Jacob's Ladder

Food Stamps

2010-05-06T16:58:00.001-07:00

I couldn't tell how old he was. Probably late fifties. Could have even been in his forties. Who knows? He could have been in his thirties.

The evidence of guilt was on his face. Cigarettes and alcohol and maybe even drugs had cut a path of deep creases into his forehead and his face. He sat on the sidewalk in front of Wal-Mart. One of his friends sat next to him. It was a pack of some generic brand of cigarettes but even they probably cost three or four dollars a pack. I came out of Wal-Mart with a buggy full of groceries and he asked me a stupid question.

"Would you like to buy some food stamps?"

I just walked past him. He asked people walking into the store if they wanted to buy food stamps.

I wondered if the man had children at home that were hungry. He could use the food stamps to buy them food. Instead, the man had a monkey on his back that he could not shake off.

I knew what he would do with the money if he had it. The beer companies, the cigarette companies and the Florida Lotto would all make money. Children would go hungry.

I wish now that I had done something to help. I wish that I had picked up my cell phone and dialed 9-1-1 and reported him for trying to sell the food stamps. 140424

Blood on the Doorpost

2010-04-14T19:46:00.000-07:00

A few years ago, God blessed me by giving me the lyrics to a song. I've run the lyrics in this column before and others have told me that the words to the song have blessed them. The song is about the time that Passover in the Old Testament and about the blood that Jesus shed at Calvary. Satan can never cross that bloodline and steal our souls. My cousin, Michael Keeler, added music to the song. If you have Internet access, you can view a video of him singing the song at www.greenepublishing.com. Below are the lyrics. I hope that the song truly blesses you.

Verse 1:

Angels camp around me every night when I lie down,

God gives me a peace, only in Him can be found,

Though it may be dark outside I'm guarded by the Light

And the blood on the doorpost protects me in the night.

Chorus:

Blood on the doorpost,

Blood that washed my soul,

Blood on the doorpost,

Blood that makes me whole,

The blood that Jesus shed,

I know He shed for me

And the blood on the doorpost is protecting me.

Verse 2:

Destruction will not come in the middle of the night,

Like it did to Pharaoh's people before Moses took his flight,

Well, I dwell in the Land of Canaan, milk and honey. That's right.

And the blood on the doorpost protects me in the night.

Repeat chorus

Tag:

And the blood on the doorpost protects me in the night.

2010-04-14T19:45:00.001-07:00

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Abbie's Sense of Humor

2010-02-23T12:59:00.000-08:00

My sister, Abbie, has a sense of humor that can scare me sometimes.
The other night, I walked into Walmart in Live Oak with Abbie. We got our buggy and I stationed Abbie at the back so she could push it, which she enjoys doing. I had leaned over and was looking at cookies or something else which don’t need to eat and she disappeared. I’m serious. Poof! She vanished.
My brother, Danny, and my father were behind us getting power buggies (since both of them have trouble getting around in the store) and neither of them saw Abbie disappear either.
I don’t think I have to tell many of you that I was frightened. I began asking others in the store if they had seen which way my mentally challenged sister went. None of them had. I ran out the door to make sure that she hadn’t gone back in the parking lot. There was no sign of her there.
When I got back in the store, Danny and Daddy were fanning out looking for her as I frantically continued to search.
I saw Daddy come out of one aisle, driving his buggy and Abbie was sitting on it with him, just laughing. He said that she had popped out of one aisle and hopped on it with him.
I collected Abbie and we set about doing our shopping, with her happily pushing the buggy and grinning from ear to ear about the joke she had played on her big brother.
The Bible tells us that a merry heart doing good like a medicine but sometimes a little joke can just about scare the life out of you.

How My Sister Communicates

2010-02-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

No matter how many times she does it, I’m still amazed by my sister Abbie’s ability to tell us what she wants and what she’s thinking.
As many readers know, Abbie is mentally-challenged and, although she can talk, it’s very rare that she does. People always ask me how Abbie communicates with us and it’s hard for me to explain but she does.
On Monday, my nephew took my father (who celebrated his birthday on Jan. 21), my brother (whose birthday was Monday) and Abbie out to lunch to celebrate Daddy and Danny’s birthdays. They stopped by the office on the way back home and Abbie came up and hugged me and laughed. I understood then that she was trying to tell me something but I couldn’t figure it out.
That’s when Daddy told me that Ryan’s girlfriend had gone to lunch with them. I asked Abbie if that was what she was trying to tell me and she gave me a high five.
I told you she could communicate.
The next night, we went to Denny’s. Abbie looked at the menu and saw a picture of the nachos on there. She began pointing and we knew that she wanted them.
Remember, I told you Abbie could communicate with us.
In spite of the nachos and sauce being spicy hot, Abbie dug in with relish and began eating them and the sour cream with them. (You have to remember, Abbie cannot only communicate, she is smart. She knew the sour cream would help with the heat.) After Danny had finished eating his food, he took a bite of Abbie’s food and commented on how hot it was.
Abbie looked at Danny like he was crazy and put one finger to her forehead and then pointed it at him as if to say, “It’s all in your mind.”
I told you Abbie could communicate.
A few weeks ago, Danny said something and apparently Abbie didn’t see the logic behind it, so she formed her fingers into the sign of an “L” and put it on her forehead, as if she was calling him a loser. (She’s probably going to do the loser sign to me soon, too if she hasn’t already done it and I missed it.)
Didn’t I tell you Abbie could communicate?
God gives each of us different abilities and talents. Some people choose to bury theirs and hide them. Abbie makes the most of what she’s got and she makes her big brother happy that she does.

2010-01-28T17:37:00.001-08:00

Enthusiasm

2010-01-28T11:49:00.000-08:00

I went to a motivational seminar on Monday. I was enthusiastic about attending and when I left, although I was very tired, I was enthusiastic about having attended.
My memory is a little fuzzy but I believe that it might have been Coach Bobby Bowden who explained that the word “enthusiasm” comes from the Greek words en theos, which means inspired by God or God-breathed.
Enthusiasm means to be inspired by God; to be full of the breath of God. Isn’t it a fantastic word?
Today, I encourage all of my readers to get enthusiastic about their relationship with God, who gives us the inspiration to be enthused.
I want to encourage everyone to read the Bible, which tells us to hide its words in our hearts so that we will not sin against God. (Psalm 119:11)
I want to encourage everyone to pray. The Bible tells us to pray without ceasing. If you say you don’t have anything to pray about, then pray for me. (I Thessalonians 5:17, Ephesians 6:18)
I want to encourage everyone to do good deeds for each other. The Bible tells us that faith without works is dead. (James 2:20)
Get enthusiastic about reading the Bible, praying, doing good deeds and about your relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. Where do you think true enthusiasm comes from in the first place?

Semper Fi, Buddy

2009-08-12T20:51:00.001-07:00

addper Fi, Buddy

I don't believe that I saw Ricky Williams again after June 4, 1982.

Ricky was the first friend I made when I started going to school in Monticello, Fla. He and I rode the bus to school together (Madge Shelly drove that bus), we played together, we fought together, we went to church together (rode a bus that Gene Sculley drove to church), we were in Royal Rangers together, we traded baseball cards, we did everything together that boys usually do.

Ricky taught me to love baseball, although we cheered for different teams. He was a Reds fan. I was a Dodgers fan. We were in fifth grade when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's record. I saw it on Channel 10 in Albany, Ga. and Ricky (who also watched it) and I talked about it the next day. Ricky taught me to play "thumps" and "b.b. bush" (both very painful games).

Ricky had two beautiful older sisters and I had two cute younger sisters. I had kind of a schoolboy crush on Ricky's sister, Becky, but she was a few years older. I think she may have been in ninth grade when I was in fifth.

In high school, Ricky and I drifted apart, but he was always my friend. He was the strong, athletic type. I was the nerd. He was a lineman on the high school football team and was in FFA. I was on the Brain Bowl team and the newspaper editor. We just started hanging around other friends.

