Month: July 2013

  • JOKES

    Hide and Go Seek

    Einstein, Newton, and Pascal are playing hide and go seek. It's Einstein's turn to count so he covers his eyes and starts counting to ten.

    Pascal runs off and hides. Newton draws a on meter by one meter square on the ground in front of Einstein then stands in the middle of it.

    Einstein reaches ten and uncovers his eyes. He sees Newton immediately and exclaims, "Newton, I found you! You're it!"

    Newton smiles and says "You didn't find me, you found a Newton over a square. You found Pascal!"

    Marx Tea

    Why did Karl Marx dislike Earl Grey tea?

    Because all proper tea is theft.

    Higgs Boson Church

    Higgs Boson walks into a church and the priest says, "We don't allow Higgs Bosons in here."

    The Higgs Boson replies, "But without me, how could you have mass?"

    Speeding Heisenberg

    Heisenberg was speeding down the highway. A cop pulls him over.

    He asks, "Son, do you have any idea how fast you were going back there?"

    Heisenberg replies, "No, but I knew where I was!"
     

     

  • QUOTE OF THE DAY

    "When you dare to dream, dare to follow that dream; dare to suffer through the pain, sacrifice, self-doubts and friction from the world."
    -- Laura Schlessinger, talk-show host

  • DEVOTIONAL LANCASTER BAPTIST CHURCH

     
     

    Rejected Reproof

    By Paul Chappell
     
     
     
      Friday, Jul 5, 2013

    "And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!"

    Proverbs 5:12-13

    Mt. Everest, the highest peak on Earth, has long been the goal of climbers around the globe. In the decades since it was first scaled, individuals and groups have come to the remote Himalayas in an effort to reach the top. During the 1990s Everest “tourism” reached a new high as guides began selling services to take larger and larger groups up the mountain. In 1996 writer Jon Krakauer was part of one such expedition—a trip that ended in tragedy. His book Into Thin Air recounts the series of decisions and poor choices that left eight climbers and guides dead on the mountain when a massive storm caught them on the trail and they were unable to return to safety.

    There were plenty of warnings for those who choose to heed them. Many people abandoned their efforts to reach the summit of Everest and remained safe below. But others thought that their skill or their guides would enable them to make it despite the storm. Some of those who refused to listen to the warnings they received perished on the mountain.

    When we decide that we know better than those who are sounding the alarm and giving warnings of danger, we are taking a grave risk. It may be that they are wrong and there is no danger, but that is seldom the case. Usually when we are being warned, it is for a reason. God graciously gives us teachers and spiritual leaders to provide words of caution to save us from destruction. Pride does not want to admit that it might need correction, and as a result, often ends in tragedy. Humility listens to these words and heeds them rather than despising them, offering protection and safety.

    Today’s Proverbs Precept: 
    Do not let arrogance keep you from benefitting from the protection offered by the reproof of others.

    Old Testament Reading
    Job 30

    CHAPTER 30

    1 But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock. 2 Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was perished? 3 For want and famine they were solitary; fleeing into the wilderness in former time desolate and waste. 4 Who cut up mallows by the bushes, and juniper roots for their meat. 5 They were driven forth from among men , (they cried after them as after a thief;) 6 To dwell in the clifts of the valleys, in caves of the earth, and in the rocks. 7 Among the bushes they brayed; under the nettles they were gathered together. 8 They were children of fools, yea, children of base men: they were viler than the earth.9 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. 10 They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face. 11 Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me. 12 Upon my right hand rise the youth; they push away my feet, and they raise up against me the ways of their destruction. 13 They mar my path, they set forward my calamity, they have no helper. 14 They came upon me as a wide breaking in of waters : in the desolation they rolled themselves upon me .

