Note to Myself

Earlier today I found my Senior Memories Book and spent about an hour and a half reading it. It was interesting reading what the prices were in 1977 and other current events I had written there. It was fun... and sometimes sad, reading some things friends had written to me. There were notes from friends who have died, some from friends who had faded from memory, and some I still keep in contact with today. Reading my own thoughts was a kick. In some areas, I've not changed a bit. It other areas, I am radically different. I had to laugh at how many times I wrote about "being in love."  I didn't have clue what love was even about at that time. As I read, I thought to myself, "you sound just like these kids today!" Maybe there is hope! As I read some of my private thoughts, I could not think but how sad some of my own commentary was. At 17 years old, I wrote in that book that I was hoping that the stomach pain I had was an ulcer, so that I'd be forced to cut down on my drinking. How sad is that? At 17, I knew I had a problem but did not have it within me to stop what was destroying my life. I'm glad that I was finally able to turn the corner and stop the boozing and drugs... but it makes me wonder how many of these young folks have a secret desire to quit... but can't deal with the pain that comes along with life changes. I did not even remember penning those words. Little did I know that I was leaving myself a note to help me almost 35 years later to deal with kids I come in contact with.

The Nation in the Grips of Chicago Politics

As we get closer and closer to the 2012 election, it's
important to remember The Rules we play by. The
Rules are taken from the Chicago playbook of rules
where they are simply known as... Chicago Rules.
Chicago Rules are illustrated by the six photographs
below:

Rod Blagojevich is the former Illinois Governor who tried to sell
Obama's seat in Congress.

Obama was asked by the press if he had ever met Gov. Rod
Blagojevich. He replied: "I only saw Rod Blagojevich one time
... and that was in the stands and from a distance at a Chicago
Bears Football Game."
Of course, you can believe him - he's our President

The picture below? That's irrelevant.

Rod Blagojevich, Barack Obama, and Richard Daley during a rally in Chicago , April 16, 2007. (Photo Reuters) Note: Rahm Emanual has replaced Daley as Mayor! And Daley's brother has replaced Rahm as a chief adviser to the president. But you don't
need to know all this.

Rhom, the new Mayor of Chicago
You have to understand "the world according to Chicago."
Chicago is almost a completely different country when it comes to politics. Chicago even has a different set of morals and language.
There are three rules and a Prime Directive.

RULE #1. No matter what you see, hear, or do -- you don't know anybody & you know nothing!

RULE #2. If you capture something on tape or camera -- it reveals nothing!

RULE #3. If you know what everybody else in Chicago knows -- you still know nothing.

The PRIME DIRECTIVE ...No matter what the vote, Democrats win the election.
Now pay close attention! 

It's very simple. Remember, you know nothing.

These two? They never met! Obama said they didn't..

These two? Who are they?
The guy on the left? He's Santa Claus. And the guy on the
right.... he's the Easter Bunny! That's all you need to know.
These two? Don't ask.

Remember Jimmy Hoffa? He knew too much. Where is he now?
Don't ask.

Do you understand? Don't look at these pictures! 

Remember, you've already forgotten them.....
 
Do you understand? They don't know each other and they never met! 

How is that possible? 

BECAUSE OBAMA SAID SO! And - don't - you - fergit - it!

Now, what is it that you call some one who does not tell the truth? 

Life, Because of Christmas.

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year.

I know... those of you who know me know that I often gripe about Christmas.

The sad truth is... I have a love/hate relationship with Christmas.

I love the lights and decorations.... but I hate it when it has gone overboard and it becomes gaudy.

I love the music... so long as that is not ALL I hear from Thanksgiving on!

I actually like going into the stores at Christmas time... but I get so tired and annoyed at the rudeness of people when they are shopping.

I love some of the Christmas shows on TV and at the movies...

But I hate when no talent writers rip off a story line from shows like A Christmas Carol or It's a Wonderful Life and re-write it in some cheesy, low-budget story just to put another show on TV.