On June 4, 1982, Ricky and I graduated high school and went our separate ways. After high school, I went to North Florida Junior College, then Florida State University, then out into the workforce. Ricky served his country proudly as a member of the United States Marine Corps. After the Marines, Ricky began working at FSU. He married his beautiful high school sweetheart. I remained single.

Ricky left this world on Monday, August 10, 2009. I am proud to have called Ricky friend. I miss him.

I know that, no matter how much I miss Ricky right now, it cannot compare to how much his wife, Pam, (who began dating Ricky when she was 15 and he was 17 and called him the love of her life), their kids and grandkids miss him. But I know, and I encourage Pam and the family to know that God can do all things and He will lift them up.

Semper fi, buddy. I love you.

Viewpoints

2009-08-10T13:10:00.001-07:00

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The Cost of Liberty

2009-08-04T20:43:00.001-07:00

I watched The Curious Cage of Benjamin Button tonight. Great movie, but not nearly as great as the short story written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Read it if you get a chance.

I went to a town council meeting earlier tonight. It's amazing how many of our freedoms are being given away, just for a few dollars.

How much is liberty worth?

Surely more than the $600,000 grant the town wants.

Day’s End

2009-08-03T19:47:00.001-07:00

I am tired tonight. Busy day. All I have to blog is this: "Phew! I'm glad the ay is over."

The Tempting Seductress

2009-08-02T22:00:00.001-07:00

Once again, sleep beckons me. A tempting seductress, she speaks softly and sings lullabies to rock me to sleep.

Tomorrow, I will awaken to another day. The day may bring joy. It may bring pain. All I know is that tomorrow will be different. No day is ever the same, at least not on my job.

When I took a job in the newspaper business, I did not know how there would always been something different each day. Each day, there are new challenges, new people to meet and new stories to write. It's all different. It's all fresh. It may be exhilarating, it may be frustrating, but there is always excitement. Some of the excitement I like. Some of it I don't, but at least I can never say my job is boring.

Lately, my life away from work has been anything but boring and dull. How I long for just a normal dull day. I pray that my level of excitement goes up with my level of exhilaration. I pray for frustration and troubles to ride out on the wind.

Now, I listen to sleep's sexy voice. Perhaps that is where I will have a "normal dull day" in the darkness of the night.

Good night, readers. Have pleasant dreams.

A License To Live

2009-08-02T05:48:00.001-07:00

I awoke this morning after seven hours of blissful sleep. After hardly sleeping the night before, I needed the sleep before going back to my assignment.

When I speak of my assignment, I am not talking about my job. Today is Sunday, the Lord's Day, so during my assignment, one of the geographical locations I will visit is 2485 SE Midway Church Road, Lee, Florida. I will be in church. It is only part of today's assignment, but it could be the most important part.

My life is filled with suspense. My assignment is to live and breathe, to be the places I need to be and do the things that I need to do. I'm not sure of what all of them will be.

Recently, some of the curves in the road have been sharper and some of the mountains I have had to climb have been harder. God never promised me an easy life. He did promise strength to sustain me. And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:5

Today, I will get dressed and head out to my next assignment. I'm not "Bond…James Bond" and I don't have a license to kill. I'm Bembry…Jacob Bembry and I have a license to live.

The Seductive Voice Of The Siren, Sleep

2009-08-01T20:11:00.001-07:00

Sleep is beginning to creep up on me. Like a scene in a horror movie, it creeps up stealthily behind me and taps me on the shoulder with its cold bony hand.

I need sleep. I crave sleep. Tonight, I will yield to its seductive voice.

I did not sleep much last night – or this morning I should say. I was seeking ways to find more followers for this blog. I want to be able to share my "Jacob's Ladder" column and my faith with the world. If I gain followers and get more page views, hopefully I can garner advertising dollars and make the site profitable for me. Regardless of whether I do turn a dime or not, I will keep blogging. If nothing else, it will be therapeutic for me and everyone needs therapy now and then.

So, tonight, for a few hours, I will shroud myself in the tomb of slumber. Tomorrow, if the Lord tarries, I will awaken and get ready for church. If he does not tarry, I will awaken to the sound of Gabriel's trumpet and rise through the air and meet Him in the sky.

Good night, everyone.

Pleasant dreams.

Summer’s Fleeting Symphony

2009-08-01T10:24:00.001-07:00

Flowers bursting forth with fragrance. Newly mown grass. The smell of hay after the rain. It was the first day of August and the aromas still wafted on the wings of the wind, but they were not as noticeable as they had been at the first of spring.

Spring had brought with it change. A 12-year-old boy notices the smells that spring brings. Freshly cut grass. The smell of cowhide in baseball gloves and the smell of a new baseball before its first pitch is ever thrown.

Twelve-year-old boys being twelve, they also notice how pretty that 12-year-old girl smells, whether it's from her perfume, soap or maybe just a stick of Juicy Fruit she might be chewing.

With its smells, spring also brought change. Soon, school would be getting out for summer and I and the other 12-year-old boys would enjoy our vacation.

When the first day of August rolled around, I began to dread going back to school but it's was always with a hint of excitement for lay ahead. A new school year brought with it new smells, including the smell of new jeans, newly sharpened pencils, new paper and the smells of the freshly mimeographed syllabi that teachers would hand out.

Today is the first of August. It's exactly one month from my birthday on September 1. It is exactly eight days from my sister Abbie's 40^th birthday. It's exactly six months after my brother Danny's 41^st birthday. There are still smells, there is still change and the world keeps turning as it did when I was 12 years old.

Mimeographs are a thing of the past. New jeans don't seem to have the same smell as they did when I was 12. What's happened to the fresh smell of a new notebook?

The flowers and the grass still smell the same and I give God thanks for that.

Soon, summer will be ending and autumn leaves will fall to the ground, begging me to rake them up. Then, the warm Florida autumn will turn to a fairly cold north Florida winter before spring bursts forth in song again, beckoning me to take her by the hand and dance.

Now, I listen as summer plays the notes on her symphony. The symphony will end soon, but it still seems so far away.

A Stone's Throw

2009-07-31T06:37:00.000-07:00

Have you ever stood on the banks of a river with a smooth polished pebble in your hand and toss it to the other side?
Have you ever stood on a road with nothing but blacktop or dirt in front of you for miles with a rock in your hand and tossed it as far as you could?
No matter how far you can throw it – whether it plunks in the water, only travels two feet or if it travels far -- the distance is the same. It’s just a stone’s throw.
How far is it from Heaven to Hell?
The answer could be, “It’s just a stone’s throw.”
For some, they might answer that it’s far.
“And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.” (Luke 16:23)
Although Hell is described as being far from Heaven in this Bible verse, it was still close enough for the rich man to see Lazarus in Abraham’s bosom.
Some people may feel that they are all right with God. They treat people right and do good deeds. Still, they do not know Christ as their personal savior.
They’re a stone’s throw from Heaven.
Others may realize that they are lost and feel that there is no hope for them. They lose themselves in booze, drugs and sex with whoever or whatever comes along.
They’re a stone throw from Heaven.
Are you lost today? Do you need a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?
Ask Him into your heart and live for Him.
He’s only a stone’s throw away.

The Stone Of Mercy

2009-07-24T07:20:00.000-07:00

“I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.” - Revelation 2:17
The person being tried stood shuddering as he awaited the verdict. Was there nothing he could do to be set free?
Gloom and doom shrouded his very being, making the courtroom feel like a cold, ice-covered grace. He knew that the grave would not be cold for long. It would turn from a frozen tundra into a fiery furnace and the fire would burn forever.
As he waited for the judge to make his decision, he knew that he would be given the black stone, which was an indication of his guilt. There would be no vindication for what he had done.
The criminal stood, knowing there would be no exoneration and that his execution was imminent.
“What if I threw myself on the mercy of the court?” he thought. “What if I told the judge how sorry I am for all the crimes I have committed. I have sinned, o Lord, be merciful to me!”
With his head bowed and tears in his eyes, he suddenly felt someone standing in front of him. Afraid to look up, he waited for the judge to drop the black stone of guilt in the cup.
He heard stone hit the inside of the urn. Looking in to his shock and disbelief, he saw a white stone; a stone that indicated that he was not guilty.
The criminal who had been freed looked up and saw the face of Jesus Christ. He reached and grabbed Jesus’ nail-scarred hands.
Jesus had paid the price so he could go free.

