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I recently read this and thought it worth posting. Seeing what is happening in our country just amazes me. A chemistry professor in a large college that had some
exchange students in the class. One day while the
class was in the lab the Prof noticed one young man
(exchange student) who kept rubbing his back, and
stretching as if his back hurt. The professor asked
the young man what was the matter. The student told
him he had a bullet lodged in his back. He had been
shot while fighting communists in his native country
who were trying to overthrow his country's government
and install a new communist government.
In the midst of his story he looked at the professor
and asked a strange question. He asked, 'Do you know
how to catch wild pigs?' The professor thought it was
a joke and asked for the punch line. The young man
said this was no joke.
'You catch wild pigs by finding a suitable place in
the woods and putting corn on the ground. The pigs
find it and begin to come everyday to eat the free
corn. When they are used to coming every day, you put
a fence down one side of the place where they are used
to coming. When they get used to the fence, they
begin to eat the corn again and you put up another
side of the fence. They get used to that and start to
eat again. You continue until you have all four sides
of the fence up with a gate in the last side.
The pigs, who are used to the free corn, start to come
through the gate to eat, you slam the gate on them and
catch the whole herd. Suddenly the wild pigs have
lost their freedom. They run around and around inside
the fence, but they are caught. Soon they go back to
eating the free corn. They are so used to it that
they have forgotten how to forage in the woods for
themselves, so they accept their captivity.
The young man then told the professor that is exactly
what he sees happening to America. The government
keeps pushing us toward socialism and keeps spreading
the free corn out in the form of programs such as
supplemental income, tax credit for unearned income,
tobacco subsidies, dairy subsidies, payments not to
plant crops (CRP), welfare, medicine, drugs, etc. While we continually lose our freedoms - just a little
at a time.
One should always remember: There is no such thing as
a free lunch. A politician will never provide a
service for you cheaper than you can do it yourself.
In this 'very important' election year, listen closely
to what the candidates are promising you.
Remember this quote: "A government big enough to give
you everything you want, is big enough to take away
everything you have."
So I had a friend. This friend was a good friend. This friend always listened to me. This friend I believe truely cared about me. Then I did something stupid. In order to impress or gain favor with a new friend I decided that my old friend wasn't who I thought they were. I shunned my old friend. That made my new friend happy. But it made me sad. Well as time went on I learned things about my new friend that I didn't like. I realized that my old friend was probably right when I was told to be careful. I wish I hadn't done the things I did to my old friend. I wish my old friend would forgive me. I have learned a valuable lesson. I have learned that friendship is more important then anything else in this world. I have friends but I miss my old friend.
I am writing this blog to let everyone know that I am going away. I don't know for how long. But due to circumstances beyond my control I feel it would be best for me to go for a time. With my divorce finally coming to a close and a couple other events in my life I feel that now is the best time to focus on me and things I need to do to become a better person. I have made quite a number of good friends (and a couple enemies) on this site. I appreciate all the good times that we have had. I hope to keep in touch with you all. If you care to contact me here is a couple email addresses. rj_hancock@yahoo.com checkerboy33@hotmail.com I will also stop in from time to time to check messages and comments here. I may pop up randomly on the forums if anything intrests me but I won't be in the chatroom any longer. So Mods you can all breathe a collective sigh of relief that you don't have to worry about good old Checks saying something inappropriate, at least for a while.  Have a great day everyone.
Tags: Goodbye
This one goes out to all the overzealous mods that are out there, and you know who you are.
You are sucking the life out of this site. The chatroom was once a place where you could go and joke around with friends but now I don't know what I am allowed to say because with one mod I will get banned and with another they will laugh with me. I have been banned twice now in two weeks for saying things that no one else found inappropriate.
This used to be a place that I enjoyed coming to but now it is more of a hassle then a place of enjoyment.
Hopefully this all gets worked out because I am tired of trying to figure out which babysitter I have to deal with. P.S. I expect to get flack from this so bring it on.....
What a boring Friday! Where is everyone?
So it has been a while since I posted something.
Yesterday I ran across this quote from Pres. Benson that I thought I would share.
