Louder Than the Voices

 Good Saturday morning! It is a little before 5 and I have a lot going today because I didn't get everything done this week, so here I am. I have my list and if everything goes as planned, I should be able to relax about 6 tonight, but if it goes as planned, I also should have most of tomorrow afternoon to rest before another big week. I got a kick out of a recent Lowe's commercial I saw where all these guys were getting their Saturday projects wiped out so they could have their Sunday's. Those Sundays that all I have to do between church services is my normal getting ready for the week stuff (clean out my car, my purse, lay out my week's clothes, make sure the car has gas, and is washed) those are really nice days. And hopefully tomorrow will be one of them. This week we are talking about the tongue. One of the main causes of sin, in my opinion. What would a world be if people never said mean things to one another? What would the world be if people never said things th...

 I have to tell you, trying to write this Bible Study this morning is hard. What a sad week for our county. We don't really know what was going through this 22-year old's head when he shot and killed someone who was speaking what he believed. I have to admit, I don't watch a lot of influencers online, so I only knew the name from a few passing videos I saw on facebook, but Robert knew immediately. Robert is of the generation that given a tv show or given a youtube app, he will pick the app every time. He learns more there. Part of his own recovery is following several Christian influencers, and as he said in his own Facebook post, he didn't agree with everything Charlie Kirk said, but he respected how he truly showed Christ's love in his answers. Robert was impressed with the fact that Charlie could have a conversation and never lose his temper, he was definitely speaking in love.  I saw several Facebook posts that showed there were other people who were celebrating...

 Good morning! We have made it to another Saturday and I am thankful to be through this week. It has been a rough one just with trying to catch up at work from being gone and of course, starting the week with a holiday, those "Monday on Tuesday" things are always a bit much but there has been a lot accomplished this week, so I am good with having a day to switch gears. We have a big community block party up where I was raised tonight, and Robert and I have a Plasma donation planned this morning, so it is still a busy day, but still different focuses and that is a good thing. Today we are going to finish up talking about the relationship between faith and works. I wanted to single out these last two verses because there are two very big lessons here so here we go. James 2:25-26 25  In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction?   26  As the body wit...

 Happy Saturday! I said we would spend a couple of weeks in James 2:14-24 and here is our second week. Thanks for being patient with the week off, Last Saturday morning started with leaving the RV a little before 5 and of course, ended with a balloon ride of a lifetime. 💓 I am going to stick a little better to our HEAR method this week. So, without further ado; James 2:14-24 14  What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?   15  Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food.   16  If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?   17  In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 18  But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.   19 ...

 Happy Saturday! and Happy 58 years on this earth to me. I wish I felt better but I am grateful that God brought me home safe and I got to sleep in my own bed last night, even if it was with several needy cats. I wanted to run 3 mile this morning but I can tell you, that isn't going to happen. I have put in 36 miles this week and so with my head cold, or sinuses or whatever is going on, I am giving myself permission to just get the things done today I need to get done and doing a lot of resting in between. I don't remember being this tired in a long time. I came home with new insight on several tech issues and I have signed up for about 20 hours more classes that needs taken just to keep me caught up with what is going on in the world around us so I can keep my promise to my boss not to let us get behind in technology. This AI thing is the most double edged sword thing I have seen come out of progress in a long time and trying to learn how to use it to the fullest and at the sa...

Happy Saturday morning!  This week, we are finishing off the passage in James about treating everyone the same. As I said early on, this hits very close to home because of my job. I try to stay out of politics here, but when we started being told we could not discuss equity, it was a blow. I will be very frank. We see a lot of people in our offices that are beaten down by society, and that makes them beat up on themselves. Have you ever really thought about the fact that you not treating someone with the respect you would like to be treated with could be their final straw? We see so many suicides in school kids anymore. I remember the days very well of being made fun of at school, and being bullied. There were people who I think really lived to get to call me fatso. I had an escape though, I could come home and get away from it, I always hope people grow out of being that "better than you person" but unfortunately, you see some of their actions on Facebook and see them making...

Happy Saturday!  Hope you all had a wonderful week and are getting a good start to a wonderful weekend. It is a working day for us. I have things that need done around here, some things to help my mom with and some things at the office today and of course, all those Saturday things like cleaning house and groceries. Hopefully, the guys are going to get a new mailbox put up at Robert's as apparently, the mail lady refuses to deliver mail to the old one.  We are heading into a really busy month of August. I have important meetings on Monday and Tuesday, we are trying to do job interviews, I have a trip to Carlinville Wednesday and an outreach event Saturday. I leave, with Andrew in tow, next Sunday for a week of tech learning, home for a few days then go to the Lincoln Balloon festival, then home for a few days and head to Detroit for the National Community Action Partnership conference and by the time I get home, it will be Labor Day weekend and the month of August is gone. And...

 Hope you are having a great Saturday! I got to do something new last night and go out to a sound bath on a very secluded pond and watch the stars. Would you believe I saw THREE shooting stars while I was there? I wish I would have remember my bug spray but other than that, it was very cool. I did sleep in though and I have a busy day and a busy weekend so here we go on our Bible Study for today. We are on part 2 of a 4-part series. Today we are looking at James 2:5-7 So, we will jump right in using our HEAR method. 5  Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?   6  But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court?   7  Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? Verse 5 Highlig...

 Happy Saturday morning! Hope it has been a good week for you. It has been a lot of ups and downs for me, but the big lesson I have learned this week was the realization that my week went exactly as God planned it. That has stuck with me a lot and left me trying not to question why too much. I feel I have done pretty well sticking to my goals for eating and working out. It is a little harder when I am taking so much time off because I make a list of so much to get done that I don't want to spend time driving to Effingham or going for an hour run. I do know I make up for it because I am moving more all day and not sitting at my desk, but it still gets off. When fall comes, I won't be able to take the time off so it isn't a long term issue by any means. We are finally moving to Chapter 2 of  James and I have broken this into four parts because it is so very important to me. These verses not only deal with my person livelyhood, but with things I have encountered all my life. A...