A Fragile Stone

2009-07-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

"He was a fragile stone, completely dependent upon his Master and Friend, even as Jesus had insisted on his dependence on the Father." Michael Card, A Fragile Stone
Peter was a man of faith.
He walked on the water.
Peter was a man of passion.
He cut off the ear of a guard who came to arrest Jesus.
Peter was a man of knowledge.
He proclaimed, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Peter was a man of doubt. He took his eyes off Jesus and sank into the water.
Peter was a man who was fragile. He denied Christ three times after He was arrested.
How many times have we walked on the water and felt great about our lives, our spiritual experiences, our health?
How many times have we passionately stood by a friend or stood on a principle?
How many times have we proclaimed that we know Jesus as our Lord and Savior?
How many times have we doubted that God will meet our needs?
How many times have we been fragile?
I have felt as if I have been thrown to the floor and shattered, time after time, but the Potter reaches down, throws away the shards from the vessel and begins making me knew again.
Our God is strong and mighty. He is the Potter and He knows my name.

The Best Social Networking Site

2009-07-16T12:32:00.000-07:00

The Best Social Networking Site

24And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25
I belong to an awesome social networking group. Chances are that many of my readers belong to such a group, even if it is not the one that I belong to. I’m not talking about Facebook, MySpace or any of the other myriad online networking sites. I’m talking about a group that does not even require an Internet connection to participate.
The group I belong to is a church. In my case, I am a member of Midway Church of God. While my network may be small, it is a member of a much larger network called the body of Christ. Many other churches, of all kinds of denominations belong to that network. The only requirement is that they be a true Bible-believing church who believes in one triune God (Father, Son and Holy Ghost) and salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
We are told in Hebrews 10:24-25 to stir up love and good works and not forsake the assembling of ourselves together. A Christian can be a Christian without going to church, but a car can also be a car without gas, water and oil but try to run a car without those things. Try to live a Christian life without going to church and engaging in fellowship with other believers who encourage and exhort you. It’s not easy, is it? After a while, your Christian life runs down and you become useless for Christ, even though you may still be saved. Cars need to have gas, oil and water to run. A Christian needs prayer, Bible study and church to run.
I have been through a number of crises this past year. If it had not been for my network of friends at my church and other churches who have prayed for me and helped me in so many other ways, I could not have made it.
If you do not go to church, you are invited to join us each Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday evening at Midway Church of God. I’m sure that you will be welcome at other churches also. If you do go to church, make sure you’re there (if at all possible) when the doors are open. It’s a social networking site that every one can enjoy.

Same Message, Different Singer

2009-07-14T11:48:00.000-07:00

And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. James 3:6
My brother underwent triple bypass surgery on Monday. The surgery lasted two hours longer than they thought it would because it was not as easy as the doctor had thought it would be. My brother had a lot of inflammation in his heart and they found out he had coronary artery disease, which he probably inherited from my grandfather Gene Bembry. They also thought he would have to go back into surgery later that day, which, thank the Lord, he didn’t.
While speaking with Danny on Tuesday, he told me and my father a lot of things that had hurt him over the years. He told us about some of his classmates hurting him, he talked about things others had said to him over the years that hurt him and he told us about how we had hurt him with words that had gone straight to his heart. He had not been hurt physically. Words had hurt him.
So many times we say things that we don’t really mean to people that we really love. We shouldn’t say things like that to him. We work all day and then go home and grouch at our families. We shouldn’t be grumps at home or at work. We need to learn to control our tongues.
Ernie Dawson, lead singer for the gospel group Heirline, wrote the following words:
Words all their power is real,
They can hurt or they can heal,
Can’t be touched but you can feel,
Words,
there is strength in every one
And when all is said and done
Wars are lost and battles won
With words.
Ernie had been hurt with words as a child. The message in his song and in what Danny told me on Tuesday is the same. We should not use our words as a hammer to hurt others. We should use them to heal and to lift others up.
Job 34:3 tells us: “For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.” If the meat is no good, it makes us sick just as words, which are no good, will also make us sick.
I know that I will have a hard time not using my words as a weapon but I am going to try and bridle my tongue and use it only to uplift others, especially my family and my friends, the people who are most important to me and I am going to try and not hurt anyone else with my tongue. I encourage others to do the same.

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Death Of An Angel And A King

2009-06-26T03:37:00.000-07:00

It’s always sad when someone you grew up with dies. It’s even sad when they are someone you grew up watching on television or you grew up listening to them on the radio.
The first time I saw Farrah Fawcett on Charlie’s Angels, I thought she was the most beautiful woman that I had ever seen. She had stunning blue eyes and masses of gorgeous blonde tresses on a streamlined, tanned body. Beauty fades, however, and Farrah’s beauty also faded due to the ravages of health. I will always remember her as she was when I was 12 or 13 years old.
I don’t remember the first time I saw or heard Michael Jackson. It seems like he was always there. I was never a big fan of Michael, but I was entertained by him. He could possibly be the greatest entertainer of all time. Although I was not a big fan, I would always stop and take a look when one of his videos was on or if he was on TV, doing a moonwalk across the stage. Later, his life was filled with controversy, as he was charged with child molestation. This morning, the Jackson family attorney was on Fox and Friends and he said that Michael had a problem with prescription drugs? Did the “King of Pop” die the same way that Elvis, “the King of Rock and Roll,” died? Was it prescription drugs?
Why has everyone spoken so much of a man whose life was filled with so much controversy? Fox and Friends co-anchor Steve Doocy probably gave the best answer with this short response: “We’re conflicted.” People are, indeed, conflicted over the death of someone they were entertained by but also shocked by.
I don’t know where Farrah or Michael stood with God when they made their crossings. I do know that Michael is no longer “the King of Pop” or any other type of king. I know that Farrah is no longer a “Charlie’s Angel” or any other type of angel. People do not become angels when they go to Heaven. God gave man a free will and men can repent of their sins. Angels cannot.
I hope that Farrah and Michael were ready when death came for them and I pray that their families and friends will be comforted during this trying time.

Slamming The Door In The Face Of God

2009-06-24T11:38:00.001-07:00

“When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.” Charles L. Allen
There have been many times when I’ve wanted to say a situation is hopeless. Many times, and I hate to admit this, I’ve thought that other people are hopeless. Time and time again, I’m so amazed at how God works out things for good.
A look at history shows us seemingly hopeless people and hopeless situations. We don’t remember their hopelessness, however. We remember who they became.
A little boy injured his leg. The leg grows progressively worse. The doctor wants to amputate his leg, but the boy refuses. The doctor tells the boy’s parents that he could die if the boy’s leg is not amputated. The boy begs one of his older brothers to not let the doctor amputate his leg. The brother guards the boy. The parents and his siblings begin a prayer vigil. The next day, the infection begins going away. Soon, the boy is back on his feet and walking. A few years later, he graduates from West Point. Then he becomes a general in the U.S. Army, and the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in World War II. A few years after the war, he becomes President. His name was Dwight David Eisenhower.
One man loses most of his hearing at twelve years old. He blames it on when he was lifted by his ears onto a train. Earlier, teachers had called him “addle-brained” and given up hope on him. Where they saw junk, however, his mother saw treasure. She taught him herself at home and he became one of the greatest inventors of all time. The next time, when you look at a light bulb or watch a movie, think of a little boy teachers thought was stupid and then think of Thomas Edison.
Another boy that people thought was stupid was one of the greatest scientists of all time. “He’s hopeless,” people said, throwing up their hands in despair. Think of the stupid little boy and then think of the man. The man named Albert Einstein.
We need to never say a situation or a person is hopeless. When we do, we slam the door in the face of God. Would you want to be rude to a man who gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem the world from sin?

