One of the most rewarding things I could do in this world is to help people. It stirs my soul like nothing else. But it seems like helping people has lost its luster. When I look at the news, local or national, the special story is about someone helping someone else. It looked like the only reason that person did help the other was to get on the news. That is a sad and pathetic testimony of mankind. Jesus talked about the Pharisees that made a great pretense of praying great prayers on the street corners of the city. He said they have their reward. But if you want God to bless you, pray in secret and God will reward you openly. The same is about helping people. You help people because are in need not to make a show of it. There are people who I have helped and no one knows about or ever will. It is not for sale. I went about doing good to make things right in this world. A kind word or gesture, like opening a door for people, goes a long way. Even if the person doesn’t see the gesture, you have done something for yourself. It is always a joy to me to know that I did a small gesture of kindness to anyone. It doesn’t make me weak or ineffective in anything. If fact it is a sign of strength of character in my life. Helping people used to be the standard in every community. People would come for miles to help build a barn or harvest crops. No payment was required. It was gesture of kindness in their lives. Now I wonder how mankind will survive in this world. People killing each other over nothing. There is only one outcome if it continues. That is the total destruction of man and this earth. The bible says if you want friends then show yourself friendly.

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Into each person’s life there comes an adventure. This adventure will take you somewhere you have never been and will possibly never see again. It is an exciting journey that may even scare you. But it is something that we each go on. Some people’s adventure may lead them to foreign lands, while most of us just stay home. But the world is open before us. Where we go or what we do still depends on you. On our journey starts in our home. We get glimpses of what lies ahead by the stories our parents tell us. We see marvelous things that are possible. This is why children want to be so many things. Each one is as real as the other. We are never really sure when the adventure starts. But when it does, it like a roller coaster. It is exciting, scary and very pleasing. I was young and now I am old and my adventure is almost at an end. It has taken me to faraway places. But I always came home. I never wanted to journey away from home too long. Because I would get homesick. My adventure started the day I figured out I could do something worthwhile. I began working to that end and have never stopped. My parents and grandparents are gone. My younger brother is gone also. I have seen changes in this world that I don’t like. I have helped make changes for the good. And I wouldn’t stop until it is my turn to go home. You see my adventure is my life. All the things for good or bad I have done make up my journey. That is why old men dream dreams of their adventure. And young men see visions of theirs.

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It is Carnival or Mardi gras season. Did you know that there are more than 50 nations that celebrate Carnival or Mardi gras season? It has to do with the Catholic population in that country. Right before Lenten season, which is the 40 days before Easter, there is a time of celebration. During Lent it is traditional that Catholics will fast and pray before the resurrection of our Lord, Jesus Christ. So before lent starts there is a festival or party that last for a month or two. It isn’t something strange or unusual. This has been going on since time began. The Jewish people have Passover, Pentecost, Succoth and Hanukkah. Our feast days coincided with these. Easter is about the same time as Passover. Succoth is about the same time as the fall harvest of Thanksgiving. Christmas is about the same time as Hanukkah. All though we don’t have a feast day for Pentecost. Pentecost is usually in May or June. Easter has come early this year. It is April 1st. It is on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox. This year I saw in the news that many nations have petitioned the Pope to make Easter on the same day every year. All of them want more time to party, before they have to fast and pray. What is interesting is the time of carnival is based upon the work that God did setting up this earth. God set to sun, moon and stars in the heaven so we could tell time. Seasons of our lives are determined by the time that God set up. And so many people still try to prove that God doesn’t exist. Did you ever figure out what would happen if God didn’t make the sun to rise each morning? Or if the earth stopped rotating? With all this in play man still refuses to acknowledge God as our sovereign Lord. It make you want to cry about humanity sometimes.

