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I’m No Longer a Slave to Fear

I’m No Longer a Slave to Fear

This is one of the most powerful videos I’ve seen in a long time.  For some reason, it moves me everytime I watch it.  And I hope it will do the same for you.

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Enjoy and be blessed.

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Trying to Describe the Indescribable

Trying to Describe the Indescribable

Trying to describe the indescribable.  Impossible.

But the following from Dr. S.M. Lockridge comes as close as I’ve ever seen.  Be blessed and encouraged in Him.

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You want to go grab a grub?

You want to go grab a grub?

Remember the dream Pharaoh had about the seven cattle and the seven ears of grain?  It seems that in Pharaoh’s dreams he saw seven cows, full, fat and healthy, and then seven other cows, gaunt and sickly-looking.  As he watched in his dream, the gaunt cows devoured the fat ones.  Why?  What did this mean?

Then, right on the heels of dream one came dream two.  It was the same principle repeated— only now the characters are seven plump ears of grain and seven thin, sun-scorched ears of grain.  Ah, I see, “second verse, same as the first.”  Now, in dream two, the seven thin, sun-scorched ears of grain swallowed up the fat, plump and healthy ears.

Again, why?  What does this mean?

Enter Joseph.

gauntcows-300Joseph, as you remember, tells Pharaoh that God is revealing to him what He is going to do in the very near future.  God is giving Pharaoh a glimpse into the future, so to speak.  I’ll let Joseph tell you in his own words.

“Pharaoh’s dreams are one and the same; God has told to Pharaoh what He is about to do.  The seven good cows are seven years; and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one and the same.  The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven thin ears scorched by the east wind will be seven years of famine.  It is as I have spoken to Pharaoh: God has shown to Pharaoh what He is about to do.  Behold, seven years of great abundance are coming in all the land of Egypt; and after them seven years of famine will come, and all the abundance will be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine will ravage the land.  So the abundance will be unknown in the land because of that subsequent famine; for it will be very severe.  Now as for the repeating of the dream to Pharaoh twice, it means that the matter is determined by God, and God will quickly bring it about.” *

Get the gist?  Bad times are soon to be upon Egypt like a raging storm and there is nothing Pharaoh can do about it.  And I mean bad times!  Real bad times.  In fact, they were to be so bad that no one will even remember what life was like before the famine. Serious stuff.

What was Pharaoh to do when faced with the certain economic meltdown of their society?  What should he tell his people to do knowing that the collapse of the Egyptian dollar is imminent?  How can he, the ruler of Egypt, prepare his government for hyper-inflation and food and fuel shortages?  What should they do?

For one thing, listen to the advice of Joseph.

“Now let Pharaoh look for a man discerning and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.  Let Pharaoh take action to appoint overseers in charge of the land, and let him exact a fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt in the seven years of abundance.  Then let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming, and store up the grain for food in the cities under Pharaoh’s authority, and let them guard it.  Let the food become as a reserve for the land for the seven years of famine which will occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land will not perish during the famine.” *

In other words, during the times of abundance… prepare!  Get off your rear, take your head out of the sand, quit listening to the pundits who are lying to you and prepare!  It’s not that hard.  Follow this simple rule: If you have today, store for the time when you won’t have.  Like, duh.  Be smart and prudent and wise and prepare for coming uncertain times.  Otherwise… flash forward to gaunt cow.  Get the picture?

And, as you know, Pharaoh took Joseph’s advice and not only survived, but thrived and prospered during the seven years of famine.  Are we at least as smart as Pharaoh?  I sure hope so.

Since we are going to spend a great deal of time talking about how to prepare for the coming collapse of our economy, the unraveling of our society, the possible declaring of martial law and, quite honestly, the greatest ministry opportunity we have ever had in our lifetime— I thought I’d preface all this with a word picture. No, make that more of an object lesson.

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Now, go buy some extra groceries at Wal-Mart the next time you go shopping and we’ll talk more about this tomorrow.

Rest easy… and go grab a grub.

*Genesis 41:25-36

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My Jesus

My Jesus

Which Jesus do you follow?

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My Jesus *

Which Jesus do you follow?
Which Jesus do you serve?
If Ephesians says to imitate Christ
Why do you look so much like the world?

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the arrogant
So which one do you want to be?

Blessed are the poor in spirit
Or do we pray to be blessed with the wealth of this land
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness
Or do we ache for another taste of this world of shifting sand?

Cause my Jesus bled and died for my sins
He spent His time with thieves and sluts and liars
He loved the poor and accosted the rich
So which one do you want to be?

Who is this that you follow
This picture of the American dream
If Jesus was here would you walk right by on the other side
Or fall down and worship at His holy feet?

Pretty blue eyes and curly brown hair and a clear complexion
Is how you see Him as He dies for your sins
But the Word says He was battered and scarred
Or did you miss that part
Sometimes I doubt we’d recognize Him

Cause my Jesus bled and died
He spent His time with thieves and the least of these
He loved the poor and accosted the comfortable
So which one do you want to be?

Cause my Jesus would never be accepted in my church
The blood and dirt on His feet might stain the carpet
But He reaches for the hurting and despises the proud
I think He’d prefer Beale Street to the stained glass crowd
And I know that He can hear me if I cry out loud

I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!

Not a posterchild for American prosperity, but like my Jesus
You see I’m tired of living for success and popularity
I want to be like my Jesus but I’m not sure what that means to be like You Jesus
Cause You said to live like You, love like You but then You died for me
Can I be like You Jesus?
I want to be like you Jesus!
I want to be like my Jesus!

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Adveho quis may.
Come what may.

* From the album, Reflection of Something by Todd Agnew

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My Jesus

Only Time and Perspective

Only time and perspective can make sense of some of the things that happen in this life— some of the things that are just thrown our way because we live in a fallen world. And time and perspective only come with age and experience. There is no short-cuts, no fast-forward, no Cliff’s Notes. It just takes time— lots of time, to see that not all things are important. This song illustrates that truth.

“Only a few things matter… and stuff ain’t one of them.”

Enjoy and be blessed.

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He was standing in the rubble of an old farmhouse outside Birmingham
When some on the scene reporter stuck a camera in the face of that old man
He said “tell the folks please mister, what are you gonna do
Now that this twister has taken all that’s dear to you?”
The old man just smiled and said “boy let me tell you something, this ain’t nothin’

He said I lost my daddy, when I was eight years old,
That cave-in at the Kincaid mine left a big old hole,
And I lost my baby brother, my best friend and my left hand
In a no win situation in a place called Vietnam
And last year I watched my loving wife, of fifty years waste away and die
And I held her hand til her heart of gold stopped pumping,
So this ain’t nothin’

He said I learned at an early age,
There’s things that matter and there’s things that don’t
So if you’re waiting here for me to cry,
I hate to disappoint you boy, but I won’t”
Then he reached down in the rubble and picked up a photograph
Wiped the dirt off of it with the hand that he still had
He put it to his lips and said, “Man she was something
But this ain’t nothin’

He said I lost my daddy, when I was eight years old,
That cave-in at the Kincaid mine left a big old hole,
And I lost my baby brother, my best friend and my left hand
In a no win situation in a place called Vietnam
And last year I watched my loving wife, of fifty years waste away and die
We were holding hands when her heart of gold stopped pumping
So this ain’t nothin’

This ain’t nothin’ time won’t erase
And this ain’t nothin’ money can’t replace
He said you sit and watch your loving wife fifty years fighting for her life
Then you hold her hand ’til her heart of gold stops pumping
Yeah boy that’s something,
So this ain’t nothin’

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