Bug's Bleat - - GCF: Cat Petting

Volume 8, Issue 14 Friday, April 07, 2006

Hello All,

First thing first. “Da Bleat” has a new address, www.bugsbleat2Q.blogspot.com I change the address every quarter because I haven’t figured out how to remove old posts yet and the size of the site gets too big.
While I was recuperating, Steve Ford helped me learn how to post photos [www.bugsbleatphotos.blogspot.com] to the Blog so maybe soon I’ll learn how to manage the size of my Blog files.
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Aunt Mertis passed away Thursday. She played a large part in my childhood, and helped raise me and several of my cousins. We worked for Uncle Fort when we were kids and ate lunch at her home on days that we worked. She baked the best chocolate pies in the world and made me special ones with “stars on top” instead of meringue.
Even earlier in my life, Aunt Mertis’s is where I was sent to learn the basics of preschool like tying my shoes and learning to drink milk from a glass instead of a bottle.
She was a devout Christian and a great woman to have for an aunt. Here’s her obit.

Mertis Inez Bonner Taylor, 87, of Magnolia, Arkansas departed this life for her heavenly home on April 6, 2006 in Benton, Louisiana after a lengthy and courageous battle with kidney cancer. Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m. Monday, April 10, 2006 at Lewis Chapel with Dr. Ronnie J. Johnson officiating assisted by Bro. David Watkins. Burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery under the direction of Lewis Funeral Home, Inc. of Magnolia, AR. Visitation will be Sunday from 4:00 to 6:00 PM
Mrs. Taylor was born in the Spring Branch, Arkansas community on July 17, 1918 to Joseph Howard and Charlie Teresa Slappy Bonner. Upon her father's death in 1925, she and her mother moved to Springhill, Louisiana to reside with her brother Curtis G. Bonner and his wife Flossie, where she remained throughout her childhood and graduated from Springhill High School.
On May 6, 1937, she married Fort Henry Taylor, Jr. and lived in Taylor, Arkansas until moving to Magnolia, where her husband founded Columbia Packing Company and they reared their family.
Mertis was a dedicated, wonderful mother and grandmother. She was a long time member of First Baptist Church of Magnolia where she was a member of the SerTruCha Sunday School, superintendent of the Beginner Sunday School Department, director of the Girls Missionary Auxiliary. After retiring from most of her church duties she returned to the SerTruCha class and also joined the Chapel Singers. Through the years she was also a Cub Scout Den Mother, a Girl Scout Leader, and a lecturer for Weight Watchers after losing over 100 pounds.
Mrs. Taylor was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, her brother, sisters Winnie Taylor and Glennie Haynes Griffin, and nephew Gary Bonner.
Survivors include son, Baine Taylor (wife Robin) of Magnolia, son Ronny Taylor of Bossier City, Louisiana, daughter Terri Robinson (husband Charles) of Benton, Louisiana; grandson Russell Taylor (wife Melissa) and granddaughter Rhonda Glass and their mother, Beth Taylor, grandson Robert Fort Taylor (wife Amy) all of Magnolia/Columbia County area; Taylor Anne and Chase William Robinson of Benton, Louisiana; great-grandchildren Kori Taylor, Justin & Jordan Glass, Cara Baine Taylor, Megann & Taylor Goldman and Payton Turner all of Columbia County; a special nephew Jerry J. Bonner (wife Diana) of Dallas, Texas and nephew's widow Ann Harper Bonner of Springhill, Louisiana; Nephews’ children are Greg Bonner, Cari Lowry, Christopher Bonner and Andrea Bonner all of Texas; her two sisters’ grandchildren and their families. Four very close and cherished friends are Dorothy Pickler, Betty Rogers, Mary Crump, and Ina Baker.
Active pallbearers will be Greg Bonner, Mike McDonald, Harold Rogers, Dale Sale, Kevin Sale, and Eddie Ray Pickler.
Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Chapel Singers, members of the SerTruCha Sunday School class, Cameron Dodson, John Farmer, and all members of the Taylor extended family.
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We extend our sincere sympathy to the family of Robert Willis who passed away this week. Robert was a long-time Dow/Ethyl/Albemarle employee who retired in 2001.
He was known for his hard work and even temper. Always supportive of his coworkers and proud of his family.
I wasn’t able to attend his funeral and I miss Robert. See you later Robert.
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Starbucks has a convert. Keith Bobo sent us a Starbucks gift card a year or so ago and this week we finally used it. We ran into Tim and Elaine Rice at Sam’s and invited them to come have a cup of coffee with us.
Tim only had to pitch in a few dollars to enable us to buy four cups of coffee with my $10 gift card. {And Nora used to have customers complain about having to fork over a nickel for a coffee refill at the Chatterbox.}
Anyway, Annette and I really did enjoy our mocha latte whatever’s. So much so that she went by and had another while she was in Texarkana yesterday.
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Speaking of Texarkana, Lees Chinese is still our favorite place to eat. If you haven’t ate at Lees, you haven’t experienced great Chinese food. Lees is located on the southwest corner of the intersection of I-30 and Richmond Road. Annette’s favorite is Hunan Chicken. If you go, be sure to order the sizzling rice soup. Don’t worry, when you see the portion sizes, they do takeouts.
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Tornados have struck again. Last Monday morning I listened to responders in northern Arkansas coordinate rescue and relief efforts in Marmaduke. These new “AWIN” radios FEMA bought us are incredible. It was like sitting next to the guys up there.
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Brother Terry and Brother John both completed the Arkansas Grand Prix 10k at Little Rock last weekend [http://www.arkrrca.com/index.php?main=capitalcity]. They raise nearly $8,000 to pay down the debt on the church. Brother Terry finished in 1 hour and 7 minutes followed by Brother John six minutes later. Brother Terry said the hardest part was being passed by all those little old people.
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Dusty broke a tooth at ball practice this week. He had it glued back together and is back on the field.
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David’s building a storage room on the back of their house. He’s using treated lumbar and plans to covert the present storage room to a multi-media room where he can show movies, etc.
They had a preview this week when he set the video projector up in the backyard and showed movies to the neighborhood kids. He used a sheet for a screen.
Reminds me of the Hop a long Cassidy movies we used to watch in the vacant lot between the Hub café and Picklers store.
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Four Travis Young Assailants have been captured over the last week. No details yet on when they will be tried. We’re continuing to pray for Travis’s recovery.
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The photos on the front of this weeks “Bleat” include shots of David and Bobbie’s new home addition. David’s done a good job remodeling their old storage room and building a new one.
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This week Terry Stockdale [] shared Ten Rules for "Safe" IE Browsing found in THE GRIPE LINE WEBLOG by Ed Foster, Friday, March 31, 2006 http://weblog.infoworld.com/foster/2006/03/31_a381.html#a381?source=NLC-GRIPE2006-04-04
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A coalition of partners from Columbia, Lafayette, Miller, and Union Counties will hold a meeting regarding the potential widening US 82 to a four-lane highway on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 at 1:30 pm. The meeting will be held in Foundation Hall at SAU's Reynolds Center.
The meeting is being organized by Terry Sherwood, Executive Director of Southwest Arkansas Planning and Development District. U.S. Representative Mike Ross will attend with Dan Flowers, Director of the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, and State Highway Commissioners "Prissy" Hickerson and Madison Murphy.
Community participation is vital to express our community's desire to see this highway project succeed. Please take a moment to mark your calendar to attend this important event.
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Don’t forget to check out www.mcc2000.net
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I saw this story at breitbart.com

Workers Have Retirement 'Overconfidence'
Apr 04 2:20 PM US/Eastern
Email this story
By EILEEN ALT POWELL
AP Business Writer

NEW YORK

The majority of American workers think they'll be able to retire comfortably, but most aren't saving nearly enough to meet that goal, according to a new study.

The Employee Benefit Research Institute's annual retirement confidence survey, released Tuesday, found that about 68 percent of workers are confident about having adequate funds for a comfortable retirement, up slightly from 65 percent in 2005.

At the same time, more than half of all workers say they've saved less than $25,000 toward retirement, according to the Washington, D.C., based research group. Even among workers 55 and older, more than four in 10 have retirement savings under $25,000.

"`Overconfidence' is the word that comes to mind," said Jack VanDerhei, co-author of the study.

He said that the poor savings performance was especially troubling because it comes as many of the nation's employers are eliminating the defined benefit plans _ better known as pensions _ that have buoyed the retirements of current workers' parents and grandparents. Many companies also are eliminating retiree health care coverage or asking retirees to contribute more for it.

"It's clear that people currently working should factor into their retirement planning the long-term trend away from traditional defined benefit pensions," VanDerhei said. "That means people need to be saving more than they are."

Not all was doom and gloom in the report, the 16th in a series begun in 1991.

More than 70 percent of workers say that they or their spouses have saved something toward retirement _ a percentage that's held fairly level for the past six years, EBRI said.

And while many have meager savings, others are doing quite well at accumulating retirement nest eggs, the study found.

While more than half of workers have less than $25,000 set aside, 12 percent have $25,000 to $49,999; 12 percent have $50,000 to $99,999; 11 percent have $100,000 to $249,999; and 12 percent have $250,000 or more.

