Moving to Modesto

Wow, moving is such a pain. I wasn't planning on moving until.... I got a letter from the Eureka SDA Church board. As you may (or may not) know, Helen died awhile back. Seems the former pastor of the Eureka SDA Church knew that she was getting old, and helped her by getting her to make out a will. Of course during this process, he convinced her to give much of her estate to the church. It might seem to be a conflict of interest, but he also appointed himself as the executor. Then after that was accomplished, the Northern California conference asked him to move away from Eureka to help pastor another church down near Sacramento. So we haven't seen this guy except for one visit for over two years.

Any way, somehow the Eureka SDA church found out about this will, and being in need of funds (and what church today isn't) decided that they should sell Helen's house so they could acquire "their" money. Subsequently I received a letter stating I had 60 days in which to move.

Rather than question the validity of their request, I acquiesced and began to look for a place to relocate to. I thought... in two months I should be able to find lots of places. Well I did. There are hundreds of rentals all over Eureka. Some of them are pretty nice.

I had four cats. Somehow nobody who was in charge of rentals wanted anybody to rent who had four cats. There seems to be a real negative feeling towards cats. Now our cats are super clean, they always use a potty box, and never make any kind of a mess. But, it was all an uphill battle trying to convince people of that. Yeah. I got ZERO calls from all the different rental agencies I went to.

Suddenly I realized I had a big problem. I had to move and had nowhere to go. I was going to be homeless because some church decided they needed money. This was not looking good.

I will tell about the search for a home in my next posting.

Have a wonderful life,
David A. Youngs

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Everlasting Love

How long is everlasting? Perhaps that is a trick question. Everlasting means something that will last forever, or for eternity. It will never end.

 

We read in the bible that Jesus loves us with an everlasting love.

 

Jeremiah 31:3 in The Message version --God told them, "I've never quit loving you and never will. 
   Expect love, love, and more love...."

 

The New King James Version says in Jeremiah 31:3 "The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying:

      “ Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; 
      Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you."

 

Here we discover that God has always loved us, and He always will. It is an "everlasting" love. Since we humans are acquainted mostly with things that have a beginning and especially an end, it is a little challenging to us to really comprehend EVERLASTING love, a love that never ends. I am not sure I even can understand it completely.

 

But knowing that God says He loves me with an everlasting love sure makes me feel special. And like He says, it draws me to Him. Only by love can love be awakened.

 

I can't force anybody to love me. And God won't force or compel anyone to love Him. But He just keeps on loving us, and that love (once we experience it) just naturally draws us to Him.

 

Jesus said, "I, if I be lifted up (on the cross at the crucifixion) I will draw all men onto me." Why? Because that is such a compelling and vivid demonstration of His love for us.

 

God is the source of love. All true love comes from God. And he is loving us with EVERLASTING love. Maybe by experiencing this divine love from God, we humans can even learn to love each other!!

 

(if you have any thoughts on the Love of God, please share them with me....)

 

 

Sincerely,

David A. Youngs

Look--LOVE!!!

The beloved Apostle John could not even hardly believe how much God loves us. He simply says in effect: "Look at how much God the Father loves us--He calls us His children!!"   You can read it for yourself in 1 John 3.   1 John 3  1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears,[a]we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.    When we think about this, it is utterly almost beyond comprehension. The creator of the universe, of everything in the far flung realms of outer space, has selected us, we little humans and decided that we should be His children. And this is after sin. Sin in which Adam totally disobeyed God, and obeyed the suggestion of the serpent through whom Satan was speaking.   Children of God... Who is the most powerful person on earth you can think of? Maybe President George W. Bush who is president of the United States of America. Perhaps he is the most powerful man in the world. Just for the sake of illustration, suppose he said, "David Youngs--from now on, you will be called my son. You will be my child." Suppose President George W. Bush told everyone, "David is now my son." How would people treat me?   They would give me respect and honor, because I am the son of the President of the United States of America.   But even though he is very powerful and important, George W. Bush is still just a human.   We have GOD saying, "from now on, David Youngs is my son. I want everyone to know, he is my son." Can you imagine how people would treat me if they really believed that God was my father? Wow!!   What an incredible privilege. It is not something I deserve or you deserve. Why does God say, "from now on, when you see these people, I want you to know they are now my children?"   If you read the verse, John is saying, "What manner of LOVE is this?" It is because He loves us that God calls us His children.   How much do parents love their children. Some parents (the good ones) love their children so much that they would even die for their children if it would make it so their children could live.   And that is what God did. He gave His real son Jesus to die so that we can live. What kind of love is this? It is so far beyond anything I can understand.   All I know is that I really like it. God says, "David, you are my son." And if God says it, that makes it true, because God cannot and will not lie. I really like being God's son. Knowing I am the Son of the greatest and most powerful entity in the entire universe is wonderful. It makes me feel really special, and super loved.   I enjoy being God's child, don't you?   Sincerely, David A. Youngs

