"Make no mistake....

It's not revenge he's after...its a reckoning....."

Saints are not going to the superbowl... :(

Night

Till when?

Marriage: Trusting God for the Right Partner

Last week, my wife and I celebrated our 29^th wedding anniversary.

Just four days later, I had the privilege of giving my daughter, Christine,
away in marriage. It was a lovely ceremony and we couldn't have
wished for a finer young man than her husband, Jonathan Kimball.
I ask your prayers for them as they begin a new family unto the glory
of God.

Every parent desires to see their child happily and successfully
married. As I contemplated the large number of single people who
read ShortNotes, I couldn't help but have the same desire for you.
Thus, I have included a few random thoughts about marriage that
I hope will be stimulating and edifying to you.

� Marriage is a God-ordained institution. He created it and He knows
how it is to operate if it is to be successful. But in our day, the
world is trying to co-opt marriage by creating a whole new set
of definitions and standards by which marriage is to operate.
And the world's way is NOT working. Stick with God's way!
Don't let the world defile you with it's ways which are contrary
to God's way.

� If you want to know God's plan for marriage, study what the
Bible says about it. Begin with the very first marriage - Adam
and Eve (found in Genesis 3). Ephesians 5 is a good New
Testament reference to marriage. Find an on-line Bible where
you can look up every reference to "husband" and "wife." This
will take a little bit of work, but it sure beats reading some
magazine article in Redbook about how to have a happy marriage!

� Next to coming to Jesus, marriage is the most significant decision
you will ever make. Don't enter into it lightly! Seek God's will
concerning your potential mate. Pray for God's guidance about your
marriage plans. Study the Bible concerning marriage. And seek
advice from parents and godly counselors about your readiness
for marriage and your compatibility with your potential spouse. In
getting advice, don't simply look for someone to confirm your
desires, but seek honest input with a sincere willingness to follow
their advice even if it is difficult.

� Understand that marriage is about a lot more than "love." Love is
certainly a significant part of the equation, but marriage is about
two people committing their lives to one another until they die
with the objective of starting a family, uniting for a common
purpose and sharpening one another in the Lord.

� In my youth, I did not feel I should "seek a wife." Over and over
again in Scripture, we are told to "seek the Lord." As I sought the
Lord, He brought the right person into my life. I sought the Lord
and I found Him, as we as I found the wife the Lord had for me.
This is a venture of faith as it is very difficult for us to trust God to
meet this most intimate of needs in our lives. But, He will if we
trust Him! Personally, I think an often overlooked key to a happy
and successful marriage is to find the spouse GOD wants us to
have rather than simply find the spouse I want. I did not marry
a woman I could live with - I married a woman I could not live
without!

� Now is the time to prepare yourself for marriage: spiritually, emotionally,
financially, relationally, etc. People prepared for marriage tend to
bring the qualities to a marriage that make it successful. People
unprepared tend to be disappointed and encounter overwhelming
problems once married.

� Focus on becoming a mature man or woman of God and He will
lead a similarly mature man or woman of God into your life. Many
young people are on the hunt for the perfect mate. Let me encourage
you to focus on becoming the perfect mate. People tend to match
with someone of equal maturity. In other words, if you are a "five" --
spiritually, emotionally, socially, etc. you are not likely to marry
a "ten," even though you may dream about doing so! If you want
to marry a "ten," get serious with God about you becoming a "ten"!
If you are content to be a spiritual "five," get used to the idea of
marrying a "five." Better yet, repent of your contentment with your
spiritual lukewarmness and seek the Lord until you begin to
seriously grow in Christ!!!

I have plenty of additional advice, but I'll call it quits for now. If I have
sparked your interest and you want to hear more of my thoughts on
preparing for marriage, let me encourage you to order my two messages titled:

Trusting God for the Right Partner and
Gaining God's View of Marriage.

Let me warn you that these messages are not for the faint of heart.