As would be expected, older workers generally have more set aside than younger workers, with 12 percent of those 55 and older reporting account balances of $100,000 to $249,999, and 26 percent with accounts of $250,000 and up.

VanDerhei believes that people would save more if they took the time to project what their costs in retirement are likely to be. But just 42 percent of workers say they've done such a calculation.

He suggests that people who are comfortable with managing their own accounts can do well with online calculators, including the Ballpark Estimate calculator that can be found on EBRI's sister site at http://www.choosetosave.org/ballpark .

"But some people are absolutely clueless about this and frozen into inactivity as a result," he said. "They really should find a fee-based professional to help them out. It's going to cost a couple of hundred dollars, but you'll make that amount up many times in the future."

The study also found that workers are eager for help in saving more.

Nearly 70 percent of workers said they were either strongly favorable or somewhat favorable to 401(k) and other retirement plans setting up automatic enrollment for new workers, and almost the same percentage favored automatic increases in employee contributions.

Dan Houston, senior vice president for retirement and investor services with Principal Financial Group Inc. in Des Moines, Iowa, said that if workers are told they aren't saving enough, most are willing to increase their 401(k) contributions _ including automatic increases each year.

He added that workers should aim to save enough to replace 85 percent of their preretirement income when they stop working, not the 70 percent that many workers believe is adequate.

That may sound daunting, but Houston said a 25-year-old man or woman entering the work force today who immediately starts saving 15 percent of income will be able to retire at 60 with enough savings to do that.

"If you adjust your standard of living right after school, and learn to set aside 15 percent _ either by salary deferral or company match _ it's doable," he said.

A number of large companies have begun introducing automatic enrollment into their plans to try to get higher participation by younger and lower-income workers, but adoption hasn't become widespread.

The survey was conducted by Mathew Greenwald & Associates, a survey research firm based in Washington, D.C. It involved phone interviews with more than 1,250 individuals, with a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. Principal Financial was among the underwriters of the study.
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On the Net:

http://www.ebri.org

http://www.principal.com

http://www.greenwaldresearch.com

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/04/04/D8GPBI2G0.html

http://www.breitbart.com
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Upcoming Fire Department Fundraisers

Mars Hill [Lafayette County]
Apr 22 1730P
Chicken and Pork
-For new equipment


Mt. Vernon VFD [Columbia County]
May 20 1030A - 6P
Crawfish Boil @ Blossom Festival
-Complete new fire station
Walkerville [Columbia County]
June 2 7:30 PM
Ace Cannon @ Union Street Station $20
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We’ve now got several addresses on the web for "Da Bleat." For the latest issue, go to http://bugsbleat2q.blogspot.com. Older issues can be found at bugsbleat.blogspot.com, bugsbleatnew.blogspot.com, and bugsbleat4q.blogspot.com.
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Feel free to share the "Bleat" with any and all. That's why we publish it.
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www.aaa.com Regular
Current Avg. $ 2.64
http://www.fuelgaugereport.com/
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Recipe(s) of the week - We’re sharing recipes from Shannon Voigt’s new Taylor Recipe Book
Aunt Mertis’ Egg Custard Pie - Mertis Taylor (I couldn’t find her chocolate pie recipe so I substituted this one from the Taylor Recipe Book. - James Fort)
Ingredients:
1-cup sugar
2 Tbsp. flour
½ tsp Nutmeg (optional from Gertrude’s recipe)
3 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup + 1 Tbsp. milk
Method:
Mix all dry ingredients first – then mix all remaining ingredients. Pour into a 9-inch piecrust. Bake at 400º for 15 minutes, then reduce to 325º for 35 minutes or until a knife (inserted in center) comes out clean.
Note: Option – Sprinkle ¼ tsp. either nutmeg or cinnamon over mixture before cooking, for the old-fashioned look.
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BreakPoint
With Chuck Colson

From the Beginning
God's Sovereignty and Providence in Creation
By Albert Mohler
April 7, 2006

This article originally appeared on Crosswalk.com. It is reprinted with permission.

“In the beginning,” Scripture says, “God created the heavens and the earth.” That first biblical affirmation points to the priority of the doctrine of creation within the system of Christian doctrine. Nevertheless, even the doctrine of creation presupposes a biblical notion of God and the authority of his revelation in Scripture. The Christian believer does not acknowledge the creation and then infer a Creator. Indeed, it is not God who must be explained by the creation, but creation which must be explained by the Creator. Thus, the very first verse of the Bible affirms the cosmos as the free creation of the sovereign God of Scripture—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The doctrine of creation is the attempt of the Christian believer to come to terms with the relationship between God and the world. As such, it gives proper place to the work of God in creation, points to the nature and purpose of the created world, and distinguishes the Christian theistic worldview from all others.

The starting point of the doctrine of creation is the presupposition of the sovereign God of Scripture. Those first words of Scripture indicate that the central character in the creation narratives is God, not the created order. God acts as the divine Subject, creating a dynamic universe as the object of his love and the theater of his glory. This biblical theism is the foundational affirmation of the doctrine of creation. Creation is inseparable from monotheism.

The most common creed in the Christian church begins with the confession, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.” The God of the Bible is not needful of anything outside himself. This self-sufficiency or “aseity” of God precludes any need for creation on God’s part. Positively, it affirms the fact that God created the world and all within it out of the freedom of his own sovereign will. With this in view, the divine initiative in creation takes on a powerful meaning. Though needing nothing, God willed not to be alone, but to create a world distinct and other than himself, as the result of his own divine pleasure.

This affirmation places the biblical worldview in opposition to all others. The Israelites were surrounded by pre-biblical religions which placed God over against creation, or suggested a number of gods conspiring to create a universe out of existing chaos and matter. The early Christian church found itself confronted by challenges including Gnosticism, Arianism, and Manichaeism, each positing a worldview in which God was variously placed within creation, over against creation as a dualism, or a scheme in which an evil god created the world in order that a beneficent god might redeem it.

OUT OF NOTHING
The church quickly affirmed what had been assumed in the Old Testament, that God created the universe out of nothing, that is, out of no pre-existing matter. If the church had allowed an acknowledgement of divine creation as the mere fashioning of existing materials, it would have compromised the nature of God and the biblical testimony. No form of dualism is compatible with biblical theism.

The Hebrew verb used to describe the word of God in creation is distinct from that used to describe the work of a human craftsman in fashioning an artifact. Man may fashion out of what God has created, but only God can truly create. This is the affirmation of creation ex nihilo—out of nothing—without the use of pre-existing materials. The acknowledgement of God’s creation of the world ex nihilo must be central to the Christian affirmation of the doctrine of creation. Some contemporary theological movements have rejected this in favor of an understanding which posits God as the fashioner of pre-existing materials. Any such system presupposes a model of God unworthy of biblical theism. No particle existed prior to God’s creative act.

The biblical portrait of the creating God demonstrates a loving God whose character issues naturally in his creation. The loving character of God is woven into the warp and woof of his creation and the creatures within it. The biblical testimony will allow no distinction between the God who creates and the God who redeems. Isaiah pointedly affirms the identity of the creating God as the one with whom Israel must deal (Isaiah 43:15; 45:7; 40:28). Indeed, creation is a Trinitarian event. The prologue to the Gospel of John proclaims the role of the Son as the divine Word of creation through whom all things were made, and “without whom nothing was made that was made,” (John 1:1-5). In like manner, Paul reminded the Colossians that “all things were created through him and for him,” (Colossians 1:15-17). The creating God is thus both Author and Finisher. The God who created the universe as an exercise of his own glory is the very same God who was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit, which is the living empowerment of the church, was also manifest in creation.

The means of God’s creative activity is not detailed in the biblical creation narratives (Genesis 1-2). The substance of the biblical teaching is God’s creation of the universe and all within it by the power of his Word. The biblical language affirms the creation of the world by divine fiat. That is, by the force of his sovereign will God spoke, light appeared, the firmament was made and the waters separated, the seas were created and dry land appeared, and the whole of God’s creation was accomplished.

The product of God’s creative activity is a universe of seemingly infinite variety, complexity, and mystery. The Genesis creation narratives describe the creation of the world from the most rudimentary distinction between the waters and the dry land, to the pinnacle of creation, man and woman. Genesis 1 moves from the emergence of light through the emergence of dry land, the blossoming of vegetation and the creative abundance of living creatures, to the creation of man and woman.

Of central importance to the interpretation of these verses is the recognition of God’s verdict upon his creation. The pristine energy of light, the dryness of land, the swarms of living creatures, the multiplying birds and fishes are all declared “good” in God’s sight. This critical judgment is an intrinsic part of the biblical worldview. The created order has meaning and value solely because it is the glorious creation of the Lord of the universe. The creation has no inherent meaning within itself. Rather, it is dependent upon the Creator for both preservation and value. Nevertheless, the biblical affirmation is an unqualified judgment of goodness as God’s verdict on creation.

