Category: Tell It Tuesdays

Confessing Jesus

Hey, come on in. How you been? Great, glad to hear everything’s going well. Come, cop a squat, there’s something I like to share with you.

I want you to imagine you live in a place where you will lose your life if you confess your faith in Jesus. How would you be able to preach the word of God in such an environment? Would you boldly obey Jesus’s command in Mark 16:15? “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Would the fear of losing your life tie your tongue? Or would you confess your love and faith in Jesus? Unfortunately, many of us today, all over the world, including yours truly, are not fully heeding the grand commission that Jesus commands his followers to obey.

It appears, for many, that it is best not to stand too firm for Christ, just blend in – don’t make waves. Oh, we preach, but mostly to other known Christians. Most of us don’t take God’s word out to the unsaved masses that need it most. We are so happy being in our personal, “Holy Huddles,” to bother with Jesus’s great commission. Why are we so negligent when it comes to confessing our faith to the world? Why are we afraid? If we love Jesus, then we should want to tell the whole world about Him. Telling everyone we meet we love Him and put our undying faith in Him. In Matthew 10:32-33, Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.”

How can any of us be willing to lose our life for Christ, when we are not willing to tell the world about Him? I like for you to check out the following video: see a woman willing to lose her life for standing up for God’s word. Please pray for her. Please let her example, and many others like hers, compel each of us to confess our faith in the only savior mankind has. You know His name, our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

Snaggy Tees – The Best T-Shirt Company You’ll Ever Find

Cop-A-Squat has been quiet for a while now, but I’m very excited to present our latest venture.

I present to you all:

Snaggy Tees!

SnaggyTees is our new t-shirt company, and we are dedicated to providing the most interesting, funniest, and most thought-provoking t-shirts to our customers nationwide.

Not only do we hope you love our t-shirts (and we’re sure you will), but we would like you to join us in our plan to become a t-shirt company that doesn’t only provide funny sayings, but makes you think. (It’d also be cool to become as big [or bigger] than the Life is Good brothers.)

Of course, there’s much more to come. We’re currently creating the best quality t-shirts, both in style and comfort.

Come on over, take a look, snag a great deal! We’re happy to welcome you into the SnaggyTees family.

SnaggyTees.com

STEPHEN KING: The Master Time-Waster


life-book-cover-1-21

VS. 

 Stephen King 4

Stephen King

 (Photo Source Unknown)

Stephen King is not a good author. Stephen King is a terrible author. Stephen King is long-winded, repetitive, and most of all, selfish.

When you read a book, you want to enjoy it. Savor it. Learn something new, appreciate life more.

And you know what’s so special about books? They can make you appreciate life more, without taking your life away.

When confronted with a 500, 700, and with Under the Dome, a 1088 page novel, how can you learn to experience life when you spend all of it reading someone else’s novel?

Hey. Maybe I want to spend all my time reading, you say.

What if the novel sucks?

If you read one Stephen King book, you’ve read them all. A crime, some paranormal horror story, sex, murder, drama…then a weak twist at the end that’s supposed to make you feel like you’ve read a good story.

However, I do believe Mr. King can be a talented writer. Among the trash he has offered through the years, only one pearl stands: Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, a story that has not only entertained, but has revealed great insights about life and humanity. Oh, but after the popular, empty pages that carry such names as The Long Walk, The Stand, and Christine, King became an puppet for modern audiences worthless appetites for commercialized “literature.”

But King is not the only one. It’s a trend – a virus – quickly spreading throughout authors today who pump out large amounts of garbage, not taking in account the lives of 90% of their readers: hard-workers who are trying to live their own lives, who wish to enjoy good literature…not lazy words on a page. Too many pages.

People don’t have time or the desire to inflate your already overinflated ego, Mr. King.

Life: As Fragile As Dust is a much better novel than Stephen King will ever write. Tight, powerful prose that gets straight to the point, and leaves an impact more than the bubblegum fiction of most of today’s authors. Do yourself an extreme favor, and read Life: As Fragile As Dust.

Time Travel

In a vast sea of stuff on the web, its really great to find something the whole family can enjoy. My nine year old son loves Angry Birds, so when I found this video I shared it with him and he loved it.

The kid in the clip has done a outstanding job and I hope you and your little ones will find it entertaining.