    15 Terrors are turned upon me: they pursue my soul as the wind: and my welfare passeth away as a cloud. 16 And now my soul is poured out upon me; the days of affliction have taken hold upon me. 17 My bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest. 18 By the great force of my disease is my garment changed: it bindeth me about as the collar of my coat. 19 He hath cast me into the mire, and I am become like dust and ashes. 20 I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not . 21 Thou art become cruel to me: with thy strong hand thou opposest thyself against me. 22 Thou liftest me up to the wind; thou causest me to ride upon it , and dissolvest my substance. 23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to thehouse appointed for all living. 24 Howbeit he will not stretch out his hand to the grave, though they cry in his destruction. 25 Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? 26 When I looked for good, then evil came unto me : and when I waited for light, there came darkness. 27 My bowels boiled, and rested not: the days of affliction prevented me. 28 I went mourning without the sun: I stood up, and I cried in the congregation. 29 I am a brother to dragons, and a companion to owls. 30 My skin is black upon me, and my bones are burned with heat. 31 My harp also is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of them that weep.

     

    CHAPTER 31

    1 I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid? 2 For what portion of God is there from above? and what inheritance of the Almighty from on high? 3 Is not destruction to the wicked? and a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity? 4 Doth not he see my ways, and count all my steps? 5 If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to deceit; 6 Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. 7 If my step hath turned out of the way, and mine heart walked after mine eyes, and if any blot hath cleaved to mine hands; 8 Then let me sow, and let another eat; yea, let my offspring be rooted out.

    9 If mine heart have been deceived by a woman, or if I have laid wait at my neighbour's door; 10 Then let my wife grind unto another, and let others bow down upon her. 11 For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges. 12 For it is a fire that consumeth to destruction, and would root out all mine increase. 13 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me; 14 What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? 15 Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?

    16 If I have withheld the poor from their desire, or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail; 17 Or have eaten my morsel myself alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof; 18 (For from my youth he was brought up with me, as with a father, and I have guided her from my mother's womb;) 19 If I have seen any perish for want of clothing, or any poor without covering; 20 If his loins have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep; 21 If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate: 22 Then let mine arm fall from my shoulder blade, and mine arm be broken from the bone. 23 For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.

    24 If I have made gold my hope, or have said to the fine gold, Thou art my confidence; 25 If I rejoiced because my wealth was great, and because mine hand had gotten much; 26 If I beheld the sun when it shined, or the moon walking in brightness; 27 And my heart hath been secretly enticed, or my mouth hath kissed my hand: 28 This also were an iniquity to be punished by the judge: for I should have denied the God that is above. 29 If I rejoiced at the destruction of him that hated me, or lifted up myself when evil found him: 30 Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul. 31 If the men of my tabernacle said not, Oh that we had of his flesh! we cannot be satisfied. 32 The stranger did not lodge in the street: but Iopened my doors to the traveller.

    33 If I covered my transgressions as Adam, by hiding mine iniquity in my bosom: 34 Did I fear a great multitude, or did the contempt of families terrify me, that I kept silence, and went not out of the door? 35 Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is , that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book. 36 Surely I would take it upon my shoulder, and bind it as a crown to me. 37 I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him. 38 If my land cry against me, or that the furrows likewise thereof complain; 39 If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, or have caused the owners thereof to lose their life: 40 Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.

    New Testament Reading
    Acts 13:26

    26 Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you is the word of this salvation sent. 27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabbath day, they have fulfilled them in condemning him . 28 And though they found no cause of death in him , yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. 29 And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre. 30 But God raised him from the dead: 31 And he was seen many days of them which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are his witnesses unto the people. 32 And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,33 God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. 34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David. 35 Wherefore he saith also in another psalm , Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. 36 For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption: 37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. 40Beware therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of in the prophets; 41 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you.

    42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath. 43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. 44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. 45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. 46 Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. 47 For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying , I have set thee to be a light ofthe Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. 48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region. 50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts. 51 But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.