Challenges old and new have been raised against this verdict. Gnosticism thought matter to be evil and only mind to be good. Contemporary religious movements, including the eclectic Christian Science movement, have gone so far as to deny the reality of matter. The biblical affirmation is quite to the contrary. Against materialism, the Christian worldview understands matter to have no value in and of itself. But biblical theism affirms the world as the theater of God’s glory. It is creation which is made meaningful by the Creator, not the Creator who derives meaning from the creation.

It is the divine creation of humankind which forms the climax of the biblical creation narratives. The biblical teachings concerning the creation of humans point to the special character of humanity as made in the very image of God. Man, contrary to the claims of secularism, is not the accidental by-product of natural occurrences. Though Scripture does not indicate any scientific means for the creation of man and woman (nor for any other dimension of creation), it makes clear the identity of humanity as a special creation of God by the power of his word and will. Thus, humanity is granted a value inconsistent with a secularist worldview.

Within the scheme of the created order, humanity plays a strategic part. Two biblical themes form the basis for this special role. The first is that of dominion. Humanity, made in the image of God, is to possess and exercise dominion over the remainder of creation. This dominion, or rulership, is exercised by humans in the manipulation of creation to bring about harvest, bounty, energy, and beauty. It is seen in the planting and reaping of crops, the herding of animals, the harnessing of rivers, and the construction of shelter.

This dominion theme must be balanced with the other major theme of humanity’s responsibility within creation. By God’s mandate, humans must exercise their dominion with an understanding of mutuality and responsibility. The biblical notion of dominion is not seen in the rape of the land, but in the careful stewardship of natural resources and the other creatures which share this planet. As the pinnacle of God’s creative activity, humans stand responsible for their stewardship of fellow creatures and the earth. Indeed, a helpful corrective which has emerged in contemporary theology is the recognition that the cosmos is neither “mere nature” nor “our world,” but is most properly “God’s creation.” Humans are granted a high degree of delegated agency within God’s creation, but it remains fundamentally God’s alone. This affirmation underlines the tremendous charge of stewardship to humankind by the Creator.

Creation is not a brute fact without meaning. It derives its meaning from the divine character and will. As the theater of God’s redemptive activity, creation is not static, but is moving toward the goal established by the Creator before the foundation of the universe. Creation, like the humans within it, has a future.

Paul describes the creation as in need of redemption from the bondage of decay and travail—the results of the entry of sin into the created order (Romans 8:19-23). The Old Testament speaks of the new heavens and the new earth, which is the eventual purpose of God in reconciliation (Isaiah 66:22). Paul spoke of the dramatic transformation of the believer as a “new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17; Galatians 6:15). The writer of the Apocalypse recorded a vision of a new heaven and a new earth even as the Creator spoke: “Behold, I make all things new,” (Revelation 12:1-8). The essential meaning of these affirmations is that God controls the destiny of the universe he created. The cosmos does not exist alongside God as a reality out of control. Rather, it exists as the theater of his redemptive activity, the reach of which includes the entire cosmos.

Thus, the Christian doctrine of creation is directly connected to the doctrine of redemption. For this reason, a failure to affirm the biblical doctrine of creation leads to inevitable compromise on the doctrine of redemption. In reality, we simply cannot minimize the importance of this doctrine, nor can we surrender biblical truth in the face of modern denials. We must get it right from the beginning.

CREATED WITH A PURPOSE
The doctrine of creation does not stand alone. The universe has not been set adrift in time without purpose or divine direction. The Christian affirmation of God requires an affirmation of His continuing sovereign Lordship over the created order. This affirmation sets the Christian worldview apart from alternative worldviews which recognize no continuing divine direction. Deism, a perspective accepted by many in the nineteenth century, affirmed God as the creator of the universe, but denied any continuing divine will expressed in the history or future of the creation. God, it was suggested, had created the world much as a clock, and had wound it up to move by its own direction. Contemporary challenges to the affirmation of divine providence suggest that though God created the world and set the original forces in order, God has either ceased to will, or is unable to make his will effective within the creation.

All of these are clearly in opposition to biblical theism. The God of the Bible is a God who acts within the history of His creation and who has ultimate control over the affairs of the nations, natural forces, and humanity.

Like creation, God’s providence is a Trinitarian activity. The Lord who exercises providence is none other than the Lord and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that providence is energized by the presence of the Holy Spirit within the world. The root meaning of providence is “foresight,” though the biblical meaning is far more rich in significance. God does not exercise mere foresight into the affairs of the cosmos; he ultimately orders and directs world occurrences. The biblical doctrine of providence is demonstrated in the concrete experiences of Israel and her neighbors in the Old Testament and in the life of Jesus and the development of the church in the New Testament. As such, divine providence is a sign of God’s steadfast covenant love with his people. The history of the Jews in the Old Testament exists as a powerful witness and sign of God’s intervening covenant love—a love ultimately revealed on the cross.

“In God,” Paul declares, “all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17) Nothing in creation itself is self-sufficient. God is responsible for both the origin and the preservation of all creation. Without God’s continuing preservation of creation the cosmos would cease to exist. No atom of the universe is self-sufficient—all creation is utterly dependent upon God’s gracious sustenance. As Ezra affirmed in the book of Nehemiah, “Thou are the Lord, thou alone, . . . thou preservest all.” (Nehemiah 9:6)

To affirm providence as the divine preserving is to acknowledge that creation has limits. That these limits do not rule the creature is due to God’s acting preservation. This is not a passive divine activity. God enters into world occurrence and ordains that it should exist. This is not to suggest that God creates the world anew each moment, as has been suggested by some theologians. God’s creative activity as represented in new beings and new life demonstrates the continuation of his creative will, but the original creative act which set the cosmos in place is a unique once-for-all event. The Christian does not know the means of God’s preservation of the world, but the knowledge of his preserving love provides comfort and refutes contemporary naturalism, which supposes that the world exists on its own.

This aspect of divine providence is often called divine government. The Christian affirms the Lordship of God over all the affairs of humanity, nations, and natural forces. The universe is not set adrift in purposeless trajectory. Human history is not a meaningless record of isolated events and movements. The future is not a matter of mere human responsibility or chance. The biblical worldview presupposes the governing Lordship of God in the cosmos, and biblical theism, that understanding of God’s own nature demonstrated in the text of Scripture, requires an affirmation of God’s sovereign rulership over all world occurrences—past history and future hope.

The divine ruling has both individual and corporate dimensions. In encompasses the unfathomable forces of energy reaching throughout the vast expanse of the universe. Furthermore, it includes the experiences, actions, and destiny of individual human beings. Theologians have often identified a third aspect of divine providence, God’s accompanying of the creature, that is, divine concurrence or cooperation. This is best understood within the context of the divine ruling, however. In affirming God’s cooperation with the creature theologians have attempted to do justice to the role of the human will within human activity. The human is not a static creature, but possesses a will and limited means to accomplish that will. The biblical worldview does not deny this human role in world events and the actions of the individuals. Nevertheless, the Christian recognizes the ultimacy of the divine will and ruling. Insofar as the creature exercises its will, it does so in the context, acknowledged or not, of the ultimate divine will. The sovereign divine will is effective, but not despotic. Human freedom and divine sovereignty are both affirmed. As Paul affirms in Philippians 2:13, God is active in both the willing and working of his creatures.

THE PROBLEM OF PAIN
Any affirmation of divine providence must acknowledge the enormous challenge to that biblical affirmation represented by the problem of evil and suffering in the world. In the minds of many individuals, the presence of tremendous human suffering and manifest evil calls into question the goodness or potency of God, or both. This problem is not a modern discovery. It is as old as the book of Job and as persistent as any theological issue.

Two forms of evil must be distinguished: natural evil and human evil. Natural evil includes earthquakes, floods, fires, and other causes of suffering not caused by direct human evil. This problem may be posed as the question: “Why are there scorpions, sharks and snakes in God’s good creation?” Human evil is more easily defined. It is the product of human activity; humans inflicting evil and tremendous suffering upon others.

The Christian must not evade these issues. The secular mind may never be satisfied with the Christian response, but the believer must not ignore the challenge. Believers themselves are often troubled by this challenge to faith. Death, acute and chronic physical pain, profound mental anguish, and manifold other forms of suffering face both believers and unbelievers on a daily basis.

Various theological options have been suggested as a means of addressing this challenge. Some have suggested that God has ceased to be active in the everyday experience of the world. Others, including Christian Scientists and numerous New Age thinkers, deny the presence of evil and explain it all as a metaphysical experience. Some contemporary worldviews posit God as a participant in the world process, struggling with the creation, with the eventual liberation from evil and suffering. Many of these are patently in contradiction with the biblical understanding of God. Nevertheless, the biblical concept of God does repeatedly affirm his identification with the plight of humanity and his determination to suffer with humanity.

Christians have the solace of some limited understanding of God’s purposes in the world as revealed in Scripture—purposes which make human suffering and the presence of some evil understandable. Nevertheless, the knowledge and understanding of the creature is partial and fragmentary. The meaning of all suffering and evil is outside the creature’s limited reach. Even for the Christian, much suffering is beyond understanding. In this century two central symbols of this suffering are the Holocaust of Hitler against the Jews and the extermination of millions in the former Soviet Union—as well as the potential holocaust of a catastrophic terrorist attack. The Christian community must resist the tendency to evade these questions of suffering or to be satisfied with commonly accepted responses which do justice to neither the issue nor the biblical witness.

