Ephesians 1:22-23 (NLT) – “God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.”

The Lord is in the midst of the church. In fact, the local church is His body on earth. Do you realize one important way believers show their love & appreciation for the Lord is by how much value they place on His local church?

We declare our love & appreciation for people and things in a lot of different ways. Here are a few for your consideration:

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I have a couple of photos to share with you. The first one is proof for the people out there who like to think that pastors are born old and don’t know anything about being young. Yes, that handsome young man between 18 & 19 years old is me. You can stop laughing now. Seriously, stop laughing!

The other photo is of a 1974 Ford Pinto. It’s not the actual car that I owned, but I wanted you to see a photo of it. If you keep reading, it will all make sense. Well maybe .

More important than the young man in the photo with the Mustang is the car! That was my brand new 1971 Mustang Mach I. It was my pride and joy. It took my dear sweet mother quite a while to convince my father to co-sign the loan so I could buy that car. I hand-washed and dried it off every day after clocking out from the railroad at 7 a.m. Even though people still think that they are defined by the toys they own, I think it may have been even more so back in the day.

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August 3, 2010

There is a growing body of research demonstrating the academic success of homeschoolers. The most recent major study is the Progress Report 2009, which surveyed over 11,000 homeschooled students, and showed homeschoolers K–12 scoring an average 37 percentile points above the national average on standardized achievement tests. However, as the homeschool movement has grown—by 7% per year for each of the past 10 years according to the National Center for Education Statistics—there has been little research on the academic performance of homeschoolers once they reach college.

It is well known, however, that for the past decade colleges have actively recruited homeschool students. This was not always the case. As recently as the late 1990s many colleges were having difficulty assessing the suitability of homeschool applicants. It was in the late 90s that HSLDA began working with colleges in earnest to help them accurately evaluate homeschooled students. We showed that using a combination of SAT and ACT scores, as well as portfolios of work, and letters of reference, a college could make an informed decision about whether a homeschooled applicant would be a good candidate for a degree program.

The main reason colleges were willing to be flexible is that homeschoolers were shown to be accustomed to self-directed and independent learning. Not only did colleges see that homeschoolers were self-motivated, but they also saw that homeschoolers were high academic achievers. Today, the overwhelming majority of colleges either have a homeschool admissions officer or a homeschooled admissions policy. Roughly a decade later, and with greater numbers of homeschoolers entering college, it was only a matter of time before research was conducted on homeschool academic performance in college.

Therefore, it was with great interest that we read the new study—Exploring Academic Outcomes of Homeschooled Students, by Michael F. Cogan—which shows homeschoolers succeeding in college.

The study was based on a medium sized college located in the upper Midwest. The school has . . .

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I received this special spelling lesson in the email and thought I would share with you. You know, we’re never too old to learn how to spell correctly.

1. The last four letters in American -I Can

2. The last four letters in Republican -I Can

3. The last four letters in Democrats -Rats

That’s the end of the lesson. The test will follow in November. Don’t forget that November has been set aside as “Rodent Extermination Month.” Be sure you do your part to get rid of as many “RATS” as possible in Washington, D.C.

Michael Farmer

Received this joke from my friend, Ron Beasley, by email. I’m not sure where Ron got it from or who the author is. However, I loved it and decided to share it with you. It’s a bit of humor with a lot of truth, all rolled into one cute joke.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A woman applying for a job in a Florida lemon grove seemed to be far too qualified for the job.

The foreman frowned and said, “I have to ask you this: “Have you had any actual experience in picking lemons?”

“Well, as a matter of fact, I have! “I’ve been divorced three times, owned 2 Chryslers, and I voted for Obama.”

Michael Farmer

“Something About That Name”
By Cal Thomas ~ Tribune Media Services

January 7, 2010

The secular left – and some self-described Christians – criticize Brit Hume, the Fox News commentator, for suggesting that the solution to Tiger Woods’ problems is a relationship with Jesus Christ. Hume made his remarks on “Fox News Sunday.” Disclosure: I also appear on Fox News.
Hume said, “My message to Tiger would be: Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.”

That is a message shared for 2,000 years by those who follow Jesus of Nazareth. It apparently continues to escape the secular left that Christians feel compelled to share their faith out of gratitude for what Jesus has done for them (dying in their place on a cross and offering a new life to those who repent and receive Him as savior). In a day when some extremists employ violence to advance their religion, it is curious that many would save their criticism for a truly peace-bringing message such as the one broadcast by Brit Hume.

