He Did Eat Continually At The King's Table

"Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake..."
~ II Samuel 9:6-7

As I read through II Samuel 9 today, I was amazed again to read about David's relationship with this man named Mephibosheth. This man was the grandson of David's enemy Saul. In fact, it was common practice among rulers of those days to kill, capture, or torture anyone who was related to the vanquished king. It was probably expected of David to find out Mephibosheth and to eliminate him. With that in mind, I can only imagine the terror in Mephibosheth's mind as he stood before David for the first time.

Yet David had something else in store for his supposed enemy. You see, David had made a promise to his best friend, Jonathan, that he would watch over his children. Mephibosheth just happened to be Jonathan's son. And although years had passed since that promise, David was still true to his word. And although Mephibosheth would have been considered as the enemy of King David, David now shewed him mercy and grace.

"So Mephibosheth dwelt in Jerusalem: for he did eat continually at the king's table..."
~ II Samuel 9:13

So it was that Christ sought us out while we were the enemies of God. In our sinful, hell-bound state he reached down and shed his mercy on us. He brought us into the banqueting table of his fellowship and love. He allowed us to feast at his table. Wow!

Missing In Action

I just want to apologize for not blogging much over the past three and a half weeks. I have been working on some major web-design projects for some churches, I have just moved to a new apartment in Arlington, Va, and I have been working on a major update of the website that will make the administrative tasks much easier. As the site continues to grow it becomes more and more difficult to administrate changes and additions. The updates that I am working on should aid in allowing me to control the thousands of pages on here much easier. In the meantime, it is going to require me to migrate all of the content into the new system that I will be using.

Anyways, I just wanted to apologize to everyone for not working on the blog so much lately. Once everything gets done, I will be able to blog very regularly. Thanks everyone.

The Friday Funnies - Man Rules­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Now here are the rules from the male side. These are our rules! Please note.. these are all numbered "1" ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be.

1. Shopping is NOT a sport. And no, we are never going to think of it that way.

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one: Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do.
Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.


1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become null and void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one

1. You can either ask us to do something Or tell us how you want it done. Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials..

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say "nothing," We will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to, Expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine... Really .

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball, the shotgun formation,or golf.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!

1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight;

But did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

A Modern American Hero: A Testimony from the Frontlines of Iraq

Ray Zindell, a Major in the United States Army, is a very close friend of mine. In October of 2007, he returned from a combat tour in Iraq. While there he worked as an avid soul-winner working to care for the soldiers around him and to reach them with the gospel of Christ. He has agreed to share his testimony on this website in an effort to encourage others with the amazing testimony of what God has done in his life while serving our nation overseas. Please leave your comments and feedback to let this American patriot know how you feel about his service and about his testimony.

Here is the question that I asked him that sparked the following testimony, “What is your most memorable experience or series of experiences while you were in Iraq?"

I remember one great moment in my life while I was in Iraq. It is a moment that has changed me completely, and changed my relationship with Christ even more. It involved the death of a United States Army Soldier that I knew through our Bible study in Iraq and it involved the heart of a Christian service member who cared enough to reach out to another Soldier when it was needed most.

I came to know Captain “John,” a friend of mine serving in the United States Air Force. While in Iraq. John had been introduced to me through Lieutenant Commander (P) Mike Chettham and participated in our soul winning ministry in Baghdad (run by Mike Cheetham and I). John became introduced to the blessings of soul winning for the first time through the class. As a result, God put a fire under John and he started experiencing the blessing God had in store for him through sharing the gospel. He would come back every week and tell us all the situations and continued to ask for more advice on approaching people for Christ. It was exciting to see what God had done in His life and the Life of those around Him because of the soul winning class. John soon became a great soul winner.

One of John’s soul winning efforts involved a Soldier with whom John worked with in Baghdad. During their down time together, John would talk to him about his salvation. They would talk about knowing if he was on his way to heaven. Every time John would ask that pointed question, this Soldier replied with, "Hey, I am fine!" or "It’s okay. You believe what you want to believe and I’ll believe what I want to believe."

