It's All About The Benjamin

In 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin observed:

"God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? ... Without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.

Benjamin Franklin's words ring as true in 2011 as they did in 1787.

That's My King

Friday has passed.

Sunday has come.

The tomb is empty.

Up from the grave He arose.

With a mighty triumph o'er His foes.

That's my King.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzqTFNfeDnE

Sunday Is Coming

Yesterday was Friday.

Now Sunday is coming.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tn94B3GHcjY

Good Friday

William Penn:

"No pain, no palm; no thorns, no throne; no gall, no glory; no cross, no crown."

Rebellion & Obedience

Thomas Jefferson:

"Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God."

Nobody Need Wait

Anne Frank:

"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world."

Render

Normally April 15 is Tax Day in the United States, the deadline by which Americans must file their income tax report with the Internal Revenue Service. This year, however, due to a holiday in the District of Columbia, April 18 is the deadline, which is today.

Tax Day in the USA never ranks right up there with Christmas, Thanksgiving, or the 4th of July as a day of celebration, but it does present us with a good opportunity to remind ourselves of what Jesus said to do when it comes to paying taxes.

In Matthew 22:21 (KJV), in response to a question from the Pharisees about whether it was lawful to give tribute to Caesar or not, Jesus responded:

"Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's."

Remember the words of Jesus today as you file your taxes.

Time In The Desert

When Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, and toward the Promised Land, it was a trip that should have taken a mere 10 days.

Instead, it took the Israelites 40 years.

Sometimes life is like that for us, too.

Sometimes God leads us out of a bad situation, and directs us toward our own personal Promised Land, but sometimes we don't arrive there as quickly as we had hoped.

Sometimes we wander through deserts all along the way.

Don't ever think that time spent in the desert means that God has revoke your admission ticket to your own personal Promised Land.

Sometimes God uses our time in the desert to prune us, to improve us, and to teach us valuable lessons. Time in the desert never is fun, but God intends it to be beneficial.

Moses spent 40 years in the desert tending sheep for his father-in-law before God told him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land. Then Moses spent about another 40 years leading the grumbling Israelites all along the way. But God had used Moses' time in the desert to mold him and to prepare him as a leader. And then God used Moses in a mighty way.

It's the same for us.

Time in a desert is never fun. But God intends it for greater glory.

Woe

Legislators and lawmakers of every political stripe and in every nation need to pay very close attention to the words found in Isaiah 10:1-3 (NIV):

"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches?"

Woe indeed.