They are the opposite sides of the same coin. There seems to be a real push for pleasure. Sports venues are bigger than ever. Since the 1960’s, sex has been taken to the height of religion. Drugs and alcohol are the standards of the day. It seems that morals are disappearing. You know that the US Army had to begin teaching a moral standard during basic training. They did this not to train mercenaries. There is so much chaos in this world, that people are looking for a way out. It seems that pleasure has been the go-to answer for people. But the only thing that the pursuit of pleasure has caused is pain, the one thing people want to escape. The pursuit of pleasure is a force multiplier of pain. It’s a vicious circle. And if you don’t stop, it will become a death spiral. I have never met a human being who has the power to change their lives. Man doesn’t have the power. The only person who has the power to change lives is God, Himself. And I know that the pursuit of pleasure is only a pretense to block God out of man’s consciousness. You can chase any pursuit you want. Nothing on this earth will change a person’s heart except God. And the pain will not stop until your heart is changed. Then the answer really is the pursuit of God and His righteousness to change your heart and stop the pain. And God is waiting for you to call.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

I would watch that cartoon faithfully. I would watch all the Saturday morning cartoon’s until mom made me go do my chores. I also liked the cowboy shows in the afternoon after school. It is funny that all those shows are about good versus evil. If you look at any show on TV today it is the same. But as I look at all the shows on regular TV and cable, there is only a handful that I will watch now. Television is a learning tool. It can teach you anything. And it does exactly that. Do you know why the entertainment industry is struggling? It is very simple. It is not about entertaining people. It is about teaching the masses their agenda. I subscribed to a news magazine for years. It is very good and informative. Then it was sold to an outrageous marketing group. They lost most of their subscribers including me. After the magazine was purchased by another group. They made a real effort to try to get their old subscribers back. They talked to me but I wasn’t wanting to get the magazine again. The damage was done. There is a movie coming out next week. It is a sequel back from a series that I have followed since I was a kid. The film was made 2 years ago. They have been promoting this movie for a year. There is toys, souvenirs, t-shirts, and every possible thing that you can buy. Do you know why they are doing this? That movie studio is trying to make money. They want to make up for all the losses they have suffered with the other movies they made. You know what the saddest part is, they won’t give up making the stupid movies. Why does it take disaster for people to stop and turn around? It doesn’t have to be that way. Ask God and you will receive all that you need to live this life. Just ask.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

I have a friend that went with my son to Iraq in 2004 during the shooting war. They were based in Bagdad. During a mission in 2005 their tank rolled across an IED. It exploded and the tank commander was killed along with a trooper in the back. The rest of the squad was injured in some way. My friend had fractured his back and nobody knew. He tried to help everybody out of the tank but passed out for pain.  After two days in the hospital, his captain went looking for him. The medics didn’t see any physical wounds so they didn’t treat him. But he couldn’t walk. The captain immediately got him help and he was evacuated to Germany. There he began to recover. By a miracle of God, they got him on his feet. And with assistance he shuffled a few feet. But the prognosis was not good. They said he would never walk again. They moved him to Walter Reed Hospital for further testing and therapy. Before he left there he was walking with assistance. They moved him to San Antonio for the rest of his recovery. We wrote letters to each and I could tell he was getting despondent. He has a wife and two children. He told before he left for Iraq that God had called him into the ministry. All of that was on hold. His wife wrote saying she didn’t know what to do. When a person needs to hear the truth to help them, you do it in love. I wrote to my friend that God had called him into the ministry. God didn’t call his legs into ministry, but him. If he never walked again in his life, it still didn’t negate his call into the ministry. I told him he could function just as well without legs in the ministry. He saw the truth, he needed to go on with his life. Today after ten years, he walks just fine. He also went to bible school. The truth will set you free and if you are free, you are free indeed.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

The British soldiers of the 19^th century called their military and diplomatic strategies the Great Game. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes always said that the Game’s afoot. Even Shakespeare’s Henry V said the Game’s afoot. It wasn’t that they thought it was a game. Today many people would call it applying game theory to life. The study of decision making is called Game Theory. All throughout the age’s people have strategized on how to achieve the best result for themselves. Whether it is by war or commerce. The Viking were merchants. If people didn’t want to trade with them they would resort to the sword. All this strategy was always about what they wanted or needed. So, when God talked to man about trusting Him and He would provide, people thought it was a joke. I said it many times that I couldn’t trust anyone but myself. The only problem with only trusting myself was that I don’t have the power to change anything. The only way I saw that things would change was by force. And once you begin with force, you have to have it to accomplish your goal. You know that was one good reason why God didn’t give us power. Sometimes people think they have the power because of money, greed, an army or any other means to force people to comply. God has destroyed nations with His word. God has built nations with His word. This is real power. When you begin to plan your strategy for life, if you don’t have God with you, there is only one outcome. So, what is your Game Theory for your life? Does it include God?

