My Dad had a grumbling song he used to sing. He was a great tease and when we kids would get to complaining about stuff, Dad would sing this. Soon we’d be laughing and all complaints forgotten. Here’s the chorus as I remember it.

Oh, they grumble on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

Grumble on Thursday too.

Grumble on Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Grumble the whole week through.

I loved that song and so when I found this poem, I just could not resist sharing it with you my beloved readers!

The Grumble Family

-Author Unknown

There’s a family nobody likes to meet,

They live; it is said, on Complaining Street,

In the city of Never-are-Satisfied,

The river of Discontent beside.

They growl at that and they growl at this,

Whatever comes there is something amiss;

And whether their station be high or humble,

They are known by the name of Grumble.

The weather is always too hot or cold,

Summer and winter alike they scold;

Nothing goes right with the folks you meet

Down on that gloomy Complaining Street.

They growl at the rain and they growl at the sun,

In fact, their growling is never done.

And if everything pleased them, there isn’t a doubt

They’d growl that they’d nothing to grumble about!

But the strangest thing is that not one of the same

Can be brought to acknowledge his family name,

For never a Grumbler will own that he

Is connected with it at all, you see.

And the worst thing is that if any one stays

Among them too long he will learn their ways,

And before he dreams of the terrible jumble

He’s adopted into the family of Grumble.

So it were wisest to keep our feet

From wandering into Complaining Street;

And never to growl, whatever we do,

Lest we be mistaken for Grumblers, too.

Let us learn to walk with a smile and song,

No matter if things do sometimes go wrong,

And then, be our station high or humble,

We’ll never belong to the family of Grumble!

-The World’s Best-Loved Poems (Harper & Row, Publishers, NY) c.1927 p.156-157

What does murmuring mean? What does complaining mean? What is honesty?   Do you ever excuse your complaint by saying “I’m just telling the truth. I’m just being honest!”

Let’s consider the Children of Israel for a moment. God miraculously delivered them from slavery to Egypt. He opened up the Red Sea and let them cross on dry land and this same sea swallowed up their enemies when they tried to cross the same way. Then what happened? They got hungry. They wanted food. That is normal. We all get hungry and when we do we want to eat, right? So what was wrong with them getting hungry and wanting God to feed them? (Read Exodus 16:2-3)

They didn’t have any faith in their God. They did not understand Who God really is nor did they trust Him to fulfill His Word to them. What if they had gone to Moses and asked him to inquire from God what they were to eat. They needed to know how to provide for their families. How different the story would read. But instead they began a downward spiral.

1. They got hungry.

2. They became irritated that God hadn’t already supplied the need.

3. They became angry that Moses hadn’t gotten food for them. After all it was his job wasn’t it?

4. They became depressed because they couldn’t go out and get a job and they were stuck without food.

5. They wanted to die. Wished they could go back into bondage in Egypt or just die.

How often are we like those children of Israel? We know the Bible says that “God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Sometimes we become like the children of Israel and, instead of trusting God when the food isn’t on the table before the hunger pangs begin, we begin to complain. We begin to wonder why God has forgotten us. We wonder what we are supposed to do. We forget to trust and stand on the promises. Perhaps it isn’t really food that is our problem – perhaps it is a bill that we cannot pay or a healing that has been delayed. We begin to doubt and then problems begin.

One way to stop complaining is to ask God to help us develop thankful hearts. What would happen, if we did? If tears were running down our cheeks, would our heartache be healed if we told Him about our tears (He knows this but we need to express it) and then would choose to thank Him for whatever good He was going to bring to us (Romans 8:28)? God wants us to bring our problems to Him but He wants us to do it with a trusting, thankful heart. He’s a Loving Father and we can call Him Daddy.

THANKS TO GOD

Thanks to God for my Redeemer,

Thanks for all Thou dost provide,

Thanks for times now but a memory,

Thanks for Jesus by my side,

Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,

Thanks for dark and dreary fall,

Thanks for tears by now forgotten,

Thanks for peace within my soul,

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered.