I gave these two talks to a group of hungry disciples about 12 years
ago and I didn't mince words. You'll find these messages to be very
enlightening, very edifying and very challenging.

Heads or tails?

Check this.......

I'm at work and sunshine calls me to the front. I finish up what I am doing real quick and head up there. When I get up there, there is an older woman standing there with jumper cables. She had left had left her lights on and Sunshine asks me if I could help her jump-off her car!

Do you know how good if felt to be on the other side of that coin for once?!

HAHA

Night

Holding thy breath...........

All you talented secular artists need to get saved and sing about God. Then we could really have some more awesome music.

.......

Sometimes, I really do feel sorry for celebrities like Britney Spears because the media can't sit down and shut-up about their personal lives. Yes I said shut-up, because it make me mad.
It just makes me so mad sometimes that people can tear down others so much with out even batting an eye lash. It seems as though nothing is sacred anymore.

I am not saying that I agree with all the things that we see celebreties doing these day, but COME ON PEOPLE! Nobody deserves the things that are said about them.

Victory Dance

Ultimate frisbee was awesome tonight. My sore muscles in the morning will prove this. I say bring it on because I had a ton o' fun.

Then of course God showed out amazingly tonight. I just pray right now in the name of Jesus that the things that were planted tonight in the youth would flourish rapidly and lushously.

Good night dreamers

thoughts

Work was interesting tonight... some man came into the the dressing room yelling at the top of his lungs for his daughter to come out (apparantly he had been waiting a while) and using a few choice words, all in this little space while I'm in it. Thought I was going to pee in my pants.

afterwords I found myself scared for the girls that were with him...I'm not saying anything bad about the guy because I have no idea who he is, i guess it's just experience. It brings back emotions.

anyways. the rest of work was alright even the phsyco holiday shoppers didn't get on my nerves...lol

I was out looking up earlier, and i was thinking about the greek and other ancient mythology that we associate with the stars and constalations and i was wondering....
Even though the greek strories are mysterious and interesting, Zeus nor any other greek god created them...

So what was God thinking when He created them?

OK I think i'm going to go crotchet and watch a movie.....

gooodnight

I just don't know

OK good and bad

I FINALLY found and jacket that i absolutely love.

but I am going to have to return it because since I am losing weight I won't be able to wear it very long.

In a way it a good thing and I should be excited but the jacket is so fabulous.

Yayargrah......

Watching the world go by..

Sometimes I feel like I'm missing so much with my friends and there lives...

I think I've decided not to go to Ski Invasion this year. Not because I don't want to I just feel like I need the money more.
I figure out a while back that I don't need SI for that "spiritual high" I know that I don't have to go. But it still makes a little sad cause i will miss my friends and watching them grow in Christ because I love to see that.....

So that it my decision unless God has other plans that I don't know about yet...


Goodnight

"either one of us takes the wheel or all of us take the fall..."

I just want people to see that it doesn't matter what other people are doing.

The only thing that matters is YOU and GOD
Period

other "Christians" that are acting supercilious and silly are not being christians.
Being a christian means you are following christ. Being saved and being a christian are not the same thing.

Yes it is a must that you have to me saved by Jesus Christ but there is SO MUCH MORE to it than that. There is a relationship with the most perfect friend you could ever have.

My hear aches for people to see this.

I do apologize to you that have been put off from beginning a relationship with God because there are people that truly don't understand what it is to be a christian. I am sorry to those of you that feel betrayed by your churches and leaders.

However, I also beg you to not look at God through these people but look at Him directly.

You would be surprised at what he can do.

I am speaking this all in complete love. I mean no condemnation or disrespect by any of it. I don't even know if anyone will read this. I do pray in the name of Jesus to anyone that does read this that something good will come out of it. That God has spoken through me to you.

With all his love and blessings,
MERRY CHRISTMAS

Kristen

Rules of war

• God always speaks to your potential, not your actual.

• Whatever you know or have experienced at church, you are not prepared for what He is about to do.