I'm Loving Losing

2009-05-29T05:15:00.000-07:00

I usually don't like to lose, but lately I've been loving losing. I have lost a little over 13 pounds in the past two weeks. Pray for me that I keep losing weight.

Weight is the only thing that I love losing because I am competitive. I believe that my competitiveness is motivating me to keep losing the weight. I am setting some goals for myself, which may seem farfetched at this point but I know that if I keep striving for them, they can be attained.

Don't laugh but one of my goals is to be able to run a half-marathon by next year. I hope to be able to run a 5K and a 10K before that.

I have been learning how to control my appetite and push away from the table earlier. I've joined Weight Watchers and I have been counting points.

I went to O'Neal's with my family the other day and I will continue to go. I enjoyed a piece of baked chicken (after taking the skin off), some beans, a salad and a little rice. As always, it was delicious but I was able to push away from the food. I was surprised when my sister, Abbie, out-ate me.

The one thing that I will try not to eat anymore at O'Neal's is their ribs and barbecue sauce. I can actually take or leave the ribs, but their barbecue sauce is the food of the angels. I don't know what owner Danny Croft puts in it, but it is delicious. I could sit and drink the stuff, but I will not do it. It's kind of like KFC cole slaw. You can forget the chicken but the slaw is divine.

I have felt better since I have started losing weight and I find myself meeting and beating little challenges (such as not eating Danny Croft's BBQ sauce). It feels good when I get on that scale once a week and see if I have lost anything.

I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13). With Christ on my side, I know I can reach my goals! In the meantime, I will keep on being a loser and losing with pride.

Advice For Graduates

2009-05-25T10:48:00.000-07:00

I have been working on a surprise for two students at my church. One of them has already graduated from high school, thanks to the GED test; the other will graduate next week.
One of the things that my “surprise” consists of is advice that I have learned over the years. Much of the advice has come because of scars, bruises and black eyes (not literally, but figuratively) in the boxing match called life.
My advice for Erika and Cody, both from Suwannee County, as well as for all the graduates this year, includes the following:
*Read the Bible through from cover to cover as often as you can. Please read it at least once. If you have to, you can always find CDs or MP3s with the Bible on them. You can even find audio Bibles on the Internet.
*Always remember that without Jesus Christ, you can’t accomplish anything. You can’t even pray without invoking Jesus’ name because he is the advocate between God the Father and us.
*I can’t stress this enough because it is something I did not do and something that I don’t have a chance to do now. Save some money each time you get paid. Put it aside for a rainy day. Believe me, the rainy days will come. Everything may look bright and sunny now, but the rain’s going to fall at times that you least expect it.
*Please remember to exercise and eat right. Right now, you may be able to eat anything that you want and not gain a pound, In high school, I weighed 165 pounds. You don’t want to be as big as I am right now.
*You can’t change other people no matter how hard you try. That is God’s business. He is the only person who can change hearts.
*Always be kind to others even when it’s hard and it does get so hard at times.
*Hold on tight to your dreams, but this doesn’t mean you always have to have the same dream. If you decide to follow another dream, think it over carefully, and if you decide to follow the new one, go ahead and do it.
*Be proud of your accomplishments (like graduating from high school) but be humble when it comes to things like your looks, your brains, etc. “Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; A stranger, and not your own lips.” (Proverbs 27:2, New American Standard Bible)
Remember, your family is proud of you, your church is proud of you and Jacob is proud of you.

Two Gentleman And A Lady

2009-04-24T04:28:00.000-07:00

Bernard Wilson was a gentleman, no matter what he said about it. He said that he could not be a gentleman because he was only an enlisted man in the military. To be a gentleman, he said, you had to be an officer. Otherwise, you were called a dogface or a GI. That may be how the military saw Bernard Wilson. I saw him as a true gentleman.

I met Bernard Wilson after I began working at the newspaper. He wrote the veterans and military news column for the paper. He would bring it into the office for me to type. While there, he would always speak for a few moments, peppering the conversation with wisdom he had learned in his life as a rear tail gunner during World War II, as a manager for Florida Power, as a city commissioner, as the Veterans Service officer and as a Christian.

One story that still sticks out to me to this day is the one that he told me about the turkey shoots they held while he was growing up in South Georgia. He pointed out that back then, they didn't shoot at a target. They put a bunch of turkeys in a pen and the first one that stuck his neck out got his head blown off. The story stuck with me and serves as an example of how we should be humble. He did later tell me, however, that sometimes you do have to stick your neck out. The second story reminds me of how sometimes you have to make a sacrifice for the good of others. You have to be willing to get your head shot off.

Bernard Wilson was a gentleman until the end when he died last week.

Ruth Hagen was a lady. She was also the fastest typist I believe that I have ever seen. She also had the unique ability to edit as she typed. Last week, when we ran her obituary on the front page, I was tempted to use the headline "World's Greatest Typesetter" passes away.

I have missed Mrs. Ruth since she retired. She had an innate ability to take stuff that had been handed her from off the street and make it flow like Ernest Hemingway or John Steinbeck had written it. She could also interpret Andy Denonn's writing.

Andy, who died years ago, was a bit eccentric but he was great at gathering news. He was not, however, good at writing it in a form that made sense. That was left to others, including Mrs. Ruth who could turn a sow's ear into a silk purse. Andy banged away at the typewriter (he wasn't allowed near computer keyboards) with his two index fingers (and he was almost as fast as Mrs. Ruth, only with a lot fewer correct words per minute) and he would turn it in. When Mrs. Ruth retired, I inherited her duties with Andy's stories. That, however, is not why I missed her. She had a delightful sense of humor and she was not afraid to say what she wanted.

Wilmer Bell was also a gentleman. A friend of my father's and a cousin of my mother (and myself), he was always one who entertained with a story and he always provided fruit from his adopted hometown of Vero Beach each Christmas. He and my father used to run a candy route together and my daddy tells a story of how, while on the candy route, they came up on a dead man, who had left John Hill's bar on 53 South and had been hit by a truck, hauling a load of wood chips to Foley.

Wilmer's death last week affected my father profoundly and, I know, that it had to have affected his close family members even more profoundly.

All three of these people will be missed. Each one had a way of showing in different ways how others should be treated. I believe that each of them did like Jesus and did unto others as they would have done unto them.

Something Special Happened In Madison County

2009-04-22T04:29:00.000-07:00

"I am profitably engaged in reading the Bible. Take all of this Book that you can by reason and the balance by faith, and you will live and die a better man. It is the best Book, which God has given to man." —Abraham Lincoln

Last week, something special happened in Madison. While people were sleeping safely in their beds, it was still happening. While school children were sitting in class, listening to their teachers or reading their books, it still happened. As the floodwaters began to recede, it was happening.

The Word of God was being read aloud in the Four Freedoms Park in Madison for everyone to hear. Sometimes, the words were enjoyable and sometimes they were not so enjoyable. There were promises of blessings and warnings of curses.

Nevertheless, God's Word was read and I believe that Madison County benefited because of it.

Everyone who had a part in the reading of God's Word, from the readers to the organizers to those who handled the sound equipment, my applause goes out to you.

The Bible says: "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11)

Madison County will be blessed by the reading of the Holy Bible during Four Freedoms Week.