Thanks for what Thou dost deny,

Thanks for storms that I have weathered,

Thanks for all Thou dost supply,

Thanks for pains, and thanks for pleasure,

Thanks for comfort in despair,

Thanks for grace that none can measure,

Thanks for love beyond compare,

Thanks for roses by the wayside,

Thanks for thorns their stems contain,

Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,

Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain,

Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,

Thanks for heavenly peace with Thee,

Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,

Thanks through all eternity.

‑- J. A. Hultman

My Dad had a grumbling song he used to sing. He was a great tease and when we kids would get to complaining about stuff, Dad would sing this. Soon we’d be laughing and all complaints forgotten. Here’s the chorus as I remember it.

Oh, we grumble on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,

Grumble on Thursday too.

Grumble on Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Grumble the whole week through.

I loved that song and so when I found this poem, I just could not resist sharing it with you my beloved readers!

The Grumble Family

-Author Unknown

There’s a family nobody likes to meet,

They live; it is said, on Complaining Street,

In the city of Never-are-Satisfied,

The river of Discontent beside.

They growl at that and they growl at this,

Whatever comes there is something amiss;

And whether their station be high or humble,

They are known by the name of Grumble.

The weather is always too hot or cold,

Summer and winter alike they scold;

Nothing goes right with the folks you meet

Down on that gloomy Complaining Street.

They growl at the rain and they growl at the sun,

In fact, their growling is never done.

And if everything pleased them, there isn’t a doubt

They’d growl that they’d nothing to grumble about!

But the strangest thing is that not one of the same

Can be brought to acknowledge his family name,

For never a Grumbler will own that he

Is connected with it at all, you see.

And the worst thing is that if any one stays

Among them too long he will learn their ways,

And before he dreams of the terrible jumble

He’s adopted into the family of Grumble.

So it were wisest to keep our feet

From wandering into Complaining Street;

And never to growl, whatever we do,

Lest we be mistaken for Grumblers, too.

Let us learn to walk with a smile and song,

No matter if things do sometimes go wrong,

And then, be our station high or humble,

We’ll never belong to the family of Grumble!

-The World’s Best-Loved Poems (Harper & Row, Publishers, NY) c.1927 p.156-157

What does murmuring mean? What does complaining mean? What is honesty? Do you ever excuse your complaint by saying “I’m just telling the truth. I’m just being honest!”

Let’s consider the Children of Israel for a moment. God miraculously delivered them from slavery to Egypt. He opened up the Red Sea and let them cross on dry land and this same sea swallowed up their enemies when they tried to cross the same way. Then what happened? They got hungry. They wanted food. That is normal. We all get hungry and when we do we want to eat, right? So what was wrong with them getting hungry and wanting God to feed them? (Read Exodus 16:2-3)

They didn’t have any faith in their God. They did not understand Who God really is nor did they trust Him to fulfill His Word to them. What if they had gone to Moses and asked him to inquire from God what they were to eat. They needed to know how to provide for their families. How different the story would read. But instead they began a downward spiral.

1. They got hungry.

2. They became irritated that God hadn’t already supplied the need.

3. They became angry that Moses hadn’t gotten food for them. After all it was his job wasn’t it?

4. They became depressed because they couldn’t go out and get a job and they were stuck without food.

5. They wanted to die. Wished they could go back into bondage in Egypt or just die.

How often are we like those children of Israel? We know the Bible says that “God will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Sometimes we become like the children of Israel and, instead of trusting God when the food isn’t on the table before the hunger pangs begin, we begin to complain. We begin to wonder why God has forgotten us. We wonder what we are supposed to do. We forget to trust and stand on the promises. Perhaps it isn’t really food that is our problem – perhaps it is a bill that we cannot pay or a healing that has been delayed. We begin to doubt and then problems begin.

