The Rope

I received this link in an e-mail today. It is an interesting story with photos too.

http://www.ticz.com/homes/users/bob/The-Rope/The-Rope.htm

New Life Baptist Homecoming

I will be preaching the Homecoming Service for New Life Baptist Church tomorrow (Sunday, October 30th) at 11am. The church is located at 3625 Woodville Highway in Tallahassee, Florida.

Please be in prayer for my travel and for the service.

Also, don't forget to turn your clock back one hour tonight as Daylight Savings Time comes to an end! An extra hour of sleep will be nice.

Thanksgiving Greeting Card

Here's an early Thanksgiving greeting card that will make you chuckle (or laugh).

http://www.msn.americangreetings.com/view.pd?i=382219626&m=1652&rr=y&sou

Doctors & Pastors

I received this in an e-mail and thought I would share it with you.

Ten differences between the Doctor and the Pastor:

1. The Doctor says, "Please disrobe" and you do it without question. The Pastor preaches that you should dress modestly and he is getting too personal.
2. The Doctor charges hefty fees and you complain but you come back the next time you are sick. The Pastor preaches that you should pay your tithes and you leave the church.
3. The Doctor checks how much you weigh and you allow him. The Pastor asks how much you pray and it's none of his business.
4. The Doctor gives you a nasty tasting pill and you take it. The Pastor feeds you the Word and you say "no thank you."
5. The Doctor's office closes at a certain time. The Pastor is to be available twenty-four hours a day.
6. The Doctor tells you how to change your lifestyle to lower your blood pressure. The Pastor tells you how to change your lifestyle and it raises your blood pressure.
7. The Doctor tells you "we need to run more tests," so you make an appointment. The Pastor says "we need more Prayer Meetings and Bible Studies" and you are too busy.
8. The Doctor says, "There is nothing more we can do", and you search high and low for one who can help. The Pastor says, "God can help you", and you give up and say "What's the use."
9. The Doctor says, "Try this and see if it works and if it doesn't we'll try something else", so you do. The Pastor gives you the promises of God's Word and you don't like to "Walk by faith."
10. To the Doctor, you are just another customer. To the Pastor, you are a part of the family. He loves you. He prays for you. He helps carry your burdens. He laughs with you and cries with you.

You are important to your Pastor. PRAY FOR HIM DAILY!!

Pumpkin Carving

This is in no way an endorsement of Halloween, but just a cool little flash program. It allows you to try your hand at carving a pumpkin. Just click on the word "pumpkin" and give it a try.

Side By Side

They lie on the table side by side,
he Holy Bible and the TV guide.
One is well worn and cherished with pride,
Not the Bible . . . but the TV guide.

One is used daily to help folks decide,
No, not the Bible . . . but the TV guide.
As the pages are turned, what shall they see,
Oh, what does it matter,turn on the TV.

Then confusion reigns, they can't all agree,
So they open the book in which they confide,
No, not the Bible . . . but the TV guide.

The Word of God is seldom read,
Maybe a verse as they fall into bed.
Exhausted and sleepy and tired as can be,
Not from reading the Bible . . .from watching TV.

So then back to the table side by side,
Lie the Holy Bible and the TV guide.
No time for prayer, no time for the Word,
The plan of Salvation is seldom heard.

But forgiveness of sin, so full and free,
Is found in the Bible . . . not on TV!!!

(Author Unknown)

Oakland Ministry Team

Revival Services got underway this morning at Oakland Baptist Church in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Services will continue at 6:30pm nightly through Wednesday. Oakland Baptist Church is located at 118 Wright Parkway, NW in Ft. Walton Beach.

Pictured are (left to right) Interim Pastor Ernest Walker, Associate Pastor/Minister of Music Danny Adkison, Music Leader Graham Boutwell and (front) Evangelist James Croft.

Fort Walton Bound

Oakland Baptist Revival Services

Please be in prayer for these services.

Is There Ever A Good Time?

"Hurricane Rita, this is like the 9th hurricane out this season. Maybe this isn't the time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance." --Jay Leno

"Would there ever be a good time to take God out of anything?" --Evangelist James Croft

Quieting the Church Gossip

Janet, the church gossip and self-appointed monitor of the church's morals, kept sticking her nose into other people's business. Several members did not approve of her extra-curricular activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence.

She made a mistake however, when she accused George, a new member, of being an alcoholic after she saw his old pickup parked in front of the town's only bar one afternoon.

