"NO DOGS IN HEAVEN"

An old man and his dog were walking down a hot, dusty road lined with a beautiful white fence on both sides. As they walked along, the old man and his dog became very thirsty and tired.
Soon, they came to a gate in the fence where, on the other side, they saw a nice grassy, wooded area surrounding a cool clear pool of fresh water. "Just where a thirsty 'huntin' dog and a man would like to rest!" thought the old man. But there was a sign over the gate that read "No Dogs" so they walked on.

Further on, they came upon a man in flowing white robes standing just inside a strong iron gate across a path that led to a beautiful, sunny meadow with a cool clear stream running through it.
"'Scuse me Sir," said the old man, "My dog and I have been on this road all day. Mind if we come in and sit in the shade for awhile?" "Of course!" The man said. "Come on in and rest. You look thirsty and tired." The old man said, "We sure are!" and started through the gate with his dog.
The gatekeeper stopped him. "Sorry, you can come in but your dog can't come with you. "You see, this is Heaven, and dogs aren't allowed here. He has to stay out here on the road." "What kind of Heaven won't allow dogs?" said the old man. "Well, if he can't come in, then I'll stay out here on the road with him. He's been my faithful companion all his life and I won't desert him now."

"Suit yourself," said the gatekeeper, "but I have to warn you, the Devil's on this road and he'll try to sweet talk you into his place. He'll promise you anything, but dogs can't go there either. If you won't leave that dog on the road, you'll spend all Eternity on the road with him. Better if you stay here."

"Well, I'm stayin' with my dog," replied the man and he and the dog walked on. Gradually, the fence became more and more faded and rundown until they finally reached a spot where the boards fell away completely leaving a gap. Another man dressed in old, ragged clothes sat just inside the broken fence under a shady tree.

"Scuse me Sir," said the old man, "My dog and I have been on this road all day. Mind if we come in and sit in the shade for awhile?" "Of course!" The man said. "Come on in and rest. There's some cold water here under the tree. Make yourself comfortable." The old man paused, "but what about my dog? Can he can come in, too? The man up the road said dogs weren't allowed here, and they had to stay on the road." The other man answered, "Well, you look pretty tired and thirsty. Would you come in here and rest if you had to leave that dog?" "No sir!" the old man replied, "A glass of cold water and some shade would be mighty fine right about now but I won't come in if my buddy here can't come too. I didn't go to Heaven because my dog couldn't come with me, so I sure as how ain't about to go to Hell without him neither."

The man smiled and said, "Welcome to Heaven, and bring your dog!" The old man exclaimed, "You mean this is Heaven? And my dog can come with me? Then why did that fellow down the road say they weren't allowed in Heaven?" The man replied, "That was the Devil and he gets all the souls who are willing to give up a life-long companion for small comfort because they think it will make their lives a little easier."

The man continued, "They soon find out their mistake, but, then it's too late. The dogs come here, the fickle people stay there. God wouldn't allow dogs to be banned from Heaven. After all, He created them to be man's companions in life, why would he separate them in death?"

My Bike Ride in Pics

This is where I actually pick up the trail. I begin my ride about 2miles before this at the Kroger store cut across the golf course, through Rivers Bend community and take this connecting trail to the main trail. It's hard to judge the slope of this hill, but I normally hit 30-32 mph, then have to brake hard and turn right onto the main trail.

Not much to say here. Going north from the connector trail to the Lebanon Countryside leg. Click on the pic and you will see the sign says Lebanon "this way", left.

On the Lebanon trail the first thing you come to is the converted old railway bridge over the Little Miami River. Like always, as you can see, traffic is really bad here. :-)....

Approaching the Mason-Morrow Rd intersection.

That's I-71 up ahead. I'm usually cruising along at about 12-14 mph here, which is about average for me. I don't think I'll ever set any speed records, except for going down hill. More on that later......

After passing by the industrial area on Kingsview Rd, I cross what I call Turtle Creek. I don't know if thats the name of the creek or not, but it runs along Turtle Creek Rd. The trail turns left here, and begins an upward slope. Its a killer.

Pictures can't show the grade, but this is about half way up the hill and the beginning of the pain......

