Prime the Pump

In 1963, the Kingston Trio recorded a song called “Desert Pete.”  I always liked the theme, and I thought I would share it with you.

Desert Pete

I was travelin' west a Buckskin on my way to a cattle run
'Cross a little cactus desert under a hot blisterin' sun
I was thirsty down to my toenails, stopped to rest me on a stump
But I tell ya I just couldn't believe it when I saw that water pump
I took it to be a mirage at first, it'll fool a thirsty man
Then I saw a note stuck in a bakin' powder can
This pump is old, the note began, but she works so give'er a try
I put a new sucker washer in ‘er, you may find the leather dry

You've got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe

You've got to give of yourself ‘fore you're worthy to receive
Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet
Leave the bottle full for others, thank you kindly, desert Pete

Yeah, you'll have to prime the pump, work that handle like there's a fire

Under that rock you'll find some water I left in a bitters jar
Now there's just enough to prime it with so dont'cha go drinkin' first
You just pour it in and pump like mad, buddy, you'll quench your thirst

You've got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe

You've got to give of yourself ‘fore you're worthy to receive
Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet
Leave the bottle full for others, thank you kindly, desert Pete

Well I found that jar and I tell ya nothin' was ever prettier to my eye

And I was tempted strong to drink it, 'cause that pump looked mighty dry
But the note went on have faith my friend, there's water down below
You've got to give until you get—I'm the one who ought to know

So I poured in the jar and I started pumpin' and I heard a beautiful sound

Of water bubblin' and splashin' up outta that hole in the ground
I took off my shoes and I drunk my fill of that cool refreshing treat
I thank the Lord and thank the pump and I thank old desert Pete

You've got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe

You've got to give of yourself ‘fore you're worthy to receive
Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet
Leave the bottle full for others, thank you kindly, desert Pete
Drink all the water you can hold, wash your face, cool your feet
Leave the bottle full for others, thank you kindly, desert Pete[1]

https://www.lyrics.com/lyric/17353229/The+Kingston+Trio/Desert+Pete

I hope you had a Merry Christmas, and that God richly blessed you.  Jesus promised:

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find;

knock, and it will be opened to you.

"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds,

and to him who knocks it will be opened.

(Matt. 7:7-8 NASB)

---

[1] *Written by: BILLY EDD WHEELER

Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.

Lyrics Licensed & Provided b

On Government and Related Foolishness

Our friends in Washington DC are fighting each other again.  The Democrats say they will never agree to fund a wall along the border with Mexico.  President Trump says he will not sign legislation into law to provide money for the US Government operate on, unless it includes funding to build the wall.  The Democrats are accusing the Republicans of wanting to “shut down” the government.  President Trump says that he will be “proud” to shut down the government if that is what is necessary to provide for the national defense and the safety and security of the American people.

To set the record straight, nobody can shut down the entire United States Government.  Some spending is mandated by law, and it will continue.  Further, the last time the government shut down, during the Obama Administration, NOBODY MISSED IT!

So, what are they all afraid of?  It seems to me that the biggest favor our “elected representatives” could do for us might be to stop passing laws and spending money unnecessarily … even if just for a little while.

Following, you will find a few acerbic, funny, and thought provoking quotes about government:

Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for.

Will Rogers

I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts.

Will Rogers

Giving money and power to government

is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.

P. J. O'Rourke

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time,

and your government when it deserves it.

Mark Twain

Government's first duty is to protect the people, not run their lives.

Ronald Reagan

Government exists to protect us from each other.
Where government has gone beyond its limits
is in deciding to protect us from ourselves.

Ronald Reagan

Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many

for appointment by the corrupt few.

George Bernard Shaw

The philosophy of the school room in one generation

will be the philosophy of government in the next.

Abraham Lincoln

I have embraced crying mothers who have lost their children because our politicians put their personal agendas before the national good. I have no patience for injustice, no tolerance for government incompetence, no sympathy for leaders who fail their citizens.

Donald Trump

The best argument against democracy is

a five-minute conversation with the average voter.

 Winston Churchill

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery.

Winston Churchill

The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money.

Margaret Thatcher

When there is a lack of honor in government,

the morals of the whole people are poisoned.

Herbert Hoover

My brother Bob doesn't want to be in government - he promised Dad he'd go straight.

John F. Kennedy

The story of Detroit's bankruptcy was simple enough: Allow capitalism to grow the city, campaign against income inequality, tax the job creators until they flee, increase government spending in order to boost employment,

promise generous pension plans to keep people voting for failure.

Rinse, wash and repeat.

Ben Shapiro

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Ronald Reagan

In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed;

and in the next place, oblige it to control itself.

Alexander Hamilton

A government that robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. 

George Bernard Shaw

Democracy is a device that insures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. 

George Bernard Shaw

There are a great many other pointed and inspiring quotes to read at:

https://www.brainyquote.com/search_results?q=government

They include the following:

If men were angels, no government would be necessary.

James Madison

We shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be,

we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,

we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,

we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.

Winston Churchill

I recognize the need for government.  I just wish our friends in Washington, DC would focus on what is good for the country and the people, and not on what may help them get reelected and make them rich.

