Bills blog stop

Pepe's Great Escape!

Today, while we were foraging for a new food supply for our Love Bird, Pepe, we spied some new environmental enhancements for his cage(er, living habitat). An attachable, edible, beak sharpening branch to enhance his hunting and pecking skills and a beautiful red ring the size of a large swing with a bell hanging from it to accompany his visions of swinging in a tree in the jungle! After fighting the strong currents of traffic on the asphalt river to arrive back at camp, I proceeded to “green up” Pepe’s habitat. Well, as soon as I brought one of these strange new objects in through the door, he was having none of this! With wings of steel, he squeezed through as space so small I couldn’t see it without my glasses and off he went into the wild blue(uh, wondrous air spaces) in our house! Sooo… armed with nothing but a couple of soft towels and a non threatening, wooden back scratcher, we set out on a find and capture expedition that should have aired on “Wild Kingdom”! Through sheer strength and maneuvering on our part, we began to wear down the resolve of our adversary! At one point, I had to hit the switch for the overhead fan with the swift dexterity of a gazelle to extricate the fowl winged beast from his perch without flinging him into the wall! After many attempts to cast our nets(ugh, towels) over our ungrateful friend, I guess he just valued his newly found freedom too much, he finally managed to fly into the side of a cliff(wall) and wedged himself between it and a large bookcase! After great thought about our dilemma, we decided to pull one end away from the wall, then I proceeded into the dark recess with my trusty little belt flash light and towel. Much to my chagrin, the little beggar pushed forward behind the next book case! So with great trepidation, I place the towel next to this opening with one hand, and with the other, proceeded to simulate the tremors of a minor quake to the other case! Low and behold, I saw a small red and green streak flash into the towel and voila, I had him! So I transported him to his home and gently extracted him into his own, familiar environment with the new additions and left him to himself to get used to them. I came back a little later hoping to catch him happily swinging on his new swing only to catch him soundly sleeping away, totally oblivious to his new toys! oh well, so much for the great jungle experience!

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Make a Smilebox free ecard

Monday, May 19, 2008

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Sunday, May 18, 2008

A day at the park

Friday, May 9, 2008

Alone in Tokyo HD from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Daily Word by Dr. Jack Graham-Power Point

May 7, 2008

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

--Matthew 7:21

Being a follower of Jesus Christ is a matter of the heart... it's not about following rules or rituals, or being "religious" as some people think.

Of course, it's important to obey the Lord's commands, and by doing so, you demonstrate your love for Him. But God has always been more interested in the state of your heart than what you can do to impress Him.

When your heart is humble and you genuinely seek to serve Him because of your relationship with Him, He is pleased by that.

But He sees right through the façade when a person is simply going through the motions, or doing their "good works" to receive applause from men. This kind of "religion" will never win God's favor.

That's the difference between being a disciple of Jesus and being "religious". Keep your heart engaged with Him and serve Him out of true devotion, and you will bring pleasure to the heart of God.

GOD IS NOT IMPRESSED BY "RELIGION",
BUT BY HEARTFELT DEVOTION TO HIM.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Daruvar on Vimeo By Vedran

Daruvar from Vedran on Vimeo.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Growing in the storms

The Weekly Walk from James MacDonald
Facing Uncertainty
The Weekly Walk

And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save us, Lord; we are perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?" Matthew 8:23-26

Why didn’t somebody tell me earlier in my life that I can’t fix everything? I thought that with due diligence, everything can get resolved. If there were things up ahead that concerned me, I could just make a plan to solve them. In time, I could have it all figured out and then set the automatic “good life” pilot and let it take over.

It’s only more recently that I have grasped that life will never be “together” this side of eternity. It’s hard to accept sometimes that perfect is only for heaven.

There will always be people problems. There will always be financial challenges.

There will always be a home burden, or a crisis of some kind. Every day I live in this world, there will always be some uncertainty ringing my doorbell.

So much for my assumption that if you worked hard enough, eventually everything would be sorted out, categorized, and put neatly on the shelf. I have never gotten to that day and what’s more, I now know it’s never coming.