What distinguishes the Christian biblical worldview is its affirmation that God is the sovereign Lord in whom all creatures, forces, and experiences find their purpose and meaning. Though the problems of evil and suffering constitute an awesome challenge to the believer, they do so only in the context of a profound faith in the purpose of the sovereign Lord who gave the world his ultimate sign of power and providential love on the cross.

The Christian believer knows the key to the ultimate meaning and significance of the created universe and human experience. Though our present knowledge is limited, even as we are limited creatures, believers know the source of the cosmos and rest in the confidence and hope which comes through a personal knowledge of the Creator. This knowledge is not discovered by the creature through observation of the universe, but is revealed in Scripture and, ultimately, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Through Christ we have knowledge of the fatherly Lordship of the Creator, upon whom the creation depends for its existence, and in whom the cosmos finds its purpose and confident hope. Therefore, the Christian worldview is necessarily distinct from all others in the midst of contemporary nihilism and the frantic search for meaning. Christians bear witness to the God in whom all creatures find their meaning and purpose. “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:36)

R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. For more articles and resources by Dr. Mohler, and for information on The Albert Mohler Program, a daily national radio program broadcast on the Salem Radio Network, go to www.albertmohler.com. Send feedback to mail@albertmohler.com. See also the most recent entries on Dr. Mohler’s Blog.

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FOR FURTHER READING
David Naugle, “A Theology of Creation: Ex Nihilo and Per Verbum,” BreakPoint Worldview Church, December 2004.
David Naugle, “Creation! Part 2: God’s Truth in Genesis is Too Often Forgotten,” BreakPoint Worldview Church.

Jim Tonkowich, “Heaven Is Not Our Home: A Call to Restoration,” BreakPoint WorldView, 6 June 2005.

Regis Nicoll, “Chimp Change: Evolution's Underwhelming New Breakthroughs,” BreakPoint Online, 25 January 2006.

Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey, How Now Shall We Live? (Tyndale, 1999).

http://www.pfm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=BreakPoint1

The BreakPoint Web site and BreakPoint WorldView Magazine feature Colson’s commentaries as well as feature articles by other established and up-and-coming writers to equip readers with a biblical perspective on a variety of issues and topics.
© 2004 Prison Fellowship.
~~~~~
Words of the Week:
chicanery: the use of trickery to deceive.
defenestrate: to throw out of a window.
martinet: a strict disciplinarian.
brummagem: cheap and showy; also, spurious.
cum: with; along with; combined with.
hobbledehoy: an awkward, gawky young fellow.
fustian: pompous or pretentious language.
from Dictionary.Com
~~~~~
"Don't waste time learning the 'tricks of the trade'. Instead, learn the trade." - Jackson Brown (Life's Little Instruction Book)

"This is the day upon which we are reminded of what we are on the other three hundred and sixty-four." - Mark Twain

"The most unhappy of all men is he who believes himself to be so." - David Hume

"How poor are they who have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees." - William Shakespeare

"In order that all men may be taught to speak truth, it is necessary that all likewise should learn to hear it." - Samuel Johnson

