I read a bit from John this morning, actually just opened my Bible to the 4th chp. and started reading, I came to where Jesus healed the Nobleman's son.....in this section Jesus said--"Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe." The nobleman urged Jesus to come on down before his child dies, Jesus just told him to go his way, his son lives----the nobleman believed and went on his way and his son lived.....then I got to thinking, here we are a couple thousand yrs. later and today we ask but lack the faith and unless we see and experience we do not believe ---- I wondered today if we called upon Jesus and this inner voice said to you go your way, would I trust or would I start asking questions---OK, but how do you know all will be ok? You mean/think just because you say all will be ok, I am to trust this and go my way? I am sorry, I don't get it, can you explain? I suppose we would have many such questions.....now as foolish as this may sound, let us think just for a moment, IMO, many seek, but do not have the patience, many seek but unwilling to give up self-control, many seek but want instant results, many seek for self wants & desires, many seek but start with the lack of faith that anything will happen....IMO, we as Christians and even from the pulpit make excuses for unanswered prayer while all along our lack of faith "could" be the real issue.....Boils down to me asking myself----how strong is my faith? I have told many---"I am quite tacky at times, but I have a strong faith, I firmly believe in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit." Now this morning after reading this part from John I do realize that I have faith, one that I thought was strong, yet nowhere near the faith to move a mountain. There are many times I ask for help/relief from little things and receive instantly, then my "BIG" request go unanswered, which raises a question, am I starting my request in faith or in lack of faith? Then, & here is where I am gonna get into trouble, but the thought crosses my mind from time to time----we say, "well, it just isn't in God's will to answer your prayer." HUMMMM!!!! OK........hope I kicked your ole mind in gear this morning....rather than find fault with me and my tinny lil ole mind, if it makes you think a bit, try talking with God about this------Why is my faith not rock solid---say to move a mountain?

God Bless, greet everyone you see with a smile, do your best to be kind even to the grouchy folks....have a beautiful day

OK!!! My thoughts did not come from the Book of Plugger, rather 1 Corth. 2:13 & 1 John 2:27-------sure glad I hi-lite stuff

you just wanted to see if I would open my Bible or not....lol....I went to Romans 14 and found that I have 6 different parts in that chapter hi-lited-----the part from Tim. is not what I was thinking, reckon later today I will see if I can find what I was thinking, unless it is in the Book of David, could be something I made up, lol.......main point is now I got to search my Scriptures some more.....no harm there

God Bless & have a fun day

I agree-----seems I remember a guy who lived up in Pa, I think now he is in Tn, but that's no never-mind, seems he told me once that he also had a few baseball bats sitting at different places, just in case.....lol

Great one to live by-----

One of the things I love about this board is the fact that we realize that some are more advanced in their knowledge of the Scriptures than others, then more than once I have folks who will disagree with my thoughts but never in anger or crappy attitude.......we over the years have had some visitors who did not exactly fit this bill, but all in all we have respect for others.....then there are folks like me who just are thick and take a bit longer to grasp stuff than others do, yet seems that my brothers & sisters in Christ do not hold this against me and even if understandings are different we carry respect for others.....

Last evening I gave a lot of thought about some of the thinking here--------

Now, all that being said I would like to babble jus a bit more about self defense & ETC......There was a bit about putting on the armor of God, excellent point, but, as I understand this writing of Paul, it is in defense against satan....our battle of the evils tempting us by the devil & his helpers, we put on the armor of God to make us strong enough to battle the temptations which the devil puts in front of us, could be temptations of any kind, sexual, murder, self indulgence, pride, hate, etc, etc, etc......we are to learn to love one another, care for one another and when the devil tempts us to go the other way our armor protects us to keep us in line.............we may speak of having God on our side, an unbeliever will say about the church shootings where was your God, why would your loving God allow such to happen.....pretty heavy stuff, of which we do not have the satisfying answer.

