THE LITTLE RED HEN

Red Hen (and Farmer Obama)

 

The Little Red Hen Once upon a time, on a farm in Virginia, there was a little red hen who scratched about the barnyard until she uncovered quite a few grains of wheat.

 

She called all of her neighbors together and said, ‘If we plant this wheat, we shall have bread to eat. Who will help me plant it?’

 

‘Not I,’ said the cow.

 

‘Not I,’ said the duck.

 

‘Not I,’ said the pig.

 

‘Not I,’ said the goose.

 

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen, and so she did. The wheat grew very tall and ripened into golden grain.

 

‘Who will help me reap my wheat?’ asked the little red hen.

 

‘Not I,’ said the duck.

 

‘Out of my classification,’ said the pig.

 

‘I’d lose my seniority,’ said the cow.

 

‘I’d lose my unemployment compensation,’ said the goose.

 

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen, and so she did.

 

At last it came time to bake the bread.

 

‘Who will help me bake the bread ?’ asked the little red hen.

 

‘That would be overtime for me,’ said the cow.

 

‘I’d lose my welfare benefits,’ said the duck.

 

‘I’m a dropout and never learned how,’ said the pig.

 

‘If I’m to be the only helper, that’s discrimination,’ said the goose.

 

‘Then I will do it by myself,’ said the little red hen.

 

She baked five loaves and held them up for all of her neighbors to see.

 

They wanted some and, in fact, demanded a share. But the little red hen said, ‘No, I shall eat all five loaves.’

 

‘Excess profits!’ cried the cow. (Nancy Pelosi) ‘Capitalist leech!’ screamed the duck.

(Barbara Boxer)

 

‘I demand equal rights!’ yelled the goose.

(Jesse Jackson) The pig just grunted in disdain. (Ted Kennedy)

 

And they all painted ‘Unfair!’ picket signs and marched around and around the little red hen, shouting obscenities.

 

Then the farmer (Obama) came. He said to the little red hen, ‘You must not be so greedy.’

 

‘But I earned the bread,’ said the little red hen.

 

‘Exactly,’ said Barack the farmer. ‘That is what makes our free enterprise system so wonderful. Anyone in the barnyard can earn as much as he wants. But under our modern government regulations, the productive workers must divide the fruits of their labor with those who are lazy and idle.’ And they all lived happily ever after, including the little red hen, who smiled and clucked, ‘I am grateful, for now I truly understand.’ But her neighbors became quite disappointed in her. She never again baked bread because she joined the ‘party’ and got her bread free.

 

And all the Democrats smiled. ‘Fairness’ had been established. Individual initiative had died, but nobody noticed; perhaps no one cared…so long as there was free bread that ‘the rich’ were paying for.

 

EPILOGUE

 

Bill Clinton is getting $12 million for his memoirs.

 

Hillary got $8 million for hers. That’s $20 million for the memories from two people, who for eight years repeatedly testified, under oath that they couldn’t remember anything.

 

IS THIS A GREAT BARNYARD OR WHAT?

 

(Thanks Jim!)

The Attractive Jesus

I happened to be channel surfing last evening and happened upon a clip from the independent film, “Bella”. It is being promoted among Christian circles as a “pro-life” movie, though I have not seen it yet, others say that is not its major thrust. The trailer I watched has a scene it which the staring couple happens upon a blind man sitting on the side walk in New York City with a sign beside him that reads, “God closed my eyes…now I see. The sign alone carries a powerful message…but I digress.

 

The blind man senses the couple’s presence and says, “Today is a beautiful day…right”?

Then without hesitation he says, “Describe it to me.” The young lady responded, “Just an ordinary day in New York City…you know. People rushing back and forth, everybody’s got some where to go, somewhere to be. Nobody cares about nothing. Like a human driven clock…never stops”.

 

The blind man answers, “Oh…wish I could see that.”

 

As I reflected a bit on this brief portion of the movie I was struck with the feeling that her description could fit most any city of size anywhere in the world. Cities filled with people with places to go, people to see and deadlines to meet. Jesus came to a world, although separated by centuries from our own, that had pretty much the same mind set. But it was not long until Jesus not only stood out in the crowd, the crowd had assembled because of Him.

 

What was it that made Jesus so attractive? What was it that set Him apart from the” crowd”, so to speak? Some would say His miracles, others His radical teaching. If I had to choose just one it would be His compassion. Jesus was compassionate about people. He was not just conscious of the people; he was compassionate for the people. In Matthew 14 a multitude of people are following Jesus and the disciples tell Him to send them away to find food. Jesus responds by telling the disciples, “You feed them.” The disciples were conscious of people, Jesus was compassionate for people.