While a lot of advertisements are grossly deplorable and the desperation to sell gets annoying, it still seems as if all of America and much of the western world finds a way to be brighter, be cheerier, be more generous than any other time of the year.

And the whole Christmas scene sure helps us pass through the darkest days on the calendar, those around the winter solstice.

But far more important to me than the flurry of exciting activities and decorations which lighten the season is the true meaning of Christmas... the Incarnation.  “God with us!”   God becoming human to live with us, walk . . ., sweat . . ., work . . ., attend worship . . ., deal with difficult people . . ., struggle with all the issues of humanity including physical suffering and death.

He knows firsthand what we go through!

Jesus also lived in a time when the world was upside down and governmental power was international in scope. Do you realize that Jesus' country was occupied during his lifetime? Rome ruled the known world and was occupying Israel and ruled with an iron fist. It was in the midst of this Roman occupation that Jesus taught that his nation was ordained by God to rule the world. Well, actually, that is NOT what he taught at all, but that is what most of the people THOUGHT he was teaching! You see, they thought he was going to rise up and overthrow the Roman government!  What they could not understand was that Jesus’ kingdom was not of this world.  

Somehow, it seems that we have forgotten that part of His message. Jesus taught many things as he walked this earth, but the key to his call to us is that we are to also to be God’s love incarnate. As Jesus came to live God’s love among us, so we are to do the same, live God’s love among everyone else. 

We seem to get all messed up in this area... but the fact is, the judgment of God about our lives will be based on whether we displayed that love by whether we the hungry, welcomed the stranger,healed the sick,and visited those in prison. That's what the Bible says!

We hear man's judgment all the time and man's definition of what what God expects...

But just listen to what Jesus had to say about how we will be judged.

Mat 25:31-46

(31)  When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

(32)  And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

(33)  And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

(34)  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

(35)  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

(36)  Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

(37)  Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

(38)  When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

(39)  Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

(40)  And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

(41)  Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

(42)  For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

(43)  I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

(44)  Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

(45)  Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

(46)  And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

That “final exam” described here in the Book of Matthew takes us way beyond any belief system which we follow in our religious life.

True, radical believers and followers of Christ not only welcome the stranger, they feed the hungry and clothe the poor and care for the sick and imprisoned.

Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits.” (Matthew 7:16).
 

So, what then is faith?  It seems that for many, faith is boiled down to their fear of ending up in Hell... so they choose Christ.  But I submit to you that this is not faith at all. Faith cannot be built on FEAR.  So many of the religious crowd base their faith on these fears...

Fear for our souls burning in Hell. Fear of the consequence of disobedience. Fear of being wrong.

No.... NO.... A thousand times NO!

As I preached last week, the Christmas message is all about FEAR NOT!

The angel told Mary, "Fear not!"  The Angel told Joseph, "Do not be afraid." And the night of Jesus' birth, the angels told the shepherds, “Fear not, for I bring you good tidings of great joy...” 

Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear imprisons, cripples burdens and binds. Faith is far more simple than that.

It is trusting God.

There was a little girl named Annie who desperately wanted a pony.

For weeks, Annie prayed for a pony for Christmas. She did it each night before she went to bed. Even though the main focus of her prayers was to bless her parents, neighbors, friends, and even the strangers in her town, she slipped in her desire to get the pony.  Her parents having only enough money to rent a small apartment for the three of them had no way to afford a pony or renting a place where it could be boarded.  But they didn’t have the heart to challenge Annie’s earnestness and faith that she’d get the horse.

Finally Christmas morning came.

Annie gleefully jumped out of bed and ran into the living room to check out her presents.  She found a doll buggy and a new doll under the tree.She put the doll in the buggy and went door to door on her floor in the apartment building, showing everyone what Santa had given her.

Her parents were stunned. Annie said nothing about there being no pony.

She was just full of joy to have the new toys. When she got back from her trip to the neighbors, they talked to her. “Annie, we’ve always told you that God answers your prayers. But he didn’t answer the one about your wanting a pony.”

“Oh but God did answer my prayer,” Annie said. “He just said 'No.'" 

That’s faith.

