I’m gonna load you up! Ready?
I’ve got a lot on my mind and I want to share it with you! So come along for the ride…
First, I want to show you something that I saw recently that made me feel very, VERY guilty!
See that column that says “Age 45?” Well, can I tell you something? I’m not even close to being able invest $3,000/year into a retirement account. In fact, Pam and I have been giving to our church building program since 1994. I will also tell you that I used to make A LOT more money than I do now. So over the last 19 years we’ve given well over $3,000/year to the Lord’s work. Most years we were giving double that amount. With all that said I can honestly say that I’m not concerned about retirement. I stopped worrying about it a long time ago. Now this doesn’t mean that I’m being fool-hearted. Solomon says we should store up for a rainy day. But, how much is enough? I look at Scripture and juxtapose the Word of God to the American way (that piece of paper above this paragraph) and I can tell you that is NOT storing up treasures in heaven. That is storing up treasures on earth. You see, I don’t plan on living here forever, but I do plan on living there (heaven) forever.
Can you put a number on the work of God’s Kingdom? Can you put a number on the soul of human being? This past year in the church we’ve added 89 people (new members) and had 24 baptisms. That’s 113 lives impacted for the kingdom. It’s worth it! We’ve had the opportunity to do mission work in our county and our state and at our mission house in Texas and abroad in Mexico. Mission work is eternal. What we do on Sundays is eternal. What we do on Wednesdays is eternal and I’m questioning why any of us should feel guilty about what someone from a financial institution or brokerage firm or retirement company thinks.
How much money do you think the Apostle Paul had saved up? He made tents for a living so he can spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do you think he was looking forward to retiring in a beach house on the Mediterranean at Caesarea. I don’t think so! How much money did Jesus encourage Peter, James and John store up for their retirement? Well, I won’t be a dead horse or my “dead retirement account.” 🙂 So, be convinced in your own mind what you might need for the future. As for me, I just trashed that little “guilty” document and I just wrote out my check for what I’ll drop in the offering plate on Sunday. Cha-ching…just made another deposit for eternity.
Ready for some history? Last week the family and I went to Jamestown, Virginia, the earliest permanent settlement in our country in 1607. Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure…
Some 100 English colonists sailed the Atlantic…
They arrived along the west bank of the James River in Virginia and founded Jamestown. Dispatched from England by the London Company, the colonists had sailed across the Atlantic aboard the Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery. This is Godspeed…
This is Susan Constant…
This is inside Susan Constant…
Check out the canons!
Upon landing at Jamestown, the first colonial council was held by seven settlers whose names had been chosen and placed in a sealed box by King James I. In December of 1607, John Smith and two other colonists were captured by Algonquian Indians while searching for provisions in the Virginia wilderness. His friends were killed, but he was spared, because of the intercession of Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan’s daughter.
Here’s a canoe of the Algonquian Indians…
During the next two years, disease, starvation, and more Native American attacks wiped out most of the colony, but the London Company continually sent more settlers and supplies. The severe winter of 1609 to 1610, which the colonists referred to as the “starving time,” killed most of the Jamestown colonists, leading the survivors to plan a return to England in the spring. However, on June 10, Thomas West De La Warr, the newly appointed governor of Virginia, arrived with supplies and convinced the settlers to remain at Jamestown.
Here’s a church in Jamestown…
Clara said, “Look Daddy! This is where the preacher stands!”
Here’s a storehouse where they have tobacco hanging from the ceiling joists.
In 1612, John Rolfe cultivated the first tobacco at Jamestown, introducing a successful source of livelihood. On April 5, 1614, Rolfe married Pocahontas, (not John Smith as is so often said), assuring a temporary peace with Chief Powhatan.
Jamestown is an amazing place…
Oh…speaking of history. I’ve got to show you how King James I felt about smoking. This is a hoot!
Well, enough history. Let’s return to 2013 and talk about food stamps shall we? Now I’m all for helping people who need it, but come on… 47 million Americans are on Food Stamps (now called SNAP). I think that’s “snap your fingers and we’ll just dole it out.” I’m totally convinced many, many people are working the system. But, the government wants people on Food Stamps. Don’t believe me? Watch this 7 minute video.
It’s called: “The Great Food Stamp Binge.” It’s a video segment from Fox News called “Mountain Pride.” It’s filmed in Ashe County, NC (right beside of Wilkes County, where I live). You won’t believe it!
“Mountain Pride,” How the Federal Government is trying to convince people to get on SNAP.
God help us!
Speaking of God…I showed a 34 minute video last night (which I seldom do) as a part of my message about God versus Evolution. It shows how absolutely brain-washed our students are becoming from incessant “evolutionary teaching.” This happens as young as the PBS TV show, “Dinosaur Train” for kids and is everywhere on TV: The Weather Channel, Discovery Channel, Science Channel, etc. It’s taught in most schools as fact and by the time our young adults hit college…well…if they profess that they are “creationists” or believe in the Bible…WATCH OUT! They’ll be labeled as a FOOL. Yet, Ray Comfort of Living Waters Productions takes the professors to task and makes them look like fools.
You can watch it online here for free:
Listen please…if you have preteens or teens or college students…please, please, please watch this with them. It’s absolutely riveting and it will encourage their faith greatly! It’s one of the best Evolution-Debunking videos I’ve ever seen.
On a lighter note…I want to show you a picture I didn’t get a chance to earlier this week from our time in Williamsburg. The kids had a blast with 18th century punishment.