But after church one Sunday evening he and John were having a cup of coffee. The subject came up again and the Soldier wanted to know how he could be 100% for sure that he was on his way to heaven. He said, "John, you know you can keep talking about this. Why don’t you tell me what you mean by this?" So John had the opportunity to lead him to the Lord, and the Soldier asked Jesus Christ to be his Lord and Savior right there in Baghdad, Iraq. Afterward, the Soldier was so excited. He picked up the phone and he called his wife back in the United States to let her know what happened, and to let her know the great news.

John came back and was just pumped up with the news that Monday evening. I can remember him emailing me and saying, "This is great, just great and wonderful." We rejoiced in what God was doing in Iraq that evening. It was really a great thing that God allowed us to be a part of that all.

Then, Tuesday came. We were getting mortared and rocketed pretty bad that week. More than usual. That Tuesday was particularly heavy as I can recall. The young Soldier that Captain John had led to the Lord that Sunday evening was walking outside the U.S. Embassy building when a number of explosive rockets made their way into the Compound. It was at that moment when the young Soldier went off into eternity from the rocket exploding just feet from the Embassy building itself. Some personnel on the scene tried to help him. One of the soldiers that was there tried to care for his wounds and get him stabilized so they could get him to the hospital. But it was too late.

It was Tuesday night in the middle of our Bible study when we found out that the had been taken home. There were tears of sorrow and pain. John especially was shattered to get the news. But we could proclaim this one thing in that Bible Study that night “It was that he was on his way to heaven.”

Then, John shared the young Soldier’s testimony to the class and in that little white building chapel that night we praised God for his salvation. John's reliance upon God's grace enabled Him to experience the joy of soul winning in the most powerful way, which to him is a huge blessing even today. It was all because a faithful Christian who had a heart for souls that wanted to reach out to the lost for God.

Just to be a part of that...even an indirect part of that, was amazing. But that is not where the story ends.

We went through the memorial service that Wednesday. On Thursday, the young man’s wife called the Chaplain there at the U.S. Embassy. The Chaplain exchanged some words with her and said that it was a good memorial service. The deceased Soldier’s wife said, “I’d like to talk to the man who talked to my husband that Sunday before he died.” So the Chaplain gave her Captain John’s phone number.

John talked to her for quite some time. Before he got off the phone with her he said, "Ma'am, I want to ask you a question and I don’t want to insult you. Are you 100% for sure that you are on your way to heaven or do you have some doubt?"

Now mind you three months ago, Captain John would not have had the courage to say all this. The young lady said, "No. That’s why I called. I want to know the same thing that you told my husband. I want to be able to share in the same joy that my husband shared with me!"

So, Captain John over the phone and across the ocean shared the gospel of Jesus Christ with this young lady, and she, like her husband just days before, received Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

Now that it is a memory that I will hold closest to my heart. Had I not taken that step forward...Had I not thrown myself at the service for God and my country then I would not have had the opportunity to share the experience of soul winning with Captain John or meet great men like him or LCDR Mike Cheetham and all the rest.

I glory in that. Just to be a part of that was worth the price of admission. That God would share such joy as that in our lives makes me keep serving Him and my country. It is worth the cost.

Major Ray Zindell

*This is the expressed opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the U.S. Army or the Department of Defense.

The Friday Funnies

Each Friday I am going to be selecting some of the funniest content that is submitted to the humor section of the Forums at The Baptist Muse to feature here at the Blog. This week's features were submitted by our forum member who goes by the name of Jude. Well, come on, let's get started!

Redneck Technology!