    Proverb of the Day
    Proverbs 5

    1 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding: 2 That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. 3 For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil: 4 But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. 6 Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them . 7 Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house: 9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel: 10 Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;11 And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13 And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14 I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly. 15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. 16 Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets. 17 Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee. 18 Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. 19 Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love. 20 And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of astranger? 21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings. 22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. 23 He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

     

  • T&M GRACE

    Who shall ascend into the hill of YAHVAH? or who shall stand in his consecrated place? He that hath clean hands. and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

    There is no arriving at a high state of grace without much praying, and no staying in those high altitudes without great praying.

    PRAYER: FATHER, I PRAYER THAT MY PRAYERS WILL ALWAYS REACH YOU, AND THAT I WILL BE PRAYING THE RIGHT KIND OF PRAYERS THAT REALLY MATTER AND NOT PRAYERS OF FOR MYSELF. HELP ME TO UNDERSTAND THE RIGHT KIND OF PRAYING. HALLELUYAH! Bro. Doc

  • PRESIDENT OBAMA SUPPORTS AL QAEDA WAR ON WOMEN

    posted on July 3, 2013 by

    President Obama Supports Al Qaeda War On Women

     

     

    American women and the LGBT community overwhelmingly supported the re-election of a President they ordained as the messiah of twenty-first century equality, tolerance, and morality. I wonder if these Obama loyalists take issue with the President’s decision to support Islamist rebels in Syria who are performing at will public executions of Syrians fighting to preserve Assad’s government tolerance of women’s rights and freedoms.

     

    Women’s rights in Syria will evaporate if Al Qaeda backed Al Nusrah is successful in removing Bashir Assad and his Shiite Alawite government from Damascus.

     

     

     

    Obama’s tolerant radicals, I mean rebels—the recently vetted Islamist terror groups awaiting shipments of US weapons—have recently issued a fatwa (an order based on Sharia law) banning women from leaving their houses “in immodest dress, in tight clothing that shows off their bodies, or wearing makeup on their face. According to recent Facebook postings from the City of Aleppo, reported by Reuters, Syrian rebels have proclaimed, “It is incumbent on all sisters to obey God and commit to Islamic etiquette.”

     

    These are the same Syrian rebels—all listed on the US “Foreign Terrorist Organization List“—that are destroying non-Muslim houses of worship, and publicly beheading Christians, their religious leaders, and anyone caught blaspheming Islam in public as well as whomever they determine may be loyal to Syrian societies sectarian tolerances.

     

    Prior to the Saudi and Qatar backed terrorism campaign, now supported by Obama, Syria—never a model of true equality—was a country that allowed women to wear sleeveless, tight fitting apparel, above the knee skirts and did not require the mandatory use of head scarves. Syria did not impose strict Islamic law on its citizenry. Apparently, Islamic etiquette in Syria, a Muslim nation, is about to change if Obama backed rebels have their way. Islamic radicalization–America’s enemy according to Obama–is taking hold in Syria and Obama supports this change?

     

    Contrary to the propaganda shoveled on American media, Bashir Assad’s government has a history far more respectful of western culture’s permissive values, though Syria is far from the idyllic model of tolerance Americans experience at home. Make no mistake the Syrian government heavily regulates public activity and discourse. However, Syria has a history of accepting social values that allow freedom of worship and freedom to associate condemned by the Sunni Islamist backed rebels Obama now supports with US weapons and aid.

     

    Unlike its current Sunni adversaries (Qatar and Saudi Arabia) Syria doe not criminally penalize non-Islamic worship, hand holding, public displays of affection, wearing non-Islamic jewelry, and unmarried women’s association with men. The Syrian government does not require adherence to strict Islamic law on a wide range of social issues.

     

    In Saudi Arabia and Qatar, strict Islamist states, the subjugation of women is a cultural norm. Women have few rights in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two radical Sunni nations. In Qatar, non-married woman found in the un-chaperoned company of a man not related by blood or marriage is ordered to take a virginity test, failure of which can result in a legal honor killing. Married Muslim women, in both Saudi Arabia and Qatar found violating a strict code prohibiting free association might find themselves sentenced to state sanctioned beatings or worse.

