By Dr. Benjamin Carson

When our forefathers knelt and prayed for wisdom at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, then stood up and together assembled a seventeen-page document known as the Constitution of the United States of America, they were clearly guided by the hand of God.

Today the forces of political correctness would expel God from every public sphere in American life, and the hearts and minds of every man, woman, and child in America are up for grabs in this cataclysmic battle between the lovers of men and the lovers of God. Some would rather never choose between the two, but life is full of choices, and our individual and collective choices determine the quality of our existence.

I believe it is time for us to stand up and be counted. We can no longer be passive because the Judeo-Christian way of life in America is at stake. We need not be ashamed of our faith, and we certainly should not allow those who believe differently to change who we are in order to be politically correct.

Yes, we should accept them with brotherly love as we have been taught, but we should never compromise our belief system. We do believe in God, and we do believe in the right of everyone to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We do believe in an orderly government that facilitates these goals rather than impedes them.

It is time to set aside political correctness and replace it with the bold values and principles that founded our nation and caused it to race to the pinnacle of the world faster than any other nation in history. It is time to stop apologizing and to start leading, because the world is desperately in need of fair and ethical leadership. If that leader is not America, then who will it be, and where will they lead?

If we apply logic to solving our problems and add the godly principles of loving our fellow man, caring about our neighbors, and developing our God-given talents to the utmost so we become valuable to those around us – allowing these values and principles to govern our lives – then not only will we remain a pinnacle nation, we will truly be “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

It is my prayer, America, that God will continue to shed his grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea. I pray that with his blessings our past will be but a stepping stone to a bright future and that our best days will truly lie ahead of us – a beautiful new beginning! — Dr. Ben Carson, M.D., America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great, 2012.

Something Unusual

Here we are in the first full week of August. The usual August is hot, muggy and dry, many years drought conditions.

This first week, and into the next we  have had fairly cool temps with some exceptions,and rain. Up until a few minutes ago we have been getting rain all day.  Thank the LORD, our Creator and Savior for giving this moisture for crops, hayfields, and yards.

Now let us be grateful for every day.  The rain is a blessing and so is the sunshine; even when it is hot and muggy.

That is how it is on the banks of Flat Creek today,

`tim

Getting Ready for Sunday

It is Friday January 11, 2019 and Sunday is coming.

There are many who think Sunday is just another day of the week.  It is, in fact, the first day of each week, and the day the early Christians met in remembrance of our Lord’s resurrection.

I have never tried to hide the fact that I am a follower of Jesus Christ.  I do not believe in Him because I am fearful of eternity’s fire if I do not.  I believe in Him and follow Him because He loved me, and loves me so much that He proved it.

In recent years I have grown to a place in Him that I never doubt or question His love for me.  What I do question and sometimes doubt is my love for Him.

My goal throughout every week is to Get Ready for Sunday.  The day I join with a few others to lift up the name of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in our place of worship;  singing hymns of worship and praise, praying, and to preach and hear the preaching of the word of God.

I pray that anyone who is reading this is like minded, and you are preparing yourself to meet the Lord, with those of like mind in Church on Sunday.  It will surely improve your heart, mind, and attitude through the coming week.

If you are not getting ready for Sunday you may not be ready for the day the Son returns.

God richly bless you

From the banks of Flat Creek,

`tim

What a Wonderful Life

It is wonderful, and a blessing from Almighty God to be a citizen and living in the United States of America. Some may laugh when I say this, but I really do endeavor to stay out of political issues.  There are times that I feel I must open my mouth, and many times insert foot.

There is much in our government that is evil, wretched, and almost beyond my comprehension.  I do not understand how a man could run for the office of the Governor of a State, shortly after having a sexual encounter with a woman, not his wife, and then portray himself as a “Family man”, but it has happened; and not only a family man, but a “Religious man” as well.

Then, our President has a very bad habit of name calling which is not only uncouth but ungodly and not Christ-like in any possible way.  He, however, is not perfect, and neither am I; and that does not excuse the vile words he or anyone else uses.  We ought to challenge ourselves to do better with our words, our vocabulary.  I heard many years ago that an individual who cusses is showing their lack of education.  Let us all become better educated with good, wholesome, and encouraging words; rather than always trying to denigrate others.

To be honest with you I am completely disgusted with the politics of our day. Neither party can be trusted to do what the people desire, and they certainly are not into doing what God and His word say. I place my trust in God the Father, and His Son Jesus to superintend the events of every day of my life, the family, the State, and the federal government, and the world governments.

I will pray for our Governor and the President, do what I can as a citizen of this nation, and I will continue to live as a citizen of Heaven because that is the home for which my heart longs.