If Life Gives You Lemons, Throw Them Out the Backdoor

2009-02-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

I was maybe three years old. My brother, Robert, was maybe two. Rob died when he was three because he had cystic fibrosis.
I have always been the kind of person who has to look at things and analyze them. I have to turn them over and over again in my mind before I accept them. Rob must have been the same way.
We had found a bag of lemons that day in my grandmother’s kitchen. We looked at them. They looked pretty, all small and yellow. Surely, they would fit in our small mouths. We had analyzed them in our minds. We had turned them over in our minds. Now, we would turn them over in our mouths.
Being curious, we bit into the lemons. If my face looked like Rob’s, which I’m pretty sure that it did at the time, we looked just like we had been sucking on lemons.
“Blech!” we said.
One of us decided that we needed to throw them out. We lugged them out on the back porch. We began throwing the lemons out in the yard.
Mama came looking for us and saw us throwing the lemons in the backyard.
“Why are you throwing the lemons out?” she asked.
“They’re spoiled,” I answered, throwing another one in the yard.
“Yeah,” Rob said. “They’re sour.”
To our little toddler minds, just because they tasted sour, we thought they were no good. We didn’t think that anything that tasted so sour could be good.
It’s funny how our tastes change over the years. Nowadays, whenever I go eat at O’Neal’s, my sister Abbie’s favorite restaurant (and one of mine), I have to have lemons in my iced tea. When I go to Pizza Hut, I want lemons in my Diet Pepsi. I like the bitter taste and I can even eat a lemon straight, without making a face. (It’s a secret how I do it, though.)
Have you ever found yourself in a situation that has made your life sour? Perhaps you have found yourself hanging around with the wrong people.
When I say “the wrong people,” I’m not necessarily talking about people who will ask you, or force you, into doing things that are wrong. The wrong people I am referring to may actually be good people. They may be your best friends, but they can cause you trouble if you are around them too much. Perhaps, they’re the kind of people who constantly bring you down. They’re not like Nelly Forbush in South Pacific who proudly sang the song, “I’m a Cockeyed Optimist.” You can look in Webster’s Dictionary and see their photo there when you look up the word pessimist.
I’ve got to be honest. Sure, there are times when I’ve been down and I’ve expressed my feelings to my friends. Most of my friends are kind and will take the time to listen. It’s hard, though, to tell your problems to a person who constantly tells you about their problems. They don’t want to listen to you. They are consumed with their own problems. My best advice to you if you are having a problem that has got you down is to speak to a minister or a person who you know is a Christian or a licensed counselor.
“The wrong people” can also be those who are users. They use us up and then throw us away. We feel burned time and time by them, but we keep returning to our lemons.
In John, Chapter 4, we meet a woman who kept returning to her lemons. Nothing seemed to make her happy. She’d had five husbands, and she now had one at home that wasn’t her husband.
Marriage wasn’t her problem. It was the style of life that she had chosen to live that caused her problems. She met a man that day, however, when she went to the well who would change her life forever.
Jesus sat at Jacob’s Well. The story goes like this:
He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give Me a drink." For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, "How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, "If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, "Give Me a drink,' you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water." The woman said to Him, "Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?" Jesus answered and said to her, "Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life." The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw."
She wanted the water He offered. She wanted her life to change, but there were some other things that Jesus wanted to deal with her about. He told her to go get her husband and bring the husband to her. She said that she didn’t have a husband.
Jesus told the woman He could tell that she was being truthful with Him and that He, who had never seen the woman before, knew that she had been married five times before and that she wasn’t married to her current husband.
The woman threw all of her lemons out the back door that day. Her life changed. I don’t know if she went home and kicked her man out the door, or if she went and told him about Jesus and he repented and married her. I just know that the woman’s life was never the same again.
An interesting thing about the story in John, chapter 4, is that it says that she went to the men in the city. The women there probably had their own lemons that they’d been sucking on and their faces were all perched up with disgust for this woman, because of the lifestyle she had lived. I wonder how they felt when their husbands went home, after they had gone to see Jesus at her behest. I imagine their lives were changed, also.
Have you got a problem that has caused your life to sour? Go, get a lemon, stand on your back porch, pray to God to take that problem away and just hurl that sour lemon as far as you can across the yard.

Word To My Bugalugs

2008-12-02T17:52:00.000-08:00

Word To My Bugalugs

It’s amazing how some words can be turned around and mean something totally different than their intended use.
I have a friend named Adrienne, who I went to high school with. She has lived in Australia for over 20 years. Adrienne and I keep in contact through Facebook, an Internet social networking site. One day, on there, she asked me if I had kept up with a classmate whom she referred to as “bugalug.” She explained to me that “bugalug” was an Australian term of endearment. Curious, I decided to look up the term on Google. My search led me to the Urban Dictionary, which I discovered had the definition of the Australian term, as well as an urban term. Apparently, in street language, a bugalug is a male prostitute. Adrienne’s bugalug, however, was a term of endearment, such as a parent would use for their child.
Slang words confuse me sometimes. It was two years before I found out that the word “homey” did not mean homosexual. I had heard my Latin American friends use the word “esai.” I thought that they were asking me to write essays for their children’s school assignments. It took writing five essays for me to figure that out. (Just kidding!)
Other words with alternative definitions include:
“Hot,” which can mean the temperature is high or that someone is sexy. Another definition is that someone is doing very well on his or her job, such as a baseball player who is hitting well, has a “hot” bat.
“Cool,” which can mean that the temperature is moderate but more towards the cold side than the hot side. It can also mean that a person has appeal or charm.
“Warm,” which can mean that the temperature is moderate but more towards the hot side than the cold side. It can also indicate that a person is nearing the proximity of an object, such as in a guessing game or blindfold game, when you tell someone, “You’re getting warmer.”
“Word” is another word that can mean something different. It can mean the words you see on this page or it can be a message, like Paul Revere had to get word to the minutemen that the British were coming. It can also be used in hip-hop street language, such as “word to your mother!”
Some terms in the Bible also have different definitions than what we would think of today. One word is “corn.” It does not mean maize, what we know as corn in America, but it means the head of a wheat or grain plant. The term “wine” has different meanings in the Bible. One term means an alcoholic beverage; the other means grape juice, basically. Also, when God refers to man in the Bible, he usually refers to mankind, including women, and not just men.
I hope that my readers are all my bugalugs (Adrienne’s Australian term of endearment and not the street vernacular) and that are all enjoying the season, which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

A Table Before Me

2008-10-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

I was having my usual stressful and hectic week. I was headed to work listening to a preaching tape when the guy, who I had never heard of before, said that God had prepared a table for me in the presence of mine enemies.
I seized hold of his message with both hands and my whole heart.
“Yes,” I thought, “God has prepared a table for me in the presence of mine enemies.”
It doesn’t matter what devils of Hell and Earth assail me, I can still sit eating from the smorgasbord of spiritual gifts that God has for me. In the 23rd Psalm, I am told that God has prepared a table for me in the presence of mine enemies.
Earlier in the week, I was made painfully aware of the depths that my enemies will stoop to. Still, God calls me to love them, no matter how bad they mistreat and use me. Still, God has a table set before me in their presence.
I thought that the enemy had won, but, once again, the devil had lied. I have won and they don’t even realize it yet.
It is so amazing what God does for you. The food at His table tastes so good. Come and dine with me.

A House Filled With Company

2008-09-23T07:46:00.000-07:00

My house has been filled with a lot of company lately and I enjoy the buzz and the hubbub of it. When you have company, it makes you feel like your family has expanded.
Family members have been the main source of the company. Sure, my father has had some physical therapists, occupational therapists and home health nurses that have come in but the home is usually filled with family and friends.
This past Saturday, my aunt Kathy visited. She and her son, Jamie, have become frequent supper guests. We enjoy their company. Also on Saturday, my friend Melissa stopped by, as did Coleman Raines, Jr., who brought us some political signs. He and my father enjoyed a little chat about Coleman’s relatives, the Whighams, the Raineses and the Howards.
My sister, Debbie, has been staying with us and she usually has a pot of coffee on or a cold soft drink or tea available for guests.
One day, before it gets too cold, I would love to have a potluck supper and invite my friends, relatives and neighbors. We could all eat outdoors. I would invite some of my friends over to play some music and enjoy the gift of life and music that God has given to each of us.
So many times, I realize that I have been ungrateful for everything that God has given to me. This year, my family and I have encountered numerous health problems. God has tried us and we are coming forth as gold. We continue to face health and financial problems, but God is supplying all of our needs. I have to constantly remind myself that while life might not be good at the moment, God is always good!

