Manchester United vs Manchester City soccer

Let them eat cake!

The city that has the most invested in sports franchises is not New York or Chicago, and the sport is not baseball or football. The biggest moneyed city is Manchester England and the sport is SOCCER!
They take soccer very seriously in Manchester, which has enough rabid soccer fans to field two world class soccer teams, Manchester United and Manchester City.
Recently Manchester United suffered a humiliating 6-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester City. Tesco, a huge retailer, a Walmart of England, displayed some wry English humor when they sold the above cakes.
Don't get it? Read the facts again, then focus on the picture and the cake prices.

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Repentance

Our desperate need is for God's Wisdom, but God will not allow us to mix His pure Wisdom with our destructive plans. Therefore, He wisely holds back on granting Wisdom, even when asked for, until we see the destructiveness of our decisions and actions, to the point of mourning. This is an essential part of the process known as Repentance, without which we Eternally die.
It is impossible to REPENT until we see that it was our actions that put Jesus on the Cross. Religious people crucified Jesus. Public servants made it legal. Heroic people accomplished the deed. Those that called Him Lord & friend either betrayed or abandoned Him. If I were there, I would have participated in this heinous deed of Crucifixion in some way. Jesus not only died for me, He died because of me.

Baby Girl Rescued: Video

You prayed! Thank you. God is good!

Why Men Die First: #4

You've got to admire his determination and his agility.

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Flooded Dundrum Ireland Video: Pray

A frightening video from Youtube shows the devastating effects of a once in 100 year rainfall on the Dundrum Town Centre, a beautiful shopping mall in Dublin Ireland. One police officer was feared swept away. Your prayers would be appreciated.

A Good Time to Pray #2

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Shooting Elephants in my Pajamas

Sitting at the computer reading the news, finally woke up enough to realize Mary brought me a cup of coffee about 10 minutes ago.

Sunday Dinner

One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I don't know. Groucho Marx


Mary's turn to cook. She does breakfast and most snacks, I do dinner. She alternates between oat meal, French toast, and scrambled eggs,bacon, toast, with oatmeal being our favorite. Today is French toast.
I've started cooking daily, mostly with the wok, but I'll throw in a roast, carrots, and potatoes, or chicken breast and rice. Our ingredient costs are a little higher because we buy range fed, organic, natural ingredients, but average cost per meal is still between one and two dollars. That includes the coffee, wine for cooking, pop.
After Mary cooks French Toast for breakfast, I tell her, "I love it when you do French!" & kiss her arm from her hand to her shoulder.

Grandpa - so easy to operate a kid can do it. (t shirt saying)

It's getting a little scary on the view count on my blog. When I went to bed the count was 18 thousand, 3 hundred something. When I woke up, it was 18 thousand 4 hundred something. Now it's 18 thousand 5 hundred something. Every time I check the count the hundred meter goes up one more. Mary said, "Why does that scare you? You prayed for this, didn't you?"
God is good.


Phase 3 of the Death Star master plan called for high-end condos and a shopping center anchored by P. F. Chang's...from tweeter @badbanana


Far be it for me to obsess over details BUT: Observing the top ten countries, my lifetime blog audience is 30% international, with 10% from countries where English is not the first language. Last month my international audience rose to 60% with 30% coming from countries where English is not the first language.
This week my audience where English is not the first language is equal to my USA audience. My international audience is larger by 25% than my USA audience. This is a BIG change.


Levels of insanity: 1. Talks to self 2. Argues with self 3. Gets mad at self 4. Is no longer speaking to self!


Yesterdays page views was 413. I think it's a record.
God is good. I am grateful, and very awed.


Further Random Thoughts
Tomorrows forecast. God reigns! The Son shines!
Can't sleep counting sheep? Talk to the Shepherd.
Some questions can't be answered by Google, but God can.
A woman gave birth shortly after finishing the Chicago Marathon on Sunday. And that's why I don't jog - from tweeter @badbanana
Pity terrorists & dictators...watching their backs for former friends, the front for US Marines, & the sky for falling satellites.
At my age, I've seen it all, done it all, heard it all...I just can't remember it all.
Money talks. Chocolate SINGS!

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Earthquake! Pray for Turkey!

