Franklin found the buried treasure… ARRR!!

So this is what happens when your wiener dog is the size of a milk bone box. The box was by the trash can and Franklin didn’t get the interoffice memorandum that there were no more bones. He decided to investigate matters for himself. This picture speaks for itself. (click on the picture to see the large version)

Swimming upstream

I have a great amount of respect and admiration for Dr. Chuck Swindoll. He’s one of my favorite author’s and one heck of a preacher. I had to post one of his recent devotionals for you, so good. Take a moment and read this:

PROGRESSIVENESS
by Charles R. Swindoll

Psalm 103

We salute visionaries of yesteryear. We shake our heads in amazement as we imagine the herculean courage it took to stand so confidently when the majority frowned so sternly. Looking back, we laud those who refused to take no for an answer. We quote them with gusto. We even name our children after them. Yesterday’s progress earns today’s monuments of stone.

But today? What do we do with such creatures today? We brand them as irritating malcontents, reckless idealists who simply won’t sit down and be quiet. Today’s progressive dreamers are seen as wild-eyed extremists. Since they hate the status quo mold, most of them have a tough time going along with the system. They, in fact, loathe the system. But what they lack in diplomacy they make up for in persistence. Cooperative they’re not. Resilient they are.

Give most of them a couple hundred years and they’ll be admired, lauded, and knighted. But at the present moment, they just seem nuts.

I can scarcely think of a half-dozen churches, for example, that would even consider having Martin Luther candidate for the pulpit. And it’s doubtful that any businesses would hire Thomas Edison or Leonardo da Vinci. Which evangelical seminary would chance turning over its students majoring in systematic theology to a firebrand like John Knox? And who, today, would choose to go into battle with a blood-and-guts, straight-shooting commanding officer like George Patton? For that matter, how many votes would a crusty, outspoken, overweight visionary like Winston Churchill or a rugged Andrew Jackson get in our day of slick government and made-for-TV bureaucrats and politicians? You think we’d respect their progressiveness and value their vision? Don’t bet on it. People didn’t in their day, either.

Are you an eagle-type, soaring high beyond your peers? Do you find yourself bored with the maintenance of the machinery . . . yawning through the review of the rules . . . restless to cut a new swath . . . excited rather than intimidated by the risks? If so, don’t expect pats on the back or great waves of applause. Chances are you may even lose a few jobs, fail a few courses, ruffle tons of feathers, and be the subject of the town gossip. Mavericks who don’t color within the lines are also notorious for not staying within the fences. And that makes folks terribly uncomfortable.

But take heart! You’re in good company!

Today’s alleged heretic may well be tomorrow’s hero.

Taken from Charles R. Swindoll, Day by Day with Charles Swindoll (Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Stay tuned

Just a reminder to stay tuned as we are working to get baileyministries.org updated and ready to rock and roll again. Keep your eyes open for the new and improved site! The current site is still working – and the booking form is still operational as well. Feel free to check it out. Until it’s updated, feel free to stop by myspace.com/baileyministries

Until next time sports fans…

Magnificent Obsession

“The world has yet to see what God can do with and for and through and in a man who is fully and wholly consecrated to Him.” ~Henry Varley

This Time.
This Generation.
Game On.