What a wonderful life it is when you put your faith and trust in the Lord, our Creator, rather than in the governments of men.

From the banks of Flat Creek.

`tim

Potato Garden

I know.  It has been several months since I wrote anything here.  This has not been a priority with me, but I will endeavor to make it so.

A few weeks ago I bought some seed potatoes (35 pounds), and my wife and I cut them up as you must, and then I planted them.  I ended up with nearing six full rows of approximately 100 feet in length.

As of today they are looking good.  We do need rain.  We received some rain this past week, and that helps.

Right now all we have is potatoes growing in the garden, but we have plans for tomatoes, bell peppers, and some spicy peppers too.

It is fantastic watching things grow.  It will we wonderful to have a good potato harvest, hopefully around July.

From the banks of Flat Creek.

~tim

New Year 2015

It seems odd to me that it is already the year 2015.  It is funny to watch an old sci-fi movie which has looked twenty to thirty years into the future, and what they have portrayed is no where near the way things are.

The year 2014 was a blessed year for my family and I.  There have been changes, there have been hardships, and some of those hardships were blessings in disguise.

I thank GOD, our Creator for His bountiful blessings; and for His watch and care through all the hardships, and the blessing of healings, and comforts in pain.

I am looking forward to this new year on the banks of Flat Creek.

May the new year be a prosperous one; especially in our LORD.

-tim

Getting a Good Hard Rain

We have been blessed with rain through the night.  It was quite pleasant to wake a few time in the night and hear the drops of heaven playing their lovely song on our roof.

Even now as I write there is a gentle rainfall; with thunder, lightening, and rolling thunder.  I love the sounds the heavens make, declaring the blessings of our Lord.

~tim

Hymn – “My Faith Looks Up to Thee”

As I was praying this morning this song came to may heart and mind; so I thought I would share it.

My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Saviour divine!

Now hear me while I pray, Take all my guilt away, O let me from this day Be wholly Thine!

May Thy rich grace impart Strength to my fainting heart, My zeal inspire;

As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee Pure, warm and changeless be A living fire!

While life’s dark maze I tread, And griefs around me spread, Be Thou my guide;

Bid darkness turn to day, Wipe sorrow’s tears away, Nor let me ever stray From Thee aside.

When ends life’s transient dream, When death’s cold sullen stream Shall o’er me roll,

Blest Saviour, then, in love, Fear and distrust remove; O bear me safe above, A ransomed soul!

Ray Palmer, 1808-1887

Lowel Mason, 1792-1872

Hymn – “O Safe to the Rock”

O SAFE TO THE ROCK

1.  O safe to the Rock that is higher than I,  My soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly;  So sinful, so weary, Thine own would I be;  Thou blest “Rock of Ages,” I’m hiding in Thee.

refrain

Hiding in Thee, hiding in Thee,  Thou blest “Rock of Ages,” I’m hiding in Thee.

2.  In the calm of the noontide, in the sorrow’s lone hour,  In times when temptation casts o’er me its power;  In the tempests of life, on its wide, heaving sea,  Thou blest “Rock of Ages,” I’m hiding in Thee.

3.  How oft in the conflict, when press’d by the foe,  I have fled to my refuge and breath’d out my woe;  How often, when trials like sea billows roll,  Have I hidden in Thee,  O Thou Rock of my soul.

William O. Cushing, 1823-1902

Ira D. Sankey, 1840-1908

Go and join your brothers and sisters in Christ worshipping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth today.

-Tim

Winter Twenty Eleven and Twelve

According to those who know at 12:30 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Thursday December 22 the sun ceased its trek to the Southern hemisphere, and has began its trek back to the Northern hemisphere.  The word and description are mine not those who are in the know about these things.

We have now officially been into Winter for almost thirty hours as of 6:00 a.m. Central Standard time.

What purpose does knowing this serve us except to show that we live in an intricately created world; that could not have just happened as the “scientist” try to tell us.  It definitely had a Designer/Builder; and this Creator still cares for this universe which He has made.

I did not intend to get into faith or religion or theology with this; but sometimes when I begin writing it just comes out.  That too has a designer and builder.  Like the seasons – Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter they are a part of the created order of things.

I am not particularly fond of Winter.  Cold, ice, snow, slick roads, heating bills, the wear and tear on the cars and trucks, not to even mention the aches and pains in the bones and joints of the bodies of men and women.  It too, though, has its beauty and purpose and I am thankful for Winter.