She emphatically told George and several others that anyone seeing it parked there would automatically know what he was doing. George, being a man of few words, stared at her for a moment, then just turned and walked away. He didn't explain, defend or deny. He said absolutely nothing.

Later that evening, George quietly parked his pickup in front of Janet's house... walked home... and left it there all night.

710

How about a joke?

A few days ago I was having some work done at the local Ford Dealership. A blonde came in and asked for a seven-hundred-ten. We all looked at each other and another customer asked, "What is a seven-hundred-ten?"

She replied, "You know, the little piece in the middle of the engine, I have lost it and need a new one." She said that she did not know what it was but this piece had always been there.

He gave her a piece of paper and a pen and asked her to draw what the piece looked like. She drew a circle and in the middle of it wrote 710. He then took her over to another car, which had its hood up and asked, "Is there a 710 on this car?"

She pointed and said, "Of course, it's right "there."

Picture Puzzle

A pastor sent this picture puzzle to me today. Try to find the difference between the two pictures. They are almost exactly alike except for one difference. If you have good eyes you should be able to see it right away.

http://members.home.nl/saen/Special/zoeken.html

Living in 2005

You know you are living in 2005 when...

1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or more) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go online before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. 8 -)

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to send this message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

AND NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.

World's Smallest Churches?

Check out these "small" churches http://www.roadsideamerica.com/set/church.html.

Some of these might be just the right size for a 3'10" tall evangelist! 8-)

Shiloh Baptist on Sunday

I'll be preaching for Pastor Mark Driskell this Sunday, October 16th at Shiloh Baptist Church. The services begin at 11am & 7pm. Please be in prayer for these services and for Brother Mark and his family to have a wonderful vacation.

Shiloh Baptist Church is located at 173 SW Shiloh Way near Fort White, Florida.

What Goes Around Comes Around

This is a nice story that has been around the web for some time, I think it may have even been the theme of a song some time ago. I hope you enjoy it.

He almost didn't see the old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So, he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her.

Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so, was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you.

He said, "I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson."

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire, but he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way.

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, "And think of me."

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road, the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps.
The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: "You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you."

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard. She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, "Everything's gonna be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson."

Another Game

Here's another game for you to try.

The directions are below because they are in French on the site.

http://bassel.free.fr/jeux/canadair.swf

Directions:

Reduce speed with your 'left' arrow so that you're in the blue section of the speed arc. (right arrow key increases speed).
Up and down arrow keys work the stick - "up" pushes the stick forward.
Kiss the water GENTLY so that you don't crash and the water tanks will fill automatically.
Avoid the birdies.
Press the space-bar to release the water over fire.

Fun With Words

1. A bicycle can't stand alone because it is two-tired.
2. What's the definition of a will? (It's a dead giveaway).
3. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
4. A backward poet writes inverse.
5. In democracy it's your vote that counts; In feudalism, it's your count that votes.
6. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
7. She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg, but she broke it off.
8. If you don't pay your exorcist you get repossessed.
9. With her marriage she got a new name and a dress.
10. Show me a piano falling down a mineshaft and I'll show you A-flat minor.
11. When a clock is hungry it goes back four seconds.
12. The man who fell into an upholstery machine is fully recovered.
13. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
14. You feel stuck with your debt if you can't budge it.
15. Local Area Network in Australia: the LAN down under.
16. He often broke into song because he couldn't find the key.
17. Every calendar's days are numbered.
18. A lot of money is tainted. 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.
19. A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
20. He had a photographic memory which was never developed.
21. A plateau is a high form of flattery.
22. The short fortune teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
23. Those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.
24. When you've seen one shopping center you've seen a mall.
25. Those who jump off a Paris bridge are in Seine.
26. When an actress saw her first strands of gray hair she thought she'd dye.
27. Bakers trade bread recipes on a knead to know basis.
28. Santa's helpers are subordinate clauses.
29. Acupuncture is a jab well done.

Best In Show

The Baker County Fair is underway in Macclenny, Florida and will continue through next Saturday, October 15th. My employer New River Solid Waste Association received a First Place and Best In Show award in the Commercial Division for our fair booth exhibit. The booth "sports" a football theme. The blue "Iggy the Igloo" is wearing a Baker County Wildcat football helmet and is taking on the Trash Can on a football field that is carpet made from recycled soda bottles. The sideline bench is made from recycled plastic bottles and recycled tires. The cheerleaders have hair, dresses & pom-poms made of recycled newpaper. The "50" at mid-field and the "G" on the goal line are also made from recycled newspaper. The goal posts are made from recycled aluminum cans and the Press Box above the stadium and the football on the bench is made from recycled cardboard. The players sitting on the bench are made from steel cans, plastic bottles & cardboard. The stadium will be filled with photos of children taken during the week.