A couple days ago I got concerned about "MY" lack of understanding, I spent one evening looking for where I was wrong in my thinking, I know what I believe, but where did it come from-----then the next morning, early, I awoke and came to my desk, opened 2 different Bibles and went to seeking my answers, asking God to allow the Holy Spirit to help me, if I may, I also talked a bit with God concerning how thick I am upstairs and how I wanted understanding-----I came up with this understanding and I am sure God will offer more when I am able to handle more--------In my seeking I looked up this word, Scripture did not answer, so I choose another word, Scripture did not answer, this process went on for a couple of hours, then the word "LAW" came to mind------yes I understand that the law came through Moses & Grace comes through Jesus Christ.....but I went on a hunting party chasing the word LAW......Now, I believe to take a verse from Scripture and not know what came before and after is pick'n & choosing, IMO, to understand I must understand the before & after & purpose.....I am not pick'n &choosing, just say'n where I was led....Gen 9: 6---Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed....OK! That is the law, we are under Grace, so I chased the word law over into the New Covenant---the New Testament, here I learned that Jesus said He did not come into the world to change the law, but to fulfill the law......reckon this is about as far as I will go , you got my line of thought, it came to mind that years ago I heard a Bible teacher explain how the N.T ties in with the O.T. ------ many think/believe that the O.T. is totally replaced with the N.T.-----but in order to understand the N.T. one must understand the O.T----so to speak-----over the years I have come to absolutely believe that our Christian Scriptures are sent from God-----however, sometimes the correct answer is like looking for a needle in a hay stack

Right----wrong---indifferent----today my thought is that God has given me life more abundantly than I deserve, He also expect me to protect and care for my loved ones and strangers He may put in
my path-------just a side thought, we grow up in churches of different doctrines, we listen to pastors who think differently, we read books of different thoughts-----which raises the question of what are we to believe------search the Scripture, not to prove one right or wrong, but search the Scriptures for "truth, wisdom, understanding"-----Scripture (don't know where it is) teaches us that God/Holy Spirit will teach us all things, when this occurs, you got the right answer-----Knock and it will be opened, seek & you will find, ask & it will be given

thanks, I take a little different stand on someone breaking into my house.....once I do whatever, I toss him in the pickup bed, go a good way away, dump him off......anyway that has been my plan for some years........my neighborhood is going to the dogs, been here 40+ yrs and my end of the county has really gone to pot, not the smoking kind either

If I may, let me babble on for jus a minute.......much is being said about carrying a firearm and the need for it......I am not against this, and I do not always cary my firearm.....back a few years ago my oldest son came in and was maybe 14 or 15 ways bent all out of shape over junk that happened on the road on his way home from work and he decided he needed to buy & carry a gun -----I told him, & maybe this will hit home with someone here, anyway, I told my son----"this is fine with me, but in carrying a weapon there are a few things you need to come to terms with 1st, if you break leather you have reached the point of no return, you have to shoot the person, right or wrong you have to shoot the person, if you don't they will take your gun away and shoot you with your own weapon, next you shoot to kill, a dead man tells no lies, then you have to consider if you shoot someone and they are unarmed, you going directly to jail, no passing GO to collect anything, then you need to really ask yourself, can you live with the fact that you took another's life, this is not TV land, this is real life, then you need to review/search about folks who shot someone even in self defense and still got in a ton of trouble and very large lawyer cost, not to mention the mountain of paper work you have to file--- I m not telling you not to buy & carry, I am just asking you to be darn sure what you are doing, there are consequences for our actions and sometimes being right don't cut it.....you are white and shoot a black man, right or wrong it is race related, this also goes for a black man shooting a white man --also, and finally, sometimes it is just best to keep your mouth shut and move on...., but your dad will support your choice---.".....

Learning to use a firearm proficiently is the easy part, equipping your mind for what happens afterwards is the hard part.....we live in a mean world today and yes we need to be prepared to go against evil, IMO, equipping your mind is more important than learning to fire a weapon,,,,God willing none of us will ever be put in the position to meet this type of a challenge, then there are many other ways of self-defense other than shooting a person......I suppose I wrote this for maybe someone who is considering the purchase of a firearm and carrying it------if you are not willing to use it in deadly fashion, you may not want to go here.....jus say'n.......MAN!!!! it is fun just babbling on & on & on, kind of like talking to yourself--- and that's ok, just don't start answering yourself-----God Bless

G'Morning, have a Blest day-----I been running all morning, sounds like I may be work'n up a nap

Sometimes I wonder if my exercise comes from flying off the handle & jumping to conclusions,,,,,,only joking here,,,,,,,

Good to come back and correct myself, lol,,,,, earlier this morning I am laying in bed with 1st cup of coffee trying to get the ole Mind in gear, on Fox the guy in Tx. That took down the shooter was on TV, said he was no hero, he only used the tools his God & Lord gave him,,,,, he does sound like a man of faith, God Bless