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By: Ian Slatter, Director of Media Relations

Each year, the homeschool movement graduates at least 100,000 students. Due to the fact that both the United States government and homeschool advocates agree that homeschooling has been growing at around 7% per annum for the past decade, it is not surprising that homeschooling is gaining increased attention. Consequently, many people have been asking questions about homeschooling, usually with a focus on either the academic or social abilities of homeschool graduates. As an organization advocating on behalf of homeschoolers, Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) long ago committed itself to demonstrating that homeschooling should be viewed as a mainstream educational alternative. We strongly believe that homeschooling is a thriving education movement capable of producing millions of academically and socially able students who will have a tremendously positive effect on society. Despite much resistance from outside the homeschool movement, whether from teachers unions, politicians, school administrators, judges, social service workers, or even family members, over the past few decades homeschoolers have slowly but surely won acceptance as a mainstream education alternative. This has been due in part to the commissioning of research which demonstrates the academic success of the average homeschooler. The last piece of major research looking at homeschool academic achievement was completed in 1998 by Dr. Lawrence Rudner. Rudner, a professor at the ERIC Clearinghouse, which is part of the University of Maryland, surveyed over 20,000 homeschooled students. His study, titled Home Schooling Works, discovered that homeschoolers (on average) scored about 30 percentile points higher than the national average on standardized achievement tests. This research and several other studies supporting the claims of homeschoolers have helped the homeschool cause tremendously. Today, you would be hard pressed to find an opponent of homeschooling who says that homeschoolers, on average, are poor academic achievers. There is one problem, however. Rudner’s research was conducted over a decade ago. Without another look at the level of academic achievement among homeschooled students, critics could begin to say that research on homeschool achievement is outdated and no longer relevant. Recognizing this problem, HSLDA commissioned Dr. Brian Ray, an internationally recognized scholar and president of the non-profit National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), to collect data for the 2007-08 academic year for a new study which would build upon 25 years of homeschool academic scholarship conducted by Ray himself, Rudner, and many others. Drawing from 15 independent testing services, the Progress Report 2009: Homeschool Academic Achievement and Demographics included 11,739 homeschooled students from all 50 states who took three well-known tests-California Achievement Test, Iowa Tests of Basic Skills, and Stanford Achievement Test for the 2007-08 academic year. The Progress Report is the most comprehensive homeschool academic study ever completed . . . . . .

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The NEA (National Education Association) just completed it annual convention and it was quite an eye-opener too. A speech given by retiring General Counsel Bob Chanin coupled with two votes taken at the annual gathering have served to create a serious dilemma for professing Christian teachers in the public school system.

Whether or not he intended to do so, Bob Chanin made it clear what the real purpose and agenda of the NEA is all about. It’s supposed to be about providing a better education for our nation’s children. Instead however, it has everything to do with politics. The NEA means to use its money and the power of it 3.2 million members to promote the homosexual agenda. They intend to use their resources to help make same sex marriages the law of the land. They also want to support any move to strengthen the laws that support abortion. Finally, they intend to oppose anything else the conservative right wing and the Christian community are for!

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Have you ever been down and out and nobody seems to be around for you to talk to? That’s GOD, he wants you to talk to him.

Have you ever been just sitting there and all of a sudden you feel like doing something nice for someone you care for? That’s GOD, he talks to you through the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever been thinking about somebody that you haven’t seen in a long time and then the next thing you know you see them or receive a
phone call from them? That’s GOD! This was no coincidence!

Have you ever received something wonderful that you didn’t even ask for, like money in the mail, a debt that had mysteriously been cleared, or a
coupon to a department store where you had just seen something you wanted, but couldn’t afford? That’s GOD, he knows the desires of your heart.

Have you ever been in a situation and you had no clue to how it is going to get better, but now you look back on it and it seems a lot better? That’s GOD, he passes us through tribulation to see a brighter day.

Our God is awesome! Spend some quality time with Him today!

Pastor Farmer

1. You believe in Santa Claus.
2. You don’t believe in Santa Claus.
3. You are Santa Claus.
4. You look like Santa Claus.

Author Unknown ~ MEF