Another Career Path

2008-09-09T09:45:00.001-07:00

Although I love my job, I sometimes consider what it would be like if I had chosen another career path and, then, I think, they have many of the same problems I do.
If I had been a policeman, I wouldn’t only have to deal with angry people. I might even have to deal with them shooting at me. I would also have the awesome responsibility of protecting them.
If I had been a teacher, I would sometimes have to deal with angry parents and angry children, plus I would have the awesome responsibility of a child’s life in my hands.
If I had been a minister, I might have to deal with church members getting upset with me. I would also have the awesome responsibility of presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to them each and every service.
If I had been a paramedic or a doctor or a nurse, a person’s life would be in my hands at any give time. I don’t know if I could handle this type of responsibility.
There are responsibilities and stress factors in each and every job there is, whether it is a farmer, a laborer at a plant or a house cleaner.
Maybe I don’t mind my job so much. Sure, I might have to deal with half of the county being angry at me at any given time and half of the county applauding me. Sure, I might have to deal with the tremendous stress of the newspaper business and the tremendous stress I have had to deal with at home and with my own health for the last year. I would rather be working than not working.
My ideal job would be as a bestselling novelist. I’m sure that, even then, I would find plenty to stress me out about.
I salute all the business people, the firefighters, the police men and women, the farmers, the soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen, the school teachers – everyone who has a job and makes America the great land that it is!

Grow Our Local Economy

2008-09-01T19:23:00.000-07:00

Is GOLE really interested in growing our local economy? Why are they putting all their eggs in one basket and calling on liquor to grow the economy. Will downtown Madison look the way that this downtown in this video does? GOLE should try to get things here that will help our economy and not cause more problems!

Ridiculous

2008-09-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

I just heard the most ridiculous thing I heard since a storm knocked down a sign that was allegedly shot in Madison County, Fla. I heard that vice-presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin's daughter was actually the one who gave birth to a Down's syndrome baby instead of Gov. Palin.
The people who are purporting this are sorry left-wing liberal bloggers! I will not even mentioned the name of the blog. They have already gotten national coverage with their accusations!
While it is true that 17-year-old Bristol Palin is five months pregnant and set to marry the father, I think that it's ridiculous that anyone could imagine something so stupid!
We will probably be reading more about the Palins in the National Enquirer and other sleazy tabloids, but the stupid bloggers beat them to making up the lie about Bristol giving birth to the Down's syndrome baby!
What is our world coming to?
Why do they have to attack Palin for anything her family did or did not do? Because they are afraid if they look at her policies, she will outshine them all!

Happy Birthday To Me

2008-09-01T04:38:00.001-07:00

Today is my birthday!

Madison County Liquor Referendum

2008-08-31T19:18:00.000-07:00

My county -- Madison County, Florida -- is considering placing a liquor referendum on the ballot.
Madison County is currently considered a "dry" county. It is one of only five in the state which maintain a dry status. Beer and citrus based wine (or wine coolers) are sold in the county because state law says that they can be sold in any of Florida's 67 counties. Hard liquor and wine cannot be sold.
Proponents of Madison County becoming wet maintain that it will help the economy. I don't really see how that is possible. For Madison County to get $150,000 in sales taxes from liquor being sold, $10 million worth of it will need to be sold through three beverages licenses. Being a rural county, I don't see that happening. That $150,000 would have to be split three ways -- $50K for the new hospital debt retirement, $50K for the new infrastructure debt retirement and $50K for EMS. If a Florida law passes in November, another half-penny will have to go towards funding community colleges throughout the state. That will reduce any income to the hospital, infrastructure and EMS to $37,500 -- if Madison County somehow miraculously gets that much money from the sale of liquor and wine.
If people want Madison County to become wet so that they don't have to drive 15 minutes to get their liquor, they should just say that and not try to fool people with an economic picture that is distorted just so they can pick up votes from people who may think that the picture is correct and think that Madison County will benefit from it.
Another picture that they try to paint is one of Madison County becoming a spot for restaurants that serve liquor and alcohol. They argue that his will help the county. Restaurants do not bring newer money into the county. The money just shifts from one place to another. They then argue that the restaurants will go at the interstate exits. Take a trip across the country, or just down the north Florida I-10 corridor. What kinds of restaurants do you see along the interstate? Fast food restaurants and when you look at the older ones in the area they are hurting because the money has shifted from them to a newer place.
I realize the reason that most people who want the county to become wet are probably those who don't want to have to drive to Valdosta, Ga. or Perry, Fla. to get a fifth of Lord Calvert or some other branded label. They don't care one bit about the economic impact.
I realize that those of us who are opposed to it oppose it because of personal convictions such as our personal relationship with Jesus Christ and because of our legitimate concerns about the youth, the families and the individuals in Madison County. Because of my stance, I have been called "self-righteous," accused of being "holier than thou" and been labeled a hypocrite. Other people who are opposing it are also subject to the same abuse.
We have also been called unpatriotic because of our efforts to keep people from signing the petition and for not signing the petition ourselves. That is our First Amendment right!
The chairman of the group pushing the liquor referendum has sent letters, along with his petitions, which are muddled and confusing. Maybe he is trying to play on the fact about what he thinks of Madison Countians. He basically said that people from Madison County are a "bunch of idiots." This man has made the accusation that two people in Madison County threatened him. He refused to identify them to the sheriff although he told me and other members of the press that the sheriff has their names. The sheriff told me that he was never given the names. Someone else told me that he had identified them as a Baptist and a Methodist. Wow! That only rules out about ten percent of Madison County.
The man's second letter was basically a personal attack against me filled with hysterical inaccuracies. The letter for some reason had a slew of restaurants that he had eaten at on it. Seems like he doesn't like to spend his money in the county.
If the issue gets on the ballot I will be there voting against it. I know that others will vote for it. If it doesn't get on the ballot, I cannot be blamed. I did my job. The others will not have done theirs. Let's just be honest about it and leave the economy out of it!

Dangers of Alcohol

2008-08-30T15:03:00.000-07:00

My county is involved in a debate over whether or not it should remain a dry county. No matter what your position is, watch the following video. Warning: graphic images.

I Have Had It

2008-08-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

Okay, once and for all, I'm TIRED!!!
I have had it with sickness in my family and with myself.
I have had it with people being mad at me because of my job as an editor and reporter at a newspaper!
I have had it because people don't like the editorial stance that I have taken against a liquor referendum!
I have had it with people calling me names behind my back!
I have had it with people calling me names to my face but, at least, they have the guts to call me those names to my face!
I have had it with people calling me at home on my own time to complain!
I have had it with people calling me at work to complain!
I have had it with people who think they know it all!
I have had it with people who act like they know nothing!
I have had it with being sick!
I have had it with being tired!
I have had it with being sick and tired!
I have had it with having to miss work and lose money because of it! I get paid by the hour and if I don't work, I don't get paid. I will have to miss at least parts of five days on my next pay period!
I have had it with not making any more than I do!
I have had it with not having any money!