Tuesday October 25, 2011
Ercis, Turkey
A two week old baby and her mother was pulled from the rubble 47 hours after the quake. See my blog posted October 24, 11 p.m. with raw video footage.(http://revmaddog1948.blogspot.com/2011/10/baby-girl-resued-video.html)
‎3,000 rescue workers and 12 specially trained dogs had been called out, says deputy prime minister. Death toll count has been raised to 366 and 1300 hurt, but I'm sure will go higher, much higher.
An after shock  of 4.4 magnitude was felt today, sending fear in earthquake survivors. Thousands are spending their second night outdoors despite near freezing temperatures.
Foreign aid will be accepted, including from Israel, Turkish official says.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Please pray for Turkey. A 7.2 magnitude quake struck Eastern Turkey. Early count of the dead is over 100, but expected to rise rapidly. I have observed early counts rise by 10 fold or more as communications are restored. 
Like Adam and Eve, our society has put knowledge of creation & destruction at a higher value than knowledge of our Creator! In order to bring His children back to Him, God allows the shaking of what we thought was unshakable, so that we will turn to our unshakable God.
We have ignored God in pursuit of our goals, and cut off the guidance of the One we need the most in dangerous times. We have built our buildings in pursuit of profits, rather than out of reverence for life.Forgive us, God.
Heavenly Father, forgive our society for turning our backs on you, and help us by your grace to not turn our backs on our dear friends in Turkey. Supernaturally endow the searchers to find the lost like shepherds find the lost lambs, strengthen those who need to be found, comfort those who are grieving, clear the minds of those who have to make decisions. Speed the help to those who need it, smother the pride of those who might hinder with your humbling Grace.
To my friends in Turkey: (I have a large audience of this blog in Turkey.) May God be with you now. We love you. We will do what we can. - Mike

Sermon Notes; Introducing My Pastor

Pastor Alberta:

• born and raised in New Jersey
• undergraduate degree in pre-law from Rutgers-The State University
• Married in 1969 to high school sweetheart Donna
• began a career in banking and finance
• A former atheist who received Jesus as Savior and Lord of his life in 1977
• earned his Master of Divinity degree in 1982
• completed his Doctor of Ministry degree in marriage and family counseling in 1989
• Joining the Cornerstone staff in 1992 as Senior Pastor
• resides with his wife in Brighton and
• has four sons and seven grandchildren
• enjoys reading (particularly history), playing golf, and carpentry

Mary and I worship at three churches, one of which is Brighton Michigan Cornerstone Evangelical Presbyterian Church  The church is located on 9455 Hilton Road, Brighton, Michigan

Their senior pastor is Dr. Alberta who spoke today. I've included a brief bio.

Today's message was about holiness. I took a few notes.

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

God wants His children, like any father, to be like Him.

In wax museums, wax artists spend thousands of hours studying the likeness of the person they wish to copy. We should be as passionate about mimicking our Heavenly Father.

When mimicking Christ, we naturally move to a list of do's and don'ts and then to legalism.

Questions: Why do people insist on making up rules? Why do they worry that salvation may be lost?

Answer: They don't believe in grace. They don't trust God to keep them.

Philippians 2:12-13 The New Living Testament (a translation) Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear.

In the Kingdom of Chocolate, the King loves chocolate, but all his subjects love black licorice. This could lead to serious conflicts. But what if the King could magically go into the bedroom of his subjects, and zap them with his wand so they would love chocolate? (Dr Alberta, if you haven't guessed, loves chocolate.)

We don't naturally love holiness, but God can transform our hearts with the Word of God to place a desire for God's Holiness in our heart.

Four keys to becoming holy:

1. We are helpless to become holy. It is God's Word that transforms us. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

2. Pursue holiness by making God's Word the highest priority. Jesus replied, “Are you not in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God?

3. We will find at times we still desire the world. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.

4. To study God, study Jesus! Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

Liam

I don't mean to brag but... my grand son is certainly a handsome dude! He has the same bubbly personality as his brother.

iGoogle

iGoogle:

I love to start the day with this page on my computer. It gives me the weather, most of my favorite news sources, and I can rearrange it easily.
Hit the iGoogle link to see what I'm talking about. I use this page often enough that I'm going to put it first in my bookmarks. I haven't quite figured out how to get it to come up first in my browser, but I will. I like how I can rearrange the gadgets. I'll probable have to blog about the gadgets one at a time, but what I do like about this is I can arrange my favorite sources of news from top to bottom, with Huffington Post on top along with Wired. In the right column I have the time and date, and the time of all the countries who view my blog. In the center I have the weather of South Lyon.

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Stop by my The Sheik Geek blog for info on the tech industry.
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Why Men Need Supervision

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How Twins Are Made

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You Are Light

Colossians 1

Take a quark, a tiny particle of matter. In it's natural state it vibrates at the rate of other particles around it, a harmony. Add energy to the quark, and it begins to warm other quarks around it with radiant heat. Add enough energy, & it will EXPLODE into light, announcing to the universe it's new state.
Thank you, Jesus, for the GOSPEL, for it turns us into light for the world to see the TRUTH.
If you believe the Gospel, you have more than a bright future, you are the light of the future.


