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A Simple Prayer

----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Friday, February 26, 2010 10:17 PM
Subject: I need a faith like Mueller's
A Simple Prayer . . .
"I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me" (Acts 27:25).

I went to America some years ago with the captain of a steamer, who was a very devoted Christian.

When off the coast of Newfoundland he said to me, "The last time I crossed here, five weeks ago, something happened which revolutionized the whole of my Christian life.
We had George Mueller of Bristol on board.

I had been on the bridge twenty-four hours and never left it.

George Mueller came to me, and said, "Captain I have come to tell you that I must be in Quebec Saturday afternoon." "It is impossible," I said. "Very well, if your ship cannot take me, God will find some other way. I have never broken an engagement for fifty-seven years. Let us go down into the chart-room and pray."

I looked at that man of God, and thought to myself, what lunatic asylum can that man have come from? I never heard of such a thing as this. "Mr. Mueller," I said, "do you know how dense this fog is?" "No," he replied, "my eye is not on the density of the fog, but on the living God, who controls every circumstance of my life."

He knelt down and prayed one of the most simple prayers, and when he had finished I was going to pray; but he put his hand on my shoulder, and told me not to pray. "First, you do not believe He will answer; and second I BELIEVE HE HAS, and there is no need whatever for you to pray about it."

I looked at him, and he said, "Captain, I have known my Lord for fifty-seven years, and there has never been a single day that I have failed to get audience with the King. Get up, Captain and open the door, and you will find the fog gone." I got up, and the fog was indeed gone. On Saturday afternoon, George Mueller was in Quebec for his engagement.

- Selected.

  A Simple Prayer"

Andrew Bolt on Julia

----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Monday, July 05, 2010 11:46 AM
Subject: Andrew Bolt on Julia
Andrew Bolt
Wednesday, June 30, 2010 at 07:01am
IT'S happening all over again, but even worse this time with Julia Gillard.
Look at the media's rapturous hype. Look at her spin.

Look at the complete absence of detail on what Gillard will actually do.
How familiar it all is.

Just add the stupidity of Gillard's noisiest fans and - bingo - our next Prime Minister need only dash to the polls in August to win an election without having to change a single one of Kevin Rudd's catastrophic policies.

Correction: her catastrophic policies, too.

Wasn't she deputy prime minister
when she ticked off on all of them?

Let's start with the hype.

Bottom line: Labor, for the first time in its history, shafted its prime minister because - the plotters said - this "good Government had lost its way" and seemed likely to lose the next election to Tony Abbott's Coalition.

Not once since then has Gillard or her conspirators detailed just how the Government "lost its way", because that might involve them listing decisions they themselves argued for.

Consider: Gillard herself had demanded Rudd shelve his dumb emissions trading scheme - a backflip that overnight turned him into a joke.

Consider: Wayne Swan, now promoted to Deputy Prime Minister, himself argued for the "super profits" tax that prompted a revolt by miners and a capital strike that finally killed Rudd politically.

No wonder these two won't say how the Government "lost its way", since their bloody fingerprints are all over the map.

But never mind, many in the media seem to have bought the spin. Or, rather, they've bought Gillard, who is charming, warm and a far better manager of people than the maniacally self-absorbed Rudd ever could be.

Oh, and did anyone mention she's our first female Prime Minister?

But this is, essentially, all that's been achieved.

A nicer person has been brought in to sell the same overpriced junk she helped Rudd build.

Yet see how commentators are helping her to do it, attributing to her triumphs she's never recorded.

Take the way Monday's Newspoll was hailed as the justification of her coup - proof she'd "restored" Labor's vote.

Almost no one noted how little Labor's two-party preferred vote increased - from just 52 per cent under loser Rudd to 53 per cent under Saint Julia. Triumphs don't come smaller.

And Gillard can thank the stupid for what gains she did make.

Her real success in Newspoll lay in stripping the Greens of a third of their vote, all of which went straight to Labor rather than through preferences, which indeed makes its vote more solid.

But go figure. Here are disenchanted Greens voters rewarding the woman who did most to kill off the Government's ETS and turn them against Rudd.

Proof, I think, that Greens voters tend to be irrational and women. Or both.

Nor are they the only ones to see in Gillard what isn't there.

Take Germaine Greer, who wrote in the Herald Sun this week that Rudd was toast from the day he flew off and left Gillard as acting prime minister: "The nation got used to the way she disentangled the most disastrous snarl-ups with patience and good humour."

Um, Earth to Germaine: Name a single "disastrous snarl-up" Gillard disentangled.

Heavens, she couldn't even stop the waste of up to $5 billion from her own Building the Education Revolution.

Yet there's no mistaking the euphoria now that she's risen to glory.

Here's a love letter to Gillard from part-time academic and Per Capita "think tank" genius Dennis Glover, published in The Australian:

"You always know when she has arrived, the place starts to lighten up, laughter is heard, people feel good ...
"Strength, belief, good sense ... these are infectious and will radiate from her happy, laughing, motivated and effective office to the electorate beyond ... Women of Australia ... in Julia Gillard you've made a wise choice of the first female to lead our country."