Great afternoon out in my barn taking an old cedar fence post and working it down into whatever God has hidden in there........I knew when I posted, I was not communicating exactly what I was feeling/thinking.....but anyway it did get you to thinking......Let me say I am not a pacifist, maybe a little too far in the opposite direction.....I do own firearms, some in my barn in my gun safe, a couple in the house, my 45 readily available....It is my firm belief that God has been very good to me giving me such a wonderful family and I do believe that God intends for me to protect and care for them....to whatever degree necessary....I do have a concealed weapons permit and use it as I see fit.....now allow me to toss all that aside, I suppose the hard heart part comes in where a christian may carry hatred in their heart for a group of people------there are folks in the church who carry prejudices around, to me that is a hardened heart, I am old enough and made enough mistakes in my life that at 74 I really don't want to pigeon hole a person into whatever for whatever......Then last evening on the TV I also heard a preacher and his thoughts (opinion) and the bottom line he was putting the blame for things like this on the American people......to me his heart was hard against the American people & that is a nice way to present my thoughts....Back some months ago I did more than a fair study on the hardened heart and suppose maybe I have a different thought on a hardened heart than others

Anyway, I did not mean in anyway to suggest that cowardice was acceptable, nor that there was not place for righteous anger but to walk around with hard feelings against another race, creed, color just because they are not like me would be to walk around with a hard heart and there are plenty of church goers who fit this bill-----I've been one, done that scene and not proud of it-----every day I ask God to help me be a better person today than I was yesterday

A passing thought.....the article said....."Our neighbor, he is a very good guy, a very big christian"----I am not being judgmental here, but wondered if he is such a Big Christian why he was not in church? I am sure there is a good reason, just curious-----then I wondered if folks think being good is being Christian......HUMMMMMM!!!!

Anyway thanks for the chat----God Bless

this morning FOX had several different folks who said "I THINK" and everyone knows my thoughts on opinions, lol....any way a Baptist Preacher hit the nail on the head, a change of heart is what is needed.

I can remember back years ago when I lived in the Va. mountains folks who did not attend church services would not even cut their grass during church hours, just out of respect, today we have gunmen in churches.....things have truly changed over the years,,,,,,respect is only a strange language which no one understands now days

Something here to think on, I been tossing this around all day-------we as Christians have to be very careful that the devil does not use this opportunity to turn our heart hard and hateful.....I am not saying we should not defend ourselves and family, just saying we need to keep close tabs on our heart, or maybe I just need to do this, IDUNNO....jus say'n

thought you were gonna tell us the Pillow Guy was there, trying to sell you a "MY PILLOW".......gett'n scary around here-----you do get 2 for 1 though

Dear God, just a quick note this morning to say thank you for this another day and ask that you assist me in being a better person today than yesterday. There are many who are in need, I ask that you hear their words lifted to you and grant them strength & courage to endure & overcome.....OH YES!!! Thanks again, ahead of time

This came to mind when I awoke this morning---what troubles one may face, the past, the todays, the future, whatever, think on this---it helps---------


"1. Be still, my soul: The Lord is on thy side;
With patience bear thy cross of grief or pain.
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
In ev’ry change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: Thy best, thy heav’nly Friend
Thru thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
2. Be still, my soul: Thy God doth undertake
To guide the future as he has the past.
Thy hope, thy confidence let nothing shake;
All now mysterious shall be bright at last.
Be still, my soul: The waves and winds still know
His voice who ruled them while he dwelt below.
3. Be still, my soul: The hour is hast’ning on
When we shall be forever with the Lord,
When disappointment, grief, and fear are gone,
Sorrow forgot, love’s purest joys restored.
Be still, my soul: When change and tears are past,
All safe and blessed we shall meet at last.
God Bless

Thanks , think I needed to hear this , God works through us in ways we may not know, once again thanks

Not that this amounts to a hill of beans, but I made mention that I had been reading the 1st few chaps. in Revelation for 10 days.....in the 1st verse, which I have read back some yrs ago, but never realized what I had read-----God gave the revelation to Jesus, Jesus sent it by an angel to His servant John and then we. know John wrote it out and today we have it.............Like I said, probably don't amount to a hill of beans, but seeing as how I did not know it clearly, I thought maybe another on on this board or visiting this board may be as thick as I....and that's pretty thick.....reckon my thought is often we read something and do not really see what we are reading....Then we listen to a preacher, teacher who will say "I THINK", which means they are offering their opinion and then we run with that as fact.....jus rattling off here a bit this morning

The prosperity preacher, would this be considered following the doctrine of Balaam?......I spent 10 days reading each day the 1st 4 chaps. of Revelation, in this was the 7 churches, as I read & read & read & did cross reference I realized that man ain't changed much over the years.....Anyway back to my original thought/question concerning the doctrine of Balaam, any thoughts here.