• It's a brand new pioneer trail.

• Don't take the new thing and put it in your old way.



• Your frustrations are meant to drive you to God. You can only grow through frustration.

• Tension doesn't mean there is something wrong, it means there is something happening.

• He isn't going to show you everything at once, but as you go.

• It is not my anointing to take the nation, it is my anointing to train the next generation to take the nation.

• On every new level you must meet a new devil. The purpose of the devil obstacle is to give you strength and power.

• You can't go to the next level until you defeat the devil at that level. As he submits to you, you use him as your footstool to get to the next level.

• You can not take ground from the enemy if he has ground in you.

• Deliverance = one battle to get free and one battle to stay free.

• Warfare = one battle to take ground and one battle to keep ground.

• Don't be in too much of a hurry until you can keep what you've got.

• Don't let the enemy push you into a battle you are not ready for. Keep your focus on Jesus, and natural obstacles will arise because of that.

• Rest is a weapon against the enemy. He cannot penetrate your peace.

• If God isn't saying anything, go back over what He HAS said.

• If God doesn't own the creating, making and birthing of something, then He will not own the fruit of it.

• The days of grace are still here, but the days of leniency are not.

whoo! yea!

Andorphins....man....great stuff... :)

What's up with that?

Some these attorney commercial make me wanna cry.

You can memorize the 10 minute opening a closing argument, but you can't memorize a 30 second shpeel for a commercial?

I mean really.

Everything

I've lost 26 Lbs. That is fantastic and I am stoked. I can do better buti am getting there :)

My meds are really sipping. I have an appointment with the doc in 2 weeks so hopefully we can get that straight. It would really be cool if god healed me one day of the ADHD. But to be honest i have some reserve about that. There are good things about ADHD.

I've also been thinking alot about this whole gay marriage law amendment thing. I'm just not sure....I just don't know if I think it is right to tell people who they can marry. I am not saying by any means that homosexuality is right, I don't think it is right. I've been asking God about it...but it's still just tossing around in my head for now.Chemistry is questionable.......
I can't stop worrying about everything that is going on.

I just feel so pshyco sometimes...
So blah-ick-ugh.....

I walked around the Gardner-Webb campus today and this overwelming feeling of intimidation came over me. It seems so far away. I've screwed up so many times over the past 3 years and I can't quit reminding myself of it. I keep thinking of this neverending cycle. Like I'm a hampster on a wheel.

"The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself." -- Mark twain

Good-night

Can I get and amen?

Extra hour of sleep...

Woot woot

here goes

Honestly don't really want to take this chemistry test...

but i'll get over it.

one of those afternoons

Pajamas may have never said sounded better. :\

THE BOY AND THE ALLIGATOR

THE BOY AND THE ALLIGATOR
Posted by [ swauthor ] July 12th 2006 - 2:34PM Posts to date: 1970
THE BOY AND THE ALLIGATOR
Author Unknown

Some years ago on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.

His mother in the house was looking out the window saw the two as they got closer and closer together.

In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could.

Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother. It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him.

From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go.

A farmer driving by heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator.

Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal, and, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother's fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs.

And then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, "But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my Mom wouldn't let go."

You and I can identify with that little boy. We have scars, too--not from an alligator or anything quite so dramatic, but the scars of a painful past.

Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because God has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, He's been there holding on to you.

The Scripture teaches that God loves you. You are a child of God. He wants to protect you and provide for you in every way. But sometimes we foolishly wade into dangerous situations. The swimming hole of life is filled with peril and we forget that the enemy is waiting to attack. That's when the tug-of-war begins--and if you have the scars of His love on your arms, be very, very grateful. He did not and will not let you go.

---

Sandy Warner
swauthor@usa.net
www.thequickenedword.com

Haiku O' Toothbrush

Makes my mouth so clean.

Fizzy spinning on my teeth.

Then my lips go pop.

**Pop*Pop**