Attention, Dennis: Gillard was not chosen as Prime Minister by the "women of Australia", but by the men who lead Labor's hardest factions. Of course, we've seen this euphoria before, and not three years ago, when the media Left became almost literally orgasmic about Rudd.

Then, too, it confused spin with substance, image with reality, and promise with performance.

And so Age columnist Catherine Deveny said Rudd's election victory left her feeling "buzzy and post-coital".

Prof Robert Manne, voted Australia's Most Influential Public Intellectual, confessed he'd "become a Ruddite", and praised Rudd for being "decisive, good-humoured and calm".

Rudd indeed was the most popular prime minister in our history, yet now he's fallen, this same Manne concedes he was actually "hyperactive, controlling, hectoring and interfering", "bad at delegation", and guilty of "systemic mismanagement" and a "tension between word and action".

Why didn't you say so earlier, Robert?

But it's true: what brought Rudd so low that even Manne now bayonets his corpse is that "tension between word and action" - which means he delivered xxxxxx all of what he promised. The question now is: can Gillard bridge Labor's gap between word and deed?

My tip is that she'll actually race to an August election before voters start even asking such questions. And here's why - her four most urgent to-fix tasks. Rudd, with Gillard's support, weakened our boat laws in 2008, thus luring more boat people to our shores than ever before.

The boats must be stopped without Gillard infuriating greens and the Left with her "cruelty". But how?

Rudd, with Gillard's support, ditched the emissions trading scheme he claimed was our answer to "the greatest moral challenge of our time", costing Labor the Greens' preferences it needs to survive.

Gillard must fool Greens voters with the appearance of action, without horrifying everyone else with the bills that real action would mean.

But how?

Rudd, with Gillard's support, stuck often shoddy insulation in one million roofs and didn't know how to check all the houses to see which had been put at risk of burning down.

Gillard must stop more homes being torched, but how?

Rudd, with Gillard's support, blew a huge surplus and billions more he didn't have on insulation batts, overpriced school halls and a cash splash.

Gillard must somehow dodge the blame, stem the waste and find the cash to honour the Government's promise to bring the Budget back into the black by 2013. But how?

Rudd, with Gillard's support, introduced a super profits tax to grab from miners the $12 billion a year the Government now needs to balance its books and pay for its promises.

Gillard must do the impossible - still grab that cash without causing outraged miners to resume their devastating campaign or worried investors to cancel more projects.

Those are the challenges, yet what has Gillard said she'll do?

About boat people she's said only that she doesn't believe in a "big Australia", which dummies are meant to see as code for getting tough.

Yet about actual boat people laws, let alone immigration levels, she's actually said zero.

As for all the government waste, well, what can she say?

On emissions trading, she just says she will build a "consensus" after the election on setting a "price for carbon". Which could mean either then she'll hit us with a great green tax in a year or two, or just talk on. You choose.

And about the mining tax, she's said only that she's keen for a deal. But what can she offer the big miners, other than a return of the cash she needs to steal?

No wonder Gillard is preparing for a dash to the polls, promising little, putting off everything and smiling a lot.

Her best chance is to be judged on her image, her gender, her niceness - and not on deeds. Certainly not on boats.

She must race to an election while the crowd is still cooing, not counting, and giving the benefit of the doubt to a Prime Minister who's helped spend it all already.

  Andrew Bolt on Julia"


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Honesty is still the ONLY policy!

Our teacher asked us what our favorite animal was, and I said, "Fried chicken." She said I wasn't funny, but she couldn't have been right because everyone else in the class laughed.

My parents told me to always be truthful and honest, and I am. Fried chicken is my favorite animal. I told my dad what happened, and he said my teacher was probably a member of PETA. He said they love animals very much. I do, too. Especially chicken, pork and beef.

Anyway, my teacher sent me to the principal's office. I told him what happened, and he laughed too. Then he told me not to do it again.
The next day in class my teacher asked me what my favorite live animal was.
I told her it was chicken.
She asked me why, just like she'd asked the other children.
So I told her it was because you could make them into fried chicken.
She sent me back to the principal's office again.
He laughed, and told me not to do it anymore.

I don't understand. My parents taught me to be honest, but my teacher doesn't like it when I am. Today, my teacher asked us to tell her what famous person we admire most.

A Passion for Prayer

----- Original Message -----
From:
To:
Sent: Saturday, May 01, 2010 8:09 PM
Subject: Paul Davis' example
Paul Davis-Blind and Crippled but with a Passion for Prayer
By Edwin Newby, with Dick York

Paul Davis had been the chief procurement officer for the State of Washington in the 1930s-40s--a task that involved the expenditure of millions of dollars and tremendous authority. Tragically, an arthritic condition developed which gradually stole his mobility, eventually claimed his eyesight, and rendered him nearly deaf. His wife, not wanting to be tied to an invalid, took their son and left.

Frustrated, lonely, and seething with bitterness, he lay helpless on his bed. One day, his Christian nurse left the radio on, tuned to a Christian station. Paul screamed and cursed at first, but then a "Haven of Rest" broadcast featured a program filled with hymns proclaiming the message of the hope of God. The announcer told of a Jesus who lifted men out of darkness and changed their lonely lives. Paul's spirit became calm, his almost sightless eyes filled with tears, and a longing to know Jesus filled his heart. The bitterness faded away as he called on the name of the Lord.