     

    I wonder how the White House would respond if asked by, say, Rachael Maddow, a woman, a Rhodes scholar, and an Obama supporter, why are we backing a regime change in Syria that will undoubtedly drive Syrian society backwards to a culture that prohibits the limited freedoms it enjoys today. Women’s freedoms not found in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the two Gulf States pushing for Assad’s overthrow and a return to a strict Islamist government and Sharia law dominance in Syria. Moreover, why is the caustic rhetoric US feminists deploy to vilify American equality imbalances strangely absent from news reports detailing Obama’s alliance with these misogynistic Gulf States?

     

    The hypocrisy of feminists and the American gender equality brigades tolerate from the President they elected to level the playing field is mortifying. The protagonists of this Syrian conflict—Saudi Arabia and Qatar—will set Arab women’s rights—freedoms as possessions and compliant human incubators—back thousands of centuries. All supported by an Obama foreign policy.

     

    Do American feminists now support international violations of women’s rights? Does the first lady, an outspoken critic of human rights abuses, now tolerate her husband’s support for two countries with some of the worst women’s rights records in the world? Two countries, if victorious, that will replace Syria’s tolerance with anti-woman Sharia law.

     

    Where does Hillary Clinton stand on this? More importantly, why is no one asking her?

     

     

     

  • STAN HAD TWO DADS AND THEY RAPED HIM A LOTA

     

    posted on July 4, 2013 by

    Stan Had Two Dads And They Raped Him A Lot

     

    This is a post about media bias, not about how prevalent pedophile rape is or might be among presenting homosexual couples. I don’t know the answer about that. I harbor doubt that anyone knows because I suspect no one in power wants that kind of data collected.

    But since this is about media bias, let’s go back to 2010 when a puff piece appeared in the Australian media. You can listen to it here (until they remove it) and see a pdf of the report here. The WinterKnight blog, posted all the text. Note that I’ve changed the boy’s name in this post to Stan.

     

    “Headline: Two dads are better than one

    Date: 14 July, 2010 5:04PM AEST

    Author: Ginger Gorman

     

    A shiny child’s bike lies on its side on the front lawn of an immaculate garden.

    Around the back gay dads Pete and Mark chase their son’s pet chickens around, trying to catch them.

    Stan, 5, exclaims that the little birds are too fast for him.

    It’s a happy, relaxed family scene. But it wasn’t an easy road to get there.”

    I highly advise listening to the original audio to get the full flavor of the story’s force as it shows us how normal this all is, how stupid we are to suspect anything is wrong with it.

    It was all about pedophilia.

    They raped him from infancy. They traveled internationally and offered him up to others. They used him for porn to share with others. They trained him how to act and how to make denials to authorities. The video evidence was so disgusting, that it seems the prosecutors agreed not to use a jury trial even though it meant they couldn’t get a more severe sentence.

    “US District Judge Sarah Evans Barker said the pair deserved a harsher punishment but were tried at district court level to avoid subjecting a jury to the repulsive images that had been produced. ‘What can be said? What can be done to erase some of the horror of this?’ Judge Barker said in handing down her sentence.”

    Again, I am not claiming this is widespread. Not all homosexuals are members of a man-boy “network.” However, I do think I should point out that this isn’t the first time this has happened. Furthermore, the media was rather quiet in reporting the facts in that case.

    The point here is that the media is so in love with “marriage equality” and so morally certain as it endeavors to berate us yahoos—who think marriage is for a man and a woman and that children ought to have, if possible, both a father and a mother—that same sex relationships are healthy and normal, that they have thrown away all critical thinking. Slogans about “science” and “open-mindedness” are just words covering wishful thinking. We must displace a Christian heritage with a wet dream regime and not worry about any unintended consequences. We can broadcast and make up all the Christian stereotypes we want to, but if you dare disagree that same sex marriage is natural and just, and  that it can be established with no real negative consequences, then you’re just a homophobe.