...this view is from the top of the hill looking back down. Riding up I average about 3-3.5 mph. Going down I range between 35 and 42. I've tried to beat 42 but physics is not on my side. Too much wind resistance I guess. After work on this ride, at about 1am, I was cruising down this hill at about 35 when a dare devil raccoon crossed my path. I missed him but not by too much. That's the first time I've passed any animal actually on the hill itself. Moving on.....

....Just a nice view. The wind is usually blowing across this high, open area. 50/50 chance it's in your favor......

.......this area is especially nice in late spring when things are blooming and really green......

.. about another mile up the trail there are a lot of fields. On this day, I spotted a wild turkey. He saw me first and was running, fast, toward the brush line. He has a nice beard, it's a little hard to see, but it's there.

...Looking for greener pastures? In this case the grass is definitely greener "over there". How does this view compare with what you normally see on your drive to work...

......I like going down hill....

....the trail has quite a few easy slopes...

...approaching the Countryside YMCA, on the right with the blue awnings....

...just left the trail. This is Deerfield Road looking north. The Y is just behind me on the left. On this stretch you can see that on both sides of the road there is a bike lane. Like any road, traffic depends on the time of day I pass through.

...still looking north, on Deerfield just north of S. East St.

...now north on S. Mechanic St. The houses here are very big, very old, and mostly very pretty. This is a great slope down all the way to South Street. A great time to rest. I'm getting pretty close to work now....

... east bound on South St, passing the Lebanon Railway downtown area of Lebanon....

..the view north from the intersection of South and Broadway. The Lebanon Public Library is on the left, ahead in the center of the picture is the City/Town Hall building. That's pretty much the center of town..... almost to work now....

... this is the rear entry of the department off of Sycamore. The large building on the left is "my" garage where I keep my bike parked. I also let them store the SWAT vehicles and a bunch of other stuff in there....

AND FINALLY, WHAT YOU ALL HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR.......

a picture of the fancy machine that gets me there. It is a Giant brand, Cypress ST. Odometer is from Walmart, the lights from Amazon, the bags are a hodge podge of what was available in the basement. The only accessory that was pricy was the Brooks b66 seat (more on Brooks later). Well, this posting was about as difficult as the actual ride is. Hope you found it interesting. God bless........ k

Need your opinion......

Did you know that people earning less than $10,000 per year buy more lottery tickets than any other income group? Scriptures tell us that get rich quick schemes will lead to poverty (Prov 21:5). Hmmm. It is clear in Scripture that gambling is a sin, that gambling is built on the sin of greed, materialism, irresponsible stewardship and distrust in His provision (to mention a few). I could never out write or out preach what many trusted Biblical scholars have written and or preached on this subject, for a great example of that click here.

I have had this discussion many times before, with brothers and sisters in Christ, and with non believers and I have settled on an answer that suits me (which may very well be v e r y wrong). But anyway, here it is:

Specifically, is it a sin to participate in work place pools such as the 2009 NCAA tournament championship selections, where you pick who you believe will win each game in the first round, to sweet 16 to national champs?

My personal take on this situation is this: Realizing that I am in-fact making my picks and submitting my $5.00 (the amount has no bearing on whether it is right or wrong of course), and may "win" a larger amount of money depending on my selections, I view this as entertainment versus gambling. I differentiate between gambling and entertainment by my motivation. It is not my desire to prosper from entering this pool, but to have fun. I find it fun to watch the games, cheering for the teams I picked and fellowshiping with my co-workers. Do you think what I'm doing is ok? Do you think my take on this situation is in-correct? Am I being deceived by the great deceiver? Or is it; "It's just a basketball pool at work. Pony up your picks and your 5 bucks and have some fun"?

What do you think, and where do you draw the line?.................................................comments,,,

Biking and Spring

If spring is not here, its pretty close. As such, I finally carried the bicycle up from the basement and loaded it up for my ride to work. Here's the routine; check the pressure in the tires, make sure I have my tool bag and spare tube in case of a flat on the way, check the weather and dress accordingly (I can handle anything above freezing with out too much trouble. Below freezing with a wind and things get pretty cold), pack a lunch and put it in the trunk (the bag on the back), make sure my light battery is charged and in it's holder on the frame, and, make sure I have a water bottle also in a holder on the frame. I load the bike in the back of the truck and drive to Kroger where I can leave it parked in a relatively safe, well lit area for the night.

