I enjoy bass fishing, deer hunting and golfing in the south.
For love of country
They accepted death...
- James A. Garfield
In the truest sense,
Freedom cannot be bestowed;
It must be achieved.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
History does not long entrust
The care of freedom to the weak
Or the timid.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
I think patriotism
Is like charity…
It begins at home.
- Henry James
Patriotism consists not
In waving the flag,
But in striving that our
Country shall be righteous
As well as strong.
- James Bryce
I believe our flag is more
Than just cloth and ink.
It is a universally recognized
Symbol that stands for liberty,
And freedom.
It is the history of our nation,
And it's marked by the blood
Of those who died defending it.
- John Thune
The Last Straw…
Coach John Calipari said the team approached him about 90 minutes before the game (at Florida Jan. 9th 2021) and asked to kneel during the National Anthem.
In their previous games of the season, the team remained in the locker room during the anthem.
Who is the leader of the Kentucky basketball team? John Calipari allowed these young men under his charge to persuade him to kneel during the National Anthem.
Could you see Coach Adolph Rupp, Coach Joe B. Hall, Coach Mike Krzyzewski, and Coach Bob Knight allowing their team to persuade them to do such?
“This is a great country but we feel like everybody, like minorities and stuff, don’t have equal rights as everybody else, so that’s what we’re protesting,” freshman Isaiah Jackson said. “That’s why we kneeled. That’s what a peaceful protest is.”
Sophomore Keion Brooks said that the team knelt not only because of racial inequalities that team members have felt, but also because of the violence at the Capitol.
“It was about the turmoil in our country right now.” "It was all the images that they saw and they wanted to have their voice heard, I held my heart, but I did kneel with them because I support the guys. It wasn't about military.” - Coach John Calipari
Three days after the team knelt at Florida, Calipari said, “Like I said to them, they're 18 years old, they're learning. It was not meant...These kids, they’re good kids. They have good hearts. Again, this political time, probably not a real good time to do it,” according to The Cats Pause.
Coach it is never a good time to disrespect the symbols of this nation and what it stands for.
The “right to protest” clause of the Constitution has received much national attention in the past few years. From Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling to Lebron James and the BLM protests.
Coach Calipari and the Kentucky basketball team “disrespected our flag and our national anthem.”
Would he have supported them if the “guys had told him we are going to jump off a 100 foot cliff and want you to join us?”
University President Eli Capilouto and Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart supported the team’s decision to kneel, saying in a joint statement, “A value we all hold dear in our country is the right of free speech and self-expression,” and added, “We live in a polarized and deeply divided country. Our hope… and that of our players and our coaches… is to find ways to bridge divides and unify.”
Coach Calipari "slapped every Kentucky military
veteran and the family of every military veteran in the face,” Buck Meredith stated.
Almost every email from Kentucky fans expressed the belief that kneeling during the national anthem… a little over 72 hours after the Capitol was stormed… was disrespectful to some combination of the country, the U.S. flag and past and present members of the U.S. Armed Forces.
“The fact you allowed them to take a knee means that you support riots and looting and burning that has taken place by the racial injustice marches.” One fan wrote.
"You lose 6 games in a row and you kneel during what our country stands for,” wrote one fan.
I personally can no longer support this coach. UK needs a good house cleaning. The President of the University, The Athletic Director and the Men’s Basketball coach all need to go!
Duty, honor, country.
Those three hallowed words
Reverently dictate what you
Ought to be, what you can be,
What you will be.
- Gen. Douglas MacArthur
It's better to fight for something
In life than to die for nothing.
- Gen. George S. Patton
May we never forget
Our fallen comrades.
Freedom isn't free.
- Sgt. Major Bill Paxton
Pledge of Allegiance
I pledge Allegiance
To the flag of the
United States of America
And to the Republic for
Which it stands,
One nation under God,
Indivisible, with Liberty
And Justice for all.
The Church of Christ…
The expression "church of Christ" is a descriptive term of possession.
"Church" is a collective noun (like "flock" or "family") which is composed
Of saved souls (Christians, the "called out" ones, Acts 2:41, 47).