"To know another language is to have a second soul." - Charlemagne

"Success is the child of audacity." - Benjamin Disraeli

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer." - General Patton
~~~~~
BREAKING CHRISTIAN NEWS
http://breakingchristiannews.com/

Parents Confronted with Daughter's Rare Disease Find Strength and Even Joy through Trusting in God's Help Alex Murashko (Apr 9, 2006) "You really have a choice - do you want to be bitter and turn away from God or do you want to allow it to make you better?" - - http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=2354

Afghan Christians Experience New Hope of Greater Acceptance Tom Coghlan / Aimee Herd reporting (Apr 8, 2006) "In Afghanistan we Christians have nothing to do with politics. We love and respect everyone. We love and respect even our enemies, however they punish us." - - http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=2350

Hope for Rwanda - Christians from All over Begin a 100-Day Pursuit of Healing and Renewal for the Country Ravaged by Genocide Michelle Vu / Aimee Herd reporting (Apr 7, 2006) April 7th marks the 12th anniversary of the horror that continued for 100 days and left nearly one million Rwandans dead. Now the same day will begin a 100-day period of ministry by Christians from around the world bringing God's love and healing to Rwanda's hurting people. EDITOR'S NOTE: Some of us have not understood how the Rwandan people suffered in the genocide 12 years ago, and the horrors they underwent. One very effective way to better understand is to watch the DVD "Hotel Rwanda." Though graphic and disturbing in parts it follows the efforts of one brave Rwandan who did all he could to help protect those around him who were being persecuted. Let's remember to pray during this 100-day period, for Rwanda's healing and hope through the love of Jesus. - Aimee Herd, BCN.
- - http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=2345

His College Choir Director Told Him, "You'll do anything but sing" - But this Week Chris Tomlin Took Home Five Dove Awards News Staff / Aimee Herd reporting (Apr 6, 2006) Among the honors, Tomlin topped for Artist-of-the-Year, Male Vocalist and Song-of-the-Year in the 37th Annual Dove Awards on Wednesday. Chris - - http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=2341

Overseas Love Won Out Conference Draws Large Crowds, Especially in Spain Wendy Cloyd / Aimee Herd reporting (Apr 5, 2006) "Most of their churches have never dealt with this issue. They're very hungry, they're starving for the truth." - - http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=2337

New Barna Survey: Significant and Unusual Increases in Spiritual Activities in U.S. this Past Year Audrey Barrick / Aimee Herd reporting (Apr 4, 2006) "We certainly have a reason to hope that Americans are taking God more seriously." - - http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=2333

Oklahoma House Passes Bill Protecting Children from Inappropriate Library Books
Matt Staver / Aimee Herd reporting (Apr 3, 2006) "…Children deserve a period of 'protected innocence' in which they are shielded from sexually explicit material…" - - http://www.breakingchristiannews.com/articles/display_art.html?ID=2328
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GCF: Cat Petting

Emailed to me another humor list (Pastor Tim's Clean Laugh List) -Tom
Subscribe to Pastor Tim's Clean Laugh list at the website:
Subscribe

If this was forwarded to you, please consider your own subscription to Good Clean Fun. It's free! A smile will enhance the quality of your life. Just send an email to: good-clean-fun-subscribe@egroups.com or visit the Good Clean Fun web site http://www.slonet.org/~tellswor/ UNSUBSCRIBE INFO for Good Clean Fun is at the end of this email. This email was scanned by Norton AntiVirus 2005 before it was sent.
-------------------------------------------

We moved into an apartment while we were looking for a place that would let us keep our pets. We could not have our pets at our apartment, so my brother-in-law kept our cat for us until we could find a place that would let us keep him.

One day he came home after dark and saw the cat on the porch eating. He reached down to pet him and while he was petting him he looked over toward the fence where he saw MY cat sitting. Looking back around to see what he was petting he realized that it was a raccoon that had come up to eat the cat food. After that the cat was fed in the house.
_ ____________________________ _

GCF: First Prize

Emailed to me from another humor list (Marty's Joke of the Day) -Tom
To subscribe to Marty's Joke of the Day, send a blank email to:
martysjotd-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
-------------------------------------------

A little boy took his dog on a "take your pet to school" day. There were prizes for the smallest, the prettiest, the cutest, and the smartest pet. Determined that his dog win a prize, the boy put his pet through a whole series of tricks. Finally the boy turned to the dog and asked, "Mindy, how much is two plus two minus four?" The dog sat quietly, making no sound, remaining still and silent. "Right!" exclaimed the boy. His dog won first prize.
_ ____________________________ _

GCF: Do You Have.....?

Emailed to me from another humor list (You Make Me Laugh) -Tom
To subscribe to You Make Me Laugh, send a blank email to:
SUBSCRIBE-laugh@lists.crosswalk.com
-------------------------------------------

A woman walks into a convenience store. She walks straight to the manager and asks, "Do you have any small note-books?"

"Sorry," says the manager. "We're all out."

The woman shrugs, and asks, "Well, do you have any mechanical pencils?"

"Nope, don't have that either," says the manager.

The woman feels her stomach rumbling and asks, "Do you have Doritos? Nachos?"

The manager shrugs, "Sorry."

"Hmmph. How about Chapstick?" says the woman.

"Nope. Don't have that."

"Wow!" the woman shouts, "If you don't have anything, you should close the stupid store!"

The manager shrugs, "Don't have the key."
_ ____________________________ _

GCF: Does That Hurt?

Emailed to me from another humor list (You Make Me Laugh) -Tom
To subscribe to You Make Me Laugh, send a blank email to:
SUBSCRIBE-laugh@lists.crosswalk.com
-------------------------------------------

We live in a small town where we have a volunteer Ambulance Company. We are blessed with many dedicated and fully qualified attendants, who staff our ambulances and give freely of themselves. I was chatting with one of the EMS responders one day and she could hardly stifle a chuckle, so I asked her what was so funny and she told me this story...

It seems that she had gone to an automobile accident and was checking a patient who was lying on the road for injuries. As she knelt beside him and probed him, she asked, "Does this hurt or does that hurt?" After each probe, he replied, "No." When she had nearly completed her examination, she shifted to a better spot from which to finish the examination when after one of her probing questions, he exclaimed very loudly, "That hurts!"

When she asked where, he looked up at her with a look of real pain on his face and said, "Your kneeling on my fingers!"
_ ____________________________ _

GCF: What The Teacher Really Means

Emailed to me from another humor list (You Make Me Laugh) -Tom
To subscribe to You Make Me Laugh, send a blank email to:
SUBSCRIBE-laugh@lists.crosswalk.com
-------------------------------------------

What the teacher says and (what the teacher really means).

1. Your son has a remarkable ability in gathering needed information from his classmates. (He was caught cheating on a test).

2. Karen is an endless fund of energy and viability. (The hyperactive monster can't stay seated for five minutes).

3. Fantastic imagination! Unmatched in his capacity for blending fact with fiction. (He's definitely one of the biggest liars I have ever met).

4. Margie exhibits a casual, relaxed attitude to school, indicating that high expectations don't intimidate her. (The lazy thing hasn't done one assignment all term).

5. Her athletic ability is marvelous. Superior hand-eye coordination. (The little creep stung me with a rubber band from 15 feet away).

6. Nick thrives on interaction with his peers. (Your son needs to stop socializing and start working).

7. Your daughter's greatest asset is her demonstrative public discussions. (Classroom lawyer! Why is it that every time I explain an assignment she creates a class argument).

8. John enjoys the thrill of engaging challenges with his peers. (He's a bully).

9. An adventurous nature lover who rarely misses opportunities to explore new territory. (Your daughter was caught skipping school at the fishing pond).

10. I am amazed at her tenacity in retaining her youthful personality. (She's so immature that we've run out of diapers).

11. Unlike some students who hide their emotion, Charles is very expressive and open. (He must have written the Whiner's Guide).

12. I firmly believe that her intellectual and emotional progress would be enhanced through a year's repetition of her learning environment. (Regretfully, we believe that she is not ready for high school and must repeat the 8th grade).

13. Her exuberant verbosity is awesome! (A mouth that never stops yacking).
_ ____________________________ _
(((\ \>_/ )_______________________( \__/ )_______________________( \__/ )_______________________( \__/ )_______________________( \__/ )_______________________( \__/ )_______________________( \_<> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>
[GCFL.net] Vows

During the wedding rehearsal, the groom approached the pastor with an unusual offer.

"Look, I'll give you $100 if you'll change the wedding vows.
When you get to me and the part where I'm to promise to 'love, honor and obey' and 'forsaking all others, be faithful to her forever,' I'd appreciate it if you'd just leave that part out." He passed the minister a $100 bill and walked away satisfied.

The next day during the wedding ceremony, the time came for the bride and groom to exchange their vows. The pastor looked the young man in the eye and said, "Will you promise to prostrate yourself before her, obey her every command and wish, serve her breakfast in bed every morning of your life, and swear eternally before God and your lovely wife that you will not ever even look at another woman, as long as you both shall live?"

The groom gulped, looked around, and said in a tiny voice, "Yes." He then leaned toward the pastor and hissed, "I thought we had a deal."

The pastor put the $100 bill into the groom's hand and whispered back, "She made me a much better offer."

Received from Edwin Rains.

(-:][:-)

[GCFL.net] Castaway

From a passenger ship, everyone can see a bearded man on a small island, shouting and desperately waving his hands.

"Who is that man... and why is he so upset?" a passenger asks the ship's captain.

"I have no idea," says the captain; "but, every year when we pass by here, he goes crazy."

(-:][:-)

[GCFL.net] April 5, 2006 Is A Special Day!

First, a couple of lines to make this an official funny:

Is it my imagination, or do buffalo wings taste like chicken?

Welcome to the church of the Holy Cabbage. Lettuce pray.

-=+=-

And now for the interesting part. On Wednesday, at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 am in the morning, the time and date will be

01:02:03 04/05/06

Of course, this is for countries that put the month before the day in their dates.

For those that format their dates as day/month/year, you have to wait till May 4th.

This won't happen for another 100 years. Isn't that special!
:) Enjoy!

Received from Lynn Klase.

(-:][:-)

[GCFL.net] Happy April Fools Day

For a list of web sites that had April Fool's jokes, check these links. Disclaimer: GCFL has no control over any of these sites and is therefore not responsible for their content.

http://aprilfools.urgo.org/2006.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_1,_2006_(Complete_List)

(-:][:-)

-=+=-
Rate this funny at http://www.gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=20060113
Brought to you by GCFL.net: The Good, Clean Funnies List A cheerful heart is good medicine... (Prov 17:22a) Mail address: GCFL, Box 100, Harvest, AL 35749, USA
To print or email this funny to others, go to http://www.gcfl.net/archive.php?funny=20060113
The latest GCFL funny can always be found on the web at http://www.gcfl.net/latest.php
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Makes sense to me....

-The Blind Man

One day there was a blind man sitting on the steps of a building with a hat by his feet and a sign that read: "I am blind; please help."