Faith does not question, and still believes and rejoices, even when the answer is no.

The Gift is What's Within

I've been fighting a bad cold for a week now and finally decided yesterday that I needed to just "shut down" and get some rest so that I could get over this thing. As a result, I've had time to catch up on a lot of "paperwork" and stuff that needed to be done for awhile, and now... being caught up, was organizing a lot of my stuff, especially my photography stuff that had been tossed aside "until later."  As I was working on this I began to think about some of the people in my photographs. I want to try to be careful with how I say this, but some of the people who I once thought of as "beautiful" I just don't see them that way any longer. And then there are those that most of society would look at them and lump them into the "average" category when it comes to looks... but I've come to know them and they are some of the most beautiful people I know. Suffice it to say, looks can be deceiving.  It's kind of like that wrapped present you see in the picture here. It looks really nice, doesn't it? But like all those other beautifully wrapped presents you see at the Mall or department store... they are empty, and have no value. There are a lot of people like that.

I remember when I was young and single, and thought of myself as a "ladies man." I was pretty bad at having girls I was "dating" in different cities and lying to them all about their being the only one. I used them and was often cruel. I had a very good friend who thought enough of me to do take a drastic step to try to reach me. For my birthday one year, she gave me a gift that was beautifully wrapped and had several pieces of my favorite chocolate tied to the bow. She told me that I could not open it until we were alone, so it was set aside until late that night and she asked me to drive her home. Siting in her drive way, she asked me to open it.  As I began to open it, I remember my heart was pounding. Secretly, I had deep feelings for Linda and I was sure I was about to find out the same thing from her. As I pulled the ribbons from the package, she said to me, "Please don't ever forget that I did this for you because I love you." My heart raced as I pulled the paper off and then as I opened the box, I saw a baggie filled with dirt. I looked at her filled with confusion, and Linda said to me something like this, "You are a pretty package that leaves everyone attracted to you, but inside, you are dirt! I'm done chasing after you, and I hope you wake up one day."  I'd love to tell you that it worked, but it didn't. I lost one of the dearest friends I ever had in my life that day, and we have never spoken since that night in her driveway. But the truth is, she was absolutely right. I never really understood what Linda was telling me... or maybe I refused to admit it, until years later. I was dirt. I was worse than that. All I knew back then was how to use people.

As I looked at my photos again today, I was suddenly reminded of that night in Linda's driveway. There are pictures in my portfolio of people who on the outside are just gorgeous. But I know these people... and they are ugly. They are mean spirited and filled with hatred. Knowing what I know about them, I don't even see the outside as beautiful any longer. I look at them and all I feel is sadness for them because they have no clue as to what true beauty is.  A funny, but true story to bring this all together. When I was in junior high school, I recall one Christmas where all I really wanted was an air hockey table. I knew our family really could not afford one, so I was not expecting to get that. Christmas came and the family began opening gifts and there were many wonderful surprises there and I was happy. Finally, my sister said, "you still have one to open." There was a very small box wrapped in wrinkled paper with scribbles on a tag that I had assumed was just one of the "gifts" my little niece, Jami and wrapped and put under the tree. She was about 4 at the time and she had done several "gifts" this way. I took the paper off the box and it was a collapsed box that a deck of cards came in. I laughed and hugged her for the gift, but she said, "Open it."  I looked inside the box, and there was a picture of an air hockey table, and a note that said it had been ordered and was on back order but should be in soon.

Sometimes, we find the greatest joy and beauty in packages that seem to be of insignificance. Packages lie. They don't always show you what is on the inside.