Why am I thankful for Winter?  It causes me to long for Spring and Summer and those warming, warmer, and greening up days; even mowing the yard.  It even helps me appreciate those extremely hot 114 degree days.  I think I wrote about it a few months ago, but the temp of one day in the Winter of early 2011 got down to around -30 degrees (30 degrees below zero) in at least one place around here where I live.  Then, one day in the Summer did get up to 114 here at my house.  That is a 144 degree difference; if my math is correct.

The daylight hours will begin getting  longer now.  To me that is a great thing.  What a wonderful work our Lord has wrought.  Especially in the birth, life and death, and resurrection of the Son of God.  Yes God does have a Son, and anyone who says that He does not; does not know my God.

Have a very wonderful, Christ filled Christmas.

From the banks of Flat Creek; and it is rolling quite powerfully right now.

-Tim

Hymn – “He Is Able to Deliver Thee”

He Is Able to Deliver Thee

‘Tis the grandest theme thro’ the ages rung;  ‘Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue;  ‘Tis the grandest theme that the world e’er sung:  Our God is able to deliver thee.

REFRAIN

He is able to deliver thee, He is able to deliver thee;  Tho’ by sin opprest,  Go to Him for rest;  Our God is able to  deliver thee.

verse 2 – ‘Tis the grandest theme in the earth or main;  ‘Tis the grandest theme for a mortal strain;  ‘Tis the grandest theme, tell the world again:  Our God is able to deliver thee.

verse 3 –  ‘Tis the grandest theme, let the tidings roll  To the guilty heart, to the sinful soul;  Look to God in faith,  He will make thee whole:  Our God is able to deliver thee.

William A. Ogden, 1841-1897

-posted by Tim

Hymn – “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine”

Blessed Assurance, Jesus is Mine

Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!  Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!  Heir of salvation, purchase of God, Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.

chorus:

This is my story, this is my song,  Praising my Saviour all the day long;  This is my story, this is my song, Praising my Saviour all the day long.

Perfect submission, perfect delight,  Visions of rapture now burst on my sight:  Angels descending bring from above Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

Perfect submission, all is at rest,  I in my Saviour am happy and blest:  Watching and waiting, looking above,  Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

Fanny J. Crosby,  1820-1915

Mrs Joseph F. Knapp, 1839-1908

-posted by Tim A. Blankenship

It is Thanksgiving Day

This is the first Thanksgiving since the start of this blog.  Just a note to myself and anyone else who might have an interest.

I am a person who endeavors to be thankful every day.  First of all thankful to our Creator who has given us all things for blessing us.  The air we breathe, the ground upon which we walk, the beating of our hearts; He gives us every beat.  At His own will and discretion He could take us to our eternal destiny.  Be thankful today of all days.

I am thankful for my family and friends as well.  The Creator has given them to me to love and enjoy and to learn from them as well; and I pray I can be as good a family member and friend they have been to me.  My wife is the gem, the jewel of my life.  She was a gift from the Creator for sure.

Just over a year ago in September, on the 21st of September, as a matter of fact my wife had a rare heart surgery for an anuerism of the aorta of her heart.  The surgery was a success; and she went for a annual exam yesterday with a CT scan and all looked good.  For that I am thankful.

I am thankful for the five children the LORD has given me as well.  They are all different in many ways, with very different personalities, and gifts.  For that I am thankful too.  I am thankful for my 12 grandchildren, and are they all so grand.  I am thankful too that we have two already with Jesus.

I am thankful for the family I grew up in; my mother and father, brother, sisters; aunts and uncles, cousins; and all my fore fathers.  Without them all I would not be who I am today.

I am thankful for so many things, and one last thing I want to let the world know is that I am thankful for our home and the land on which we live.  It is God’s gift to us.  I pray I will be a good steward of all the LORD has given me.

Thank YOU LORD.

Thankful on the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

Hymn – “God the Almighty One”

God the Almighty One

1.  God the almighty One! wisely ordaining Judgments unsearchable, famine and sword;  Over the tumult of war Thou art reigning:

Chorus:

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord! Amen.

2.  God the all merciful! earth hath forsaken Thy ways of blessedness, slighted Thy Word; Bid not Thy wrath in its terrors awaken:

Chorus.

3.  God the all righteous One!  man hath defied Thee; Yet to eternity standeth Thy Word;  Falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside Thee:

Chorus.

Give us peace in our time, O Lord!  Amen.

A Russian Hymn

Henry F Chorley, 1808-1872

John Ellerton, 1826-1893

Alexis F. Lwoff, 1799-1870

-posted by Tim

Sunday Worship: “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”

Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross

Jesus, keep me near the cross, There a precious fountain,  Free to all, a healing stream, Flows from Calvary’s mountain.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,  Love and mercy found me;  There the Bright and Morning Star  Shed His beams around me.

