

This blog has railed against the theft that takes place through incipient inflation. And friends it is showing up more often at a grocery store near you. The humble jar of peanut butter is now going up across the board and across brands,(yes even the generic brands) and shall hit yours truly especially hard, as I have a soft spot for the nutty spread. Who doesn't ;)  Anyways, the question to be asked is.... Have my wages gone up 24-40% in twelve months?? Am I 24-40% richer than I was twelve months ago? If not friends then the higher prices of peanut butter, gasoline, bread, and DVD's will only continue to show itself most acutely in our life, and how far our daily wages will go. Now not so far.  Here is the link to the news article.....

http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/17581