"Church of Christ" is used to signify the church which belongs to Christ.
As such, we emphatically state that the church of Christ is not a denomination.
While many promote the advantages of "the church of your choice,"
Jesus' urgent prayer to the Father was for the unity of His believers,
Not their division into religious sects (Jn. 17:20-21).
Denominationalism is the essence of religious division.
We plead for the unity of believers with the truth of Jesus as the basis for
That unity (Eph. 4:3-6; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Others would promote the notion that the church is not important…
Christ is. Yes, Christ is preeminently important (Col. 1:18).
But, we must also acknowledge the importance of His church.
The one does not negate the other. The importance of Christ's church is
Brought into focus by accepting the following facts about His church…
1) It belongs to Jesus, not man. (Mt. 16:18)
Jesus built it. It is His. Man should not construct rivals to it.
2) Jesus purchased His church with His blood. (Acts 20:28)
This is the value Jesus attaches to the saved, His church.
3) Jesus is the Head of the church of Christ. (Col. 1:18)
Since it is His, He exercises supreme authority over it.
That is how valuable it is to Him.
4) The church of Christ is the Body of Christ. (Eph. 1:22-23)
Who wants to believe for a moment that Christ's body of
Believers is insignificant?
5) Jesus is its Savior. (Eph. 5:23)
That is how important the church is to Jesus!
How important is the church of Christ to you?
- Joe R. Price
***
The Church of Christ…
1. The Bible is its only guide …
(Romans.1:16; 1Thessalonians.2:13).
2. Wears a Biblical name …
(Romans.16:16).
3. Established at the right place …
(Isaiah.2:2, 3; Acts 2).
4. Established at the right time …
(Joel 2:28-32; Acts 2).
5. Established on the right person …
(Matthew16:18; Acts 2:36)
6. Saved are in it …
(Ephesians 5:23; Acts 2:47).
7. Its members are enrolled in Heaven...
(Hebrews12:23).
8. Membership in it is obtained by obedience
to God’s commands including baptism …
(Acts 2:41-47; 1 Corinthians12:13).
***
Is my name written there,
On the page white and fair?
In the book of Thy kingdom,
Is my name written there?
- Mary A. Kidder, Frank M. Davis
A Creed for Self-Discipline…
Willpower:
Recognizing that the
power of will is the Supreme Court over
all other departments of my mind, I will exercise it daily, when
I need the urge to action for any purpose; and I will form habits
designed to bring the power of my will into action at least once
daily.
Emotions:
Realizing that my
emotions are both positive and negative I
will form daily habits which will encourage the development
of the positive emotions, and aid me in converting the negative
emotions into some form of useful action.
Reason:
Recognizing that both my
positive emotions and my negative
emotions may be dangerous if they are not controlled and
guided to desirable ends, I will submit all my desires, aims and
purposes to my faculty of reason, and I will be guided by it in
giving expression to these.
Imagination:
Recognizing the need for
sound plans and ideas for the
attainment of my desires, I will develop my imagination by
calling upon it daily for help in the formation of my plans.
Conscience:
Recognizing that my
emotions often err in their over-enthusiasm,
and my faculty of reason often is without the warmth of feeling
that is necessary to enable me to combine justice with mercy in
my judgments, I will encourage my conscience to guide me as to
what is right and what is wrong, but I will never set aside the
verdicts it renders, no matter what may be the cost of carrying
them out.
Memory:
Recognizing the value of
an alert memory, I will encourage mine
to become alert by taking care to impress it clearly with all thoughts
I wish to recall, and by associating those thoughts with related
subjects which I may call to mind frequently.
Subconscious Mind:
Recognizing the influence
of my subconscious mind over my power
of will, I shall take care to submit to it a clear and definite picture of
my major purpose in life and all minor purposes leading to my major
purpose, and I shall keep this picture constantly before my
subconscious mind by repeating it daily.