Marriage of the Lamb

Jesus wants to have a deep relationship with us individually. In fact, He uses marriage to illustrate just how incredibly intense and totally complete he wants this relation between us to be.

In the beginning, when God made Adam and Eve he explained that they would bond together so tightly that they would become "one flesh." Another place he said that a man should leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife.

And when Carla and I got married, the preacher said, "What God has joined together, let no man put assunder." 

A marriage relationship is the closest possible relationship a man and woman can have on this earth. It is the highest realization of love that we can know. That is why God uses marriage to tell us how intimate he wants to be with us.

In Revelation 19:7-9 John writes, "Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.  And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."

You and I can become the spiritual wife of Jesus Christ. In Genesis you can read where a man "knew" his wife and she bore him a son....

That is the complete way that Jesus wants us to know each other. Completely and intimately. He wants us to understand that He is willing to send His Holy Spirit to actually dwell inside of us, to become a part of us, to control and direct us. To actually create a new life out of our old one.

You can see this in the verses above. The fine linen, clean and white that the "bride" wears is the righteousness of the saints. These saints are pure. That is what white worn by a bride signifies, that she is a pure virgin. She has saved herself for her husband on their wedding night. These saints are pure. They have not worshipped other gods. In fact, the marriage supper of the Lamb (Jesus) is a victory supper. It will take place in heaven after He has taken all the saints back with Him at His second coming. Just like a man sort of is the "victor" and has won the woman over all the other men who might have wooed her, the Lamb has married all these pure saints. And we together will have a victory supper.

David wrote about it in Psalm 23 "He preparest a table for me in the presence of my enemies." This is the table of the victory supper at the triumph of the Lamb. These saints have chosen HIM!! They are united in spiritual marriage to Him. They have become ONE with Him. They have His Spirit filling them completely. They have chosen to follow Him completely.

Thus the deepest love between a husband and wife is used by Jesus to begin to try to describe the incredible union that He wants to have with us. He loves us and wants us to become ONE with Him. And God sent Jesus to come and die for us, to enable us to reclaim the wonderful relation that Adam and Eve had before they sinned. 

We will actually spend eternity being able to talk to our Maker face to face. And it will be a life of Joy, of fulfillment, of satisfaction. I want to "marry" Jesus, don't you?

 

 

Sincerely,

David A. Youngs

Love goes on

I am sure you have heard stories of where a soldier from the United States was on assignment over seas and he fell in love with a local native girl. Then he suddenly found out his unit was being shipped back home or he got wounded, or whatever happened, and the romance was sort of left hanging while he had to leave. Perhaps the frustrated soldier did not even get the opportunity to say "Good bye," to the girl he had fallen in love with.

 

Then, as these stories generally go, years go by, and then one day, these long separated lovers somehow find each other once again, and finally the romance blossoms into marriage.

 

These stores have a happy ending, but in the middle, the couple who are in love are torn apart by the ravages of war.

 

In a way, all Christians are at war. Jesus told us that the world would hate us, because they don't understand or know us.

 

But the good news is that God won't ever forsake us or leave us. In fact, even though this war for our souls may grow really severe and prolonged, it cannot separate us from God's love.

 

We read what Paul wrote in Romans 8:38-39, "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

 

Wow. NOTHING is able to separate us from God's love. The devil may even kill us, but even death will not separate us from God's love. God will simply resurrect us back to life (much like the solder reuniting with his lady friend) and take us to heaven to be with Him.