From Kroger I cut through the Rivers Bend Golf Course, where I sometimes get yelled at by rich old crabby men about the cart path not being a bike path,,,, like i don't know that. Sorry for the inconvenience gentlemen, but it takes me about 3 minutes to ride from the green of one hole to the tee of the previous hole. Geez. And besides, I'm helping to save the planet so their precious course can stay green :-).

Once off the cart path, I cut through the Rivers Bend community. One of the cul-du-sac streets connects with the Little Miami Scenic Trail which I ride for about a half a mile where it connects with the Lebanon Countryside Trail. From there I ride north, cross the Little Miami river and continue peddling all the way to the YMCA where I leave the trail and ride through mostly residential areas into Lebanon to work. It is about 9 miles from the Kroger to the department and though I sometimes get tired of the same scenery, it really does beat dealing with the idiots on the road. Having said that, the really big draw back to riding to work is,,,,,, yep, riding home after work.

I'm currently working the afternoon shift, 1600-0000. This is why it's imperative my headlight battery is fully charged and functioning (I use a Nightpro Kamikaze 2 lamp system which works perfectly for my needs). Riding home on the trail between midnight and 0100 is DARK. It's really cool though. Last night I passed at least a dozen deer, one stubborn opossum and a rabbit who actually tried to t-bone me (for real, maybe he was drunk).

I'm planning to take my camera with me and take some pictures of my journey, or maybe even a video someday. Anyway, I'll share some more about my bike, equipment, etc as time permits.

Hava great day.

phil 4;6

The Doctrine of Election

I recently had a discussion with a friend and sister in Christ about the doctrine of election. I was trying hard to remember what I had learned about this subject some years ago when I first became aware of it, and learned that it was a topic of much debate among many Christians and especially among seminary students. Tom (my pastor) explained it to me and the Sunday school class I was in, then followed his explanation by saying that while many feverishly debate the subject, getting red faced and angry, he is contented knowing that we are saved by faith, and that it is obviously not the will of God that all of his children understand every aspect of His word. If it were, we would, and, obviously, we don't.

Having said that, and having had that discussion with my friend, I set out to relocate John MacArthur's explanation of this doctrine. I have grown to Love John and trust his teaching, verse by verse of the Scriptures. Here is a link to John MacArthur's explanation of this doctrine entitled; Is the Doctrine of Election Biblical? Take your time reading though his explaination, consider what he says along with what what you've been taught thus far and see what you think. My friend and I agree that "saved is saved" and the rest is just stuff to talk about. I suspect that when we arrive in heaven we will be made aware of so much truth that we will be constantly saying "Ohhhhhhhhhh! I get it now!!".

God bless you all.

A hodge-podge of mixed thoughts today

"Discernment is not simply a matter of telling the difference between what is right and wrong; rather it is the difference between right and almost right." -Charles Spurgeon

I never thought of it that way. I've always thought of discernment as being able to judge between right and wrong. In fact, as I grow older, judging between right and wrong gets easier and easier. It's the "almost" stuff that is tough. Or standing at the fork and trying to decide between 2 or more paths. From the perspective of standing at the fork, each path can look very much like the next and based on your experience, counsel from a trusted brother or sister in Christ, prayer and seeking His guidance in the scriptures, discerning the correct path to take can still be extraordinarily difficult. Not that you cannot do both, but I sometimes wonder if I should pray more for discernment than for wisdom. Your thoughts??
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Reputation= what others think of us; favorable repute; good name.

Character= moral or ethical quality; [more importantly] what God and angels know to be true of us.

By comparison, developing a good reputation is easy! Just a thought.
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THE BIBLE;
This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners and the happiness of believers.

Its doctrine is holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be saved and practice it to be holy.

It contains light to direct you, food to support you and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword and the Christian's character. Here, heaven is open and the gates of hell are disclosed.

Christ is the grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart and guide the feet.

Read it slowly, frequently and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, health to the soul, and a river of pleasure. It is given to you here in this life, will be opened at the judgement and is established forever.

It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and condemn all who trifle with its contents. BIBLE = Book Without Peer. Introduction, MacArthur Study Bible.
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Prov 15;33 Prov 18;12 } "Humility precedes honor". First humility, then, honor.

Father in heaven, I love you. Thank you for your blessings, mercy and grace.

Some fun pics of our last vacation