A creative publicist was walking by and stopped to observe. He saw that the blind man had only a few coins in his hat. He dropped in more coins and, without asking for permission, took the sign and rewrote it.

He returned the sign to the blind man and left. That afternoon the publicist returned to the blind man and noticed that his hat was full of bills and coins.

The blind man recognized his footsteps and asked if it was he who had rewritten his sign and wanted to know what he had written on it.

The publicist responded: "Nothing that was not true. I just wrote the message a little differently." He smiled and went on his way.

The new sign read: "Today is spring and I cannot see it."

Thanks to Ricky and Sarah Shepherd
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Being old

I feel like my body has gotten totally out of shape, so I got my doctor's permission to join a fitness club and start exercising. I decided to take an aerobics class for seniors. I bent, twisted, gyrated, jumped up and down, and perspired for an hour. But, by the time I got my leotards on, the class was over.

--- Reporters interviewing a 104-year-old woman: "And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?" the reporter asked. She simply replied, "No peer pressure."

--- The nice thing about being senile is you can hide your own Easter eggs.

---Just before the funeral services, the undertaker came up to the very elderly widow and asked, "How old was your husband?" "98," she replied. "Two years older than me." "So you're 96," the undertaker commented. She responded, "Hardly worth going home, is it?

--- I've sure gotten old.! I've had two bypass surgeries, a hip replacement, new knees. Fought prostate cancer and diabetes. I'm half blind, can't hear anything quieter than a jet engine, take 40 different medications that make me dizzy, winded, and subject to blackouts. Have bouts with dementia. Have poor circulation; hardly feel my hands and feet anymore. Can't remember if I'm 85 or 92. Have lost all my friends. But, thank God, I still have my driver's license.

--- An elderly woman decided to prepare her will and told her preacher she had two final requests. First, she wanted to be cremated, and second, she wanted her ashes scattered over Wal-Mart. "Wal-Mart?" the preacher exclaimed. "Why Wal-Mart?" "Then I'll be sure my daughters visit me twice a week."

---My memory's not as sharp as it used to be. Also, my memory's not as sharp as it used to be.

--- Know how to prevent sagging? Just eat till the wrinkles fill out.

---I'm getting into swing dancing. Not on purpose. Some parts of my body are just prone to swinging.

---It's scary when you start making the same noises as your coffeemaker.

---These days about half the stuff in my shopping cart says, "For fast relief."

---Don't think of it as getting hot flashes. Think of it as your inner child playing with matches.

---Don't let aging get you down. It's too hard to get back up.!

--- Remember: You don't stop laughing because you grow old, You grow old because you stop laughing.

- --THE SENILITY PRAYER : Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference.
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Boudreaix & Band-Aids

Boudreaux staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Thibodeaux.
He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Clotile. He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step.
As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump. A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful.

Managing not to yell, Boudreaux sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his rear was cut and bleeding. He managed to quietly find a box of band-aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood.
He then hid the now almost empty box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed.

In the morning, Boudreaux woke up with searing pain in both his head and butt and Clotile staring at him from across the room. She said, "You were drunk again last night weren't you Boudreaux?"

Boudreaux said, "Mer chais, why you say such a mean ting?"

"Well," Clotile said, "it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your
bloodshot eyes, but, mostly ... it's all those Band-Aids stuck on the
downstairs mirror!"

Thanks to Richard Matherne
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Welcome to You Make Me Laugh, a free newsletter from Crosswalk.com, the world's largest Christian website.

*Winter House*

We purchased an old home in Northern New York State from two elderly sisters. Winter was fast approaching and I was concerned about the house's lack of insulation. "If they could live here all those years, so can we!" my husband confidently declared.

One November night the temperature plunged to below zero, and we woke up to find interior walls covered with frost. My husband called the sisters to ask how they had kept the house warm. After a rather brief conversation, he hung up.

"For the past 30 years," he muttered, "they've gone to Florida for the winter."

(-:][:-)

*Office Dog*

A salesman dropped in to see a business customer. Not a soul was in the office except a big dog emptying wastebaskets. The salesman stared at the animal, wondering if his imagination could be playing tricks on him.

The dog looked up and said, "Don't be surprised. This is just part of my job."

"Incredible!" exclaimed the man. "I can't believe it! Does your boss know what a prize he has in you? An animal that can talk!"

"No, no," pleaded the dog. "Please don't! If that man finds out I can talk, he'll have me answering the phone too!"

(-:][:-)

*Do You Have?*

A woman walks into a convenience store. She walks straight to the manager and asks, "Do you have any small note- books?"

"Sorry," says the manager. "We're all out."

The woman shrugs, and asks, "Well, do you have any mechanical pencils?"

"Nope, don't have that either," says the manager.

The woman feels her stomach rumbling and asks, "Do you have Doritos? Nachos?"

The manager shrugs, "Sorry."

"Hmmph. How about Chapstick?" says the woman.

"Nope. Don't have that."

"Wow!" the woman shouts, "If you don't have anything, you should close the stupid store!"

The manager shrugs, "Don't have the key."

(-:][:-)

*Tell Tale Signs You Have Nothing To Do At Work*

- You've read the entire Dilbert page-a-day calendar for 2006

- You discover that staring at your cubicle wall long enough produces images of Elvis.

- You've definitively figured out a way to get Gilligan OFF the island. . .

- You decide to see how many Surges you can drink before the inevitable explosion occurs. . .

- People come into your office frequently... to borrow pencils from your ceiling. . . .

- The 5th Division of Paperclips has completely overrun the Pushpin Infantry, and General White-Out has called for reinforcements. . .

- You forward this joke to friends...

(-:][:-)

*What a Teacher Means*

What a teacher says and what he/she really means.

1. Your son has a remarkable ability in gathering needed information from his classmates.
Really means: He was caught cheating on a test.

2. Karen is an endless fund of energy and vitability.
Really means: The hyperactive monster can't stay seated for five minutes.

3. Fantastic imagination! Unmatched in his capacity for blending fact with fiction.
Really means: He's definitely one of the biggest liars I have ever met.

4. Margie exhibits a casual, relaxed attitude to school, indicating that high expectations don't intimidate her.
Really means: The lazy thing hasn't done one assignment all quarter.

5. Her athletic ability is marvelous. Superior hand-eye coordination.
Really means: The little creep stung me with a rubber band from 15 feet away.

6. Nick thrives on interaction with his peers.
Really means: Your son needs to stop socializing and start working.

7. Your daughter's greatest asset is her demonstrative public discussions.
Really means: Classroom lawyer! Why is it that every time I explain an assignment she creates a class argument.

8. John enjoys the thrill of engaging challenges with his peers.
Really means: He's a bully.

9. An adventurous nature lover who rarely misses opportunities to explore new territory.
Really means: Your daughter was caught skipping school at the fishing pond.

10. I am amazed at her tenacity in retaining her youthful personality.
Really means: She's so immature that we've run out of diapers.

11. Unlike some students who hide their emotion, Charles is very expressive and open.
Really means: He must have written the Whiner's Guide.

12. I firmly believe that her intellectual and emotional progress would be enhanced through a year's repetition of her learning environment.
Really means: Regretfully, we believe that she is not ready for high school and must repeat the 8th grade.

13. Her exuberant verbosity is awesome!
Really means: A mouth that never stops yacking.

(-:][:-)

Eye Laugh

"Outside Contracting"
http://www.cybersalt.org/g06.php?id=16

"Outside Contracting"
http://www.cybersalt.org/g06.php?id=16

"Quarter Horse"
http://www.cybersalt.org/g06.php?id=18

"Prosperity Picnic"
http://www.cybersalt.org/g06.php?id=19

"Cat CPU"
http://www.cybersalt.org/g06.php?id=20

(-:][:-)

-=+=-
Daily devotionals are available at http://link.Crosswalk.Com/UM/T.asp?A1. 39. 17757. 1. 494611 You can access more information on Crosswalk's Fun page http://www.Crosswalk.Com/fun/! Crosswalk gives credit to the author of a joke when author is known. Feel free to send notification to admin@cybersalt.org in cases where credit has not been given to the author! -SUBSCRIPTION INFO- * Copyright2004 Crosswalk.Com, Inc. and its Content Providers. All rights reserved. Introducing www.Crossguide.Com Where Christians find Products, Services & Ministries.
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"Don't strive for recognition, but work for achievement." -- Vanessa Malone
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Madeleine Begun Kane Latest Columns - - http://www.madkane.com/starbucks.html - - Ode To Starbucks (Humor column about cappuccino addiction, the Starbucks revolution, and life in Bayside, Queens, New York)
http://www.madkane.com
http://www.madkane.com/notable.html (Notables Weblog)
http://www.madkane.com/bush.html (Dubya's Dayly Diary)
Subscribe to MadKane Humor Newsletter (weekly) here:
http://www.madkane.com/email.html
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TAX HELP: - - http://www.irs.gov/faqs/index.html - - IRS: Frequently Asked Tax Questions and Answers. More - - http://finance.yahoo.com/taxes
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Brainteasers, Puzzles, and Riddles - - http://www.niehs.nih.gov/kids/braint.htm - - Scientists get to solve puzzles every day, because science and research involve finding solutions from the clues that we are given. Just like with brainteasers (or brain teasers) and riddles, the answers to science mysteries are not always easy to see at first. With time and effort, they eventually become clear. Family-friendly site by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.
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Daylight Saving Time - - http://webexhibits.org/daylightsaving/ - - Daylight Saving Time begins for most of the United States at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday of April. Time reverts to standard time at 2:00 a.m. on the last Sunday of October. In the U.S., each time zone switches at a different time. At this site, you will learn the history of daylight saving, from Benjamin Franklin to the present.
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Replacing Your Vital Documents - - http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicSafety/Hurricane_Katrina_Recovery/Vital_Docs.shtml - - Collection of links for help in replacing documents lost or damaged as a result of a natural disaster, such as bank records, driver's licenses and vehicle registration, immigration documents, passports, medical records, savings bonds, damaged currency, Social Security cards, tax returns, and birth, marriage, and death certificates.
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IRS: Frequently Asked Questions - - http://www.irs.gov/faqs/ - - Welcome to the Internal Revenue Service's general questions and answers section. Each year we update the answers to reflect the latest changes in tax regulations. These questions and answers came from taxpayers like you. Related site: IRS Home Page - - http://www.irs.gov/.
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IRS: Free Online Filing - - http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html - - Whoever said there is no such thing as a free lunch may have been right. But for millions of eligible taxpayers, with an Adjusted Gross Income of $50,000 or less, there is Free File. Free File is online tax preparation and electronic filing through a partnership agreement between the IRS and the Free File Alliance, LLC. In other words, you can e-file... free. Related site: IRS Home Page.