One way to stop complaining is to ask God to help us develop thankful hearts. What would happen, if we did? If tears were running down our cheeks, would our heartache be healed if we told Him about our tears (He knows this but we need to express it) and then would choose to thank Him for whatever good He was going to bring to us (Romans 8:28)? God wants us to bring our problems to Him but He wants us to do it with a trusting, thankful heart. He’s a Loving Father and we can call Him Daddy.

THANKS TO GOD

Thanks to God for my Redeemer,

Thanks for all Thou dost provide,

Thanks for times now but a memory,

Thanks for Jesus by my side,

Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,

Thanks for dark and dreary fall,

Thanks for tears by now forgotten,

Thanks for peace within my soul,

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered.

Thanks for what Thou dost deny,

Thanks for storms that I have weathered,

Thanks for all Thou dost supply,

Thanks for pains, and thanks for pleasure,

Thanks for comfort in despair,

Thanks for grace that none can measure,

Thanks for love beyond compare,

Thanks for roses by the wayside,

Thanks for thorns their stems contain,

Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,

Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain,

Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,

Thanks for heavenly peace with Thee,

Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,

Thanks through all eternity.

‑- J. A. Hultman

We are very conscious of our rights here in America, especially when there is concern that we may be losing some of these hard-earned rights. We certainly enjoy our right to worship God as we see fit and to openly carry our bibles or display the 10 commandments on our front lawn. These rights are here because our forefathers fought and won a hard battle to give them to us. Our nation was built on these principles and we praise God for that.

However, have we become so ‘my-right-conscious’ that we have forgotten some of the teachings of our precious Lord? Do we defend our right to have angry, hurt feelings because we were misunderstood? Do we defend sin in our lives because we have the right to do whatever we want to do? I believe Ginny Price expresses it well in the following quotation.

MY RIGHTS

By Ginny Price

I am hurt … how long will I cherish this hurt? … I remember Your friends were filled with fear and ran away. You stood alone, people struck You and spat at You … They screamed obscenities at You and were filled with hate. Do I have this “right” to feel hurt?

I am angry … I was misunderstood and no one agreed with my viewpoint. …I remember the soldiers mocked You and forced thorns into Your temples…until the blood ran down Your face. Do I have this “right” to enjoy being misunderstood so that I can feel better about my anger?

I am betrayed… and I feel I have a “right” to erect these walls so that others will be STOPPED … from getting close to me for if they remember how they betrayed me somehow these feelings will be justified … Do I have this “right” to enjoy this betrayal? … I remember You gave up all Your “rights” for me so that I might stand before You “forgiven.”

Do I want to defend my “right” to be right … or will I bow before the cross and say with the multitudes of others down thru the ages … “God, be merciful to me a sinner.”

…will I remember the sound of the hammer as my sins were paid for by the blood of my Savior?

… will I remember the hours spent in agony to redeem my soul from the enemy?

…will I remember the sound of the veil as it was rent from top to bottom exposing sinful man … TO HOLY GOD?

…will I remember the great price that was paid as a ransom for me…?

…on bended knee, I give up all my “rights”…

-The Bible Friend, June 2009 p.2

I have taken a short portion of a delightful article which was written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland, Ohio.

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone
8. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
9. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
10. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
11. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
12. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
13. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple
14. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’
15. Forgive everyone everything.
16. What other people think of you is none of your business.
17. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
18. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
19. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
20. Believe in miracles.
21. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
22. Growing old beats the alternative – dying young.
23. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
24. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
25. Yield.
26. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

-end quote

Let’s take a look at a few things that, as children of the Living God, we have the right to do or have. We cannot list them all but here are a few.

We have the right to laugh and sing. The bible tells us we need to laugh (Psalms 126:2). In this verse David says their mouths were filled with laughter and singing. God loves music and loves us to sing praises to Him.

We have the right to experience joy. 1 John 1:4 tells us our joy was the reason John wrote his books. I found 155 verses in the King James Bible that talked about joy. It is important to God that we are filled with His joy.