Remembering... and Ever So Thankful

Tonight our family was in the van driving over to some friends house when a thought hit me. I said to them, "30 years ago today, I was sentenced and went to prison."  Actually, I went to the county jail and stayed there until December 31, and was transferred to Menard Penitentiary on New Years Eve, 1981. Ironically, it was exactly one year and one day before when I had been arrested. That year in between was a whirlwind of events that in some ways I'd like to forget happened, but then again no. I was in trouble... serious trouble, and the likely end result was going to be prison. My life, at the age of 21 was unraveling and coming apart in pieces. I was an alcoholic and was addicted to drugs. My addictions and anger issues had led me down a path to where I had stolen from people I loved and who loved me. People who had been friends were avoiding me because frankly, I scared them with my insane behavior. I turned my back on family, cheated and stole from them, and basically had used people until very few really wanted to be around me anymore. When I was arrested, my bail was set at $300,000, and I spent almost a month in jail before family was able to bail me out. When I came home, the vast majority of my friends were no where to be found, except for the very closest ones, and even they were distant. I can't blame them. When I was first arrested, it was thought that I had brutally murdered an elderly woman. Although I was eventually cleared of the murder, no one knew what to believe at that point. Alone, unemployed, facing prison and strung out, I did not see any hope, and I tried to kill myself. When the first attempt failed, I tried again, and again. On my 22nd birthday, I took a massive overdose of pills, mixing all types of drugs so that nothing they could give me could counteract what I had done. I planned it out to be that day, because my birthday was on a Sunday, and I knew my entire family would be in church and there would be no one around to find me until it was too late. To this day, I cannot explain what happened next, but to say that God was watching over me. The last thing I remembered was downing several handfuls of pills with a Fifth of Southern Comfort, and then I remember my Brother in-law reaching into my car to shut the engine off. I somehow had driven to the church and was in the parking lot, getting ready to pull back out onto the highway, with one foot on the gas and the other on the brake and I was passed out. The tires were squealing and smoking and someone in the church heard the noise and when they saw me they went in and got him. I woke up  a couple of days later in ICU with my oldest brother staring at me and saying, "we thought we lost you this time." 

The next few months were in and out of hospitals from drug overdoses and suicide attempts. Life continued that way until June 15 of that year. I had actually planned to kill myself that week. My family was gone for a week long church camp meeting, and I figured I was going to drink and do cocaine until I died. But God intervened again. Long story, and I won't go into it all right now, but a young lady who I had wanted to go out with, called and asked me out. The catch was, I had to go to church with her that night first, and she would go out with me after the service. I agreed and we sat in the very back row of this big auditorium, close to the door, so I could make may escape. I had smoked a couple of joints and popped a couple of Darvon before I got there, so I figured I could get through it. But that night, as the preacher spoke, it felt like there was no one in the huge auditorium but me and him. His words pierced my shell that I had wrapped myself in, and as I listened to him, literally squeezing the chair in front of me until my fingers were numb, I instantly sobered and I heard God speak so clearly to me, saying that this was the night I chose my eternal destiny. I literally ran to the altar and that night God saved my soul and called me to preach. Just a few days later I was miraculously delivered from alcohol and my addictions and I preached my first sermon just a few days after that. God radically transformed my life that summer. Still, I had a price to pay in mans eyes... and as we fast forward to December 18, 1981... I plead guilty in court and was sentenced to two six year terms in prison. That morning of December 18, 1981 I hugged my family... and walked off to prison, not knowing what awaited me, but knowing that I was not going alone. They took me to the same holding cell which I had been in the year before when I was arrested, and I knew this time I would not see home for a long time. But I was OK... there was a peace within. Little did I know that it was there in prison that God was going to train me for the ministry in which he would use me for the rest of my life.


So, tonight I look back. Yes, regretting the decisions and foolish living that took me to that place 30 years ago tonight... yet so ever thankful for a God who is full of love and mercy, who took the tattered fragments of my life and has built something that I never dreamed I could ever have. I shutter to even think about where I would be today if I had said no to God that Monday night in June. I'm just glad that He loved me so much that He never gave up on me.

