I Peter 1

II Kings 5

Cheaper is not always better.

I have lived most of my life at the lower end of middle class and have learned the value of saving money by comparison shopping and being able to fix many things myself, doing my own yard work and making wise investments.  I also have learned the lesson that professional work and quality goods often pays dividends in the long run.
 This is a lesson our young pastor and his wife are learning at the church.  The building we meet in is a large building and is nice but as with any structure things need to be repaired or replaced.   There are extension cords running through the attic   where proper wiring should be.  Some well meaning members years ago attempted to repair the air/heating units without proper training, Someone thought that refinishing wood floors would be a simple job.
  If someone had decided that professionals were a better route to go then many of the problems and much of the expense we are facing today would   be either non existent or less today.  I've discovered that certain repairs, most furniture and many clothing items last longer and are much cheaper in the long run if you start with quality, and will actually look better and do a better job than the cheaper counterparts.  I know just because it is more expensive doesn't make it better but more often than not, one can find a quality good or service at a more reasonable price and be much better off in the long run.

DAD Leaving all his property to one child of 4.

  A lady wrote seeking advise on a family situation.  There are 4 children, 3 girls and one son.  The kids just discovered that the father is leaving all his property to the son.
   It may not seem fair and I know that where money is concerned children get greedy when they think that the financial pie has not been sliced equally.  But whoever owned the pie has the right to share it with whomever he wishes.  It is money and property that the owner has worked for and he may elect to share it however he chooses.  It may be fair or it may not be fair.  Sometimes one child has struggled  and the others have done well and the parent thinks they need extra help or sometimes the parent concludes the child who did not do so well is not responsible enough to handle an inheritance.
  Some parents share their financial gain equally while others seem to favor one child over the other.  Sometimes the division makes sense and other times it seems totally arbitrary and unfair.   But in the end it all nbelongs to the parent.

We need a new supreme court ruling

  It is my considered opinion that the constitution guarantees the American citizen freedom of religion.  The law reads that no law can be enacted that prohibits the free exercise thereof.   To ban prayer from schools and to make it illegal to hold religious services on state owned property and to remove religious symbols from public land is to me prohibiting the free exercise of religion.  What the law says  is that any religion should have the same opportunity as any other religion.
  Instead of banning preachers from the Randleman community center all religions should be given the opportunity to conduct services.  Talking politics places a churches tax free status in jeopardy but the speakers at the Senior Center were not operating a church and were not receiving compensation so there is no tax free status to jeopardize.  I think the decision to ban preaching was hasty and wrong.  

Trouble in Paradise

 The information I have is just second hand information so please don't quote me as a factual source but scuttlebutt has it that preacher /preaching is no longer allowed at the Senior Center at the Randleman Community Center.  To tell the truth I was surprised to learn several months back that is was allowed but that another story all together.  The Randleman Community Center and the Senior Center are operated by the City of Randleman and is therefore government property.  It seems that the other night one of the preachers that holds services there mentioned something about a former Democratic President of the United States of America  and one of his listeners was a member of that particular Presidents party was upset by the preacher's remarks and complained to the proper authorities about the remark.  As per the Constitution of the United States of America which guarantees us freedom from religion (wait that is freedom of religion)  all preaching is now forbidden at the Senior Center.
   I had thought about starting a prayer group at the Randleman square but I suppose that is know forbidden too.  Fortunately this incident does not affect my bible study group that meets at 5 pm every Tuesday because we meet at the Randleman Commons which is a privately owned facility.
I understand the man objecting to a discussion on politics, especially since the preacher was of the opposite party but I would have thought that he might have been a Christian also.  If he was his actions were not Christian at all because the scriptures teach us how to deal with people that we are offended by and that we are to keep ourselves out of judgement by the secular world.
  If the man was not a Christian, and judging by his actions it is hard to believe he was a knowledgeable one, if one at all, then he should be ashamed of his actions and seek God's forgiveness.  As for the preacher, he should learn to limit his speech to that which God called him to and that is preaching the Word of God as contained in the bible.  The only two things the bible has to say about government and politics is that Christians are to support government regardless of which party is in power or even in spite of the system  in place and the second is that we render unto Caesar what is Caesar and to God that which is His.  

Why I left my job

  An interesting article on reasons people quit their jobs.  I've held plenty of jobs over the years and the reasons I left are as varied as the jobs were.  My first job I was fired and rehired in just a matter of a few minutes.  Some places I worked went out of business.  I was fired from a part-time job once because the company decided that they wanted to make second shift a full time shift and this was my second job.  I had one job I took on a temporary bases berceuse I needed to earn "x" amount of money in  a short period of time.  There has been other jobs and other parting of the ways but my last job was one which I liked and the company liked me.
   One day, however, my boss made a derogatory remark to me.  Something to the effect that "this is my bar and I'll decide when last call will be".  I turned in my notice before leaving for the day.  No regrets.  I've always taken pride in my work and did what the job required, no matter how hard, with no complaints or grumbling.   I've always treated my co-workers and my bosses with respect and I always tried to earn the respect I wanted.  But that off handed comment was more than I wanted to deal with.  I was old enough to retire so instead of shrugging that one off as a momentary lapse in judgement on my bosses part I just retired.
   So glad I did.