Near the cross!  O Lamb of God, Bring its scenes before me;  Help me walk from day to day  with its shadow o’er me.

Near the cross! I’ll watch and wait, Hoping, trusting ever,  Till I reach the golden strand,  Just beyond the river.

CHORUS:

In the cross, in the cross  Be my glory ever,  Till my raptur’d soul shall find  Rest beyond the river.  A-MEN.

 

by Fanny J. Crosby.  1820 – 1915   and William H. Doane,  1832 – 1915

-posted by Tim

Sunday Worship – “O Worship the King”

O WORSHIP THE KING

“O worship the King, all glorious above, And gratefully sing His wonderful love;  Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days, Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace, Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space!  His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form, And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?  It breathes in the air, it shines in the light,  It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain, And sweetly distils in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail, In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail:  Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end, Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.”

Robert Grant, 1779-1838                                    Johann M. Haydn, 1737-1806

Worship the King.  Today and everyday.

-Tim

Being blessed with more Rain

Today is the last day of Summer.  At least according to the calendar hanging on my wall.  Friday the 23rd is the first day of Autumn.  That seems to be a little later than usual to me.  It seems to usually fall on the 21st or so; but not in 2011 I guess.

It is raining again.  Thank the Lord of all grace and mercy and love.  It is wonderful how He loves us all.  It seems to me that rain is a reminder of His love, grace and mercy and our need.

It will not be long and we will all be longing for those warm, even hot Summer days; at least I know I will.  I must admit some of these past Summer days were extremely hot; but that is Summer.

It is great to be alive.  It is great to have family and friends whom I love and who loves me.  It is even greater still to know that there is a God in Heaven who also lives within me, because He loves me and cares for every need.  All because of the gift of His Son Jesus – His death on the cross, burial and resurrection; and knowing that one day soon He will return.  O,  What a day that will be…

Thanks for the rain.

-Tim

I Know that My Redeemer Liveth

Worshipping along the banks of Flat Creek.

I know that my Redeemer liveth, And on the earth again shall stand;

I know eternal life He giveth, That grace and power are in His hand.

(refrain)

I know, I know that Jesus liveth, And on the earth again shall stand;

I know, I know that life He giveth, That grace and power are in His hand.

Because He loves us, and because He lives we can worship and love Him.

-Tim

With All That’s Goin’ On

With all that’s goin’ on in the world you would think that many people would get the idea that there is God; not a god, as if one of many; but GOD.  As one who created all that is, and sustains all that is.  GOD did not just create the created order then leave it for His crowning achievement to oversee, and rule.  He came down during a time in history, and gave His life for us.

With all that’s goin’ on in the world you would think that people would open their eyes about their own righteousness; that it just doesn’t exist.  Even the most immoral people can have a good streak in them occasionally, but that sure doesn’t make them righteous.  Our good deeds won’t; maybe even cannot out weigh the bad or evil we do; no matter if we do more good than bad.  With God righteousness, goodness, doing right just doesn’t work that way.

Righteous is what God says is righteous; and that is not us.  His Son Jesus is Righteous, and He died for our unrighteousness.  He is the only Mediator between God, His Father, and humanity.  Without Him we would all perish.

With all that’s goin’ on in the world you would think that there would be a lot of repentance going on, and people calling on the name of Jesus Christ; for He is the Lord of all.

It’s time for repentance and faith; even here on the banks of Flat Creek.

-Tim

It’s Sunday Again

I like the way the weeks roll around; especially Sunday’s.  Sunday in my family has always been a day of rest and worship.  Worshipping the Lord of all creation, the Creator, is one of the greatest parts of life and living.  That is something I endeavor to do all week long.

One of the things I have said before is, “I’ve got to go to church”; and it isn’t that “I’ve got to”, but I get to go to church today.  If it ever becomes a “got to”, then going to church and worship has become nothing more than a mere religious action and it becomes a sacrament, or a necessity for salvation.  I am not saved by any good work I do, but by the grace of God, to do good works.

I pray all who are reading this will be attending the worship services in your local church; and worshipping Jesus Christ, Lord, King, Savior, Prince of peace, Creator.  Love Him. Cherish Him. Worship Him. Serve Him.  Fear Him and Him alone, and you will need to fear nothing else.

It is great honor and privilege to be able to look out our patio door and see the things He has created around us; or to step out the door and hear the sounds of His creation; and know He is watching over us all.

Part of what we hear when we step out the back door is the rolling waters of Flat Creek as it makes its way toward Table Rock Lake a few miles down stream.  Bless the LORD O, my soul.

-Tim