One last message to the US Congress.  Our recent experience with caravans of persons who are trying to enter the country illegally proves the need for a wall at the border with Mexico.  The wall is not about thwarting or resisting Donald Trump.  It is about protecting the United States of America and its people.

Build the Wall!

Crackdown on Churches in China

As I left my home for church today, I may have been observed by my neighbors, and my sister’s neighbors may have seen me pick her up at her house on the way.  We have a pattern of doing this pretty much every Sunday, and from our dress and the time of day it would not be hard to conclude that we were going to worship services.  We did not, however, have cause to fear that someone might report us.

We did not have to fear that our church might be raided because it was not approved by the government, and that the pastor and others might be arrested, cuffed, and taken to jail.  Our church was not shut down because the pastor refused to allow the government to install surveillance cameras in the church.  We didn’t have to fear that the government might use facial recognition technology to identify us as Christians.

We have not been forced to join an underground church that meets in a different location each Sunday, so that we can worship God in the way that we choose.  Our livelihoods have not been threatened because we go to church, and our property has not been destroyed or confiscated.  We have not been threatened or beaten by government sponsored gangs of thugs, and neither have our family members.

We have not been imprisoned or required to do forced labor.  We have not “disappeared.”  We can freely buy Bibles online or at our favorite bookstore.  We can keep religious literature in our homes and distribute it to persons who are willing to accept it.  We can talk about our Lord to those who are willing to listen.

We can vote for candidates who share our views, and petition our elected representatives.  We can run for office.  When we are harassed, as we sometimes are these days, we can avail ourselves of appropriate legal recourse.  When the secular, humanist, progressive politicians, judges and interest groups try to silence us, we have the right to equal justice under the law.

Last week, I received a newsletter from The Voice of the Martyrs, which informed of the escalated level of persecution of religious groups, including Christians, that has been happening recently in China.  This information was corroborated by an article by Samuel Chamberlain on the Fox News Website (12/10/2018).  Mr. Chamberlain based his report, in part, on information from a Texas based group called China Aid.

I thank God for the religious freedom we Americans are blessed with.  Please pray with me for persecuted Christians in China, and in other countries where the persecution is frequently worse.  Voice of the Martyrs provides Bibles to persecuted Christians worldwide, and they help the families of the victims of persecution.  They provide help to local churches in country, and to native born Christians who are witnessing and growing church groups. https://www.persecution.com/

People in China are placing themselves at risk by witnessing for Christ, attending church and/or holding positions of leadership.  We who have the freedom to worship as we choose sometimes do not use that freedom.  I read somewhere that “A freedom not used is a freedom that has been forfeited.”

Nobility of Character

These days, some folks seem to think they are more high-minded, smarter, more talented, or just plain better than others.  Robert Burns, Scotland’s farmer poet, lived from A.D. 1759 to 1796.  However, the power of this poem transcends time, and it rings just as true today.  Please try to wing it a little with the Scotch wording, and apprehend the point of what “The Great Burns” is saying.

"For a’ That," by Robert Burns

Is there for honesty poverty
That hings his head, an' a' that;
The coward slave - we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure an' a' that,
The rank is but the guinea's stamp,
The man's the gowd for a' that.

What though on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin grey, an' a' that?
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man for a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their tinsel show, an' a' that,
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie ca'd a lord,
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
His ribband, star, an' a' that,
The man o' independent mind
He looks an' laughs at a' that.

A price can mak a belted knight,
A marquise, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Gude faith, he maunna fa' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their dignities an' a' that,
The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
(As come it will for a' that,)
That Sense and Worth, o'er a' the earth,
Shall bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
That man to man, the world o'er,
Shall brithers be for a' that.

https://www.poemhunter.com/robert-burns/

Faith

I heard a Christian radio program some years ago in which the Minister told the following joke:

A preacher was fishing on the bank of a river, when the rising water from a flood swept him away.  He was able to swim to a large rock, and he climbed up on it.  However, the water continued to rise, so he prayed for a miracle to rescue him.  A man walking on the edge of the river offered to throw him a rope.  The preacher refused because he was waiting for a miracle instead.  Soon, a boat came along and offered to allow him to come aboard.  Again, he refused saying that he was waiting for miracle.  Finally, a helicopter hovered overhead.  They lowered a ladder and told him to climb to safety.  He refused, vowing to wait for a miracle.  Finally, the floodwaters swept the preacher away and he drowned.  When he arrived in heaven, St. Peter met him at the pearly gates.  When the preacher asked St. Peter why he had not received his miracle, St. Peter replied, “We sent you a rope, a boat, and a helicopter.  What more do you want?”

Often, we fail to recognize God’s gifts when He gives them, because we are striving in our own strength to conjure up enough faith from within ourselves to “make miracles happen.”  If what we ask is consistent with God’s will, he will answer our prayers and give us what he knows is in our long-term best interest.  Our part is to surrender to His will, and to accept what He sends to us.