I have been neglecting my time with You, Lord, but You are gently prodding me to stay close!
Lord, you are the One Who holds back reproach, a punishment we deserve, for we have all failed You.
Thank You for Your mercy, demonstrated by Your Son Jesus & His death on the Cross.
Forgive your enemies! It messes with their heads!
I'm always thanking you, Lord Jesus, for I see faith in my Facebook and Twitter friends.
We have heard the simple, powerful story of GOOD NEWS, & it gives us HOPE!
I pray constantly for you, friends, that you would be filled with the knowledge of His Will.


Thanks, whoever you are, for clicking on one of my blog's Google Ads. Google just threw $.90 in my kitty.

CHOCOLATE! The breakfast of Champions!
If you want breakfast in bed, sleep in the kitchen - the cook
Better living through DENIAL!

The Fatal Glass of Beer

"'tis not a fit night out for man nor beast!" WC Fields, The Fatal Glass of Beer. This movie came to mind tonight because I walked Buster. Rain... wind... cold!!

Boy Underwater 15 minutes Goes Home

Dale Ostrander is back in his Spanaway home after spending a month in the hospital. He was pulled from the ocean by rescuers after spending 15 to 20 minutes under water. Shortly before he was sent to the hospital rescuers found a faint pulse.

His recovery has been amazing. "He is not 100% Dale like he was August 4th," says his mother, " but I believe he will be back and recover fully."
http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/09/20/1832634/boy-who-survived-ocean-scare-is.html

The Building of Hope

Colossians 1


Today I'm studying Colossians on biblegateway.com. I've bookmarked the link and filed it under Bible links so I can open it quickly whenever I'm on the computer.
Colossians is a garden I come to often, along with I Corinthians 1-3. Those chapters focus on Christ and the Cross, the central part of history, Eternity, and the Theme of God's message.
If you would know who you are, you must know Who God is. If you would know Who God is, you must look to the Cross.
Colossians 1:5 has a beautiful word picture in the phrase: for the hope that is laid up for you. Our hope has been patiently, diligently been built in heaven like a brick layer or stone worker FOR US by God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit each doing their part. His Work of Hope is not composed of a single element for a single purpose, but is all inclusive, design, structure, pattern, soft and hard, jewels and bricks, a building of breath taking beauty. It includes the story of your life, friends and family, your Eternal future, the surprises of beauty brought in daily.
Every element of the Building of Hope which God is making for you contains, comes from, and points to Jesus, and can be found in the Story of The Cross. Jesus DIED so a thief could be in Paradise. Jesus died because of good people, and in spite of good people so good people could realize our goodness is a filthy rag compared to the Beauty of Jesus. Believe that, and you have HOPE!

I cooked again with my magic wok. Mary and I bought an over sized roast. They're all over sized when there's just 2 people. I sliced a hunk off, and cut it into slivers. I had already cut up a yellow pepper, onion, and a sweet potato into strips. Started the meat first, added real beef bouillon, all purpose seasoning, a little agave, Kikkoman's soy sauce, dash of sea salt, added the sweet potato next, then the pepper, onion, and some dried tomato. Mary was very, very happy.


The number of countries that have viewed my blog is now over 80, and the number of languages it has been translated into by Google translation is over 30. I never saw this coming. God is good.
Another confusing but good fact is that sites other than Facebook and Twitter are referring views to my blog at a much higher rate and growing. The Hell messages are by far the biggest draw. Never saw that one coming either.


God gives me the ability to preach sermons in less than 140 characters, which I gladly do for Him. God gets the glory for this.
God is FOR the flat tax... 10%!
God does not believe in atheists, therefore atheists do not exist.


DENIAL is not just a river in Egypt.
Due to budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel has been cut off- management
I took an IQ test. The results were negative.

Reading Backwards

I used to do read backwards when I was a kid because our families little 40 ft by 8 ft trailer had a small TV that faced the front where my Dad had put a large mirror. The 4 kids had bunk beds in the middle of the trailer. Tim and I had the bottom bunk, and Terry and Ted had the top bunk. 
Because Ted was so little Dad had made a crib in the form of a cage, which we older children teased him about later. 
The master bedroom was in the back. Dad had placed the mirror so Mom could watch her soaps and iron in the back bedroom, (the bed folded into the wall). Actually, Dad was hoping Mom would do the ironing, but he often had to do it for himself. 
One year Dad hid Mom's Christmas present at the bottom of the ironing basket. She never found it. 
I would lay in my bed and lean slightly out of the bed to watch TV every night till 11pm. The late news was only 15 minutes. The Tonight Show was only 30 minutes. 
 I gave myself away when I was watching What's My Line? (of work) At one point the panelists were blindfolded, a famous mystery guest would be brought out, and they would display the guest's line of work on the TV, but not announce it. I started laughing when I read (backwards) in the mirror a particularly funny line. My mom made me say what the line was because she thought I was just laughing. I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade. 
I watched the original The Tonight Show when the host was Steve Allen. Jack Paar was a dud. 
The other late night show which I watched in the mirror was I've Got a Secret with a similar premise as What's My Line. Gary Moore was the host of that show, but later Steve Allen replaced him. 
What's My Line ran from 1950 to 1967. It was hosted by John Charles Daly, the same announcer that hosted Your Were There historical drama, and the announcer for the attack on Pearl Harbor. Columnist Dorothy Kilgallen, actress Arlene Francis, Random House publisher and co-founder Bennett Cerf were panelists along with a fourth Guest panelist. Steve Allen was the fourth panelist early in the show, but left to start The Tonight Show which later became Johnny Carson's baby.