It Gets So Hard to Trust Anymore

I've always been the type to be too trusting. I get told that all the time, and in fact I am told frequently that I am stupid for being as trusting as I am. Maybe it is just trying to give people the benefit of the doubt... or maybe I am just too naive. I really don't know which it is, but I do generally trust people, until they give me a reason not to.  Yes, I get burned... but as a result, I generally know who I can trust and where I am safe in confiding things that are of a sensitive nature. But man, it sure does sting when you find out that trust has been misplaced and someone just could not wait to run out and burn you! Live and learn. But it sure does hurt when you discover those who you thought had your back end up using your back to climb a little higher themselves. I happen to believe in the simple philosophy of what goes around comes around... or as we put it from a scriptural stand point, "you reap what you sow."  Use someone, hurt someone... guess what's coming down your pike?

Why Is It So Hard to Admit Our Weaknesses?

I noticed on my blog roll that there had been numerous hits to this particular blog this past week, literally from around the world, and after going back to revisit it myself, I thought I needed to re-post this one. Hope it helps someone.

10 November, 2005

Why Is It So Hard To Admit Our Weakness?

Those that know me well know that I was involved in a very serious car accident back when I was in college that has left me with a lot of back and neck trouble. One of the things most people do not know is that in that same accident the muscles and tendons in my right hand were torn as well. With therapy, I regained most of the use of that hand with only some cracking and popping in my wrist. The doctor and therapist told me back then that the real problem with this hand would come as I aged, with significant problems coming in about 15 years.
Well, that accident took place 17 years ago tomorrow, and their words bring loud and clear in my ears. I don't like to admit it, and I try hard to hide the complications, but the fact is I am losing the strength and my grip in my right hand. I struggle greatly to open a jar and sometimes cannot even get the cap off of a soda bottle without quite a struggle. My handshake is not as firm as it used to be, which is a sign of weakness or lack of concern to many people, so I am often even hesitant to shake hands. I have a hard time admitting it, but I am weak in that hand.
While I struggle with telling people this, I also am beginning to find it liberating to admit it, because hopefully I will not have to try so hard to compensate for this weakness in order to hide it.

Does anyone see a spiritual parallel?

I woke up at 4:05 this morning with my hand and back hurting so bad that I could not sleep. I got up for about an hour and finally lay back down. As I lay there, I kept thinking about how this accident has affected my life... and kind of had a pity party for a bit.
But then the thought hit me how there are so many people struggling with life because they cannot admit their weaknesses and/or short-comings.
They work long hours; put themselves deeper and deeper into debt trying to find that elusive "thing" that will bring fulfillment to their lives. But it somehow just never comes.
What they don't realize is that what is missing is Jesus. They refuse to admit that, because they perceive that need for Jesus to be a weakness, and they will never admit their weakness.

There are people I have met who arrogantly spout off that they don't need the crutch of religion. Yet their lives grow more and more miserable with every car, boat or home they buy. Many of these people scream out at the Christians as being intolerant and they want our "religion" banned. I believe that the real problem is that they resent that we can find happiness, contentment and joy in our lives without all the trappings they have, yet they remain miserable. They simply refuse to admit that they have a weakness.
But we all have the same weakness... and it is called sin. The Bible tells us that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." It also tells us that we were created to have fellowship with God. Therein lays the problem with so many. They are miserable because they are failing in their created purpose. What is missing is not another new toy or more stuff; but a relationship with the God of creation through his son, Jesus.

Weakness? We all are born with the same weakness, regardless of the color of our skin, the country we are born in or our economic status. It is called sin, which separates us from God.
Trying to build your life without God is the real weakness. It is like trying to erect a building without first laying the cornerstone. You may erect a great looking building, and may look marvelous, but it is weak, and will never be right until that stone is put in its place.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is that cornerstone.
Your life without Jesus is just incomplete.

Posted by Darrell at Thursday, November 10, 2005

The Wisdom of Solomon

I don't know where this came from  or the author, but felt it was so worth posting.

A worried woman went to her gynecologist and said: "Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help! My baby is not even 1 year old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together." 

So the doctor said: "Ok and what do you want me to do?" 

She said: "I want you to end my pregnancy, and I'm counting on your help with this."

The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady: "I think I have a better solution for your problem. It's less dangerous for you too." 

She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request. 

Then he continued: "You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born. If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms."

The lady was horrified and said: "No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!" 

