What’s hip, what’s hot, what ain’t I got? If it’s a cool electronic gadget or faster computer, I want it! I used to lust after an iPhone 4, until I got one recently. Now I want an iPad. After that who knows. Just give me the latest thing on the market.
Modern marketing is not built on contentment! The reason is that our fallen nature is prone to envy and greed. It can never be satisfied. We always want more, more, MORE!
When I consider what Christ has done for me, however, I realize there is nothing more to be desired. His work is complete. I can rest, contented in his love. As a result, I should be content with God’s purpose for me and where he has placed me, along with what possessions has blessed me with. If I can love my neighbor, as Christ loves me, there will be no envy.
Charles H. Spurgeon (pictured with this quote), 1834-1892, was the foremost preacher of the 19th century. His many sermons, devotions, and books bring a unique, inspiring, and spiritual significance to biblical truth. What is most surprising is that Spurgeon had no formal theological training. Even so, he became widely recognized for his insight and prowess in biblical teaching.
I hope you have been blessed by this quote and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

It’s a struggle, isn’t it – loving righteousness? As the hymn says, I am “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love.” Yet the Psalmist indicates there is great reward.
When I am caught in sin, my tendency is to draw away from God and from his chastening. Have you noticed it with your kids. When the little ones are corrected, they push away when you try to hug them. The correction was for their good, and you do it because you love them, but their instinct is to push away.
In Romans 7 Paul talks about this war within us, the war between our desire to obey the law, and the law of sin and death in our members. Who will deliver us from this struggle? Paul gives us the answer in Ro 7:25: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
I think my sea otter friend in the picture is reminding me of a passage in “The Valley of Vision” that always helps me put things in perspective. It says: “My trials have been fewer than my sins, and when I have kissed the rod it has fallen from thy hands.”
Dear Lord, help me to love righteousness, and when I am chastened let me kiss the rod of correction – don’t let me pull away – let me fall into your arms of love. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 45 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ESV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Will Rogers“Never let a crisis go to waste,” so says the current administration. We now have the Libyan crisis and the Japanese nuclear crisis . Before that it was the Egyptian crisis, and who could forget the worst ecological disaster ever, the oil spill in the gulf.
Everyone gets whipped up into a frenzy by press reports of riots, radiation maps and gushing oil wells under the sea. But just like Will Rogers says, we “cool off faster than any nation in the world.”
Using a crisis for political gain, however, is about as foolish as using a skunk for perfume. It just doesn’t smell right! The stench from the economic bailout crisis and the healthcare crisis is getting worse every day.
We might heat up and cool down quickly, but skunk-smell doesn’t go away over night! If the stink is there on election day, people will remember.
Image Information Will Rogers was an expert with the lasso, perhaps the best ever. In this picture he is roping a moving rider from the back of his own horse. The rope is thrown to catch the horse by the legs.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Will Rogers
When I was working on my masters degree at the University of Illinois I built instrumentation for their Aeronomy program. We made rocket payloads that would gather data from the upper atmosphere which would allow us to look at the nature of energetic particles that stream down the earth’s magnetic fields.
I love science and I remember the thrill of looking at data from a rocket launch. Before my eyes was a glimpse of a tiny piece of God’s creation in motion. Scientists would puzzle over the interpretation of the data and debate its meaning.
In Spurgeon’s wonderful way, he describes God’s control and care of the heavenly bodies. Men of science spend a lifetime trying to explain how the sun operates. Each new scientific discovery brings more questions, yet God cares for it all, and places each planet in its place.
Not only does God care for the planets and their vast scale of operation, he also cares for each of us individually. The God who “feeds the burning furnace of the sun” has power enough to supply us with the daily strength we need!
I hope you have been blessed by this quote and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Will RogersI suppose you could say that interest in taxes is on everybody’s mind these days. These topics dominate the political talk shows and dinner parties, and for good reason. Nobody knows what in the world the lame ducks are going to do about taxes.