PSA (Paul’s Service Announcement) SOMEWHERE IN THE DARK

Chances are you won’t even see it coming. Long before you can recoil, it has you. At first you make little of it, and why shouldn’t you? The pain, if any, is mild, so you brush it off as nothing, just a little bite. Big mistake.

Those old shoes tucked away in the back of the closet. That winter coat you put away last summer. Maybe it was when you lay sleeping and felt something crawling over your face. And when you brushed it away…WHAM! “Something bit me!” You turn on the lights, and you see this little guy.

(Photo credit-About.com)

You watch him scurry away. “Stupid spider.” No, not stupid – deadly, very deadly.

In homes these guys seem to favor cardboard. But have been found in dressers, toilets, clothes left lying on the floor, gloves, infrequently used beds, and etc.

(Photo credit eMedicine Health)

Its venom, according to eMedicineHealth, is more potent than that of a rattlesnake in ratio to its size. One bite, if left unattended according to the University of Minnesota, can in rare cases cause LIVER failure. Its bite can destroy tissue at an alarming rate. The following photos are shocking but very real.

(Photos credit- About.com)

In ten days this man’s life changed forever. The symptoms usually develop two to eight hours after a bite.

What should you do if the Brown Recluse bites you? eMedicineHealth advises you take the following step.

GET TO THE DOCTOR RIGHT AWAY!

The home kit pictured contains glue traps and a charcoal power to help soak the venom out of the tissue, thus preventing further damage.

 

(Photo credit: www.brown-recluse.com)

The states in the map below are where the brown recluse makes its home.

(Photo credit BrownRecluseSpider.com)

For our GOOD FRIDAY, inform someone of this dangerous spider. Have you ever encountered a brown recluse or any other deadly species we should be aware of? Tell us in the comments below. And as always, keep your head up and your eyes open.

REX

(Photo courtesy of Apertome)

Ever since I could remember, I hated dogs.  I’m not sure how I felt about them when I was younger, but in my teens, a dog away from me was a good dog.

My mother inherited a dog when I was fourteen.  His named was Rex.  From day one, I hated the dog and he hated me.

He growled every time I passed him on my way out of the house.  And he barked when I returned.  Most nights he slept on the front porch.  Honestly, I think he did that to prevent me from coming in.  Stupid mutt.

The routine – I walked past, he cut his eyes and let out a low growl; I would do the same.  We understood each other.  There would never be any love lost between us.

One night, after two months of this routine, I passed him as he lay curled up on the porch – he didn’t growl.  Nope; he got up, left the porch and began following behind me as I rode away on my bike.

That dog…no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t chase him away.  I threw everything but the kitchen sink at him, he just wouldn’t go home.  So I jumped back on my bike and tried to outrun him.  He was way too fast.

When we got home Rex followed me up the steps and into the house.  I sat down to watch TV; there at my feet lay Rex.

From that night on, everywhere I went, Rex followed.  I soon gave up trying to sneak off without him – he was just too smart.

Every time I rode my bike, it was just me and my buddy, Rex.

One Saturday morning, Rex wasn’t sleeping by the front door or out on the front porch.

“Mama, where’s Rex?”

“He’s on the back porch.”

Sure enough, he was kinda sitting, kinda lying down.

“Come on boy, let’s go.”

He sat for a minute, turned those sad brown eyes at me and slowly crawled under the porch.

I called more times than I can remember, but he just wouldn’t come out.  Maybe he’s tired I thought.  So I let him be.  I rode off with my friends.

When I got home, Rex was still under the porch.

“Mama, Rex won’t come from under the porch.”

My mother’s eyes went soft. “Baby, I think Rex died.”

While I was out riding around, the dog I came to love died.  I will never forget that moment and I will never forget Rex.

For our GOOD FRIDAY, come back and read a heartfelt short story I penned and published for Rex.  For now, tell us your most heartwarming story about your four legged best friend.  And, as always, keep your head up.

I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU

You pursued her with unbridled passion. Your love burned endlessly. With a love only reserved for her you gazed into her eyes, and spoke so reassuringly, “I only have eyes for you.”    In that moment you could have asked for the world, and she would’ve given it. Instead she gave you more-she gave you her heart.

Throughout the advancing years, have you kept your promise? Is she still the only one you have eyes for? 

Job loved his wife so much he made this covenant with God: “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look with lust at a young woman.”

