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Some Valentine Fun

I just received this today from Dave Ramsey. I wanted to share this with you.

Worst Valentine's Dates
They are the kind of date stories that you’d think would only happen on a bad episode of The Bachelor . Inappropriate or embarrassing comments, bad dinner locations and weird social events—and that’s just for starters.

Jill in Pennsylvania, one of our members, decided to get the party started by asking other members about their worst dates ever. Check out the responses!

Show The Glove
I once went out with a guy who asked me out on a date—TO WATCH HIM SPAR AT THE GYM! —Elizabeth in Ohio

Hairy Situation
I went on a blind date to a diner with this guy. On the surface, he seemed pretty nice. After eating and while we were casually chatting, he looked at me and said a few things which pretty much told me I would never see him again.

One of which was, “Your hair is so long I could tie you up with it.” Bye bye now! —Nancy in Alabama

The Other Team
Some friends I had in college were very actively involved in introducing me to available women they knew.

On one date, I spent the evening doing my best to make a connection with this woman. I thought we hit it off fairly well and said so at the subsequent "review" with my friends that always followed these encounters. Then I found out that her reaction to me was something along the lines of, "He's nice enough, but I really prefer women." —Keith in Michigan

Prom Flop
I went to my prom with the son of my mom's friends. On the 35-mile trip there, the headlights on his car went out, and I spent the trip hanging out of the passenger window, shining a hand-held shop/floodlight on the road. This was after having been to the salon earlier that day.

I pretty much ditched him once we got to the dance and spent a while in the ladies’ room attempting repairs to my dress and hair.

Afterward, a bunch of my friends decided to go out for Chinese. There were a dozen or so of us crammed into a big booth. My date ate a ton, then proceeded to barf right onto the table. You can probably imagine the scene: shrieking girls, freaked-out guys, and my date admitting sheepishly, "I don't like Chinese food."

To put the final blessing on the evening, he then proceeded to get lost getting out of town to take me home. He actually called me the next week and invited me to his prom. I declined.
—Julie in Tennessee

Highs And Lows
I was 24 years old and I asked a friend about a specific guy. She said, "Oh yeah, he's very reliable." So we went out.

While at dinner, he told me he was working on his resume, and he did not know what to do with the four-year gap where he was selling drugs full time. He thought he should say he was in a coma. (When my friend said “very reliable,” she assumed I was inquiring about him as a drug dealer, not a date. I was horrified.)

I should've walked out at that time, but I was young and too polite.

The subject of parents came up, and I mentioned that my father died of lung cancer when I was 21. He laughed at that. I was speechless.

He tried to walk me home. I managed to get rid of him a few blocks from my apartment so he wouldn’t know where I lived. Upon parting, he said to me, "I would love to kiss you goodnight, but I have this crop of sores in my mouth, and until my doctor diagnoses them, I probably should be careful not to spread any germs. How about a makeout session next week?"

Traumatized! —Susan in Ontario

Share Your Victories

I listened (on the radio) with great delight as the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers (sorry Steelers fans). It was so great a victory that I felt I had a part in it. Let me explain.

When we share our victories with others it makes victory that much sweeter. When we overcome a difficult obstacle and share it with others it makes that victory a reality.

At the end of Jacob's life he shares with Joseph the story of how he defeated the Amorites. He tells Joseph in Genesis 48:22 that "I am giving you the one mountain slope that I took from the hand of the Amorites." In actuality he gave him what was given to him by the Lord. Tonight I told my son how God "called" me to serve Him in ministry. I believe that this inspired him to discover what God wants him to do as he grows older.

Let me ask you a question have you shared your victory stories with anyone lately? Your wife or husband, your kids, the neighbor?

Share the victory, you never know what this will inspire in the next generation

Good News

Football and Faith

Every year, in the midst of the hype surrounding the Super Bowl, churches and Christian organizations attempt to remind us that, while sports can be a great diversion, there are other things in life that have lifelong and even eternal impact.

While there are a number of Christian players or coaches on both teams that will be competing on Sunday, there are some who stand out because of either their character and testimony or the causes they choose to support. For example:

Green Bay Packers starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has been nicknamed "Leader of the Pack" by the media, told Baptist Press on Tuesday at Super Bowl XLV Media Day that he only wants to be a leader of God's pack as it relates to influencing others for Christ. "We all have a platform, we all have a message in our lives. I just try to follow Jesus' example, leading by example," said Rodgers.
Packers' kicker Mason Crosby understands that big games are often decided by a last-second touchdown or field goal. "I think He [Christ] helps me knowing that kicking is what I do, not who I am. It's not everything that I am. I can escape [the pressure] knowing that my relationship with Christ is what carries me," said Crosby.
Pittsburgh Steelers team chaplain, Kevin Jordon, who was formerly an assistant to coach Tony Dungy and is associated with Athletes in Action, says he greatly appreciates the support and access given to him by head coach Mike Tomlin. According to Baptist Press, Jordon says he plans to continue his regular schedule of players' and coaches' meetings, Bible study and team chapel while in Dallas.
Steelers coach, Mike Tomlin, the youngest coach ever to coach in and win the Super Bowl, spoke of being "blessed" and "humbled" by his success. When asked about his Christian faith he said, "It provides a confidence, not only for me but for everyone who is a believer. Football is what we do; it's not who we are. It is our job, it is our business. We all are very passionate about it, but [faith] keeps it in perspective."
Many churches, such as First Baptist Church in Dallas, plan to cancel their regular Sunday night services to host Super Bowl parties which will include a Christian-oriented halftime video. "We are not capitulating, but capitalizing on the Super Bowl," said Pastor Robert Jeffress. [Baptist Press, Christian Post]

Planted Firmly

Psalms chapter one extols the virtue of the man (or woman) that walks with God. The Bible says that the one who walks with God is "firmly planted." Let me explain what I mean.

I heard a story of a man that lived his life like he wanted, until he had cancer. From that day on he lived in pain and agony. His wealth couldn't buy him health or freedom from pain. In his last conversation with his brother, he told his brother that he will have to bury him under a shade tree because it was getting hot in the room. The temperature in the room was 70 degrees. He kept repeating that it was getting hot and that he really needed some relief. He died without that relief, as a matter of fact he was being ushered into Hell and began to feel the intense. This man would be planted in the ground and separated from God forever because he chose to deny the gift of eternal life.
Fast forward many years the brother now has contracted cancer and when he was diagnosed with cancer he immediately went to church to make  Jesus the leader of his life and the forgiver of his sins. This man died two years later. He was firmly planted in God's Word and is now in the presence of  Jesus Christ.


It's your choice. Will you be planted firmly in God's Word here on this earth and make Heaven your home? Or will your body be planted 6ft in the ground, and your soul in everlasting torment? Those that are planted firmly in God's Word will be in the presence of Jesus forever.

Some Super Bowl Facts

Super-Sized Super Bowl

It commands the biggest audience, the highest price for television ads, and the seven hours prior to it just for game analysis. Super Bowl time is almost upon us. And when you hear that it's the biggest TV event of the year, that's not a lie. To give you an idea of how huge it has become, here are some fun facts from last year's big game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. A Worldwide Audience The total audience for the game was 106 million people, making it the most watched television event ever. It was broadcast in 232 countries and territories and translated into 34 languages. Got The Munchies? The food numbers for the game were absurd. It would take 222,792 football fields worth of farmland to grow all the corn (eight million pounds of popcorn), potatoes (28 million pounds of potato chips) and avocados (53.5 million pounds) that were eaten during the game. There were also a billion chicken wings eaten and more than 325 million gallons of beer consumed. Also, if you laid all the potato chips eaten during the game end to end, they would circle the earth 11.72 times. Feel The Power About 187,800 Kilowatt/hours of energy were spent at the Super Bowl stadium. Televisions tuned into the game consumed about 10,004,600 Kilowatt/hours of power. For some perspective, that's more than the amount of solar power Kilowatt/hours generated by the United States. Show Me The Money Did you think we wouldn't talk about this? The city hosting the big game typically has about $400 million added to its local economy. But that is dwarfed by the $5.6 billion that consumers spend for Super-Bowl-related items. The cost of a 30-second commercial is well-documented ($2.8 million last year), and there are plenty of new HDTVs on which to watch said commercials (2.9 million units were sold in 2009). Oh, by the way ... it costs $12,500 for Tiffany & Co. to produce the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Hope the winners don't drop it when they hoist it. Source: Tree Hugger

Knowing the Future?

Do we really want to know the future? We say we do, but what we mean is that we want to know the winning lottery number, or who we will marry. We want to know when we will get a better paying job. Truth is we don't want to know the future, just the good part of the future.

We are really not that different from the baker found in Genesis 40:16. He had just heard Joseph give the interpretation for the butler's dream, and he told Joseph his dream. The baker was expecting good news, but instead he got the truth.

As Christians we should not desire to know the future, but rather know the one who holds the future. It is better to have someone walk with us through the next tough time, rather than fearing the inevitable. The Lord wants us to trust Him, no matter what happens. God will be with us, and never leave us alone.

Today I challenge you to give Jesus all of your tomorrows. He has big enough shoulders, and He knows the future.