Businesses don’t know what their tax liability is going to be next year, so they scale back. The fat cats are cutting back on charitable giving and trips to Las Vegas in case the tax bill is higher next year. The thin cats are even cutting back expenses. With the “death tax” in limbo some folks can’t even plan their own funeral.
Everybody is cutting back it seems, except the boneheads in Congress. They’ve had two years of stimulus and wild spending while normal people are tightening their belts and getting laid off. Now Congress wants to raise the tax rates to pay for it all.
Old man interest is right around the corner and will strike with a vengeance. If Will Rogers’ quote was true in 1931, it is even more so today. “Nothing ever happens in our country but interest and taxes.”
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Will Rogers
I’m trying to think of times when I was excited about going somewhere. Perhaps a graduation ceremony for one of my kids. I enjoy going to ball games and concerts. A weekend campout is lots of fun.
The anticipation of going somewhere special is a great feeling, isn’t it? When you get there, you are among other people that are as excited as you. Like the penguins in the picture, everyone is headed in the same direction, moving toward the event.
In Psalm 122, the Psalmist expresses gladness in anticipation of going to the house of the Lord. Is it because of the great music, special programs or preaching? Actually, it’s a time to draw near to God as a group of believers. It’s a time to grow more secure in our faith.
Dear Lord, help me to anticipate with gladness the time when I will go to the house of the Lord. Let my visits be frequent, and let my love for you grow as I worship you in the congregation. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 122 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ESV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Will RogersYou’ve heard the expression: “He was spending money like a drunken sailor.” As I’ve watched congress over the past few years, I don’t think a drunken sailor can even outspend a seemingly sober Congressman. Both seem to lack any common sense whatsoever when it comes to money, and the Congressman’s recklessness is worse – because it isn’t even his own money!
The next morning the sailor wakes up with a headache and an empty wallet. He might even see the error of his way and vow never to act so stupidly again. Congressmen on the other hand, never suffer any consequences for reckless spending. In fact the more money they can appropriate, the more prestige they seem to gain.
The latest economic theory seems to be that by “stimulating” the economy with an injection of vast sums of money will turn things around. But enough is never enough, when it comes to money! In a December 2010 GQ interview with Vice President Joe Biden we find out: “He [Biden] tells us he believes—and thinks the people believe—that ‘the stimulus did exactly what it was supposed to do, but it wasn’t enough.’”
Wasn’t enough?!!! Will Rogers has a famous quote that says: “Congress wants everybody to go broke just to prove they are right.” Unemployment is at record levels, and we’re going broke alright!
Here’s where Will Rogers quote for today comes in. With the huge burden of debt, old-man interest rears his ugly head. It becomes a monster as it consumes more and more of our resources. Well, if you’re paying so much interest, you can’t demand anything because you don’t have the extra money, and you can’t supply anything because there’s no demand.
Somebody needs to come up with a 10 step program for Congressmen to teach them common sense spending habits. Wait just a minute! Did I put “common sense” and “congressman” in the same sentence? Heaven help us all!
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Will Rogers
I’m not a singer. When someone asks me what key I sing in, I tell them “the skeleton key.” When it comes to praise, however, there’s just something special about singing. I love to worship in the congregation, adding my feeble voice, to sing of the lovingkindness and faithfulness of Jehovah.
When I think of the heavens, as shown in the image, I see a glimpse of the vastness of eternity, beauty and mystery. In the covenant, God says: “I shall be your God, and you shall be my people.” In verse 3 the Psalmist says: “I have made a covenant with my chosen.”
In the New Testament we find that Jesus establishes a new covenant through his life, death on the cross, and resurrection. It provides us with salvation if we receive it.
Dear Lord, Grant me the grace to enter your covenant. Let me then sing of your lovingkindness and praise you for your faithfulness. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 89 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes ASV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

A friend stopped by last night and was telling us how she had used a “blue” bottle to feed milk to baby kittens. It took us a while to figure out that she was saying “glue” bottle. Communication problems seem to happen in our house all the time. Sometimes the results can be quite humorous as with “no man is an island” turns into “no mayonnaise in Ireland.”