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The future is the past + the present. The present is nowhere without the future + the past. So what does all that mean in plain English. There is nothing new under the sun, what was shall be again. You remember the movie that talked about the circle of life. Life is a circle but not the way they mean it. You always want to be mindful of the things that happen in the past. Why, because they will happen again. The future, the present and the past are basically the same. Why would you say it is the same? It is because there is an element in there that never changes. And what are we talking about now? The basic element that never changes is man. Or rather I should say the corruption of man. From birth man is corrupt. People baulk at saying that babies are corrupt. Answer me this question. How do babies know how to lie, cheat and steal? Did their parents teach them to be dishonest? Did they learn it from their brothers and sisters? Did their aunts and uncles teach them to be dishonest? So where did it come from? Here is the answer that no one wants to hear. We as a member of the human race are born corrupt. Because we are born in sin. The sin of Adam and Eve has been and will always be transmitted to every new born baby. Thank God for His grace that doesn’t attribute sin to us personally until we reach the age of reason. When is the age of reason? When does a person begin to understand who they are and what they are about? For most people, it is about the same age. That is the age of puberty. When a young man reached that age in the Old Testament times, he was considered a man. He would have to start working either in his father’s business or someone else’s. For a young woman, her parents would start to look for a husband for her.  Then when an agreement was made between the two parties, the young women was betrothed. Just like Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ parents. Life seems so complicated. But it really isn’t. God made it simple for man.

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How long have people longed to come to these shores? It has been a least a 1000 years. What did they see or dream about? Can you imagine what America looked like 1000 years ago? It was filled with trees and wildlife. It had beautiful pristine rivers and lakes. It was filled with everything people dream about and want in their lives. So many people came to these shores that no one will ever know about. They lived and died here on this land. And I am not talking about 500 years ago. Only 200 years ago, people came and moved west only to die of violence by man or animal or by sickness. And no one knows who they are except God. Yet people kept coming. They wouldn’t stop. America has always been referred to as the promise land, a land flowing with milk and honey. People saw a chance to improve their lives and their families. So they sold everything they had and came to America. Most of those people died within a year of coming. Those that survived carved out a piece of America for themselves. First it was the people of Siberia. Then the Vikings came. Then the people of Europe came. Then the Africans. Poor people from almost every nation. Our country is called the melting pot of the world. If you look at our language you will find words from every nation. One things has always been true, when we are threaten our people come together as one. We have lived through many wars. I have lived through 5 wars just in my lifetime. And still today, people from everywhere still want to come to America, the Promised Land.

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Everyone has heard of the saying, a friend in need is a friend indeed. We all have had people who called themselves friends, but at the first sign of trouble departed. I have a friend who is a brother to me. He hasn’t lived around me for 10 years. But my love for him and he for me hasn’t diminished because of time and distance. After our home was flooded out in 2016, he was the first one to offer assistance. This is what I would call a friend indeed. Our whole life is spent trying to make that kind of connection with people. We go to great lengths to develop a relationship that is worth having. My life, before Jesus, was quite different. I didn’t have these kinds of relationships. I was very bitter and angry about this. I just wanted someone to accept me for who I was. I didn’t want to jump through hoops to make people like me. And even if I did do this, it wouldn’t be real or lasting. My life, after Jesus, is quite different. God changed me into a likable person. People actually began to like me and to seek me out. My brother was my pastor and I was his assistant pastor. What I began to learn is that Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. As I began to change into the image of God, I shared the love of God with everyone. And people responded to that love. They saw me and they saw the hand of God. As God says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile.

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I can remember my mother being gentle with me. I would just want her to touch me and talk to me. She had such a sweet spirit. My mother died almost 20 years ago, and I still miss that gentleness. Most people see gentleness as weakness. You must be hard against a world in chaos. When I worked for a Christian radio station, I interviewed the leaders of most religious denominations in the US. They all had one thing in common. They were gentle and encouraging with me. It surprised me. I was expecting these no-nonsense men, who led a large group of people. But to a man, they had a tender heart for people. They were gentle, and this gentleness got them where they were. You see, gentleness isn’t weakness as most people believe. It is strength of character. It is a belief that isn’t shaken by the turmoil of this world. How many people do you know that are gentle? You see this attribute in people of all classes. It isn’t one group or another. It is just individual, who belief in their cause and work at it with strength and courage. These strength of character beliefs are love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. It isn’t surprising, that these are the qualities that most people strive for. But to obtain these qualities, there is only one place you can get them. They are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They are given to God’s children. But the good news is: all you must do is ask God to forgive you and come into your life. When He does, God will give you these gifts freely.