LOG ON: Makin a wood stove hotter.
LOG OFF: Don't add no more wood.
MONITOR: Keepin an eye on the wood stove.
DOWNLOAD: Gettin the farwood off the truk.
MEGA HERTZ: When yer not kerful gettin the farwood.
FLOPPY DISC: Whatcha git from tryin to carry too much farwood.
RAM: That thar thing whut splits the farwood.
HARD DRIVE: Gettin home in the winter time.
PROMPT: Whut the mail ain't in the winter time.
WINDOWS: Whut to shut wen it's cold outside.
SCREEN: Whut to shut wen it's blak fly season.
BYTE: Whut them flys do.
CHIP: Munchies fer the TV.
MICRO CHIP: Whut's in the bottom of the munchie bag.
MODEM: Whut cha did to the hay fields.
DOT MATRIX: Old Dan Matrix's wife.
LAP TOP: Whar the kitty sleeps.
KEYBOARD: Whar ya hang the keys.
SOFTWARE: Them plastic forks and knifs.
MOUSE: Whut eats the grain in the barn.
MAINFRAME: Holds up the barn roof.
PORT: Fancy Flatlander wine
ENTER: Northerner talk fer "C'mon in y'all"
RANDOM ACCESS MEMORY: Wen ya cain't 'member whut ya paid fer the rifle when yore wife asks.
MOUSE PAD: That hippie talk fer the rat hole.

How To Tell Your Pigs Apart

Two Irishmen bought two pigs, but then worried about how they could tell whose was whose. Paddy suggested he cut one ear off his pig. The other Paddy thought that was a good idea. This worked fine until a few weeks later when Paddy stormed into Paddy's house. "Paddy, your pig has chewed the ear off my pig! Now we got two pigs with one ear each. Now how we gonna tell whose pig is whose?" "Well, Paddy," said Paddy, "I'll cut ta other ear off my pig. Ten we'll 'ave two pigs and only one of them will 'ave an ear." The other Paddy agreed. This worked fine until a few weeks later when Paddy stormed into Paddy's house. "Paddy, your pig has chewed the other ear offa my pig! Now, we got two pigs with no ears! Now how we gonna tell whose pig is whose?" "Ah, dis is serious, Paddy," said Paddy and he thought a moment. "How about if I'll cut de tail offa my pig and den we'll 'ave two pigs with no ears and only one tail." Paddy agreed. A few weeks later, Paddy stormed into Paddy's house again. "Paddy, your pig has chewed the tail offa my pig and now we got two pigs with no ears and no tails! Now how we gonna tell 'em apart?!" "Ah, forget it," said Paddy. "Why don't you have the black one and I'll have the white one?!"

In Christ,

Nicholas Z. Cardot

Selfless Pursuit of the Will of God

Imagine yourself standing at the end of a large rope with in a group of several other men and women. At the opposite end of the rope stands another group of people who are prepared to pull against you when the buzzer sounds. Your goal is to pull so hard that you drag the rope and the other team until you are able to reach out and grab the prize that has been set at the edge of the arena.

Suddenly the starting bell rings and you are off. At first you pull half-heartedly, but quickly you realize that this is no small task. That other team is determined to drag you over to their side and claim the prize for themselves. You won’t have any of it. You pull harder. You push your feet into the ground. You grip the rope so tightly that your knuckles turn white. Your brow becomes covered in sweat and your shirt becomes all messed up. You can tuck it back in in a few minutes. Right now you are busy. You are determined to claim that prize for your team.

You begin to make a little headway. You and your team drag them about a foot in your direction…then two feet…then five. Finally, your teammate at the end of the rope reaches out and grasps the prize. You have pulled far enough to claim the reward. You release the rope and together with the others you begin to cheer and applaud one another. You did it.
Isn’t it funny that in a game as silly as tug-of-war you are willing to commit every last ounce of strength so that one of your teammates is able to claim the prize. All sense of selfishness disappears and the only thing that matters is that the team wins regardless of who gets to grasp the prize at the end.

What an amazing Biblical truth that each of us could bear to learn: To put aside all self pride and endeavor with all of our strength to reach for the prize of the high calling of Christ Jesus!

“I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
~ Philippians 3:14

So often I fear Christians are pushing forward in the work of Christ solely for the purpose of looking nice in the eyes of those around them. While I am glad that they are at least doing the work of God, it is sad that they are doing it for sinful reasons. It is sinful to motivate ourselves in the work of God through the wickedness of pride.