We also have the right to walk in holiness. Do you enjoy physical self-discipline? We have the right to deny our fleshly desires and do things God’s way! What an adventure!

We have the right to love – to experience and share God’s incredible love! We can enjoy the presence of Almighty God and feel His Love for us. We can love others.

“To know God’s will

Is life’s greatest treasure.

To do God’s will

Is life’s greatest pleasure.”

-Uncle Ben’s Quotebook p.231

“If you search for wisdom as if it were money and hunt for it as if it were hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the LORD and you will find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:4 (GW)

During these days of financial difficulties, many people are trying to find a way to get more money. I love this passage in Proverbs where King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, spoke of finding great treasure.

Let’s suppose that you got hold of a map that you knew absolutely would lead you to unbelievable treasure? You would sell everything to get the money to go find the treasure. What if we truly understood that to search for the wisdom of Almighty God (which is found in His Holy Bible) with this same intensity? What would our life become? What if it were as important as our cell phone?

CELL PHONE VS THE BIBLE

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to our Kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go …hmm…where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing:

Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected,

Because Jesus already paid the bill!

-E-mail

There are a lot of people who have found comfort in the Bible. I know that when I am upset inside, I will get out the Bible and read until there is calmness in my soul. Why is it that so many people have found such comfort in what God calls a Treasure Map? Charles Sandford wrote the following poem:

My Bible and I

By Charles Sandford

We’ve traveled together,

My Bible and I.

Through all kinds of weather

With smile or with sigh.

In sorrow or sunshine,

In tempest or calm—

Its friendship unchanging.

My lamp and my psalm.

We’ve traveled together,

My Bible and I.

When life had grown weary,

And death e’en was nigh.

But all through the darkness

Of mist or of wrong,

I found there a solace,

A prayer, and a song.

So now who shall part us,

My Bible and I?

Shall “isms” or “schisms,”

Or “new lights” who try?

Shall shadow for substance,

Or stone for good bread,

Supplant thy sound wisdom,

Give folly instead?

Ah, no, my dear Bible,

Exponent of light!

Thou sword of the Spirit,

Put error to flight!

And all through life’s journey

Until my last sign,

We’ll travel together –

My Bible and I.

-Poems for sunshine and Shadow, (Back to the Bible Publishers, Lincoln NE) c.1962 p.8

Here’s a cute way to memorize the 10 commandments. What if we all memorized them and followed them? What changes would there be in the news!

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN RHYME

1. Thou no gods shalt have but Me.

2. Before no idol bow the knee.

3. Take not the name of God in vain.

4. Dare not the Sabbath Day profane.

5. Give to thy parents honor due.

6. Take heed that thou no murder do.

7. Abstain from words and deeds unclean.

8. Steal not, for thou by God art seen.

9. Tell no willful lie and love it.

10. What is thy neighbor’s do not covet.

-Uncle Ben’s Quotebook (Harvest House Publishers CA c.1976) p. 56

I liked the following regarding the inspiring book of Jonah! Everyone has heard of Jonah and the whale. Here’s a fresh viewpoint!

THE PEOPLE OF NINEVEH BELIEVED GOD

Jonah 3:5

“This is one of the most remarkable statements in the story. But it never seems to make the impression the whale does. The swallowing of a little man by a big fish is merely a matter of size. The man has only to be small enough and the fish big enough and the job is done. But for that little prophet to walk into New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, London, or any other city and bring that city to repentance and belief in God is some achievement! Why doesn’t the professor get funny about that – which is really the point of the story.”

-Uncle Ben’s Quotebook (Harvest House Publishers CA c.1976) p. 55

BIBLE

A little boy opened the big family bible. He was fascinated as he fingered through the old pages. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible. He picked up the object and looked at it. What he saw was an old leaf that had been pressed in between the pages.

“Mama, look what I found,” the boy called out.

“What have you got there, dear?”

With astonishment in the young boy’s voice, he answered, “I think it’s Adam’s underwear!”