Mortality

2008-08-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Mortality

As a senior in high school, I was shocked when an underclassman was killed while driving to school.
I was not the only one shocked. The whole school was stunned. We were faced with our own mortality.
I imagine the students at Suwannee High School in neighboring Live Oak felt much of the same shock that my schoolmates and I felt so many years ago.
His name was Chris. I first met Chris when he attended the homecoming at my church last October. He came because his then-girlfriend, Mary Pate, invited him.
From all accounts, from Mary, her parents and Chris’s house parents, he was a super nice guy who never got into trouble despite being a resident at the Florida Sheriff’s Boys Ranch.
Chris was 17 and, like most 17-year-olds, Chris liked to play and, occasionally, show off; after all, he was a teenager.
Chris was doing backflips off the bridge at Suwannee Springs on Friday afternoon, having a friend videotape him with the friend’s digital camera. One of the flips went wrong and Chris drowned.
A memorial service will be held for Chris on Sunday, August 24, at 2 p.m. in the chapel at the Boys Ranch, located at 1813 Cecil Webb Place, in Live Oak.
I know that Mary and her parents were shaken by Chris’s death. I am also sure that Chris’s own family and his fellow students at the Boys Ranch are also hurt. I can tell them that time will help, but it doesn’t necessarily heal. The best thing to do is to remember the good times shared with Chris.
For those who have been struck by the fact that they are mortal, I encourage them to embrace the mortality and, for those who haven’t accepted Christ, to give their hearts to Jesus Christ, who will grant them eternal life in Heaven with Him.

Labor Day Birthday

2008-08-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

When Monday comes, I will be another year older -- Monday night to be more precise, at approximately 9 p.m. Monday will also be Labor Day.
I was born the day before Labor Day, but my mama said that I was born on “labor day.”
I have labored throughout my life. I have worked. I have attended school and college. I have been labored for myself and for others. There are many jobs that I enjoy doing, others I hate doing.
The one thing that I will always love doing, no matter how hard it might be and no matter how much I might seem to hate it at times, is helping my family.
My family needs me and I need them. My father needs me. My brother Danny needs me. My sister Abbie needs me.
Daddy just suffered a broken hip but he does all that he can. Danny has lost all his vision in one eye and has problems with his feet due to his diabetes, yet he works a full-time job and helps around the house, cooking and cleaning. Abbie is mentally challenged, yet she is there to lift our spirits. I have had my own health problems, but I go. I work a full-time job. I get Danny to the eye doctor and to work. I get Daddy to the doctor. When he was doing physical therapy, I visited him every single day. When he was in Gainesville, I visited him almost every day.
I don’t believe that it’s just enough to say that you love someone. I believe that your actions have to back it up. My family and I show our love for each other through our actions.

Sorry I Haven't Posted Lately

2008-07-14T03:48:00.000-07:00

Danny's eye is improving. He has gone back and forth to Tallahasse every week since I last posted. He saw Dr. Ford's partner, Dr. Kenneth Kato, last Thursday. Dr. Kato said there is no infection left in the eye and that he could have the stitches, which have the eye sewed almost completely shut, taken out this Thursday by Dr. Ford.
My cardiologist appointment went well. The only problem is a left bundle branch block.
Thank you all for your prayers.

Latest Update on Danny's Eye

2008-06-14T12:41:00.001-07:00

Dr. Ford told Danny yesterday afternoon (Friday) that he could lose his eye, which will have to be replaced with a prosthesis (glass eye). Danny has lost all vision in the left eye. I still believe that God can and does perform miracles and, if it is His will, He will in this case also. Danny has to go back to Dr. Ford Tuesday morning.

I have an appointment to go to a cardiologist in Gainesville on Wednesday. I hate to keep having to miss work, but Danny is my brother and I have to take care of my health, too, in order to be able to help other family members.

I did get a bit of good news today. My nephew, Ryan, went for an interview at FAMU with the baseball coach there. He said that he will find out Thursday if they offer him a scholarship to the college.

Please continue to remember my whole family in your prayers.

Why?

2008-06-11T19:27:00.000-07:00

I haven't written much lately. I have been posting videos on here. I have a site entitled www.leefloridatv.com that I am trying to get up and running. Go there and visit if you have a chance.
Today, I carried my brother Danny to his ophthalmologist Dr. Jerry Ford in Tallahassee. Dr. Ford sent him to another eye doctor (Dr. Logan Brooks) who discovered that Danny has a severe form of glaucoma. Danny has a better chance of losing his left eye than they do of saving it. Dr. Brooks said that prayer would be the key to saving Danny's eye. Danny has to go back to Dr. Ford tomorrow for a follow-up.
Everything seems to keep happening to my family. I had emergency stomach surgery in March and then threw two blood clots which almost killed me because they got in my lungs. Daddy broke his hip last October. My sister, Abbie, has her own medical problems. But still I believe that God is good and that He will sustain us.
The health problems have been bad and the money situation has been very bleak. I have had to miss work with my health problems and also to help carry Danny to Tallahassee, as well as take Daddy back and forth to the VA Medical Clinic in Lake City. If I don't work, I don't get paid. Still, I know that God is good and He will help us.
I'm exhausted. Everyone in the family is exhausted. Still, I know that God will give us eagles' wings to help us.
God will be there. Please remember my family in your prayers.

Stop Driving Us Crazy

2008-05-21T18:11:00.001-07:00

A video using Christianity to teach safe driving!

Lum and Abner So This is Washington

2008-05-10T17:10:00.001-07:00

One of the great videos to be seen on www.leefloridatv.com. A comedy featuring Lum and Abner going to Washington, D.C.

My Little Margie 206 The Missing Link).avi

2008-05-08T03:39:00.005-07:00

Margie invests in a wrestler whom she dubs the aMissing Link.

My Little Margie 214 Hillbilly Margie.avi

2008-05-08T03:39:00.003-07:00

An Episode of the sitcom My Little Margie

Florida Press Association 2007 Editorial Awards

2008-05-08T03:39:00.001-07:00

I earned the highest honor of my professional career in journalism when I was chosen the Florida Press Association's 2007 Shining Star.

Duck and Cover

2008-05-07T18:33:00.001-07:00

Watch www.leefloridatv.com, streaming at www.mogulus.com/leefloridatv. A classic film that many baby-boomers watched in school and always wondered, will it really help if I duck and cover if we are hit by an atomic bomb. Watch this, other public domain films and TV shows, as well as original entertainment and sports programming at www.leefloridatv.com, streaming at www.mogulus.com/leefloridatv.

Meet the O'Briens

2008-05-07T18:32:00.003-07:00

A broadcast of a pilot episode for a TV show that didn't make it. From 1954.

A Lesson from a Little Cowboy

2008-05-07T18:32:00.001-07:00

A little cowboy who has to put a cow down talks to God about what he had to do.

Back from the Dead -- Part Two

2008-03-27T16:09:00.000-07:00

I would like to thank everyone once again for the prayers, cards, well-wishes, etc. that I received during another stay at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. It sounds melodramatic, but I was actually lurking near death. Thank God for the quick thinking of Dr. Julie Schindler and the actions taken by the staff at TMH.I had developed pulmonary emboli (which I think is a scary doctor term for blood clots) on both sides of my lungs and I have some infarction in my lungs (dead tissue). I have to take blood thinner for the next six months and have my blood checked every week for six months.Doctors also told me that I have a fatty heart and a fatty liver. If I don't have something done soon, it could be critical or even fatal for me.Right now, I don't have insurance and I am looking at a couple of different options -- such as medically needy Medicaid and vocational rehabilitation -- to help me pay for any treatment that I need.I wasn't able to make it to work today (Thursday) because I was so weak. I did work all day yesterday and I am going to try to make it tomorrow.Please continue to remember me, my health needs and my family's financial needs in your prayers. When I'm not able to work, I don't get paid.If you haven't ordered a copy of my book My Life on Rollercoasters yet, I urge you to at http://www.amazon.com/My-Life-Roller-Coasters-Learned/dp/1434830802/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1206658930&sr=8-1Either copy and paste the link into your browser bar or go to Amazon.com and type in "Jacob Bembry" or "My Life on Rollercoasters" and it will take you to the pageThanks for everything, especially the prayers because without God, I could do nothing

2008-03-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Letting People Down

2008-03-11T03:14:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've let people down. I didn't mean to but it happened.
My recent illness and surgery have left me exhausted, tired, bushed, beaten. The time that I've had to miss at work has hurt me, not only financially, but it has hurt me because I feel that I am letting others at work down by my absence. There's work that needs to be done and I know that I can do it.
I had volunteered to do work for others. It had nothing to do with my job and it wasn't church volunteer work, but I know that they were depending on me, but I had to withdraw myself from it because of the exhaustion. Oh boy, I'm getting exhausted talking about being exhausted.
I want to be a blessing and not a stumbling block for others. As slow as I was going, I figured that it was probably best that I pull over and park beside the road and let the rest of the parade pass.
I know that God is in control of all things and He will work things out according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. If I have let anyone down, I pray that Christ Jesus lift them back up.