Yet how often do we see this happening? Preachers are more concerned with announcing greater numbers than in seeing individual lives being transformed into the image of Christ. Bus workers are often more concerned about winning the spring campaign than they are concerned with the eternal souls of those on their buses. Soul-winners are short changing the gospel and leading men and woman through false professions so that they can simply get another ‘notch on their belt.’

We need a revitalized sense of serving Christ that is motivated by a love for God and souls. We need to get over the pride that drives us to seek our own glory. We need to throw our self-image out the window and give every ounce of our strength to seeing the Will of God accomplished in our lives and in our churches. Let’s press toward that prize!

In Christ,

Nicholas Z. Cardot

In the Arms of Sweet Deliverance

In the Arms of Sweet deliverance, gonna’ lay my heavy burdens down And with my Lord I’ll abide When at last my travelin’ days are done, In the land somewhere beyond the sun, In the arms of sweet deliverance, In the arms of sweet deliverance I shall rest by and by …

This is one of my favorite songs. This song is all about taking your burdens to the Lord instead of bearing them yourself. It is so easy in our life to just make it through the day by the things of the world. This is not what God wants from us. He wants us to have a daily walk with him. He wants to bear of our burdens. He wants us to talk to him. He wants us to wait on him and to trust Him to take care of us.

Of troubles I’ve had much more than enough; Many the days my path is rough; Many the days I wonder what to do. But then I talk to my God in prayer and he assures me that he’s right there and whatsoever may come he’ll see me thro’

I’ve read in the book how the Lord once said, “The rain will fall on the good and the bad, But wise is the man who waits upon the Lord.” When trials and sorrows multiply I will not ask him the reason why, For strength is mine only heaven can afford.

There have been times in my life when I was going through a trial and the last thing that I did was go to God in prayer when it should have been the first thing that I did. There have been other times when I went to God as soon as the trial started and it ended quicker and with a better result than when I went to the Lord after trying to get through it on my own.

Last year while Nick was away at basic training, I was unable to sleep most nights. I remember the first week that he was gone I didn’t sleep more than an hour a night and I was still working 8-10 hours a day. That made for some very long days at work. I tried to find ways to fix the issue on my own instead of turning to the Lord. When I finally took it to him in prayer I started sleeping most of the night. It was still lonely at night but there was a peace that the Lord was looking out and taking care of me. This is what the Lord wants to do on a daily basis is to take care of us.

When the trials come who are you turning to? Are you turning to the Lord? Are you relying on yourself and the things of the world to get you through?

I have a desire to be a mother and to raise my children to serve the Lord. It is so easy to get discouraged as the months go by and realize that I am not going to be a mother in the next few months. Many times I have to stop and look at my prayer life in this area. I have to see if I took this burden to the Lord and prayed consistently about it. We are so quick to want to point fingers and say that it is someone else’s fault, but how often does the fault lie with us because we didn’t take it to the Lord and rely on him to answer?

"...Yet ye have not, because ye ask not." James 4:2

The Lord is waiting with his arms of deliverance to shelter us and to carry us through the trials of life. There is nothing to great or too small for the Lord to handle. He is always there waiting for us to come to him in prayer so that he can carry you through the battle. What’s it going to be? Are you going to try it yourself and drag the trial out further? Or are you going to go the Lord in prayer and allow him to carry you through?

Serving the Master,
Diane Cardot

The Peace of a Real Salvation

I was raised in a Christian home. My father has been a pastor since I was five years old. At that time I had seen a lot of people get saved and all I knew about it was that
everyone ought to get saved, people getting saved made my mom and dad real happy, and when people got saved they went to the front of the auditorium, prayed, and then they were saved!

I thought, "Hey! I can do that!" So I did. I went forward, prayed the prayer everyone prayed when they got saved, and then excitedly told my parents that "I got saved!" My mom and dad gave me a funny look and said, "oh, that's nice." and dropped it. That was very wise of them. They never told me, "Now you're saved!"