A Good Time to Pray #1

Mary's Ears Perked UP!

Mary's ears perked up when she heard the Fed EX truck, like Buster her poodle's ears perked up when I rustle a bag of pork rinds. Sure enough, our new Keurig coffee maker for Indiana is here. God is good.
I would not be a good store owner if I failed to mentioned she bought it at MY store for a great price, close to Walmarts's price, and free shipping. And she didn't have to leave the condo! Saved gas, time, and stress!

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The Garden where God walks

We are like tea bags, we never know how strong we are until God dips us in hot water.
Dinner Is ready when the smoke alarm goes off- the cook
The proud thinks he creates his own path, that blindly leads to disaster.
The Garden Where God Walks
Whenever I feel I am inadequate, I go back to the garden, the garden where God walks.
Eve walked in the garden with God, but turned her back on God to embrace the tree of knowledge. We are still turning our backs on God to embrace technology.
Adam walked with God, but when Eve chose a different path, he turned his back on God, and walked with Eve.
Jesus walked with God in the Garden, and He continued to walk, even though that walk led Him to Calvary and the Cross.
We all feel inadequate to walk with God, but walking away from Him only deepens our sense of inadequacy.
Jesus, it was our sense of inadequacy that nailed you to the Cross, that caused us to walk away from the Father. Flood me with Your strengthening Grace, that I may embrace Your Cross, and walk with You always.
God made Man before Woman because you always make the rough draft before the final masterpiece. ;-)

Getting Started with Psalms 119

I want my relationship with My Lord to be first, and my Facebook, Twitter and business relationships to be in last place(sorry, friends!) God must come first, next is my wife, and then Biblical family responsibilities, before I am qualified to minister to others. Business comes dead last.
I am striving to incorporate my Bible study into my internet time, hoping that since Facebook helps me to form a blog (as well as promote a blog) I'll see if I can get it ALL done, and not leave any calling out.
I like to start with Psalms 119 because it combines prayer with God's Word, and nothing is more powerful than praying THE WORD!
I choose to do meditations in the open. It could potentially be a time saver, having my devotion become a ministry, somewhat like David's Psalms moving from being a personal tool to a help for all believers. Openness in a shepherd's life is both a obvious teaching tool, and a weapon, for it's difficult for the enemy to start destructive rumors when all the facts are already public.
Psalms 119:39Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good. 
Lord, you are the One Who holds back reproach, a punishment we deserve, for we have all failed You.
Thank You for Your mercy, demonstrated by Your Son Jesus & His death on the Cross.

In Psalms 119, there are so many things God wants to do for us, if we would just ask Him. David put these in one verse prayers. I like them. They can be prayed anytime, like right now, if I may so boldly suggest!
Teach me, O LORD, the way of Your statutes!
Give me understanding!
Make me to go in the path of Your commandments!
Incline my heart unto Your testimonies!
Turn away my eyes from beholding lies!
Stablish Your word in Your servant's heart! (vs32-38)

Psalms 119


God' Mercy blocks the river of His fiery anger. The humble head for the high ground of the Cross.
The sirens of Judgement are blaring, but we wear our earmuffs of Proud Ignorance, and go our way.
God's lessons are fierce. A moment of foolishness can destroy and kill. But His love on the Cross is also fierce!
The proud blithely play in the Park of Good Times, below the Dam of God's Impending Judgement.
The proud build a fortress of excuses, but on Judgement Day the excuses will turn to dust!
Politics wins. Statesmanship does the right thing, win or lose. Better to lose an election than God's favor.
Death terrorizes us, cruelly snatching loved ones, but we cry out to You! Jesus, save us!
Pride blinds my soul, and darkens my path, but You, Jesus, are my Light!


Don't give up! Mose was once a basket case!
Calm, smiling, helpful postal workers make me nervous... whatever happened to tradition?

Madness takes it's toll. Please have exact change.
When no one understands you, chocolate is there.
I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe... and I like it!