While his heart changed, his physical condition worsened. Eventually, his mobility was reduced to a single finger on one hand. Incredibly, the eternal hope he now had in Christ inspired him to use his nearly useless body in the service of his Savior. Determined to "publish with the voice of thanksgiving and tell of all thy wondrous works" (Psalm 26:7), he learned to use his finger to manipulate a switch activating a telephone. A telephone amplifier over his head connected him to the outside world, feeding sound to his ears and letting his muffled voice go out over that same phone line.

Later, although still unable to move from his bed, Paul published (by God's truly amazing grace) a little magazine called The Glory Road, which was mailed to shut-ins around the world. Several women read to him over the telephone an incredible volume of scripture, which he memorized and quoted. He edited articles from other publications to include in The Glory Road, and dictated articles of his own. When time allowed, he would call the operator and ask her to begin dialing numbers of people from the phone listings. "Let's start with B," he might say. Those who answered would hear a joyous but curiously strained voice begin to tell them about his Savior.

Meanwhile, after the Korean War, a man named Harry Holt, along with his wife, Bertha, learned of the many children fathered by American soldiers and living as orphans. The Holts adopted eight Korean children, who were added to their existing family of six children. The Holts began helping others to adopt, and what began as something run from the Holt's kitchen table in Creswell, Oregon, grew into a major adoption movement called Holt International Children's Services. Bertha (now deceased) wrote that nothing was accomplished, or even attempted, without prayer. In her 1956 book, The Seed From the East, mention is made of many in the Eugene, Oregon, area who assisted in this major undertaking, particularly in their offers to uphold them in prayer. The individual mentioned most often, however, was Paul Davis, who, on hearing of the Holt's endeavor, had become a passionate prayer partner.

Among those influenced by Paul Davis was Dick York, who established the Shield of Faith Rescue Mission in Eugene, Oregon, now known as the Eugene Mission. Dick, in turn, went on to Korea as a missionary and, to this day, continues missionary training and teaching at Shield of Faith Mission International. Of Paul's testimony, Dick wrote: "I had read Isaiah 35:1-6 [Paul's favorite passage of Scripture, which begins with the description of a time when "the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose" and ends with a promise that God has appointed a time when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a deer"] many times. But now as I read it, tears began to fill my eyes. Here was my friend, lame and blind and partially deaf. This was his hope, and because he believed it, he could wait with unexplainable joy for the day he knew would come as surely as tomorrow's sunrise. There were thousands at that very hour, far less impaired in their bodies than Paul, who were filled with bitterness, soaking in self-pity, experiencing loneliness and unhappiness, waiting to die without hope. But there were others, reading his magazine, or having it read to them, who were hearing of his hope, and probably experiencing the contagion of his joy, who were being encouraged to look up to Him who is 'the author and finisher of our faith' (Hebrews 12:2)."

One day, Paul Davis summed up what he had learned from the Lord: "I know what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, 'All things work together for good to them that love God; to them who are the called according to his purpose' (Romans 8:28). This arthritis has destroyed my body, but through it God has saved my soul."

Should we insult others?

What about insulting others?

Most of those who read these will chuckle over how men insult each other so skillfully.

The sad fact is that our old nature just loves to hurt others and do it skillfully. As long as we are not the ones wounded by the tongue, we enjoy seeing it done to others.

What we tend to forget is that God commands us to EDIFY others, not INSULT them. How long is it since you read Eph. 4:29, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."

Yep, we laugh at these, but we ought to avoid them like the plague. We are to build up others not tear them down. Somehow I doubt if these insults were really reproofs. They were sword thrusts from the tongue.

Bro. Buddy

The greatest insults in history?

1. The exchange between Churchill and Lady Astor:
Lady Astor to Churchill, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison."
In response Churchill said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."

2. A member of Parliament to Disraeli: "Sir, you will either die on the gallows or of some unspeakable disease."
"That depends, Sir," said Disraeli, "whether I embrace your policies or your mistress."

3. "He had delusions of adequacy." - Walter Kerr

4. "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire." - Winston Churchill

5. "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure." - Clarence Darrow

6. "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary." - William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway).

7. "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it." - Moses Hadas

8. "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it." - Mark Twain

9. "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.." - Oscar Wilde

10. "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend.... if you have one." - George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill

11. Winston Churchill, in response: "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second.... if there is one."

12. "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here." - Stephen Bishop

13, "He is a self-made man and worships his creator." - John Bright

14. "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial." - Irvin S. Cobb

15. "He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others." - Samuel Johnson

16. "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up." - Paul Keating

17. "In order to avoid being called a flirt, she always yielded easily." - Charles, Count Talleyrand

18. "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him." - Forrest Tucker

19. "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?" - Mark Twain

20. "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork." - Mae West

21. "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.." - Oscar Wilde

22. "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination." - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)

23. "He has Van Gogh's ear for music." - Billy Wilder

24. "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But this wasn't it." - Groucho Marx

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