Signed_____________________________
Discipline over the mind is gained, little by little, by the formation of
habits which one may control. Habits begin in the mind; therefore,
a daily repetition of this creed will make one habit-conscious in
connection with the particular kind of habits which are needed to
develop and control the six departments of the mind.
The mere act of repeating the names of these departments has an
important effect. It makes one conscious that these departments
exist; that they are important; that they can be controlled by the
formation of thought-habits; that the nature of these habits
determines one's success or failure in the matter of self-discipline
- Napoleon Hill
Excerpt from
the Master-Key to Riches
Gratitude turns what
We have into enough.
- Aesop
When you are grateful,
Fear disappears and
Abundance appears.
- Tony Robbins
Among the things you can
Give and still keep are your
Word, a smile, and a grateful
Heart.
- Zig Ziglar
Giving is an expression
Of gratitude for our blessings.
- Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen
Wear gratitude like a cloak
And it will feed every corner
Of your life.
- Rumi
Make it a habit to tell people
Thank you.
To express your appreciation,
Sincerely and without the
Expectation of anything in
Return.
Truly appreciate those around you,
And you’ll soon find many others
Around you.
Truly appreciate life,
And you’ll find that you have more
Of it.
- Ralph Marston
Give thanks for a little
And you will find a lot.
- Hansa Proverb
Entitlement is such a cancer,
Because it is void of gratitude.
- Adam Smith
Let gratitude be the pillow upon
Which you kneel to say your
Nightly prayer.
And let faith be the bridge you
Build to overcome evil and
Welcome good.
- Maya Angelou
This resource link is shared
In loving memory of my
Grand-son Colson Lee Clark
https://upjourney.com/what-to-say-to-someone-who-lost-a-child
Perception is reality,
Do you communicate
Effectively?
- Steven Ballard
Let us be grateful to people
Who make us happy,
They are the charming gardeners
Who make our souls blossom.
- Marcel Proust
Emotions…
Positive and negative emotions
Cannot occupy the mind at the
Same time.
- Napoleon Hill Foundation
Friend…
God told Noah to build an ark. The apostle Peter wrote that
eight souls or persons were saved in that ark by water (1 Peter 3:20).
Then Peter wrote, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also
save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer
of a good conscience toward God) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ"
(1 Peter 3:21).
Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives were the eight
people who were saved in the ark by water. They were not saved
by water from water! They were saved from water by the ark
(Hebrews 11:7). But, they were saved by water from something!
From what were they saved by water? They were saved by water
from a wicked, sinful world of people!
Of that sinful world, Moses wrote, "And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in all the earth, and that every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil continually" (Genesis 6:5).
The waters of the flood destroyed that world of exceedingly wicked people.
The waters of the flood came between that wicked world and the cleansed
world following that flood! Therefore, Noah and his family were saved
from that wicked world by water!
We are saved by water in the same sense that the blind man of
John 9 received his sight by water. Jesus told that blind man to wash
his eyes in the water of the pool of Siloam. When he did so, he
received his sight. Of course, the Lord Jesus gave him his sight.
The water of the pool did not give him his sight, but Christ gave
him his sight when he did what Christ told him to do. His doing what
Christ told him to do involved water.
Even so, water does not wash away the sins of one when he is
baptized in water. Christ takes away his sins when he does what
Christ tells him to do by being baptized in water. His doing what
Christ tells him to do involve water. That is the only sense in which
water saves sinners.
The Blood of Christ Saves
The blood of Jesus Christ saves, but it saves in Christ. "In whom
(Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace" (Ephesians 1:7).
The reason baptism saves is because in being baptized one gets
into Christ where the blood of Christ saves! Since water is involved
in one's being baptized into Christ, then water is involved in one's
reaching the blood of Christ.
To reach the blood of Christ in baptism obviously just means that
one reaches the forgiveness of God Almighty which he gives because
Christ shed his blood or gave his life for our sins. Jesus made
forgiveness of sins available for everyone when he died on
Calvary's cross. Those who are baptized into Christ receive what
Christ made available when he died.
