Why Dogs Are Special

When God had made the earth and sky
The flowers and the trees,
He then made all the animals,
The fish, the birds and bees.

And when at last He'd finished,
Not one was quite the same,
He said "I'll walk this world of mine,
And give them each a name."

And so He traveled far and wide,
and everywhere He went,
A little creature followed Him
Until its strength was spent.

When all were named upon the earth,
And in the sky and sea,
The little creature said, "Dear Lord,
There's not one left for me."

Kindly the Father said to him,
"I've left you to the end,
I've turned my own name back to front,
And called you DOG, my friend."

Source: mamarocks.com

"They Aren't Where They Used To Be."

Sometimes we tell people, "You really need to get out more." For my wife, that was especially true some years ago. Our ministry had been growing so fast that she almost felt like a prisoner at the office. She hadn't been able to get out and shop, even in the town where we lived.

Well, she finally broke down, and she "escaped", if you will, because she had so much needed shopping to do. That night she came home and she said, "You know, it's kind of sad. I had my route all planned out, what I was going to buy, where I was going to buy it, how to avoid backtracking." She said, "There was one small problem: the stores aren't there anymore."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "They Aren't Where They Used To Be."

Our word for today from the Word of God comes from John chapter 4. We find Jesus in a place where most Jews would never go. It was an area called Samaria. Jews weren't very well liked there. And it says, "He had to go through Samaria." Now, this chapter tells us that He has a life-transforming encounter there with a Samaritan woman, who finds out that the love of Christ is the love she's been looking for her whole life.

And then finally, when we get down to verses 39 and 41 it says, "Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Jesus because of the woman's testimony. And because of His words, many more became believers." Now, why did Jesus have to go through Samaria? Because that's where Samaritans are! The Samaritans would never have come to Him. He went where the lost people were. He connected with them on their turf where they were comfortable.

Now let's fast-forward to the present. On our watch, America has become a post-Christian nation. We're surrounded by people every day who don't know our language, they don't know our morality, they don't know anything about our meetings or want to go to them, they don't know our heroes, they don't know our book. They don't know anything about our Savior. There's plenty of activity going on in the name of evangelism, but it seems like we're missing most of our neighbors. We're not making a difference, and the chasm between the world of the church and the world of the lost is wider than ever. What's the problem? Could it be the same problem that my wife found after being cloistered in her office for too long? She went where the action had been, but it wasn't there anymore.

So many of the ways we try to reach lost people were developed maybe decades ago, and we're still trying to reach people with the same kind of programs, same vocabulary, same kind of presentations, and music and literature. See, we're going to where they used to be, and they moved. They're not there anymore.

When it comes to communicating with lost people, the price of failure is eternally high. It is an unthinkable eternity for those who are lost! We can't leave the people around us lost and wait for them to come to us, or to our meeting, or to our place. Jesus didn't do that. He went to their turf. He went to their place. He talked about the things they cared about. He explained the gospel in words and examples that they could understand; not religious talk.

The ancient Indian proverb says, "We need to walk a mile in the other man's moccasins." In other words, think post-Christian for a minute. Think lost! How would a lost person think in these times? How would they respond to our program? How would they respond to how we're saying it? Be the person you're trying to reach. Would you come to those Christian meetings? Would you understand those religious words? What would interest you there? What would keep you coming back?

Would they come to our website? Would they listen to what we're doing? What's going on in the life of a 21st Century lost person that would make them interested in Jesus? What are the differences in a Christian you know that would mean something to you if you're a lost person? You say, "Man, I want what they've got." Want would that be? You want to find someone who's lost, go where they are.

Maybe we've been in our little Christian cocoon too long. We need to realize that the people who have to know about our Jesus don't live where they used to live, they don't understand what they used to understand. Like Jesus, we need to "seek and save those who are lost." Please, go to lost people where they are.

Ron Hutchcraft

Joseph's Experiences:

In the pit, he died to self pity;
In Potiphar's house, he died to temptation;
In prison, he died to discouragement;
In the palace, he died to pride;
And when facing his brothers, he died to revenge.
In temptation, he never lost his heart.

Being tested, he never lost his testimony;
Being lifted up, he never lost his head;
Being hated, he never lost his spirit;
And being away from fellowship, he never lost his Godly identity.

Joseph was God-made, not self-made.
What he became, he obtained by submission, not ambition.

B. Simonton

Only The Bible Can...,

A Little Taste of Hell

'The fear of God' is but a phrase
To he who lives in sin.
It's turned the course of many a man
But it doesn't trouble him.

He'll gamble with his priceless soul,
He'll throw it all away
To stand alone, bereft, bereaved
On that great judgement day.

The day when every knee will bow
And every tongue confess.
And this poor soul will give account
Of how he made a mess.

It wasn't like he didn't know,
While time and chance were there,
The little voice which often spoke.
Back then he didn't care!

If I could plead for such a one,
When life and all seems well,
I'd pray that God would give to him
A little taste of Hell.

A little taste of hopelessness,
A little taste of shame,
A little taste of deep remorse,
A little taste of pain.

Just enough to make him pray
Like he's never prayed before.
To beg a chance to make things right,
Just that and nothing more.

For the fear of God is a wondrous thing
And wise men know it well.
Who would have thought it precious,
A little taste of Hell.

Author Unknown

Legend Of The Lighthouse

Along a rugged craggy coast a stately lighthouse stood, sending forth its shining beams,
helping seafarers all it could.