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

Since the beginning of radio and television, most of all the programs have been a shows about good versus evil. If you look at video games and comic books, they are the same. Lately most of the shows are about evil triumphing over forces of good. The basic play is called a moral play. It is showing some virtue of good. Did you know that the Punch and Judy play is a moral play about the error of drunkenness? That play is 500 years old. There is something inside of us that these plays call to our very nature. Despite what you think about God, it speaks to the yearning of our heart. I understand why. In the Old Testament, God required man to teach his children about God. So they would not sin against Him. If the father sinned, God would require his children’s children to pay the penalty. Man still didn’t teach his children. So God said, I will write my laws in the heart and mind of man. With this came a knowledge of God. He made everyone responsible to God for themselves. Each of us has a yearning in our heart to do well in the eyes of God. It doesn’t mean that we will. But God has done many things to get us there. Do you know why God has done all these things for man? If you go back and look at all of it, you will see that God truly loves man. Beside the fact that God loves us, do you know why God has made so many covenants, commandments and has intervene in the affairs of man? It was because man wouldn’t listen to God in the first place. Man decided to do his own thing and got into trouble. If only Adam had listen and obeyed, we would be living in the Garden of Eden now.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

Years ago I worked in Real Estate. I sold property but mostly did Appraisals. There was a friend of my younger brother who wanted to buy a piece of property to build a house. I found a nice piece in the country on a lake. It was a very nice piece of land. He had been in the US Army and was going to use the VA to build his home. The VA turned him down because I made a mistake. The property was a gated community. It had a locked gate at the entrance. He had spent his life saving on the property. He wouldn’t speak to me. One Sunday morning I was on my way to church and the Lord spoke to me. He said go to this man and asked for forgiveness. He wouldn’t hear of forgiveness and cursed me. I had done what the Lord had said. I prayer that the situation would be corrected. God helped him sell the property for more money. The bible says if you are bringing a gift to God and remember that your brother has ought against you. Leave the gift and go to your brother and be reconciled. We are responsible for our actions. If they caused our brother to stumble it is our job to fix it as best we can. God will do the rest.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

I wake up some mornings and wonder what day it is. It comes to me and I have to get up for work. Sometimes it goes beyond that I wonder what season I am in. God made the seasons to tell time. We have divided it into 4 seasons, fall, winter, spring and summer. I look at the civilizations of the past and see how they used the seasons to align their buildings. The pyramids of Giza are aligned with the constellation of Orion. Or the Mayans or Incas built observatories that follow the movement in the skies. I laugh when people say that aliens built the pyramids or the temples in South America. We aren’t descendants of monkeys. Those men in each civilization were smart and understood engineering. They used their understanding of God and the heavens to build their culture. Yet there are more seasons than the 4 earthy seasons. Solomon looked at the seasons and understood what else there was. He said to every season there is a time. He knew that we went through different times in our lives. There is a time for life, for death, for anger, for hate, for love, for forgiveness, for planting, for harvesting and for everything that a man goes through. Solomon figured this out about 3000 years ago. Which was before all the other civilizations built all their pyramids or temples. God is who He says He is. And He does bring to pass His word as He says. God isn’t a man that He should lie. What season are we in? I pray it isn’t to last season on earth.

http://www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

Last night, I met with my classmates from high school. We met at one of my classmate’s home, that I didn’t think he would even graduate high school. He is one of the wealthy of us all. His home was palatial. It was good to see these men that I spent 12 years of my life with. I went to an all boy’s school. Growing up I was a good kid. I did things that I am not proud of, but that was being a child. I have made my share of mistakes. And I was always looking for a way or help to minimize my mistakes. I wanted to do things and not hurt people. Sometimes it is not possible. Even when I began walking with God. I knew that people would get hurt and I began asking God to correct my mistakes. As my walk progressed, I was changed into the image and likeness of God. This is what God wanted all the time. He wanted me to become his son, with all rights and privileges that go with that. And by the way, I make less mistakes all along the way. It is funny how this world in many aspects parallels God’s world. It should because God made this world. But the point is I am making my way home to heaven. I am walking step by step until I reach that goal. With the grace of God, I will make it.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

Secured Locks don’t guarantee assurance. Everyone wants to be safe and secure. We go to great lengths to have this in our lives. There are security companies for medical emergencies, home invasions or just simply to turn off your lights. They are designed to make you feel secure. Then there are insurance companies to pay breakage to theft. But what do they guarantee? Life is pretty much a gamble or risk you have to take. Don’t you wish that life would come with warranties. It would make things a whole lot better. Did you know that stress is one of the top causes of death in humans? People ask me how I stay so young looking? I tell them I laugh a lot. It seems so simplistic, but it is actually an effective tool in my longevity. The bible says that a merry heart works just like a medicine. But back to security. Do you know that difference between insurance and assurance? Insurance is what we used to help after the fact. It only works for us when a disaster happens. And unfortunately, it is a hit or miss proposition. Then there is assurance. This is what God gives to keep us safe and secure. It is to help before the disaster. And it is also to help after a disaster strikes. The bible says we are blessed coming in and going out. Assurance is only given to God’s children. It is part of our inheritance. The only surety I know of in this world is Jesus, Himself. So, the question is, who or what do you trust in?

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

We are taught as a child to be persistent to a fault in our lives. It is how we overcome obstacles or barriers in our life. It can be taken to the ninth degree and we become obnoxious. But depending on how badly we want something to happen, is how far we will go with it. It isn’t bad to be persistent. Sometimes it is quite necessary. There are people in our lives that we haven’t given up on because they are worth the effort. It is a human quality that we all need. There is a parable about persistent prayer in the bible. The story is about an unjust judge, who has no fear of God or man. This woman wanted the judge to help her. At first the judge wouldn’t. But the woman kept coming back to the judge. Eventually the judge seeing that the woman wouldn’t give up, granted her the petition. God is saying that if you have a need and believe that God can help, don’t give up. Be persistent in your prayer to God and He will answer your petition. The longest prayer I have ever had was 22 years. And God answered it completely. For if we know that God hears us, then we have the petitions that we ask of God. There is one stipulation that God has. It is to ask according to His will and we will have what we ask. Be persistent in your prayer for your sake and those that you pray for.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com