What is faith?  One way to describe it is a trust and belief in a person, deity, or religious or philosophical system.  Voltaire said, “Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.”

http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=faith&pg=1

The Holy Bible tells us:

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command,

so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.   (Heb. 11:1,3 NIV)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/hebrews/11.html

Some say that they can only believe in what can be rationally and logically explained.  To them, you can only believe what can be supported by hard evidence; by facts.  Reality consists of the things that we learn from mathematics and science.  They think that those who accept things by faith are deluding themselves.  Well, quantum physicists have theorized, based on the speed of atomic particles, that it may be possible for things to be in two places at once and that parallel dimensions may exist in the universe.  Evolutionary theory espouses the transmigration of species.  Freud’s theories of personality, including the Id, Ego, and Superego are still widely accepted.  Did the Big Bang really happen, or is it conjecture?  Is climate change cyclical, or is it a “man-caused disaster?”

Friends, a theory is an unproved speculation about reality.  Yet, many people accept scientific theory as fact when the only basis for it is the speculation of “learned persons” based on scraps of evidence.  Thomas Aquinas said, “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=faith&pg=3

Please don’t take this the wrong way.  I am not saying that logic, reason, and the scientific method are bunk.  I have done research that resulted in inferential conclusions about a sample population based on means (arithmetic averages).  I am not saying that there are no valid arguments for any of the theories listed above.  However, I’m saying that there is more. So much more awaits you in the spiritual realm.

The Apostle Paul said, 

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. (1Cor 1:18 NKJV)

For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom;

but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block

and to the Greeks foolishness,

but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks,

Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men,

and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1Cor 1:22-25 NKJV)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/1-corinthians/1.html

Jesus said:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 NKJV)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/john/3.html

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, Paul teaches us:

 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,

made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—

it is by grace you have been saved.

And God raised us up with Christ

and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,

in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through

faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

not by works, so that no one can boast.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

(Eph 2:4-10 NIV) (emphasis added)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/parallel-bible/passage/?q=ephesians+2&t=nkjv&t2=niv

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

Put on the whole armor of God,

that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities,

against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,

against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Therefore, take up the whole armor of God,

that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,

and having done all, to stand.

Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth,

having put on the breastplate of righteousness,

and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

above all, taking the shield of faith,

with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.

And take the helmet of salvation,

and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;

praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit,
being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—

(Eph 6:10-18 NKJV) (emphasis added)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/ephesians/6.html

Blaise Pascal said, “Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God.”

http://www.brainyquote.com/search_results.html?q=faith&pg=2

  The faith to believe unto salvation is available to you as a free gift from God.  Please accept the gifts of faith and salvation.  Do it now.

Finding It

We all misplace things.  It can be so annoying.  Have you noticed that whether it is the house keys, the TV remote, the cell phone, or a favorite pair of pliers, we always find it in the last place that we looked?

All joking aside, we find what we are looking for in the last place that we looked because, after we find what we want we stop looking.  It is because our wish has been satisfied. 

However, if the thing that we wanted only provides temporary satisfaction, we are often compelled to look for it again and again.  At my stage of life, it is cookies.  Yet, too many cookies make me fat and mess up my blood chemistry.  That seems to be true of the things of this world, which only bring temporary satisfaction.

Our need for earthly things like food, water, and shelter are physiological, in part.  We must have them in sufficient amounts to ensure survival.  When we desire these things in excess, they can be harmful to our health, relationships, and civic duty.

The pursuit of “earthly pleasures” can be destructive to ourselves and others.  Mind altering drugs and alcohol, tobacco, hoarding, and thrill seeking behavior can seem to be very pleasurable at first.  They seem to enhance life.  In excess, they can bring destruction to our careers, family life, and physical health. Even sex, which is a gift from God, can be destructive if it is misused.

The Holy Spirit inspired James to tell us, “The love of this world is enmity toward God.” (Jas. 4:4, 1Jn. 2:15-17)  Human kind is spiritually dead. (Gen. 3: 16-24, Rom. 5:18-19)  In Christ, however, our spirits have intimate personal fellowship with God’s Spirit. (Rom. 8:26-27, Eph. 3:14-19)  The self-destructive pursuit of things is just a symptom of our need to fill that void.  When you hear Christians say that people need God, this is what they are talking about.

Jesus said:

“Whoever drinks of this water (from a well) will thirst again,

but whoever drinks of the water I shall give him will never thirst.

But the water I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water

springing up into everlasting life.” (Jn. 4:13-14 NKJV)

“I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger,

and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”  (Jn. 6:35 NKJV)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

For they shall be filled.”  (Mt. 5:6 NKJV)

Jesus will fill the void within you, that you are trying to fill by indulging in earthly things in excess … without moderation.  Turn to Him and be filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Spirit will take away the desire you have for the things of this world; which lead to destruction.  The Spirit will give you the desire for the things of God and the faith by which you can have them.

The Call

28 … we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love

God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

(Romans 8:28-31 NASB)

God knows everything, and He has known you from the beginning of creation.  He has included in His plan for the ages events that have prepared your heart to hear His call.  Jesus is calling you:

28 "Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.

29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

(Matthew 11:28-30 NASB)

https://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/