    You can watch the recent video here of Ginger Gorman, who did the puff piece back in 2010, now regretful but protesting how normal the couple seemed. She just wanted to do a story about “gender.” She didn’t mean to spread the cover story of a couple of baby-rapers.

    No, of course, she didn’t mean to do that. But why should we trust people who are so blinded by an ideology that pretends that mothers or fathers are dispensable to a child’s parenthood? And who is Gorman? Gorman is everyone, from Justice Kennedy to the American Pediatrics Association to every network television drama showing us a pet same-sex couple suitable for public consumption.

    Gorman really thought, at the time, that it was wrong for the two men to come under such scrutiny by the authorities. She made sure, in her original story, to let us know it was unfair for two “gay” men to have to explain why they were bringing a baby into the country.

    Has Gorman at least changed her mind about that? She doesn’t say. I suspect she is trying hard not to think about it.

    She and many others.

  • DAILY QUOTE

    “Ambition beats genius 99 percent of the time.” Jay Leno

       

  • INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

    Motivational Quote of the Day…

    "He who is brave is free.."

    Lucius Annaeus Seneca

    Love Quote of the Day…

    “Because of a great love, one is courageous.”

    Lao Tzu

  • JOKES

    Things to Ponder

    Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.

    One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.....

    Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

    The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.

    I went to a bookstore and asked the sales woman,"Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.

    What if there were no hypothetical questions?

    If a deaf person swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?

    If someone with multiple personalities threatens to kill himself, is it considered a hostage situation?

    Pondering Things

    Is there another word for synonym?

    Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"

    What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?

    If a parsley farmer is sued can they garnish his wages?

    Would a fly without wings be called a walk?

    Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?

    If a turtle doesn't have a shell, is he homeless or naked?

    Can vegetarians eat animal crackers?

    If the police arrest a mime, do they tell him he has the right to remain silent?

    Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?

    How do they get deer to cross the road only at those yellow road signs?

    Ponderable Things

    What was the best thing before sliced bread?

    One nice thing about egotists: they don't talk about other people.

    Does the Little Mermaid wear an algebra?

    Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

    How is it possible to have a civil war?

    If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest drown, too?

    If you ate both pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?

    Ponder All the Things

    If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

    Whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have "S" in it?

    Why are hemorrhoids called "hemorrhoids" instead of "assteroids"?

    Why is it called tourist season if we can't shoot at them?

    Why is there an expiration date on sour cream?

    If you spin an oriental man in a circle three times does he become disoriented?

    Can an atheist get insurance against acts of God?
     

     

  • DEDVOTIONAL LANCASTER BAPTIST CHURCH

     

     
     

    A Shining Light

    By Paul Chappell
     
     
     
      Thursday, Jul 4, 2013

    "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day."

    Proverbs 4:18

    Today as we celebrate the anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence, it is worth looking back to remember that the foundations of this nation were laid in faith. President Ronald Reagan acknowledged that heritage in his Farewell Address to the nation just before leaving office. He said: “The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the 'shining city upon a hill.' The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. What he imagined was important because he was an early Pilgrim.

    “He journeyed here on what today we'd call a little wooden boat; and like the other Pilgrims, he was looking for a home that would be free. I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity.”

    No nation can be truly great apart from the blessing of God, and no nation can be blessed by God without godly people praying and living according to His Word. The biggest problem facing our nation is not evil in high places, although that does exist. The biggest problem is that God’s people have stopped being shining lights, choosing instead to hide their lights and silence their voices. As society becomes darker, it is more vital than ever that we speak out—sharing the gospel and declaring the truth of Scripture, shining more brightly in contrast to a world that has turned its back on God.

    Today’s Proverbs Precept: 
    Regardless of the spiritual health of our nation, each believer has an obligation to God to shine as a light in the darkness.