“When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives. Our love of the Lord will govern the claims for our affection, the demands on our time, the interests we pursue, and the order of our priorities”
I have seen this happen in my own life. For those of you that know me, you know I am not the most humble person around. But as I have placed my trust in God I have noticed the things that are important in my life have come to the front. I am continually trying to find more ways to lose the pride I have and become closer to God.
I also read a great blog yesterday that kinda tied into my thinking. In it there were some quotes from Elder Scott about how we need to not focus on why bad things are happening to us but on what we can learn from them.
Those of you that know my struggles will know that I really need to take this advice. I feel like if I can put God first in my life then all those struggles that I really don't need to deal with will fall out of my life and instead I will be able to focus on those things that are more important to me. Thus hopefully making me a more humble person.
So bear with me I am trying.
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My Talk
Posted On 03/16/2008 14:16:44
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Not like anyone will care but I thought I would post my talk I just gave today.
“For some reason we think the Atonement of Christ applies only at the end of mortal life to redemption from the Fall, from spiritual death. It is much more than that. It is an everpresent power to call upon in everyday life. When we are racked or harrowed up or tormented by guilt or burdened with grief, He can heal us.” - Pres. Boyd K. Packer, Apr. Conf. 2001 Who among us has not at some point in our lives or points in my case, been racked or harrowed up or tormented by guilt or burdened with grief? I think many of us forget that the Atonement not only cleanses us from sin, but also can lift us out of the depressions and low moments of our lives. The tragedy is that many of us don’t access this portion of the Atonement. We seem to think that we are meant to suffer. And we are to a degree, because we know that there needs to be opposition in all things. But our loving savior didn’t “take upon him death,” and fill his bowels with mercy just for us to go about our lives not considering what peace He could bring unto us if we would but turn to him. He did these things so that “he may know…how to succor his people according to their infirmities.” Think about that. Our savior knows what it is like to stub a toe. He knows what it is like to lose a loved one. He knows how it feels to be tempted, sometimes even above that which we think we can bear. He knows how it feels to lose a job. He even knows what it is like in my situation. But what do we do? Most of us go about our daily lives, thinking maybe someday things will be better. As a father I do not like to see my children suffer. I know that there are things though that they have to do on their own if they are to grow. But does that mean that I won’t try to ease their suffering in a way that will still help them? I believe that our Heavenly Father feels the same way. Only, He understands all things and even if he can’t fully take away the pain he knows how we feel and can empathize with us and provide what it is that we may need but don’t know we need. I love the word empathy. According to one definition empathy is “Identifying oneself completely with an object or person, sometimes even to the point of responding physically, as when, watching a baseball player swing at a pitch, one feels one's own muscles flex.” Didn’t the Lord respond physically to our suffering when he suffered in Gesthemene? Did he not bleed from every pore? Did he not “tremble because of pain,” and “suffer both body and spirit?” He did these things for us so that he could succor us in our not so shining moments. Elder David A. Bedner, of the Quorum of the Twelve talked about the enabling power of the Atonement, he said: “The enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement helps us to see and to do and to become good in ways that we could never recognize or accomplish with our limited mortal capacity.” I know that there have been times in my own life where I have been strengthened to carry out a task that was for my good that I otherwise wouldn’t have had the strength to do. I have had the opportunity, as most of us have had, to repent of my sins. Those aren’t pleasant times. But the peace that comes from knowing that my savior has suffered these things for me is far greater then the pain of the repentance process. He understands the trials in my life, and he has given me the strength to move forward and not look back. In the Book of Mormon the prophet Jacob teaches us a very important principle of the atonement. He says: “Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.” That is great power. That power is what I believe Elder Bednar was referring to when he said, “the Atonement helps us to … become good in ways that we could never accomplish with our limited mortal capacity.” But the important principle comes in the next verse. "Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things" We are shown our weaknesses so that we may know who it truly is that provides us with that power. If we look at the word grace used in that verse, we can understand more fully how the atonement can empower us in our lives. The Bible Dictionary gives this definition: "The main idea of the word is divine means of help or strength, given through the bounteous mercy and love of Jesus Christ. " . . . It is likewise through the grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the atonement of Jesus Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts" Elder Bednar again