How many men today could make such a pledge? For that fact, how many women? Very few.

Imagine if one stolen lustful glance would blind you for the remainder of your life. I have seen many gorgeous women, but not one is worth my sight. I need my vision. I want to spend the rest of my life gazing on and lusting for my wife.

Truly, it’s a challenge not to let one’s eyes go astray. However, daily, I remind myself that I am an old raisin; what sense does it make for me to try to bundle up with a plump grape?

When I have a sexy, beautiful, mature, experienced, luscious, and intelligent raisin that’s raisin’ our children?

 

Hang with your wife, as you age you’ll be glad you did.

Yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever, I only have eyes for you.

For our GOOD FRIDAY, let’s remind our someone special that we still, after all these years, only have eyes for them. Remember, this is for the young and old alike, male and female-this philosophy starts when you’re young. And come back on Friday and tell us your story in the comments below. And as always – keep your head up.

NO LAUGHING MATTER

Hey, want to see something funny?

However, these pictures are no laughing matter.

(Photos courtesy of Family from Afar)

One of the most effective ways to change this is to get to the root cause. And making huge shoe donations isn’t the answer.

Consider this: “After Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Honduras was flooded with shipments of donated goods. They clogged ports, overwhelmed military transport, and made it nearly impossible for relief agencies to ship in the things they really needed. Those donations did harm, not good. Expired drugs had to be carefully disposed of. Inappropriate donations had to be transported away and discarded. All of this wasted time and money. ” Nobody wants your old shoes: How not to help in Haiti. 

Sometimes the donations aren’t of any real use for the area. As one one-time islander in Honduras explains about the shoes… “I lived through Hurricane Mitch on a little Island called Utila in the Bay Islands of Honduras. So much devastation. The Islanders were quite confused about the container that arrived on a ship to Utila full of high heel shoes. Yes, high heel shoes, the entire container!”  A Day Without Dignity.

Many times our good intentions can cause more harm than good. Donating Shoes and Other Aid Fads. 

However, I know how a charitable heart works and I totally understand the urge to send shoes for these needy children. But let’s find another way to help. As one emergency relief workers states: “Donating stuff instead of money is a serious problem in emergency relief. Only the people on the ground know what’s actually necessary.”

One sure way to offer your assistance is to give to charities that get at the root cause. These impoverished families need programs that fund money to families in search of a better life through education and self-sufficiency.

For our GOOD FRIDAY, let’s help kids all over the world get new shoes. Consider donating money to a local charity or an international one like Childfund International or Compassion International. Both these charities help the child by providing their parents with means to buy goods that are local (including shoes). Come back on Friday and tell us what charity you chose to help. And as always, keep your head up.

Can You Place an Age Limit on Morality?

If we are truly what we eat, then we are exactly what we consume mentally.

Junk food can and does wreck our bodies. But movies and television shows filled with senseless violence or warped messages destroy our minds.

Many parents have taken a stand, refusing to let their young children watch the likes of a  RATED R movie because most of these films lack any real morals.

Bravo! One giant step for parents and one small step the children.

What? Wait – why is it only a small step for children?

Think about it…

Parents (some, not all) don’t let their children watch movies with moral decline – a good aim.  But these same parents have little to no concern watching those movies while their children are only an earshot away in the next room or upstairs.

These youngsters who aren’t permitted to sit and watch useless entertainment many times are subjected to it audibly.

I know, I know. Parents should have and do have the right to watch whatever they want. While true, consider this. You confuse your child when you say, “You’re too young to watch those kinds of movies. Only mommy and daddy are allowed to see these types of movies.”

For a child, that kind of logic is confusing.

The fact of the matter is this:

You can’t place an age limit on morality.

Yes, there are many things that should be left out of the reach of small children. Movies are just one of many that have, of late, got under my skin.

Please don’t take this the wrong way. I’m a parent also struggling to find that ever moving line of decency etched in the sand. One only has to look at the latest fare in movies and see there’s a need to closely examine what we let entertain us and unwilling let poison our children as well as ourselves.

We can make a change. For our GOOD FRIDAY, watch a movie with a child or take your child to one – something that will not only entertain them but will inspire them to new heights. Or check out RandomFilmBuff for good suggestions. On Friday, come back and tell us your experience. And as always, keep your head up.