I am often reminded of the Scripture that ties in with your posts this morning....Gal.6:10---"Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith."

what's that old say'n----Charity begins at home......Should we take care of the faithful 1st, then reach out? I have many times made the statement that if we took a city map, then using colored pens stick one in at each church address, then step back and look and ask ourselves how could we ever have a need in our cities "IF" each church reached out where they were? Jus think'n-----reckon aide begins at the door of my house/heart

Sounds like Ground Hog Day, HUMMM!! Maybe in the end all will be happy

A goodern there Rick.....sort of right on da money

I misunderstood ole Raj when he said at the worse I would break even with NAGP, I now understand, he meant even with NAGP before investing in NAGP, hummm, he is a slick ole dude,,,,, it was a fun ride, the ticket was a bit on the expensive side, but what a ride.... with the opportunities they had it is hard to believe they screwed everything up as bad as they did......I think I found a few knives in the drawer that appear to be more dull than me......didn't think that was possible...... ya'll have a good week

Thanks much for the reply

Greg----Rick---where is Steve? Is he OK???

From experience----there is great strength to draw from folks on this board raising for a sick or person going through great difficulty.....one of the things that I have loved about this board over the years.....

So Sorry, will differently add to prayer list......God Bless

Call me thick, I am sorry but I do not grasp a part of this----"Not just for believers but for believers who specifically meet the requirements....& full of conditional promises"......Not finding fault here, jus say'n I am to thick to grasp-----I believe that the only condition God requires of me is that I believe in Jesus Christ.....Now I understand what it means to say "I believe", goes well beyond words....I did read Psalm 91 over & over and read study notes.....this sounded a bit like cutting a deal, a bargain. Probably just a word thing & I don't get it----yet getting into heaven is to "Believe that God sent His Son into the world to save us, Jesus died on the cross, buried, arose from the dead & sits on the right hand of God." IMO, a person believes this, lives accordingly, heaven awaits him/her.... yes we fall, we slip, we slide right into sin, but the believer is made to see his/her short falls by the Holy Spirit and we ask for forgiveness, we pick ourselves up, knock off the dirt and move on.....we do not continue doing the same thing over & over....but we all fall short and God always offers forgiveness.

I do appreciate all the post more especially those which make me think and seek wisdom. I suppose many of us are on a different level of understanding, but, on the same road

God Bless

How could we ever be thankful and appreciate the good times if there were no bad times......I try to remember, and often forget, but when I remember things go much better...Remember???/. OH YA, I got it back....when bad stuff comes along, I ask God----"OK !! I got this mess, I don't know how to handle it so what do You want me to do with it"-----IMO, God is in charge/control, when I remember to turn it all over to Him things just have a way of working out and those times I try to be in control----well, some things are just better left unsaid

Started the morning off with---Coffee & this---@ Corinthians 1:3-4: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of comfort, who comforts us in our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.".....Now go have a very good day & God Bless

The Valley of the shadow of death-----could be a scary thing....I know a man who recently underwent surgery and there for a few days things got a little out of wack, what should have been 4 days in the hospital turned out to be 9, what was to be 1 or 2 days in ICU turned out to be 4......while he lay on the hospital bed knocked out with meds because it would be dangerous for him if he got to moving, anyway up on the ceiling was what----let's say a big circle, he does not know what was inside the circle, but something was there, then completely around the circle was the Lords Prayer, it kept going around & around , like the ticker thing on the bottom of the TV screen on the news, then every now & then right through the center of the circle----"yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for Thou are with me..." would appear--- this continued for the 4 days in ICU.......at a time in one's life where stepping into eternity is just a breath away, what comforting thoughts-----"I will fear no evil, for You are with me"......

I enjoyed the post, yet I wonder if Psalm 23 goes way deeper in our lives than day to day living and dealings with hardships. At different times in our lives a piece of Scripture can carry different meaning, say, touch our heart in different ways.....would be interesting to do a short study with different folks of different ages, have them read Psalm 23 every day for a week, then have them write out their thoughts on how it spoke to them, would be very interesting to see the difference of one, say, 16 yrs. old verses someone 35, 55, 75........