The goal of the exhibit is to educate & encourage citizens to join the "recycling team" to help save landfill space, save natural resources & energy and maintain a good environment for future generations. We have been made stewards of this planet and we should do all we can to protect God's creation.

The design & construction of the exhibit was also a team effort by Recycling Technicians David McKinney, Donnie King, Paul Johnson, Daryl Caine, Bartow Lee and yours truly.

Answers to "A Simple Test"

Here are the answers to Wednesday's post called "A Simple Test".

1. You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in? Answer: If you overtake the second person and you take his place, you are second!
2. If you overtake the last person, then you are...? Answer: How can you overtake the LAST person?
3. Very tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head only. Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator. Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total? Answer: Did you get 5000? The correct answer is actually 4100.
4. Mary's father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter? Answer: Did you Answer Nunu? NO! Of course it isn't. Her name is Mary. Read the question again!
5. A mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done. Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of sunglasses; how does HE indicate what he wants? Answer: He just has to open his mouth and ask!

How did you do?

It's Slinky! It's Slinky!

I recently received this joke from a friend:

"Some people are like Slinkies ....Not really good for anything...... But they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs. "

I was always fascinated by the simple but yet complicated toy. After reading the joke I did a web search for Slinky. I actually found a website about the toy with some really cool things. You can check it out at http://slinky.org/. It features some scientific info about the toy and even a wav file of the old Slinky song!

A Simple Test

How about a simple little test? I'll post the answers on Friday.

1. You are participating in a race. You overtake the second person. What position are you in?
2. If you overtake the last person, then you are...?
3. Very tricky arithmetic! Note: This must be done in your head only. Do NOT use paper and pencil or a calculator.
   Take 1000 and add 40 to it. Now add another 1000. Now add 30. Add another 1000. Now add 20. Now add another 1000. Now add 10. What is the total?
4. Mary's father has five daughters: 1. Nana, 2. Nene, 3. Nini, 4. Nono. What is the name of the fifth daughter?
5. A mute person goes into a shop and wants to buy a toothbrush. By imitating the action of brushing his teeth he successfully expresses himself to the shopkeeper and the purchase is done.
   Next, a blind man comes into the shop who wants to buy a pair of sunglasses; how does HE indicate what he wants?

A "Numbers" Game

Check out this link: http://digicc.com/fido/. I think you'll find it interesting and mind boggling!

I know there must be a mathematical methodology in play, but I have no idea what it is. If you know, let me know. 8-)

Pumpkins & Christians

I received this in an e-mail today.

A woman was asked by a coworker, "What is it like to be a Christian?"

The coworker replied, "It is like being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts off the top and scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt, hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see."

Manntown Congregational Holiness Added to Schedule

I have been asked to preach "Pastor Appreciation Day" at Manntown Congregational Holiness Church on Sunday, November 13, 2005. The service is in honor of the church's pastor David Hodges. The service will begin at 11am.

Manntown Congregational Holiness Church is located on Highway 125 south of Glen St. Mary, Florida. For more information call (904) 259-8258.

Barney Revival a Blessing

The revival services at Barney First Baptist Church (Georgia) ended last night. I must say the services were certainly a blessing to me. Everyone showered the ministry team with love, friendship and hospitality. We all made some great friends during the week.

I also want to thank Pastor Keith Wise for receiving us so well into his new pastorate. Brother Keith has only served at the church for about 7 weeks. The services were set up by the Interim Pastor, Charlie Scarborough, who is a dear friend of mine.

Here are a few photos of the ministry team from the services.





My friends Cheryl Kent & Kevin Owen from Olustee, Florida led the music on Wednesday night.





















Lori Bennett, a member of Barney First Baptist, blessed our hearts with special music on Thursday & Saturday nights.














John Croft, my brother from White Springs, Florida, & Kevin Owen led the music Thursday through Saturday night.

















Here I am, sporting a shirt made for me while in Ghana, West Africa, preaching on Saturday night.

An Engineer's Thought Process

To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

What is the difference between Mechanical Engineers and Civil Engineers?
Mechanical engineers build weapons and Civil Engineers build targets.

Normal people believe that if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
Engineers believe that "if it ain't broke, it doesn't have enough features yet"