With God, there are no translation or communication problems when it comes to our prayers. The God who fashioned our very being and bodies understands our needs as we express them in prayer.
I thought this image fit well with the verse. Ears that large have got to be very sensitive to even the smallest noise or the most distant sound. How sensitive do we think God’s ears are? Do we have the faith to “direct our prayer unto thee and will look up?” Lord, help us to have the faith to believe that you hear us.
I hope you have been blessed by Psalm 5 and the accompanying image taken from the Psalm Daily Quotes KJV iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.


If ever a Will Rogers quote was relevant today, it is this one. When I send my hard-earned money off to Washington, I hope that they would spend it wisely. Is that too much to ask?
Apparently so! When I hear about the pork barrel spending and waste, it just burns my grits. We’re talking about huge amounts of money here folks. When a government accountant sneezes, a million dollars goes up in smoke. When a politician blinks, a billion dollars vanishes and when the president gives a speech, wealth disappears.
The President is a rich guy. His tax bill this past year was over $400,000. He talks about the rich people needing to pay their fair share, but if I sent that kind of money to the government, I would expect a “thanks,” and a little accountability.
Instead, my money is spent on failed programs, by the billions. We have a Federal Education department that hasn’t improved education by any measurable result. The War on Poverty has had more negative results than positive. Yet we hear how important these programs are, and that more money is needed to fix the problems they created in the first place.
Any belief that elected officials in this administration posses any special wisdom and common sense went out the window when the Vice President said: “Just becaust the Recovery Act was a monumental failure, does not mean that it is not working.”
My only hope is that candidates in the next election come up with something better to offer than empty promises. Is that too much to ask?
Image Info: Wiley Post is pictured with Will Rogers in this colorized image. Post was one of the most famous aviators of the 1930s, and set records for high-altitude and round-the-world flights. Rogers and Post were killed in a plane crash in Alaska in August of 1935.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

The U.S. economy is amazingly resilient, but it can only carry so much dead weight in the form of government taxes, policy and regulations before something has to give. The current administration and the Federal Reserve Bank continue to throw gasoline on the fires of recession, burning up business growth and precious jobs.
While this occurs in in any administration, the economy eventually quenches the fire and things get back in balance after a year or so. With this administration, however, the fire is out of control and by either incompetence or design, they continue to feed a fire from which the economy cannot easily recover.
It all seems to stem from a complete lack of business common sense pioneered by Democrat Party legislation and mandates filled with political correctness and social engineering. By requiring banks to engage in risky loan practices, and masking the problem, the mountain of worthless paper finally precipitated our current financial crisis.
So the Federal Reserve encourages more risk? Read it here:
“Meanwhile the Federal Reserve is urging the banks to go on taking risks. It has been injecting cash into the banking system for the past half-year while urging bank CEOs in confidential chats to offer more credit. The aim is to keep on financing consumer spending and even to stimulate it further — for reasons of patriotism. There’s a word for this policy — madness.” (Source: www.spiegel.de from 4-14-2008)
Patriotic or not, common sense tells us not to take unnecessary risk in uncertain economic times. In spite of huge injections of cash into the economy in the form of stimulus and recovery legislation the administration has not been able to convey economic stability. Instead they keep throwing gasoline on the fire!
While the FED emphasizes patriotism, the Vice President inspires confidence with this quote: “Just becaust the Recovery Act was a monumental failure, does not mean that it is not working.” Businesses beware when the Federal Reserve Bank meets. Will Rogers is right, again!
Image Information: This image shows Will Rogers holding his son, and at the same time spinning his lasso around them both.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

Will RogersWill Rogers attended peace/disarmament conferences during the 1920s and early 1930s, mostly for the humor value. He would telegraph his observations back to U.S. newspapers, such as the January 28, 1930 quote seen here, that ran in his Daily Telegraph syndicated column.