 

In Matthew 19 people are bringing children to Jesus to have Him bless them and the disciples told them not to be a bother to the Lord. But Jesus tells them to allow the children to come to Him and He blessed them. The disciples were conscious of people, Jesus was compassionate toward people.

 

When Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan He taught the lesson that often religious people are conscious of others and their needs, but often are not compassionate about those people and their needs.

 

Maybe one of the reasons that people are not interested in hearing us talk about Jesus is that they have not first seen Jesus in us. The problem with using words when talking about Jesus is a problem of communication. There are at least three messages that may be present in our words: (1) what I intend to say, (2) what I actually say and (3) what others hear. When we act with the compassion of Christ toward others they realize that we are more than just conscious that they exist, we are compassionate about them as well.

 

People who go around coercing people into “decisions” for Christ are not only doing a total disservice to Jesus (IMHO), they are presenting a distorted picture of Jesus. The Jesus that was “attractive” was not some “in your face” sort of teacher when talking to the non-religious. He compassionately touched, healed and met the needs of those who came to Him.

 

I am trying to learn to be more compassionate. I don’t want to just be conscious of people I want to be compassionate about people. I think the longer I hang around Jesus the more that will happen in my life.

Back To The Past?

Historically participants in the Greek games we nude. Watching some of the events of the Olympic Games now in progress I am led to believe that we are trying to go back to that custom. Just one example is the contrast between the male and female beach volleyball players, not to mention the scantly clad cheerleaders on the side lines. Don’t hand me the “comfort” argument, it is all about sex appeal and ratings. It is about filling stands with drooling men. Don’t believe me? How about this…

Table Tennis-Women urged to wear shirts with “curves”

By Simon Rabinovitch

BEIJING, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Table tennis is desperate to attract more viewers and some in the sport believe a simple enough solution exists: get the women to wear skirts and shirts with “curves”.

Half-empty stands for women’s games at the Olympics in China, the country most obsessed with table tennis, reinforce concerns that the sport needs a make-over to shed its fusty image.

Women players mostly wear baggy shorts and shirts unlike their tennis counterparts who dress for comfort as well as style. 

“We are trying to push the players to use skirts and also nicer shirts, not the shirts that are made for men, but ones with more curves,” International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) vice president Claude Bergeret said.

One player, Japan’s Naomi Yotsumoto, has taken matters into her own hands. At the Japanese national championships last year, she played in a daring ensemble of her own design: knee socks, a pleated mini-skirt and a shirt that left one shoulder bare. (Editing by Nick Macfie)

How Big Is Your God?

This is a follow up to yesterday’s post. This second video is mind blowing.  This is the kind of material we need to be sharing with our young people.

I Love Laminin!

I know you are busy, but do yourself a favor and watch this video…you just must see this.

“Gentlemen, this is a football”

“Gentleman, this is a football”, Vintage Vince Lombardi. The quote was all about getting back to basics. And it is true with reference to more than football. Whenever you find yourself floundering…get back to basics. If you are not growing…get back to basics. If you don’t know what to do next…get back to basics.

 

Followers of Christ are in a numerical decline. Even the Baptist are beginning to fess up to their over inflated “membership” numbers and admit that there are many more on the roles than in service to the King. (Read more here). Today there is a greater profession of believe in God and a greater lack of evidence of that faith than at anytime in history. Evangelism has not only become an archaic word that strikes fear in the hearts of Christians, it is no longer practiced as a response to the marching orders of our King. Percentages of those who are involved in pornography, that are getting divorced and that are materialist to excess are about the same for both Christian and Non-Christian alike. Christ followers need to get back to basics. Can I get an Amen?

 

“Ladies and Gentleman, this is a Bible”.

 

Prophets of old along with John on Patmos were told to, “Eat this book” referring to the message that God had given them. Read it, chew on it (meditate), digest it; make it apart of who you are. This is an individual responsibility.

 

As for the assembled church, Bible Classes need to become Bible Study Classes.  Does this sound familiar? A teacher stands up and reads a verse, then asks the class, “What do you think that means?”  And off they go into 30 to 45 minutes of shared ignorance, parroted answers learned by rote and uneducated guesses.  No wonder our kids are leaving the church in greater numbers than ever before.

 

Sincere and genuine Christians are trying to be better Christians and think that the answers will be found in the next great spirtual novel or spiritual self help book. They are fighting a battle with no armor, no weapons and no ammunition. The roaring lion is hot on their trail and they are trying to fight him off with a switch.

 

If you are stubbing, falling over things in the dark and trying to feel your way through life…turn on the light!