-E-mail

Hopefully, when you open your bible next time, you will find treasure! Perhaps it won’t be a leaf but if you approach it prayerfully, it will be a blessing. Did you hear the expression, “You are the only bible some people ever read?” What kind of version are you writing?

YOUR OWN VERSION

You are writing a Gospel,

A chapter each day,

By deeds that you do,

By words that you say.

Men read what you write,

Whether faithless or true;

Say, what is the Gospel

According to YOU?

-Gilbert

A joke came over the e-mail recently where there were two elderly gentlemen sitting on a park bench having the following conversation.

My wife said “Whatcha doin’ today?”

I said “Nothing.”

She said, “You did that yesterday.”

I said “I wasn’t finished.”

Don’t you just love the freedom we enjoy in America to mock? We can laugh and tease without repercussion. We can make fun of our leaders without fear of being put in jail. There are still things about our beloved nation for which to celebrate.

On the 4^th, we will celebrate the Independence of the United States of America. What hardships our forefathers went through to provide this for us! What triumphant victory when the war was finally won! What a celebration of rockets filling the air with glory of final freedom! Let’s take time this year to give thanks to our Father in Heaven for the freedoms we still enjoy! No matter how shaky our nation may be right now, we have lived up to this point in precious freedom. Let’s pledge allegiance this year to what our flag originally stood for.

I pledge allegiance to the flag,

Of the United States of America

And to the Republic, for which it stands,

One nation under God,

Indivisible, with liberty

And justice for all!

I refuse this day to dwell on the unpleasant and frightening aspects of what our nation is facing but choose to praise God for the mercy He has extended to America these past couple of hundred years. Our precious nation was founding as a Christian nation and I have a document that contains a statement expressing this from every state in the Union. Here are three examples.

Maryland 1776, Preamble

“We, the people of the state of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty…

Alabama 1901, Preamble

“We the people of the State of Alabama, invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God, do ordain and establish the following Constitution.”

Minnesota, 1857, Preamble

“We, the people of the State of Minnesota, grateful to God for our civil and religious liberty, and desiring to perpetuate its blessings:”

Our famous forefathers had some interesting things to say. First let’s look at a quote from Patrick Henry in 1776 where he wrote: “It cannot be emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths have been afforded freedom of worship here.”

On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, “The highest glory of the American Revolution was this: ‘It connected in one indissoluble bond the principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity.”

Calvin Coolidge, our 30^th President of the United States reaffirmed this truth when he wrote, “The foundations of our society and our government rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult to support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be practically universal in our country.”

William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which was used for over 100 years in our public schools with over 125 million copies sold until it was stopped in 1963. President Lincoln called him the “Schoolmaster of the Nation.” Listen to the words of Mr. McGuffey:

“The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are derived our nation, on the character of God, on the great moral Governor of the universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free Institutions. From no source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred Scriptures. From all these extracts from the Bible, I make no apology.”

Let’s also take a few minutes and reflect on the sacrifices our veterans have made in days gone by as well as the brave men and women fighting for freedom today!

Enjoy Your Freedom

Author unknown

I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.
A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease..

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil?
How many mothers’ tears?

How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers’ Graves?
No, freedom isn’t free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still.
I listened to the bugler play

And felt a sudden chill.

I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant ‘Amen,’
When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

Thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington.
No, freedom isn’t free.

Enjoy Your Freedom
& God Bless Our Troops

-E-mail

Jesus said: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

E. Stanley Jones said: “Many live in dread of what is coming. Why should we? The unknown puts adventure into life. It gives us something to sharpen our souls on. The unexpected around the corner gives us a sense of anticipation and surprise. Thank God for the unknown future. If we saw all good things which are coming to us, we would sit down and degenerate. If we saw all the evil things, we would be paralyzed. How merciful God is to lift the curtain on today; and as we get strength today to meet tomorrow, then to lift the curtain on the morrow. He is a considerate God.”

Happy Independence Day