Years later, we went to a showing at a church nearby of some movies about the end times. The Bible tells us that Jesus is coming back, and that He will come like a thief. This knowledge convicted me because I knew that if I did not prepare for His coming, I would be left alone. This thought really gripped my imagination. I couldn't sleep. I knew some new things now.

1. If I had to face God right then, He wouldn't let me into Heaven. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23 "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone..." Rev. 21:8


2. When He came to get the saved, He wouldn't get me. "Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." Matt. 24:40

This is not a pleasant prospect, but the Bible is very clear on this matter. Sin ends up in a place of judgment, and we are in our sins without Christ.

I had a problem, though. So much of the Bible is about God's wonderful provision for this need we all have, and I FORGOT ALL ABOUT IT! I spent night after night dreading the morning in case I was going to wake up to an empty house. I would check the beds every night, sometimes several times.

Then after one night of desperate bed-checking, I lay in my bed pondering my misery and the Lord began to speak to my heart. The still small voice of God's Spirit asked me if I thought God wanted me to spend my life in this kind of despair. I knew that He didn't. Then it hit me like a load of bricks. "What! That's what Jesus came for!" Right then, I knew I had to get saved right away, and I knew the best thing of all:

• "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. " II Pet. 3:9


• "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" Rom. 6:23


• "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." II Cor. 5:21


• John 3:16 says it better than I ever could, "For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

I jumped out of bed and ran to my parents bedroom. They did not greet me enthusiastically this time either! In fact they were downright groggy and confused. I was not. I knew that I had to get saved before another moment passed. So I prayed and asked God to save me from my sins and from hell. I accepted His wonderful gift of eternal life. The relief and peace was amazing. The first thing I thought was, "Finally! I can sleep!" How wonderful to be able to rest in peace in this life! "I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for thou, oh Lord, only makest me dwell in safety."

Reader, God loves you so much that gave His own blood to pay for your salvation. If you are trying to get it by being a good person, please remember, it's a gift! Your sins will keep you from ever being good enough to have peace with God. You have to get rid of them! Jesus is how. When He died on the cross, His blood paid the price to remove all our sin.

"In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgivness of sin." Col. 1:14

God says that if you turn from those sins and believe on Christ, you will be saved.

"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Rom. 10:13

Sarah Joy
Sarah Joy's Corner

Broken to Beautiful

When I was really little,
About the age of three or four,
I would get really scared,
When I'd hear a slamming door.
Mom and Dad would yell a lot,
Us kids never understood,
We knew that there were problems,
And we'd have fixed them if we could.

They never got along you see,
It's God's love that they did lack,
So when they did split up,
Dad said I won't be back.

My mom worked with a Christian,
Who asked her to come to church,
My mom said I'll try it,
Since nothing else has worked.

When my mom went that day,
And she fully realized,
That she was a rotten sinner,
She let that old man die.

Now that she was saved,
She began to really pray,
That God would bring her husband home,
For good and there to stay.

One day when my Daddy called,
About a few weeks later,
He said that he was on his way,
To file a divorcement paper.

Mom then went into her room,
To pray to God in Heaven,
About what Daddy said,
And about the situation.

The next thing that we knew,
Dad was walking through the door,
He said that he was home,
They needed to talk some more.

He said I don't love you,
I'm just here for the kids,
We'll put a month on trial,
We'll try this out again.

She'd pray to God every day,
That He would let this work,
Please God save my husband,
And let him get in church.

After weeks of asking,
Daddy finally agreed,
He said that he would go,
So his wife would no more plead.

Daddy had gone in the garage,
To get alone and think,
He'd knew he'd been convicted,
His soul was tired and weak.

So there that day my dad got saved,
His life forever changed,
Then he told his wife,
My life is rearranged.

It's been thirteen years since all this happened,
All of us kids are saved,
My parents are still married,
And dad preaches the Word today.

So next time you say it's impossible,
I've got a different story,
God put our family back together,
I give Him the praise and glory.

Trusting God,
Kristina