    Old Testament Reading
    Job 28

    CHAPTER 28

    1 Surely there is a vein for the silver, and a place for gold where they fine it. 2 Iron is taken out of the earth, and brass is molten out of the stone. 3 He setteth an end to darkness, and searcheth out all perfection: the stones of darkness, and the shadow of death. 4 The flood breaketh out from the inhabitant; even the waters forgotten of the foot: they are dried up, they are gone away from men. 5 As for the earth, out of it cometh bread: and under it is turned up as it were fire. 6 The stones of it are the place of sapphires: and it hath dust of gold. 7 There is a path which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen: 8 The lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it. 9 He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. 10 He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. 11 He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light. 12 But where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding? 13 Man knoweth not the price thereof; neither is it found in the land of the living.

    14 The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me. 15 It cannot be gotten for gold, neither shall silver be weighed for the price thereof. 16 It cannot be valued with the gold of Ophir, with the precious onyx, or the sapphire. 17 The gold and the crystal cannot equal it: and the exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold. 18 No mention shall be made of coral, or of pearls: for the price of wisdom is above rubies. 19 The topaz of Ethiopia shall not equal it, neither shall it be valued with pure gold.

    20 Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? 21 Seeing it is hid from the eyes of all living, and kept close from the fowls of the air. 22 Destruction and death say, We have heard the fame thereof with our ears. 23 God understandeth the way thereof, and he knoweth the place thereof. 24 For he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth under the whole heaven; 25 To make the weight for the winds; and he weigheth the waters by measure. 26 When he made a decree for the rain, and a way for the lightning of the thunder: 27 Then did he see it, and declare it; he prepared it, yea, and searched it out. 28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.

     

    CHAPTER 29

    1 Moreover Job continued his parable, and said, 2 Oh that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; 3 When his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; 4 As I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; 5 When the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were about me; 6 When I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil;

    7 When I went out to the gate through the city, when I prepared my seat in the street! 8 The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the aged arose, and stood up. 9 The princes refrained talking, and laid their hand on their mouth. 10 The nobles held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to the roof of their mouth. 11 When the ear heard me, then it blessed me; and when the eye saw me, it gave witness to me: 12 Because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him. 13 The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me: and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy. 14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem. 15 I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. 16 I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out. 17 And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.

    18 Then I said, I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand. 19 My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch. 20 My glory was fresh in me, and my bow was renewed in my hand. 21 Unto me men gave ear, and waited, and kept silence at my counsel. 22 After my words they spake not again; and my speech dropped upon them. 23 And they waited for me as for the rain; and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain. 24 If I laughed on them, they believed it not; and the light of my countenance they cast not down. 25 I chose out their way, and sat chief, and dwelt as a king in the army, as one that comforteth the mourners.

    New Testament Reading
    Acts 13:1

    1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. 3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

    4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister. 6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus: 7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith. 9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him, 10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord. 13 Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.

    14 But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down. 15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. 16 Then Paul stood up, and beckoning with his hand said, Men of Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience. 17 The God of this people of Israel chose our fathers, and exalted the people when they dwelt as strangers in the land of Egypt, and with an high arm brought he them out of it. 18 And about the time of forty years suffered he their manners in the wilderness. 19 And when he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, he divided their land to them by lot. 20 And after that he gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet. 21 And afterward they desired a king: and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will. 23 Of this man's seed hath God according to his promise raised unto Israel a Saviour, Jesus: 24 When John had first preached before his coming the baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And as John fulfilled his course, he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But, behold, there cometh one after me, whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to loose.

    Proverb of the Day
    Proverbs 4

    1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. 2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. 3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. 4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. 5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. 8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. 9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. 10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. 11 I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. 12 When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. 13 Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life. 14 Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. 15 Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. 16 For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. 17 For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. 18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. 19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. 20 My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. 22 For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. 24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. 25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. 26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. 27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.