In Matthew 8:23–24, we land in Jesus’ life on a day that perfectly illustrates the imperfections of human existence. “When he got into the boat, His disciplines followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm.” In the original language, the two words great storm can be translated to mega and seismic. As in, And behold, there arose a mega seismic on the sea, so that the boat was consumed by the waves. It’s worth remembering that this description comes from Matthew, one of the disciples who wasn’t a fisherman. He had the terrified layman’s perspective on this storm!

I have a few questions about that whole scene:

1. Did Jesus not check the Weather Channel? He totally knew that storm was coming yet He led them right into it. Get in the boat, boys. He knowingly took them into harm’s way.

2. Could Jesus have stopped the storm before it started? Sure He could have but He let the storm come.

3. So is it true to say that He wanted the storm? I think we could surmise that He was actually looking forward to how He was going to use the storm in the disciples’ lives.

Let’s get our theology straight. Sometimes Jesus disguises exciting opportunities for personal growth as difficult circumstances. We would choose to avoid trials at all costs, but Jesus sees the bigger picture.

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Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Police State?

Sunday, April 6, 2008

example from V2F video conversion

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Our trip to New Mexico

Don't be fooled by spiritual quicksand!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

More Wilderness Park

Ducks-Wilderness Park from Bill Craven on Vimeo.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Patriotic Tribute to our Military

We need to daily lift our troops up in prayer..

I Can Only Imagine

What will it be like?!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Amazing film from vimeo

The Tramway from Philip Bloom on Vimeo.

Who are you?

clipped from mail.google.com

Humorist Will Rogers said, "So live that you would not mind selling your pet parrot to the town gossip." That is the idea of integrity: having nothing in our lives to be ashamed of. This personal integrity is something we are developing on a daily basis with every thought we think and every action we take. We are either building up character or tearing it down.

What kind of character do you have? Who are you in private? For all practical purposes, that is the real you.

Copyright © 2008 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Man's best friend!

clipped from mail.google.com

Conditional Obedience

My dog practices selective listening. When he doesn't like what I am saying, he acts as though he doesn't understand me. If he is in my room at bedtime and I tell him to leave, he looks at me as if to say, "What?" It's as though his hearing is gone. On the other hand, he can be asleep behind closed doors, and if I go downstairs, open the cupboard, and pull out his leash, he suddenly has supersonic hearing. He is right there at my side.

We can be the same with God. When God tells us to do something we like, we say, "Yes, Lord!" But when He tells us to stop doing something, we say, "God, I think you're cutting out on me. I'm not hearing you clearly."

If God tells you to do something, He says it for good reason, and you need to obey Him. If God says not to do something, He also says it for good reason. Even if you don't understand it, obey Him.

For more relevant and biblical teaching from Pastor Greg Laurie, go to www.harvest.org.

More alike than we thought!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

A Powerful Lesson From ER

Sunday, March 16, 2008

What's On Your Mind?

Greg Laurie Daily Devotions

Friday, March 14, 2008

What's on Your Mind?

" 'So commit yourselves completely to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.' " (Deuteronomy 11:18--19)

People sometimes ask me to sign their Bibles, which is not something I like to do, because I didn't write it. But when someone insists, I usually write this inscription in his or her Bible: "Sin will keep you from this book and this book will keep you from sin."

I have found that sin will always keep you away from the Bible, because the devil wants to keep you out of God's Word. He doesn't care if you read magazines. He doesn't care if you watch television. He doesn't care if you read the latest novel on the bestseller list. He doesn't care if you watch movies. But the minute you pick up the Bible and crack it open, you had better believe that he will try to distract you with everything he has. He doesn't want you to read it.

On the other hand, if you follow what the Bible teaches, it will keep you from sin. That is why we need to know the Bible. That is why we need to study it. While it is a great idea to carry a Bible in your briefcase, pocket, or purse, the best place to carry it is in your heart. Know it well. Fill the memory banks God has given you with Scripture, because the devil will attack you in the realm of your mind. The best defense is a mind that is filled with God's Word.

Copyright © 2008 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.