"'I agree", the doctor replied. "But you seemed to be OK with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution."

The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point. He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb. The crime is the same!

Waiting... It Serves a Purpose

None of us really like waiting... especially for the promise of God to be fulfilled in our lives. We want it soon... now... well, actually, we want it yesterday. Waiting is tough. Sometimes we want to give up, thinking that we are wasting our time, or we need to help God out in the process by doing things of our own accord, justifying our actions by saying that we are doing this to help God out. The thing is, waiting means waiting. And just who do we think we are thinking that we can actually help God out? (Chew on that one a moment.)  The problem is, we just don't like waiting. We are impatient, and we want things to happen on our time schedule. It's kind of like little girls playing make believe dress up and getting all adorned for their wedding. It is fun for a few moments... but at the end of the day, all the things we've put on and made up go back in the box... until it is time for us to mature enough for that wedding day. It's just pretend. Many times, we "play pretend" with the promises of God, trying to bring those promises about more quickly with our feeble efforts... but God's promises will come in His timing and not before. No matter what we do to "help them along."  We make some really dumb mistakes in our lives and in our churches when we try to help God out. I watched Pastors leave churches, abandoning the promise, and justifying their action by saying that their leaving will help the church. That seldom is the answer. What it really is, is men and women of God who have grown weary and lost patience. They've forgotten who it was that gave the promise or vision and in their attempts to make it happen, they've exhausted themselves and become impatient. 


In James 1:4, the Bible says, "Let patience have its perfect work..."
Notice the wording... "Let patience..."  We have an active part here... we must allow it. By the same token... we can get in the way and mess it all up! 

Like I said, "Nobody likes waiting."  It's like children at Christmas time. My children are older now, and a couple of weeks ago, my son (now 21) had a night of confession... telling us things he and his sister had done growing up. (By the way... several "mysteries" of life were clarified in this!) He spoke of Christmas' past where he was so impatient that he often unwrapped the ends of the Christmas presents to see what was there awaiting him on Christmas morning, so that he'd know what he wanted to open first.  He admitted that doing this took away from a lot of the joy on Christmas morning.  Waiting is difficult. It is sometimes painful. It is nerve racking. I can cause us to give in to fear and doubt some times. 
But it is necessary. It teaches us.
 
Perhaps, like me, you've found yourself asking God, "Why do I have to wait so long?" I won't hide the fact... since I've been here in Galesburg as pastor, I've asked this many times... and I've asked it a lot recently. I don't understand much of what is happening right now. I don't understand the lack of passion for serving God. I don't understand people who really have the attitude about church that they could "Take it or leave it."   I don't get it when people come to church once or twice a month. I'm tired. Let's face it, I'm impatient! 
But the last few days the Lord has been speaking to me and telling me that their are lessons to learn... and that many have given up on the vision causing us to back peddle several times to regroup... but that the promise is alive and will be fulfilled if we persevere. 

So... I wait.


There is a song we sing at church that says:

I'm waiting on You, Lord
And I am hopeful
I'm waiting on You, Lord
Though it is painful
But patiently, I will wait

I will move ahead, bold and confident
Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting
I will serve You
While I'm waiting
I will worship
While I'm waiting
I will not faint
I'll be running the race
Even while I wait

It's funny, because in the midst of my struggle with the whole waiting thing... today I open my email and my daily devotional this morning had the following to say about lessons learned while waiting:
(1) Waiting trains you. Time spent waiting can be time spent learning. And if you're learning, you're not losing. God will train you for battle because He's a good general. 'Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.' (Psalm 144:1 NIV) 
(2) Waiting corrects you. The Psalmist wrote: 'Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your Word.' (Psalm 119:67 NKJV) Pain can be profitable. Adversity can lead to spiritual advancement if you're willing to glean from it. Pain forces you to look to God for answers, to lean on Him instead of others, to learn where you went astray, to hunger for His presence and His healing touch, to listen for His instructions and be sensitive to the changes He wants to bring about in your life. Yes, you can turn your pain into progress. 
(3) Waiting reveals those around you. Motives are not easily discerned. Trust God but test people. That's Scriptural. '...the Lord your God led you...forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart...' (Deuteronomy 8:2 NIV) People can keep their intentions and motives covered for a long time, but waiting generally forces the truth to the surface. 
(4) Waiting gives God time to solve the problem. He's a miracle-working God, so don't get ahead of Him and rob Him of the opportunity to demonstrate His power in your life.