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Today we are to be thinking about the past year. All of it’s good and bad. Yet my mind goes back further than that. I see the past as yesterday. And I see the future as a reflection of the past. The only thing that is different is today. Then it will pass just like yesterday. My life seems to make a circle. I am moving at a breakneck speed to get to the end. But the end is just like the beginning. I came from God and I will return to God. You see this life is temporary. We are walking through a land to get to the other side. When we arrive on the other side, it is where we began. But there is a reason why we are here. God placed us here to prove what we believe and trust in. We have a choice to make. We can choose God and His plan or not. God didn’t make it difficult for us. There are only 2 choices. With all the shouting, fussing and cussing man does, it doesn’t make any difference at all. We have to choose one way or the other. Even if we don’t choose, we have chosen. And you can’t blame it on any body else. What you do is your choice. When we stand before God, we will have to give an account of our life on this earth. And there will be no excuses. You have today to make up your mind what you are going to do. You see, God only guarantees that you will live today. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed. So, choose wisely.

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Your heart is a peculiar thing.  It can beat a million times and just keeps on going. If it is interrupted, you can die. It seems to last forever but doesn’t. It controls the rest of the body. Without it you are dead. And it is the most neglected part of our body. It causes more diseases than anything else. So why don’t you protect it more? Most people relate your human heart to your spiritual one. As if they are interchangeable. I’ll tell you a truth, they are related to each other. What happens to your spiritual heart does affect your human heart. Have you ever lost a true love? The pain in your heart is spiritual but your human heart hurts like hell. They are tied together just like your body and your spirit. Your spirit is who you are. Your mind, will and your intellect are spiritual. This is what is the image and likeness of God. Your body is made from the dust of the earth. Remember, dust to dust, ashes to ashes, is how your body will go. Most games and TV shows have killing and violence. It always shows the people not being affected by all of it. This is a lie out of the pits of hell. There is nothing that we do that doesn’t affect our lives. And in turn affects our heart. So how can you stop the pain? You can’t but you can slow it down. Because of sin in this world there is pain. That will never change until the very end when Jesus arrives to reign and rule over this earth. But what you can do is to give your spiritual heart to Him. And allow God to take you on this journey that He plan for you in the first place. There are ways to protect yourself and Jesus is His name.

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I can remember when I was young how our family gathers at our home or our aunt’s. My grandmother, mom and her 2 sisters would gather the family together for Thanks giving, Christmas and Easter. It was always a big production. The women of the family cooked before each holiday. Then they would bring the food and family together. Sometimes it was a lot of fun. We were nine 1^st cousins, all boys. We were about the same age. We were within 5 years altogether. We lived near each other. We played on the same football, baseball and basketball teams in elementary school. But in high school, we were on different teams. It was a wonderful time for us. This last year we buried our last aunt. Then we buried my younger brother. We always talked about the older generation. Now we are the older generation. We all gather together at my son’s house this year for Christmas. My older brother lives in another state. We wished him a Merry Christmas. But it is not the same. Most of our family was missing. Either they are dead and no longer here or they live elsewhere. I know I can’t go back to that time again. But I miss my parents and my younger brother. Sometimes it is very hard to go on when so much is missing in my life. My family was sometimes the most irritating people on earth. But I wouldn’t trade them for anything. What I wouldn’t do to have them back again. That is why this is a lonely season for me. Cherish your family because God has given you so little time with them. Don’t waste it on nonsense. Let you family know that you care about them. God gave us a family to make us whole. Then it won’t be a lonely season.

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