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 come to America, the Promised Land.

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My wife and I went to a movie. We were both off and had time to spend together. It is a movie about young men in the army, who suffer from PTSD. That is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. It was called many things before, like battle fatigue or shell shocked. We have been involved with the US military, through my service and my three sons. So, our prospective is first hand in many cases. Our young men went off to war and came back different. The average age of a soldier is 20 years old. Many grow up in a hurry. Some just can’t handle the pressure of war. I have a friend, who was a marine in Vietnam. He lives in my home town, but he never came back from the war. Back to the movie, it is about a squad of soldiers, who all came back wounded. Some had physical wounds, others had mental wounds. One soldier killed himself. Three others got help after they stumbled over life at home. It was based on a true story. What the story was saying, is that we as mankind aren’t invincible. We all suffer the same hardships and tragedies. Whether or not we come out of these tragedies is up to us. If we are willing to accept help to overcome our problems. At the end of the movie, they showed the real soldiers and how they are doing now. My wife and I cried at the end of the movie, because it is real to us. We have walked through this already. We knew when our sons went off to war, only God could keep them and return them safe to us. Place your trust and belief in the one person who can make a difference, God Himself.

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We are talking about enduring hard things in your life. It is like being caught between the rock and the hard place. We don’t go looking for the hard things in life. They seem to find us wherever we are. Learning to deal with hardship is just part of life. Depending on how hard it is, will depend on whether we need help with our dilemma. When my parents died, it took a long time to get over each one. When my younger brother died, I haven’t talked to anyone about it. it is still hard. I’ll tell you about a time in my life when I took on the hardest challenge I have ever done. I had to change. My life was in a death spiral. I didn’t know what to do. A friend introduced me to the one person who could help me change. His name is Jesus. I needed the power of God to change my life. God wasn’t going to zap me with His power to change. I had to choose to walk it out. When I say that I literally walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I mean it. God’s transformation took a while. It is still going on. That was 40 years ago, when I first met Jesus. When I go home to heaven, I will look and act like Jesus. So, when we are caught between the rock and the hard place, know that it isn’t there to stop you. The hard place is there for you to grow and change.

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Through the Black Swan is a beautiful bird and quite unique in nature, but it isn’t what I am talking about. The Black Swan is a theory that states it is a surprise that you weren’t expecting and it changes everything you are doing. How many times has this happened to you and didn’t know it had a name? I don’t know if you ever read John Steinbeck’s book “Of Mice and Men”. There is a quote from the book that says, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. We plan everything. Our details are precise and extensive. Then our plans are shot to hell, when someone walks in with a better plan. That is a black swan. A black swan, though it is unknown to us, will improve on what we are doing. In hind sight of course. No one is perfect and we can’t plan for every contingency. So change will happen to us on a regular basis. Sometimes it is maddening. When you have put so much time and effort into it. Some people just can’t except that their plan is flawed. But if you can adjust you thinking and go on, it will benefit you. Sometimes the black swan doesn’t show up, because our plan is right and will work. It is all in the accepting the changes in our lives. This applies to all aspects of life. My wife was a black swan for me. She got me off dead center and propelled me into a world of change. Changes such as marriage, children and finances to name a few. So don’t be so surprised when a black swan shows up in your life. Look for the change that is coming and accept what you can’t change. Your life will be enriched by it.

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Have you ever been caught between the rock and the hard place? I can remember my dad saying you have to be hard to endure things. If you are going to play football with your brothers, you will have to be tougher than you are. I never did enjoy getting run over by football players. I finally decided not to play football, instead I played tennis and ran track. Both sports require building your endurance. But not suffering cuts and bruises. It’s funny, I have a high tolerance for pain. I just didn’t like getting hit. All my brothers and cousins played football. My sport was tennis and track. I was a very fast runner. My best time ever was about 11 seconds for the 100-yard dash. Unfortunately, it was practice, and I never could repeat it. But that was when I was young and in shape. There was something about running fast that released a joy in me. So, I ran. In each stage of my life, I had to learn to cope with growing up. There are hardships attached to each time in your life. If there is no adversity in your life, you will not grow to your full potential. It doesn’t mean you have to like it, but you need to work through it. As you do, the things of life will begin to open, and you will grow. I’ll continue the story tomorrow.

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2 Thess. 2:11 “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:” Have you ever believed a lie? Someone told you something and you believed. When you found out it was a lie you wanted to beat that person into the ground. It hurts to be deceived. It hurts like hell. And that is a truth. There are so many delusions floating around out there, I don’t know where to begin. God said don’t fight heresy for heresies sake. You have to fight it with the truth. Because God says that the truth will set you free. I had a young Christian approach me when I worked at the Christian radio station. He was upset that we weren’t preaching hellfire and brimstone. I let him say his piece then I did something he didn’t expect. I thanked him for telling me and wished him Godspeed. We war not against flesh and blood but spiritual wickedness in high places. We can’t take what unbeliever’s say as the truth. Because they don’t see or even know the truth. I have been studying the truth for 37 years. The truth is the word of God, the bible. We need to study both Old and New Testament. Why? Because it isn’t 2 books. It is one book written by one person to help us live our life on earth and to make it into heaven. The bible is a book about one subject, Jesus. He is in every chapter of every book. And all you have to do is call upon His name.