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First Names - - http://www.answers.com/library/First%20Names - - This site by Answers.com provides an extensive listing of first names and their origins. Related site: Concise Dictionary of First Names - - http://www.askoxford.com/dictionaries/name_dict/?view=uk - - / Most Popular Names By Country - - http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=2scbra1qjpc6c?method=4&dsid=2222&amp;amp;amp;deid=1140196788&curtab=2222_1&sbid=lc07a&linktext=most%20popular%20names%20by%20country.
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Guide to Alternative Minimum Tax - - http://fairmark.com/amt/ - - Your starting point for learning about the alternative minimum tax, also known as the AMT. The alternative minimum tax is a large and complicated subject. We won't even try to cover all the rules here. Our goal is to help you identify the important issues so you won't make a costly mistake in dealing with this tax.
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------------ Safety From The Heart ----------
APRIL 8, 2006
10 Ways Americans Harm Their Health
by Dr. Michael F. Roizen

We put TVs in our kitchens. Watching TV makes it too easy to mindlessly eat, thus leading us to overeat. Move yours in front of your exercise equipment or to a place where you have enough room to do a fitness DVD.

We order fatty restaurant entrées without question. Since you're paying, ask questions and make substitutions, such as swapping cream sauce for tomato-based marinara.

We don't get nearly enough bone-building nutrients. Low-fat dairy products like yogurt and skim milk, as well as fortified O.J., are packed with calcium and vitamin D, both of which will help you avoid bone fractures later in life. Take a daily calcium supplement (make sure it also has vitamin D and magnesium) so you don't have to worry about running up a deficit.

We gloss over food labels. If we took the time to read them, we'd see that so many of the foods we buy (potato chips, nacho cheese sauce) aren't worth the staggering amount of fat. The result: We'd shop smarter.

We don't eat enough fruits and veggies. About 74 percent of us repeatedly don't eat the recommended five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day needed to reduce our risk of disease. And it's not that hard: An entrée-size salad can pack in three veggie servings, a small cup of O.J. delivers a fruit serving, and a half cup of cooked spinach equals a veggie serving.

We don't strength-train as often as we should. Pumping iron strengthens bones and boosts your body's calorie-burning power. And it doesn't take much?just three times a week, 10 minutes at a time.

We put up with secondhand smoke. Hanging around someone who is smoking for an hour is like smoking four cigarettes yourself. Only zero exposure is healthy.

We drive everywhere. Just 30 minutes a day of walking?even broken down into three 10-minute bursts?can lead to increased energy and weight loss.

We skip regular medical checkups. Seeing your doctor is a must for detecting silent killers like high blood pressure. Experts have learned how to decrease arterial aging by up to 80 percent. But if you never get your blood pressure checked, doctors can't help you.

We don't monitor our own health. Score one if you see your doctor regularly. The next step is to be an active patient?research any health problems you have or treatments you need. The more aware you are of your body, the more likely you and your doctor will catch a serious illness in its early stages.

http://health.msn.com/womenshealth/redbook/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100133058

------------ Safety From The Heart ----------
April 6, 2006
Consider Changing Your Ways
Today's Message is from Jerry Runk (a Houston Albemarle employee).

All my messages seem to be about driving safely, probably because I see so many near-misses every day. Years ago when I drove to and from work it was a relatively rare event to witness drivers taking these kinds of chances. Not any more. It is now rare that I don't witness an unsafe, selfish act on the road. My guess is that impatience and stress have contributed to developing bad habits that have just become near instinctive.

Just this morning I was coming to an intersection, and I needed to turn left. I did notice the driver behind had been coming up pretty fast. There was no left turn lane, but as I put on my left turn blinker and started to slow down, that driver instinctively and without looking cut hard into the right lane to get around me, and then had to slam on his brakes because he noticed he was about to collide with a truck in the right hand lane beside him. The driver of the truck also slammed on his brakes. I was lucky I wasn't hit because I was waiting on the oncoming traffic to clear before I could turn safely. The noise of tires and brakes really startled me, and as I write this my stomach still hurts. My pants are OK though.

My next door neighbor's son who is 19 has experienced two accidents like this; both were his fault when he decided to quickly pull around another vehicle and ended up colliding with a vehicle in the lane on his right. Fortunately, neither he nor the other drivers were hurt in these accidents. He did end up totaling a nice Ford pickup in one of the accidents.

If you practice pulling around folks like this, I ask you to please re-evaluate and consider changing your ways. How much time do you really save? Do you have other bad habits while you are on the road? It is still a statistical fact that for every 40,000 unsafe acts there is one fatality. How do you feel about those odds?

------------ Safety From The Heart ----------
April 4, 2006
Flu
Today's Message is from James Copeland (a Houston Albemarle employee).

With all the discussion of Avian Flu and other delightful diseases about, we tend to forget the things we deal with everyday. The common flu kills thousands of folks every year. Most deaths could be prevented with vaccines and simple tasks to prevent the disease from spreading. Make use of the vaccines...and wash your hands thoroughly and often throughout the flu season.

------------ Safety From The Heart ----------
April 3, 2006
Change Batteries
Today's Message is from Jamie Lemley (a Houston Albemarle employee).

It's daylight savings time change this weekend, so be sure to check the battery in your smoke/carbon monoxide detector(s).
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Our Church, Magnolia Christian Center, has the following mission statement. Our purpose is to build a great church for the glory of God through the great commission and the great commandment. MCC' Vision - That MCC will be a place hopping with children, energized with teenagers, balanced with diversity and transformed by the power of God! We want to turn uninterested people into interested people and win the lost to make fully devoted followers of Christ. www.mcc2000.net
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A good list for a long life.

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.

FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN.. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.
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Check out www.familywatchdog.us
When you visit this site you can enter your address and a map will pop up with your house as the small icon of a house and red, blue, green, dots surrounding your entire neighborhood. When you click on these dots a picture of a person will appear with an address and the description of the crime he or she had committed.
This site was developed by John Walsh from Americas Most Wanted. Another tool to help us keep our kids safe.
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Verse Of The Day

Now these things, brethren, I have figuratively applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to exceed what is written, so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other. For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. - 1 Co 4:6-9 (NASB95)

Now the sarcasm really begins to drip. While the first verse is referring to the previous verses, they could well be introducing what Paul is about to write! These things are all figuratively applied to the Apostle and Apollos. They are not true – at least to the extent that Paul writes. Nor are the things he says about the readers true – at least to the extent that he writes. They are written in this manner “so that no one of you will become arrogant in behalf of one against the other.” In short, THERE IS A LESSON COMING AND I WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND IT LOUD AND CLEAR. Got it? Good. Let’s see what the lesson is.

“For who regards you as superior?” It seems that the answer to that question is that the Corinthians regard themselves as superior. Paul continues to tell them that they have nothing except what they were given, SO WHY DO YOU BOAST AS IF YOU HAD IT ALL ALONG AND YOU GAINED IT BY YOUR OWN POWERS? I just love email. I can shout with all caps. Paul wasn’t even writing his own letter. (Remember, he was most likely dictating!) The message is this: you had nothing before you became a Christian. Everything you have that is important is a gift from God through Jesus Christ. Yet, the way you act tells me that you think you have earned your own salvation. You have achieved the pinnacle if spiritual heights by climbing a ladder of your own construction. Paul continues.

“You are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us…” If you looked in a Greek dictionary for the word arrogant, you would have seen a picture of Corinthian Christians! They really DID think they had MADE IT! They were FAR SUPERIOR to those stupid APOSTLES.

Remember the background. The Corinthians were a bunch of transplants from Rome and parts unknown of the Roman Empire. They were blue collar workers who fought for status and power. Even slaves were judged by who owned them. Slaves of more prominent families were given greater respect than those of a relatively poor family.

With this in mind, it easy to see the connection between who “baptized” you and your spiritual status.

Paul moves on: “I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.” Alas, the Apostle knocks some wind out of their sails. “All this bluster you have produced is nothing but a puff of wind. You are not kings. You are not rich. Your are not already filled. Oh, there is no doubt that you are becoming all of these things, but you have not arrived. We, on the other hand, are nothing but a circus sideshow. We are condemned to death and all the world … including angels … are mocking us. Paul has more to say, but alas space is limited. Stay tuned for the next edition of “Sarcasm Are Us”!

-=+=-

Harley

c. 2006 Harley E. Hudson

If you received Verse of the Day as a forward and you wish to have your own subscription, simply send an e-mail to hhudson719@sbcglobal.net and request a free subscription.
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Activities and Events of Interest
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Albemarle Steak and Bingo Supper - April 22, 2006
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The Barksdale AFB Holiday in Dixie "Defenders Of Liberty" Big Airshow Saturday and Sunday, May 13-14, gates open at 9:00 am, Show starts at 10:00 am
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Magnolia Blossom Festival 2006 - May 19 & 20
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The Emancipation Proclamation will be on display at the Clinton Library September 22-25, 2007.
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"September 11 WDYTJWD" W. P. Florence
Justice first, then peace."
"September 11" Never forget.--Tony Moses
"ONE NATION UNDER GOD ...the only way"--Phillip Story
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt
"Keeping my head down but face toward Heaven" - - Jody Eldred, ABC News Cameraman in Kuwait
"Remember Pearl Harbor? Remember 9/11!" --"Bug"
Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. - - George Carlin
"Stop telling God how big your storm is. Instead, tell the storm how big your God is!" - - Queen E. Watson
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NEVER FORGET! We're listing the names of our soldiers killed weekly. These records can be found at http://www.defenselink. mil/releases/