Maybe We Are?

So, unless you've been in a box or an uncharted island, you have witnessed the rises of Herman Cain and the destruction of the same. Herman has been around for a long time, briefly in the public spotlight at times, (such as when he single handily caused Hillary Clinton's health care plan to end in a train wreck) but for the most part, he has never been in the national spotlight. Folks in the Atlanta area knew of him because of his radio talk show. Tea Party crowds got to know him from his speaking at their rallies. But then came the GOP Presidential primaries and all of a sudden, people were asking "who is this man" as everyone got to know "9-9-9". Cain went from a relative unknown to a GOP front runner.  Interestingly enough, the media never did  give Cain his due. Even Fox News refused to acknowledge him as a front runner. When he was up in the polls by a couple of points over Mitt Romney, they still called Romney the front runner. I cannot tell you the number of times I would become enraged at the snub job that was done on Cain. When he did not go away and his poll numbers held or increased, they would be forced to acknowledge him, but all the time pointing out how other had risen in the polls, only to fall. It was painfully obvious that the powerful forces behind the media did not want Herman Cain to be the next President. Still, he held his own... until the attacks began.

We all witnessed how accusations of sexual harassment in the workplace began to surface. First one, then another, and then another. Finally one came out in a press conference that was just silly to watch. I mean, if you had been sexually harassed, would you need to read from a paper to tell about it? Would you giggle all the way through it? Would you get yourself a shyster attorney to stand with you as you went from press conference to press conference to talk shows? It was a smear job. Then another comes out, and then the two of them (and supposedly a third) announced they would be doing a joint press conference. Cain's poll numbers sank quicker than a rock in a pool... and suddenly the women disappeared... and no press conference ever came about. Their work was complete. Then, unexpectedly, Cain's numbers jumped again, and in the Rasmussen National Poll, he retook the lead. As if on cue, two days later, another woman comes to the forefront with accusations of a 13 year affair with Cain. Again, his poll number sank, and it appears America has forgotten all about 9-9-9 and Herman Cain, with his numbers dropping from 32% a week ago to just 8% in the newest poll.

Here's the thing... NOTHING has been proven! The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported this week that of the more than 70 text messages between Cain and his accuser, only 17 were sent by Cain, and ALL of them where in response to the repeated messages from her. The AJC asked this woman's attorney and he admitted that the text messages she had sent to him was trying to manipulate Cain to give her more money. When he refused, she came out with the accusations of an affair. So again... accusations, Cain's denial.... NO PROOF... but the man is effectively out of the race. Go figure. Rush Limbaugh, who has not been a fan of Herman Cain at all was forced to admit yesterday that it looks as if this has been a carefully orchestrated smear job to get him out of the race.  What absolutely takes the cake is that Newt Gingrich, who we know has had affairs and left his wife while she was fighting cancer to be with his mistress... is now the poster boy of the GOP. HUH?
Today, an article in the Wall Street Journal speaks of Gingrich's past mistakes and says that with the mess America is in, no one cares about his infidelity or other mistakes... and the only focus is on if he has the answer for America.  
So wait a minute... Cain is destroyed and out of the race because of accusations... with no admission or proof... yet Newt who has a track record of being a slime ball is given a pass because he has the answers?

I smell a rat. 
I'm betting that once Cain is out of the race, the attacks on Newt will begin and one of two things will happen. If they cannot knock him down in the GOP race, in the National elections, Obama will go after him with a vengeance and Obama sweeps into office for a second term.


Herman Cain wrote a book entitled, "They Think You're Stupid."
Sadly, "THEY" appear to be right.
America is stupid and they've taken the bait.