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Heartache is the pain of suffering lost. Do know what the interesting thing about that is heartache is a spiritual condition. But that registers in the physical world. It being that your physical heart hurts. Your mind, will and intellect are all spiritual. They, as a collective, existing in heaven as well as on earth. Your heart is tied to your physical body. God tied your spirit to your physical body by the breath of life or your soul. So what happens to your physical body happens to your spirit. Some societies believe that your spirit and body are separate and can’t interact. Guilt is a spiritual condition. Again it can physically affect your body in a dramatic way. Anger is another spiritual condition. It is clinically known that it causes cancer. Your body and spirit are tied together. God made it so that we as a human can understand that everything we do affects us. Why do you think that God instructed our parents to teach us the right way? It is for our health and well-being. God said it the truth shall set you free. Set us free from what? The fear of death has held us in bondage all of our lives. To set us free from bondage. Jesus descended into hell and took the keys of death and hell away from the devil. So that we could be free from it. It also says that Jesus led captivity captive. It means that Jesus led the saints in hades to freedom into the kingdom of heaven. So are you tired of heartache and misery? The only way to be free from it is to be set free by God. There is no other way. Many people try and never obtain anything worthwhile. Let Jesus led you into the kingdom of heaven.

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When you talk to people about the big picture, they see and understand. But when you talk to them about the details, it seems to get lost in translation. Everybody knows that they shouldn’t lie, cheat, steal or kill people. Yet the details on how to do this is more ambiguous. Man has always wanted to be the captain of their destiny. Each person wants to be large and in charge. Yet if you look at mankind, the opposite is true. All my life, I have heard people talk about the Man upstairs. But they never knew who He was or what He looks like. I was the same way. I didn’t know anything about God or what He wanted from me. And I went to church all my life. I went to a religious school until I graduate from high school. I didn’t know God until 10 years after high school. It all happened when my life went from bad to worse. And I couldn’t do anything about it. I needed help and God directed my steps straight to this man, who explained to me who God is and what plan He had for me. I didn’t except this truth right away. It took almost 3 months of explaining before I was going to trust someone with my life. I may not have been worth anything to anyone, but my life was mine. I was going to preserve it as best as possible. I finally realized that I couldn’t change anything in my life. I needed the power of God to change me. I surrendered my life 40 years ago. It hasn’t always been easy, but it has been consistent. God has changed me into His image and likeness. And I know that I am going home to my Father to live with Him forever. I am no longer the prodigal son. So, now I see the subtle changes in my life or should I say the nuance of God.

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It seems to be an overrated word. It is used in anything and everything. It is used to describe pancakes or a car. Sometimes it used to mean something evil. It is so confusing that people don’t use the word hardly ever. It a shame that word has very special meaning. It should be used correctly and abundantly. There are 3 different meaning for the word love. In the bible there is Godly love, agape. There is brotherly love, philo. Then there is sensual love, eros. The love that God want us to have is His kind of love. That is to love one another unconditionally. It is the hardest to do all the time. It is easy to love someone like a brother. And the other oh well. But what do you do as concerning man. There are some times that I would let the whole world go to hell in a handbasket. But that is not what God want us to do. Walking in God’s footstep is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Then again it has been relatively easy because God does the work for me. All I have to do is follow along and let God do His work. But that means I have to go where God goes. And sometimes it is to break down the gates of hell to snatch a soul out of the hands of the enemy. And yes I have been there and back. It is trusting that God knows what He is doing and will perform His word as He has said. This is where trusting and believing comes into play. If you believe, then the next step is doing. Then the next step is accomplishing your task that God assigns to you. What is it going to be, life or death?

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I have always liked to cook meals. It started when I was young. My mom would cook for my dad. She was a school teacher with 4 sons. She didn’t have much time to prepare and cook meals. So, they were simple and fast. Unfortunately, it meant boring and tasteless. But my dad liked it and didn’t complain. But I wanted more. So, I began to watch cooking shows on TV. I was learning how to cook a good meal that taste good and cut corners. I got into baking pies and cookies and put on weight. I have learned how to prepare and cook a complete meal. Years ago, our church had a fellowship supper, and everyone was asked to bring food. I was fasting at the time. Now, when I cook, I taste everything to get it right. So, I ask God to give a recipe that I could for supper. God gave me a chili recipe. It makes about 3gals of chili. Everything was included, and I didn’t have to taste it. Although, I wanted to. I called in Holy Ghost Chili. There wasn’t a drop left after the supper. My church today, asked if anyone could make some chili for the fall festival. So, I volunteered and will be making it this Saturday. I have always found that giving does more for me than the person I am giving to. Even though, the person is in need of what I am giving and is grateful. What is does is to satisfy my soul and encourage me. Having and not giving only hardens your heart. And you will never be satisfied with what you have. So, when you see a need, give and watch God change hearts. Especially yours.

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