The great Baptist scholar, Dr. Charles B. Williams, translated
1 Peter 3:21 as follows. "Baptism which corresponds to this figure
now saves you too…I do not mean the mere removal of physical stains,
but the craving for a clear conscience toward God."
(The New Testament, A Translation in the Language of the People,
by Charles B. Williams.)
Dr. Gerrit Verkuyl of Princeton translated in his Berkley Version
of the New Testament 1 Peter so that it says that baptism saves
and that it is "the earnest of seeking a conscience that is clear in
God's presence." Could one who knows that being baptized isessential to being saved by the blood of Christ have a good
conscience until he is baptized?
One who knows that Jesus said, "He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved" could not have a clear conscience before God until
after he is baptized. Therefore, when he is baptized, he is seeking for,
or craving, a clear conscience before God.
After saying Noah and his family were saved by water, Peter said,
"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us…"
"Like figure" of this text is from the Greek word antitupou.
This word is put in English or anglicized as anti-type.
There are many types in the Old Testament. When a lamb was
sacrificed for sins, it was a type of Christ, the Lamb of God (John 1:29)
who was sacrificed for our sins (Hebrews 10:1-10). A literal lamb
offered in sacrifice under the Old Covenant was a type.
Jesus being offered in sacrifice for our sins was the anti-type of
that Old Testament type.
Peter said our being saved by baptism is the anti-type of eight souls
being saved in the ark by water. This all obviously means that just
as the water of the great flood came between the old world of
wickedness and the new and cleansed world following that flood,
even so the water of baptism comes between the world of sin and
the new world of righteousness in Christ Jesus.
"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things
are passed away; behold all things are become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).
The person in Christ got into Christ by being baptized into Christ
(Galatians 3:27; Romans 6:3-4). So, the water of baptism comes
between the old world of sin and the new world in Christ Jesus.
Via Gospel Gazette
When I heard the news,
there'd be baby shoes,
waiting and wondering pink or blue,
either Gonna be a little me or you,
If I can see inside,
heaven knows we've tried,
looking though the belly On a TV screen,
don't have to tell me what a heartbeat means.
There's only one other who can love this girl like me
The mother of the finest little pearl in any sea
April showers brings,
lots of tiny things,
bellys getting bigger every single day,
don't think this flowers gonna wait for May,
Had to dry my eyes,
write a lullaby,
I'm gonna sing her every Song I know
got to get ready for a whole new show.
Cause I know father time is not wasting me,
With a brand new tiny little branch on the family tree
Barely time to choose,
All The Baby shoes,
no more wondering pink or blue,
she gonna be a Little me and you,
now I have a mind for nursery rhymes,
old mother goose little Bo peep
call Dr Seuss to put her right to sleep
There's only one other who can love this girl like me
The mother of the finest little pearl in any sea that is what she is to me
Go to sleep my darling sandman is calling,
where the stars are gleaming you will be dreaming
Go to sleep my darling sandman is calling,
we will be waiting for you love and adore you
Go to sleep my darling sandman is calling,
where the angels guide you to the dreams inside you
Go to sleep my darling sandman is calling,
holding all your moonbeam join me in my dreams
- Clint Black
The Hand that Rocks the Cradle…
Our God is the Sovereign King
Of the universe, and He has
Blessed mothers with an
Awesome responsibility.
Blessings on the hand of women!
Angels guard its strength and grace,
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Infancy's the tender fountain,
Power may with beauty flow,
Mother's first to guide the streamlets,
From them souls un-resting grow…
Grow on for the good or evil,
Sunshine streamed or evil hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Woman, how divine your mission
Here upon our natal sod!
Keep, oh, keep the young heart open
Always to the breath of God!
All true trophies of the ages
Are from mother-love impearled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
Blessings on the hand of women!
Fathers, sons, and daughters cry,
And the sacred song is mingled
With the worship in the sky…
Mingles where no tempest darkens,
Rainbows evermore are hurled;
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.
- William Ross Wallace (1819-1881)
In Honor of Allison Childs Clark
Who became a mother 051721
Thankful and Blessed!
- Hayden Childs