The Valley of the Shadow of Death is not place to walk through on your own, jus a pass'n thought here this morning-----God Bless

This morning my Bible was opened at Psalm 25.....a good read for me this morning...God Bless

Why would NAGP take the time to..... ....maybe the better question,,,, why would a past investor who has endured NAGP's stuff for years ever believe anything they say? Not bashing, I really wish they would produce something, but their past is not something to be proud of,,,, their past management is less than acceptable, and their honesty with investors have left every investor every right in this world to question anything they say, I really hope I am wrong, but Raj/Joe & Co is jus what they are, I'll leave it right there

If you are really traveling, have a safe trip & totally enjoy ,,,, have a great time

Sunday my Pastor in his sermon mentioned that believing is not enough, we need to be disciples of Christ......for whatever reason that really stuck with me, I did not disagree, I just did not understand, I came home and pulled out research stuff, then Monday I went back at it again, this time talking with God about my inability to understand, then Tuesday I worked on it some more and now here it is Wednesday and I finally got a really clear picture....The Pastor's thing was demons also believe----so to believe is not a ticket into heaven, we are called to be disciples and make disciples...1st I went to the Hebrew & Greek meaning of disciple, each is different----my words here, in Hebrew (O.T.) believe is used in Isaiah----carries the meaning of one who teaches, one who has gained knowledge and now teaches others----in Greek(N.T.) it means the opposite , one who is learning, a student so to speak.....I have followed John 3:16 and the meaning of "believes" as used here, which is 100% true, but it is those who believe "IN"----to believe in means, "we are stuck on", "committed to", "faith in", "rely on", "an act not only of our mind, but of our heart also", ---so say'n I believe is just part of it, learning to live it is the other part and that is the hard part, I reckon living it interferes with what we want to do... As a disciple of Christ we are a student of learning the Christian doctrine & a student of how to live it. Just as a student in school we get tested and we miss some of the questions so we learn from our mistakes and move on to higher learning where things become clear. IMO---a focus on eternity & where we spend it should be a big thought in each of our minds, eternity is a very, very long time, I am trying to make it to the comfortable side.....God Bless & have a great day

I just don't know------my 16 yr. old grand-daughter shared with her grandma about her friend who was contemplating suicide because of her boyfriend-----abortion is now normal----I always thought that once the general public accepted abortion then killing off seniors would be acceptable,,,,,,but,,,,,youngsters killing themselves??????? over petty stuff???? Have we totally lost our minds ???? I just don't know anymore, I am totally at a lost------People folks say they believe---yet they do not call on the One whom they believe.........I don't know....not do I claim to even begin to understand-----but where in the hell is the church???? Where in the hell is the family????-----IMO, it all rest here, CHURCH & FAMILY!!!! OOOPPPPS!!! This is me, maybe you.......I am church & family----you also.... I do not even claim to begin to even scratch the surface for the correct answer----yet, the question is there---"are we missing the boat?".....

OH ME!!! I would never disagree with Charles Stanley.....but think on this.....UNBELIEVERS never need to worry about offering up a wrong prayer---either....one could be an unbeliever, yet seeking not knowing what, nor not having any idea on how to confront God-----to me, quite simple,,,, "God , I know nothing, "IF" you are there, I need help......God If you are there I need help,----

May I add, if you are down and out & don't know where to turn,,,,,,,,maybe , just take a second of your time and call out to God........He is always there

AWWWW!!! MAN!!!!! we jus got home from Vegas. We were at the Paris, would have been great to have have met you.....we will be out there the 1st of the year, actually the end of and the beginning of the yr., Looks like I played this like I played NAGP, day late & a dollar short

ANGER!!!!! Naw, that evaporated years ago, although they got me for a fair penny or 2 I have always given them credit for being slick as snot on a door handle,,,,,although I don't care for how they treated their investors I always gave them credit for being (IMO) really good Con-Men, I tell ya, if BS held any value we would be stink'n rich....lol....Now we do have a couple of new-bees who pumped this and called us nasty names...lol, a joke to me, however, I really hope they did not buy in like I did years ago.....I lost no more than I could afford, but then truth be know, from my original investment years ago I weathered pretty good for a Yo-Yo backwoods hillbilly....nothing but a game, now I do enjoy Vegas and the such much more.......Hey, I do visit a board daily...."BIBLE".....Some folks on there who have been to hell and back, fought off major addictions and came through with lying colors.....forget one's beliefs, there are good folks over there....

All-in-All, been a fun ride..... God Bless & Semper fi brother

How about that, no surprise here.....Does this mean that I can now forget the break even $50.00pps? Reckon I best get use to this ole card box, I was so hoping for an upgrade