teaches us more about grace, this time he refers to grace as the tender mercies of the Lord: “We should not underestimate or overlook the power of the Lord’s tender mercies. The simpleness, the sweetness, and the constancy of the tender mercies of the Lord will do much to fortify and protect us in the troubled times in which we do now and will yet live. “When logic and reason cannot yield adequate understanding about the injustices and inequities of life, when mortal experience and evaluation are insufficient to producea desired outcome, and when it seems that perhaps we are so totally alone, truly we are blessed by the tender mercies of the Lord and made mighty even unto the power of deliverance.” So grace is that extra bit of help that the Lord gives us to put off the natural man. It is that extra strength that he gives to us as we humble ourselves to “make weak things become strong unto us.” It is ultimately grace which will make us “perfect in Christ.” But we also have to expend our own best efforts. What do we need to do to have the enabling power of the Atonement take effect in our lives? I would suggest three things. First we need to have Daily Accountability with the Lord. Being accountable for our actions on a daily basis not only keeps a constant level of communication between us and God, but can actually make us aware of areas in our lives where we need our Lord’s grace to be applied. For myself I do this each morning and evening as I pray and recount my day and the trials that I have faced. Elder Joseph B. Worthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve points out the importance of Daily Accountability: “. . . We can all . . . benefit by looking deep inside our hearts during reverent moments of worship and prayer and asking ourselves this simple question, ‘AmI true?’ “The question becomes more powerfully useful if we are completely honest with our answers and if it motivates us to make repentant course corrections that keep us on the path of faith” As we are accountable to the Lord our capacity to resist sin increases. Second, we need to seek for Personal Revelation in our lives. One way I do this is by taking a scripture or a talk that I have read in the morning and trying to think of it as I go through my day. By doing this I am placing myself just a step above the mundane routines that we generally have to do each day. This keeps my mind in tune with the Spirit so I won’t miss those opportunities to recognize when the Lord is speaking to me. Another thing that I try to do is to express gratitude for the blessings that I have already received. As I express gratitude I know that my capacity to receive guidance will increase. Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve explains very clearly what to do and not do to obtain Personal Revelation: “The Holy Ghost will protect us against being deceived, but to realize that wonderful blessing we must always do the things necessary to retain that Spirit. We must keep the commandments, pray for guidance, and attend church and partake of the sacrament each Sunday.” “We must never take things into our bodies or do things with our bodies that drive away the Spirit of the Lord and leave us without our spiritual protection against deception” Personal Revelation is what will keep us focused on what we need to do to more effectively apply the power of the Atonement in our lives. Finally, we need to commit ourselves to lives of Service. Service is the one sure way we can stop feeling sorry for ourselves and seek to truly help another. When we think about it, the Atonement was the ultimate act of service. If we want that power to be active in our lives shouldn’t we emulate the One who enacted it for us? I often try to slow my life down, so that I am not rushing to and fro. As I do this I am constantly amazed at the opportunities for service that present themselves. I believe that most acts of service are not taken simply because we think we are too busy to do them. President Ezra Taft Benson taught: “Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life” We know that when we are in the service of others we are only in the service of God. Service to others is a great way to turn our lives and wills over to God and allow Him to let the power of the Atonement flow freely unto us. I like to think of my life as a race. It is not important whether I actually win this race. The important thing is that I finish the race. As I go through this race there are going to be potholes along the way. But the effects of the Atonement will help me in two ways. Of course as I trip and fall it is because of the Atonement that I can rise again and continue the race. But not every pothole on this course is going to cause me to stumble. Because the Savior has already run the race and experienced every pothole on the course He can actually help me to avoid those potholes that He knows will cause significant distress in my life. If I will report to him each day, seek for his guidance and serve others as best I can, I will receive the grace that He has promised.
Wow It has been quite a while since I last posted something. Well some of you know why that is. And for those of you who don't I am gonna tell you. See lately you may have noticed, if you know me at all, that I have been more happy then normal. This would be the work of a very awesome woman that I met. She goes by the name of Sleepychick. So you may all thank her for helping me to not be grouchy as much as usual. So if you are a guy and happen to see her in the chat room alone, watch yourself, cause she isn't on the market anymore. Hands off the merchandise! I don't want to have to get mean about it.
Ok so we now return you to your previously scheduled entertainment.
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