01. Staff Sgt. Robert Hernandez, 47, of Silver Spring, Md., died in Al Taquaddum, Iraq on March 28, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Hernandez was assigned to the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 318th Regiment, 1st Brigade, 80th Division (Institutional Training), Fort Meade, Md.

02. Pfc. Joseph J. Duenas, 23, of Mesa, Ariz., died in Kirkuk Province, Iraq on March 30 from non-combat related injuries while returning from combat operations. Duenas was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101 Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

03. Pfc. Jeremy W. Ehle, 19, of Richmond, Va., died on April 2 in Hit, Iraq from wounds sustained when his dismounted patrol came under enemy small arms fire during combat operations. Ehle was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division in Friedberg, Germany.

04. Hospitalman Geovani Padilla Aleman, 20, of South Gate, Calif., died Apr. 2 as a result of enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was permanently assigned to Bethesda Naval Hospital, USNS Comfort Detachment and operationally assigned to Third Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment, 2/28 Brigade Combat Team.

The Department of Defense announced the death of four Marines, who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
05. Lance Cpl. Jacob W. Beisel, 21, of Lackawaxen, Pa.
06. Lance Cpl. Kun Y. Kim, 20, of Atlanta, Ga.
07. Staff Sgt. Eric A. McIntosh, 29, of Trafford, Pa.
08. Cpl. Scott J. Procopio, 20, of Saugus, Mass.
Beisel died March 31 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Kim, McIntosh and Procopio died April 2 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. All Marines were assigned to 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

The Department of Defense announced the death of six Marines, who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
09. Cpl. Andres Aguilar Jr., 21, of Victoria, Texas
10. Cpl. David A. Bass, 20, of Nashville, Tenn.
11. Lance Cpl. Patrick J. Gallagher, 27, of Jacksonville, Fla.
12. Lance Cpl. Felipe D. Sandoval-Flores, 20, of Los Angeles, Calif.
13. Cpl. Brian R. St. Germain, 22, of Warwick, R.I.
14. Staff Sgt. Abraham G. Twitchell, 28, of Yelm, Wash.
All Marines died April 2, when the seven-ton truck they were riding in rolled over in a flash flood near Al Asad, Iraq.
Aguilar was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. Media with questions about Aguilar can call Marine Corps Base Hawaii Public Affairs Office at (808) 257-8871/8835.
Bass, Gallagher, Sandoval-Flores and St. Germain were all assigned to elements of the 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif. Media with questions about these four Marines can call the Camp Pendleton Public Affairs Office at (760) 725-5044.
Twitchell was assigned to the Combat Service Support Group-1, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. Media with questions about Twitchell can call the Twentynine Palms Public Affairs Office at (760) 830-5476.

The Department of Defense announced the death of two soldiers, who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Killed were:
15. Capt. Timothy J. Moshier, 25, of Albany, N.Y.
16. Chief Warrant Officer Michael L. Hartwick, 37, of Orrick, Mo.
They died in Baghdad Iraq on April 1, when their Apache helicopter crashed while conducting a combat air patrol. Both soldiers were assigned to the Army's 4th Battalion, 4th Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

The Department of Defense announced the death of two soldiers, who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Killed were:
17. Staff Sgt. Darrell P. Clay, 34, of Fayetteville, N.C.
18. Sgt. Israel Devora Garcia, 23, of Clint, Texas
They died in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 1, when an improvised explosive device detonated while they were conducting a dismounted patrol. Both soldiers were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 6th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany.

19. Spc. Ty J. Johnson, 28, of Elk Grove, Calif., died in Kirkuk, Iraq, on April 4, when an improvised device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Johnson was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

The Department of Defense announced the identity of a Marine and a sailor supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, who have been listed as Duty Status - Whereabouts Unknown (DUSTWUN) after the seven-ton truck in which they were riding rolled over in a flash flood near Al Asad, Iraq on April 2. The incident was not a result of enemy action.
20. Lance Cpl. Eric A. Palmisano, 27, of Florence, Wis., is assigned to the 1st Transportation Support Battalion, 1st Marine Logistics Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.
21. Petty Officer 3rd Class Marcques J. Nettles, 22, of Beaverton, Ore., is assigned to Force Service Regiment 1 Fleet Marine Forces Pacific.
All available resources are being used to search for the Marine and sailor.

22. Pfc. Chase A. Edwards, 19, of Lake Charles, La., died April 6 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

23. Spc. Dustin J. Harris, 21, of Bangor, Maine, died in Bayji, Iraq on April 6, when an improvised device detonated while he was conducting dismounted patrol operations. Harris was assigned to the 172nd Brigade Support Battalion, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

24. Spc. Daniel L. Sesker, 22, of Ogden, Iowa, died in Bayji, Iraq on April 6, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Sesker was assigned to the Army National Guard's Troop C, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry in LeMars, Iowa.

http://icasualties.org/oif/default.aspx
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Please remember to pray for the American soldiers stationed everywhere around the globe and especially in Iraq. Times have been and are very tough and it would be nice if you would all just say a prayer for their safety and for their families.
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It’s never too early to start making my Anniversary Present list. (Well, I did get a new medicine bag for my birthday.)
Rechargeable Batteries for the following “Ham” radios: Kenwood TH-22-AT (9.6 volts, 600 mAh battery, 2 each (for our two radios)), Yaesu FT-50 (it takes a FNB-83 7.2V1400mAh battery), Yaesu, VX-1 (it takes a FNB-52LI 3.6V 700mAh Lithium-Ion battery).
New “Rubber Ducky” antennas for the following “Ham” radios: Kenwood TH-22-AT (two radios)
Anything from Larry Norman
Back Scratcher
Basic tools of any kind
Batteries, 9 volt
Batteries, AAA
Blankets or Quilts
Book, “The Good Life: Seeking Purpose, Meaning, and Truth in Your Life” by Charles Colson
“Boot” Horn
Chair, office $49 from SAMS (5 of them)
Cheese Grater
Cordless Drill
Cordless Screwdriver
A DeLorme Earthmate GPS LT-20 device
A copy of DeLorme Street Atlas USA 2006 Plus
A copy of DeLorme Topo USA 5.0
Digital Video Recorder (Pioneer DVR-533H-S $333 at Beach Camera)
DVD Player equipped with TV Guardian
Eyeglasses, “Computer type” to use at church (and some new ones to use at home and at work.)
Floor Mats (for the truck)
A new “Gitter”
Handkerchiefs
Hasselblad H2D-39 Digital Professional Camera
Hat (warm, for bald guys winter wear.)
Magnifying Glass.
New Showerhead
Non skid toilet rug
Refrigerator Thermometer
Small, lightweight “head light” so I can see small things on the desk or work bench.
Some Warmup Suits to wear around the house after we get that first gas bill.
Trackball for the home computer
VHS - DVD Recorder (Lite-On LVC-9006 $219 @ Buy.com)
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Scheduled Activities
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Alcoholics Anonymous meets at 8 p.m. Monday - Friday. At noon on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and at 7 p.m. Sunday at 914 N. Vine
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Columbia County Amateur Radio Club meets Every second Thursday @ 7:00 p.m. Union Street Station. And YOU'RE invited. Net is every Sunday at 20:30 on 147.105.
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Columbia County Diabetes Support Group - Every third Monday, 7:00 p.m. room 222, Magnolia Hospital
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"Focus on the Family" with Dr. James Dobson weekday afternoons at 1 PM on KVMA am 630 it's a great show!
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MCC - Abraham Prayer - Sunday at 5:00 p.m and Wednesday from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm
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MCC - Early Morning Prayer - Monday - Friday, From 6:30 am to 8:00 am
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MCC - "Beth Moore" Video Class - Thursday nights at 5:45 pm
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MCC - "Faith Builders" Small group meets at 1051 Columbia 36 the second and fourth Tuesdays, 6:30 pm to 7:45 pm.
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MCC - Firm Foundations Class, Sunday 9:30 to 10:15 a.m
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MCC - Meadow Brook Nursing Home Ministry Tuesday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m
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MCC - Mom's Day Out - Every Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 2.$10 for the first child, $5 for the second. Call 234-3225 for reservations.
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MCC - Nursing Home Ministry - Meadowbrook Every Tuesday from 10 to 11 am. Taylor, the last Thursday each month.
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MCC - Over comers: Fridays @ 7:00 p.m- Director, Traci Foster invites you to a 12 step Christian support program. For anyone with a life controlling problem. Child care is provided.
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Men's Prayer Breakfast held every Tuesday morning at 6 AM in Miller's Cafeteria. If you aren't a regular participant at the Men's Prayer Breakfast, you're missing some great food, fellowship and inspired teaching of the Word. Hope to see you there.
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Narcotics Anonymous 5-6 pm every Monday at 220 Pine street.
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TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) 5 pm every Tuesday in the Magnolia Hospital break room.
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Emergency Phone Number 911
(Fire, Police, Ambulance, Sheriff, etc. )
Central Dispatch 234-5655
(Non - Emergency Number)
Direct Numbers
Ambulance - 234-7371 (24 Hour)
Jail - 234-5331 (24 Hour)
Poison Control - 800-222-1222 (24 Hour)
http://www. aapcc. org/
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"There is not enough darkness in the world to put out the light of one candle."
"Laugh whenever you can and cry if you need to." -- "Bug"
"I read the end of the book. We win!" -- "Bug"
"We may not be able to cure the world, but we don't have to make it sicker." -- "Bug"
"There just ain't enough fingers for all the holes in the dike." - - "Bug"
"It's no big deal doing what God tells you to do. A big deal would be NOT doing what God tells you to do. Just ask Jonah." - - Paul Troquille
"A simple way to take measure of a country is to look at how many want in ... and how many want out." - - Tony Blair
"Information is the currency of democracy." - Jefferson
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Hope you enjoy the newsletter.
Again, thanks to all our contributors this week.

God bless and GOD BLESS AMERICA!!!
Luke 12:49-50 Lam 3:21-26 Psa 33:16-22 Eccl 11:4 & 6 Phil 3:7-9 http://www.e-min.org/
God is Good and Faithful CU 73 IC JFM CSP NREMT-I KC5HII

P. S. If you'd like to be added to the distribution, just drop us E-mail at KC5HII@Magnolia-Net.Com. We offer "Da Bleat" as text, a "Blog" and as a newsletter with pictures in Word and PDF format. For the "Blog" version just go to http://bugsbleat2q.blogspot.com/ to see the latest issue.
Let us hear from you if we can switch you over to the "Word" or "PDF" version of "Da Bleat".
If you'd prefer to read "Da Blog" version, just drop us a note at KC5HII@Magnolia-Net.Com and we'll switch you from e:mail delivery to "Da Bleat" Blog. Of course "Da Bleat" is now on the web. Just go to http://bugsbleat2q.blogspot.com to see the latest issue (usually updated sometime Friday evening or Saturday morning. We appreciate your encouragement. We also appreciate your communication when you desire to be taken off our mail list. If you are on this mail list by mistake or do not wish to receive "Da Bleat," please reply back and tell us to discontinue service to you. This email was scanned by Norton AntiVirus 2005 before it was sent. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><>