As a keen observer of legislative politics in the U.S., Rogers knew that international politics would hopelessly bog down any “peace” progress with procedures and committees. Rogers also knew that anything approaching common sense would never come out of any conference, therefore dooming any results or treaty to failure in any practical sense.
He was right in 1930, and he is still right today. Starry-eyed dreamers hold up worthless treaties and declare “world peace” while compromising the ability of the U.S. to keep the peace with strong defensive capability backed up with unmatched offensive technology.
Such a display of weakness has encouraged rogue nations to aggressively pursue their own weapons programs that threaten entire regions of the world. Common sense left when the conference met to appoint a commission to appoint a delegation to appoint a subcommittee.
Image Information: Will Rogers loved just about anything that involved horses. He had a polo field built on his property in California and would play matches with his friends, as can be seen in this picture.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Will Rogers
There are so many great opportunities in government employment these days. With the great pay and benefits, who wants to work in the private sector any more. In fact, government employment is so good, why have a private sector at all?
Recently I learned that there were over 80 jobs available in the Federal Government as tanning salon inspectors. What could be more exciting than examining the books and customers at tanning salons across the country?
If you love to read, you can get a job as a regulator in the EPA. The new EPA regulations required for monitoring green house gasses (GHG) requires lengthy reports from small businesses across the fruited plain. Even if a small business doesn’t need to monitor their GHG emissions, they still need to submit a lengthy report explaining why not. Not only do they need an army of report readers, they need an army of new inspectors to visit every business that has a gas powered engine or storage tank of fluid that might belch out dangerous gasses.
If you love animals you could become a member of the elite bovine flatulation research team. Your mission is to put a cork in the emission of deadly gasses into the atmosphere. Applicants must be vegan, and are required to wear protective clothing, hard hat, hearing protection, respirator and face shield.
If you love to dream, then OSHA is the place for you. Dreaming up new ways people can hurt themselves with common everyday items and then writing new business regulations can be exciting. Oil workers are now safer in their white coveralls that must be changed when soiled by a drop of oil. Day care centers now deploy haz-mat teams in the changing areas to better handle toxic waste.
Applying for a government job is easy. Just sign up at your local unemployment offices. The 12 language 200 page application form is designed to prepare you for your new career as a government employee.
Image Info At the time of his death in 1935, Will Rogers was a major box office draw, second only to a very young Shirley Temple. Movies were only one of the reasons for Will Rogers’ popularity. He was a daily syndicated columnist, radio commentator, humorist and political mover and shaker. If you look closely at the images, you will faintly see the words: “The most beloved man of the masses.” Will Rogers was a great man, an inspiring personality, and is worth remembering even today.
The image was taken directly from pictures at the Will Rogers Memorial Museum archive. I apologize for the quality of the image, but this is exactly what the 1920s photo looked like when I scanned it. In the hundreds of images contained in this iPhone application, I wanted to share as many different Will Rogers photos as possible from as wide a variety of times and situations – movies, cowboy, vaudeville, with famous people, and family scenes.
Will Rogers is a man worth remembering, and quoting. His wit, humor and insight into life will amaze and astonish you. His life will inspire you. Watch for new blog posts from my Will Rogers quotes collection.
I hope you have enjoyed this quote from Will Rogers and the accompanying image taken from the Will Rogers iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.

When I am ill, or under some sort of affliction, it’s not really a time that I would normally think of as a faith-building experience. My instinct is to focus on myself and complain to anyone who will listen.
In Judges 14 we find the story of Samson that Spurgeon mentions in the quote. One day while Samson is walking along the road, a young lion “came toward him roaring.” Then is says that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him and, with his bare hands, he tore the lion apart in pieces.
Later Samson returned to the place to find a swarm of bees in the carcass of the lion, and Samson scraped the honey out with his hands and ate it, and gave some to his mother and father.