This one desperate stormy night, or so the legend’s told, one hardened veteran mariner
had wandered from the fold.

His seaman’s knowledge had failed him and he didn’t sense the storm.

The blackened water caught him up and tossed him to and fro.

How he would ever reach the shore he surely didn’t know.

At one time he’d felt close to God but through the years, he’d drifted away.

Now faith rose in his heart once more as the old man began to pray...

 “Dear Lord, I ask your guidance for I’m lost upon the sea.

I put this vessel into your hands and I place my trust in thee...”

No sooner had he said these words a voice said “Steer to right.”

Was his old mind playing tricks? he asked, but he turned with all his might.

A glimpse of lightning flashed. A huge boulder grazed his boat.

He didn’t question further—The voice had kept his craft afloat.

In the foggy distance, now he saw the sign he’d waited for:

 The lighthouse with its steady beam guiding him back to shore.

 “It’s you, Lord, isn’t it?”, asked the man, his heart longing to be sure.

 “I am with you,” came the answer, then these words, clear and pure:

“I am the arms that carried you through the darkest times you’ve known

I am the Voice you hear in the night—And the Light that leads you home.”

~ author unknown ~

Eighth Grade Test

This is a teachers exam from 1895 from Salina, Kansas USA. 

Since most teachers only had an 8th grade education, it has been erroneously reported that it was an eighth-grade final examination. 

It was taken from the original document on file at the Smoky Valley Genealogical Society and Library in Salina, Kansas and reprinted by the Salina Journal.

Salina, KS -1895 Grammar (Time, one hour)

1. Give nine rules for the use of Capital Letters.

2. Name the Parts of Speech and define those that have no
     modifications.

3. Define Verse, Stanza and Paragraph.

4. What are the Principal Parts of a verb? Give Principal Parts of 
     do, lie, lay and run.

5. Define Case, Illustrate each Case.

6. What is Punctuation? Give rules for principal marks of Punctuation.

7.- 10. Write a composition of about 150 words and show therein that
      you understand the practical use of the rules of grammar. 

Arithmetic (Time, 1.25 hours)

1. Name and define the Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

2. A wagon box is 2 ft. deep, 10 feet long, and 3 ft. wide.
    How many bushels of wheat will it hold?

3. If a load of wheat weighs 3942 lbs., what is it worth at
    50 cents a bushel, deducting 1050 lbs. for tare?

4. District No. 33 has a valuation of $35,000. What is the necessary levy to carry on a
    school seven months at $50 per month, and have $104 for incidentals?

5. Find cost of 6720 lbs. coal at $6.00 per ton.

6. Find the interest of $512.60 for 8 months and 18 days at
    7 percent.

7. What is the cost of 40 boards 12 inches wide and 16 ft. long
     at $20 per meter?

8. Find bank discount on $300 for 90 days (no grace) at 10 percent.

9. What is the cost of a square farm at $15 per acre, the distance
     around which is 640 rods.

10. Write a Bank Check, a Promissory Note, and a Receipt. 

U.S. History (Time, 45 minutes)

1. Give the epochs into which U.S. History is divided.

2. Give an account of the discovery of America by Columbus.

3. Relate the causes and results of the Revolutionary War.

4. Show the territorial growth of the United States.

5. Tell what you can of the history of Kansas.

6. Describe three of the most prominent battles of the Rebellion.

7. Who were the following: Morse, Whitney, Fulton, Bell, Lincoln,     Penn, and Howe?

8. Name events connected with the following dates: 1607
   1620 1800 1849 1865 Orthography (Time, one hour) 

English, Spelling, Grammar

1. What is meant by the following: Alphabet, phonetic, orthography, etymology, syllabication?

2. What are elementary sounds? How classified?

3. What are the following, and give examples of each:
    Serigraph, sub vocals, diphthong, cognate letters, lingual?

4. Give four substitutes for caret 'u'.

5. Give two rules for spelling words with final 'e'. Name two exceptions under each rule.

6. Give two uses of silent letters in spelling.
    Illustrate each.

7. Define the following prefixes and use in connection with a word:
    Bi, dis, mis, pre, semi, post, non, inter, mono, sup

8. Mark diacritically and divide into syllables the following, and name the sign  that indicates the sound: Card, ball, mercy, sir, odd, cell, rise, blood, fare, last

9. Use the following correctly in sentences, cite, site, sight, fane, fain, feign, vane, vain, vein, raze, raise, rays.

10. Write 10 words frequently mispronounced and indicate pronunciation by use of diacritical marks and by syllabication.

Geography (Time, one hour)

1. What is climate? Upon what does climate depend?

2. How do you account for the extremes of climate in Kansas?

3. Of what use are rivers? Of what use is the ocean?

4. Describe the mountains of North America.

5. Name and describe the following: Monrovia, Odessa, Denver, Manitoba, Yukon, St. Helena, and Orinoco.

6. Name and locate the principal trade centers of the U.S.

7. Name all the republics of Europe and give capital of each.

8. Why is the Atlantic Coast colder than the Pacific in the same latitude?

9. Describe the process by which the water of the ocean returns to the  sources of rivers.

10. Describe the movements of the earth. Give inclination of the earth. 

Gives the saying of an early 20th century person that "she/he"only had an 8th grade education" a whole new meaning.

Please don't write and ask me for the answers! I would have flunked!