God's Grace and God's Face

2008-03-10T06:26:00.001-07:00

I wrote the following column for "Jacob's Ladder," my newspaper column in the Madison Enterprise-Recorder (www.greenepublishing.com) while I was bedridden in Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. It is entitled "God's Grace and God's Face":
God’s Grace and God’s Face
I realize that I’ve stayed away from certain things many times, only by the grace of God. The blessings of my life, especially my salvation, are from the generous grace of Jesus Christ. As I lie here in a hospital bed, writing this column, I realize I owe my life to Jesus Christ and to the skillful surgical team at TMH (Tallahassee Memorial Hospital). The comfort I feel here, I owe to God’s grace and the work of the nursing team here at TMH. When I think of all the major trouble I could have gotten into over the many years -- drugs, alcohol, etc. -- I realize I owe that to God’s face. Everyone is created in the image of God. I know that as a Christian, I should set a shining example and not disappoint anyone. The look of disappointment -- on faces that I know are God’s face -- keep me from doing these things. I have stumbled more times than I can count, but I have not fallen, thanks to God’s grace and God’s face.

God Shouted At Me

2008-03-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world." C.S. Lewis
God shouted to me during my recent hospitalization and illness, which I am still recovering from. He seemed to yell, "Jacob, do a better job of taking care of yourself. Lose weight. Eat healthy. Be more careful. Get to the doctor sooner when you are sick."
God almost seemed to shout, "You can't take others' problems on your shoulders all the time. You have a big enough burden to bear. Do what you can but let Me have control."
Finally, God shouted in my pain, "Worship me. Take more time for Bible study and prayer. Worship Me."

Eating Chicken Can Be Painful

2008-03-09T18:43:00.000-07:00

I found out last week what was causing my physical pain. It was not appendicitis, as I had thought, but it was dangerous and almost deadly.
The pain persisted in my right side until I finally went to the emergency room on Sunday afternoon, March 2, 2008. After the doctor examined me and CT scans were run on my stomach, nothing was found. They admitted me to the hospital for observation. The next day, my doctor, Julie Schindler, came in and took one look at me and said, "You're not going anywhere yet" and told me she couldn't send me home. Later that day, she made arrangements with Dr. Eliot Sieloff in Tallahassee to accept me as a patient. As soon as a bed became available at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital, I was transported via ambulance by my friends, Rob Covell and Jimmy Kent, to TMH.
As soon as I arrived at TMH, I was immediately taken into emergency exploratory surgery, where Dr. Sieloff found what had happened and took care of it immediately. It seemed that a chicken bone had gotten stuck in my small intestine and had lodged there, causing an infection. Dr. Sieloff said that one thing that kept the infection from spreading further was a belly button hernia that I have.
God is good and gracious to have spared my life and to have granted me relief from that pain. It was so bad that I could not stand up straight and anytime I moved, it was wrenching.
I thank Dr. Sieloff and all the wonderful nurses at TMH. Most of all, though, I thank God.
I'm so glad to be home now with my family. I thank God for them.

Have I Done Something Wrong?

2008-03-01T16:31:00.000-08:00

I'm hurting.
I am in pain, both physically and emotionally.
The emotional pain is worse than the sharp pain in the lower right quadrant of my abdomen that I fear is caused by a hernia or by appendicitis.
The emotional pain is caused by news I received about an hour ago. My nephew, Ryan, was in a car wreck last week that I only found out about today. My brother-in-law told me about it and told me that my sister had left him for an older man.
My youngest niece expressed her fears of having to choose between her father and her mother.
I know that any emotional pain that I am facing is not as rough as it is in that family, but that family is part of my family and I hurt for them.
I was thinking yesterday that I put so much time and energy into working on things at work, at church, for my family, for different people. I don't spend enough time doing things for God. I don't pay my tithes as often as I should. I don't pray as often as I should. When I do pray, it's a cry of help. It's not cries of praise and worship. I don't read the Bible as often as I should. I don't read Christian books as often as I should. The assistant pastor at my church gave me two books that she had written and had published. One of them is about dealing with pain. I need to read it and, more importantly, I need to read the Bible and pray.
So many times, I have asked myself lately, do things like this happen because I have not been honoring God the way I should.
I ask you to pray for me and to pray for my sister and her family!

My Life on Rollercoasters

2008-03-01T07:27:00.000-08:00

Many moons ago, I went to Disney World for Grad Night and I rode on a rollercoaster for the first time. I was anxious and nervous but not because I was scared of riding on the rollercoaster. I was actually looking forward to the ride. I was anxious and nervous because the girl I was riding with had never ridden a rollercoaster before and she expressed her fear that she might throw up. I had a pair of brand new dress shoes on (I don't know how the dress code is now, but, for Grad Night, guys had to wear a white shirt, a tie and dress shoes). I was worried that my shoes would get messed up and I had to wear those new shoes and not my trusty T,G & Y sneakers for graduation.
I took my first ride on a rollercoaster on Space Mountain. It was a piece of cake. It didn't scare me at all or bother me. At least it didn't bother me until we took the bus ride home. All day, on the bus ride from Lake Buena Vista back to Monticello, my stomach churned and I felt like I would throw up. I didn't care if I did it on the school bus (no charter buses for a poor public school like Jefferson County High) or on my brand new dress shoes, either! Who needed shoes to get gussied up for graduation? Not me. I didn’t care if I wore a pair of rubber boots I had worn to work at the dairy the summer before. I just need relief from the constant churning.
Fast-forward a few moons to 1999. I was at Wild Adventures near Valdosta, Georgia that day with my nephew, Ryan, and my youngest niece, Shannan. I had not ridden a rollercoaster since I had been a teenager. Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain Railroad were the only ones I had ridden in my life. Ryan suggested that we try out the Boomerang. I looked up at the huge monster, towering in the sky. I said, "Okay." Boy, I was about to find out the difference between Space Mountain and the Boomerang. First of all, you ride Space Mountain in the dark. Second of all, it was the light of day and I could perfectly see all those people on the ground below like ants. Third of all, I was more worried about my shoes getting messed up at Disney World but I had since developed a healty fear of heights. Fourth of all, my then 10-year-old nephew had negotiated so we could get seats at the front of the Boomerang and had said, "Well, I guess I've lived long enough. I guess I'm ready to die."
I rode the whole thing at the front, and I managed not to scream - even when the Boomerang stopped with me, riding in the front at the top (and not sure if the thing was broken) and then whipped everyone on board backwards. I knew then why it was called the Boomerang.
I disembarked from the Boomerang with my chest pounding harder than it ever had before. Ryan looked at me and said, "That was fun! Let's do it again!"
"No way!" I screamed back at him.
My life is like a rollercoaster. I have good days and bad days - sometimes on the same day. Life is full of twists and turns and bumps and burns. There are days that I worry about something as minute as getting vomit on my brand new dress shoes and there are days that I have to look up in the sky at a monster of a rollercoaster and say. "What the heck? I'll take a ride."
Through it all, I know that the Holy Spirit goes with me, giving me comfort, even if I'm going through a dark tunnel on Space Mountain or getting whipped backwards on the Boomerang.
Jesus told His disciples of a Comforter who would come and be with them, when he had gone: "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
I have that Comforter with me on the rollercoaster called my life.