From the account of Scripture, we know that Samson was a strong guy, but notice that the Spirit of the Lord came upon him as the lion came toward him. God was with Samson during this deadly confrontation. I have trouble carving a turkey with a knife, but Samson tore apart a lion with his bare hands!
From this story, we find out that God was with Samson during the trial, and saved his life, plus sweet honey grew out of the aftermath. So it should be with us if we rightly consider our situation as Spurgeon says.
Dear Lord, Help me to acknowledge your presence during trials, so that my faith may grow stronger. I praise you for the honey that grows out of the adversity, the sweet taste after the bitter trial. Amen.
I hope you have been blessed by this quote and the accompanying image taken from the Spurgeon Daily Quotes iPhone app. Please visit our blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that need an encouraging word.

Gentle Reader,
I have a special treat for you today. Below is an article from the Will Rogers Memorial Museum website about Will Rogers and his passion for Christmas.
Here is the original link for the article: Will Rogers Christmas. Enjoy!
Will Never Outgrew Passion for Christmas

CLAREMORE — Will Rogers never outgrew the child’s passion for the Christmas holiday. Traveling the world as an actor or cowboy or at home in California with his children, the season took on a special sense, one of joy and sharing with family and friends.
It’s been 80 years, but one Christmas remains vivid for Coke Meyer of Bartlesville, Will’s great-niece. One of Coke’s earliest memories of Christmas was made special by her Uncle Will. She was six and living with her ailing grandmother Maude Rogers Lane in Chelsea.
“I’ll never forget he sent electric lights from New York … No one in Chelsea had ever even heard of lights on trees, except candles and then with care,” she said.
Her father, Chelsea pharmacist Cap Lane, and Monday, a preacher for a black church and the man “who helped Granny in her dairy,” decorated a tree at the end of the lane at the gracious Lane home on Chelsea’s east side.
Coke remembers spending two days moving the mechanical hospital bed Will had sent for Mrs. Lane, relocating her to the “tower room” where she could see the tree. The grandchildren helped fill sacks with and an orange and candy to be distributed to those who stood beneath the window and sang Christmas carols. Mrs. Lane died five months later.
While Will never came home for the holiday after she was born, Coke and her cousin Tim Milam remember his generous Christmas checks. Checks were made personally to the older ones. “He could never remember the last name of cousin Lasca, so he just wrote Lasca on a check and sent it to Dad, who would forward it,” Coke reminisced.
“We always took our money and bought a new pair of shoes, then pooled the rest for a summer vacation.”
Like many men, Will was a last minute shopper. In a book written by his wife, Betty, she tells how he did his own shopping, “usually the day before Christmas.” Remembering everyone who worked for or with him, he would come home with “mountains of toys and clothing” and spend Christmas Eve wrapping gifts.
Often on Christmas Day, the family would retreat to a little log cabin on their property, where they could spend the day in seclusion. The children took turns at being Santa. Once when it was Mary’s turn, she fixed her pony with Christmas trappings, packed a sack and rode the pony into the house.
Only once after his marriage was Will away from home. He sent gifts home in 1931, then spent a lonely Christmas in Shanghai.
His first Christmas gift to Betty was a “little lace handkerchief” sent the winter after he had taken her to Chelsea to meet his family. He was away from home, but sent her the gift he had carried with him since purchasing it in Africa years before while buying lace and needlework for his sisters.
He had been saving it for a special time. The old Indian lady he bought the lace from gave him the handkerchief and asked if he was married. When he said no, she told him to give it to his wife when he married.
He carried it with him through Africa, through Australia, and then home, always intending to do as the old woman said. That year, just a few years before he and Betty were married in 1908, he decided it was for her.
I hope you have enjoyed this article from the Will Rogers Memorial Museum website. Please visit the Systems of Merritt blog, twitter, or Facebook page regularly and pass these posts on to friends that might enjoy a bit of wisdom from Will Rogers.
Will Rogers