 

In fact, Jesus second coming is likened to a bridegroom coming for his bride.

 

Oops, I am out of time for for today. But we will continue this thought in part two tomorrow.

 

Sincerely,

David A. Youngs

Let your LOVE shine!

There are several equations in the bible. One of them is that "God is love," which you can read in 1 John 4:8 It says, "the person who doesn't love does not know God, for God is love."

 

There is another one that says "God is light." You can find it in 1 John 1:5, "This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

 

So if God is light, and God is love, then I would like to propose that light and love are almost equivalent.

 

We read in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

 

But since light equals love (almost) I would like to propose that this verse could be change to read, "Let your LOVE so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Does that make sense?

 

Jesus said, "by this will all men know you are my disciples, in that you have LOVE one for another." John 13:35

 

And from that verse before we just read we find that when we love men will see our good works... GOOD works. What make them good? God is the source of Love, of life, and of wisdom and joy. Love in action results in GOOD WORKS. Godly works.

 

I will have more to say on this later. I found some incredible statements which I am going to share with you. Hang on because the best is still to come.

 

If any one else has anything at all to say about this love of God in us, be sure and email me. I will read it, pray about it, and perhaps even post it to the whole group.

 

Jesus came to demonstrate God's love. And he wants us to love too.

 

Let's DO it. Let us glorify our Father in heaven by loving each other.

 

 

Sincerely,

David A. Youngs

5000 men

Jesus fed 5000 men (plus women and children) with five loves of home made peasant bread and 2 small fishes.   We can read about this amazing miracle in Matthew 14:15-22, "And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.  But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.  And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me.  And he  commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.  And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away."   This was a super miracle. Everybody had been there all day and many of them had not brought anything with them to eat. One little boy had a lunch his mother prepared for him. He was willing to share it, and then Jesus prayed, and shared it with the disciples, who shared it with the people. And when all was said and done, after all the people had eaten all they wanted, 12 baskets of fragments, of leftovers if you will, were gathered up.   Where did all these people come from? Five thousand men, plus woman and children. That is a whole lot of people. Jesus did not advertise, "come to hear the gospel by the sea." There were no newspapers, or radio or television in those days. They did not have the internet with UTube to promote things. In fact, Jesus did absolutely NO advertising of any kind.   These people could have all been someplace else. They had jobs. They had other things that probably needed doing. So what was it that caused them to skip work, to stop their house cleaning, to set aside all the plans for that day to go and listen to Jesus instead?   I am trying to put myself right into the story. WHAT was the thing that drew these people to Jesus.What could he have possibly said or done that would make all these people from all different walks of life, from poor people to wealthy people, from the leaders to the lowliest followers come  out to hear Jesus?   It was the fact that Jesus LOVED them. He was talking to them about a kingdom founded on LOVE. His ideas and concepts were so startling and innovative, so mind boggling and yet compelling that these 5000 men (plus women and children) not only came to hear what Jesus said, they stayed all day. They were spell bound by what they were hearing.   It made sense. It fed the deep longings of their hearts. Jesus showed them he loved them. There were entire villages  where Jesus had passed through where there was not even one sick person. Jesus had healed them all. He LOVED them.   He did not just TALK about love, he WALKED the walk about love. He healed them all. And here we find that the disciples were concerned. These people had been listening to Jesus all day!!! They had not gone anywhere. They could not get enough. And now it was almost night. The disciples were suddenly aware that THEY were hungry. They said, "Jesus, send the people away so they can go into the surrounding towns and villages and get something to eat." And Jesus said, "no.I have a better idea. YOU feed them."   With WHAT? the disciples asked. Even if we had thousands of dollars, we can not buy a meal out here away from all the towns and villages. There are no facilities here to cook anything. How are we supposed to feed this vast multitude. There were probably at least 10,000 people there including women and children as well as the men. Imagine the expense of catering for that many people. It would have cost a fortune, if it could have even been done. I mean a simple wedding meal today costs several thousand dollars for a few hundred guests.   And Jesus said, YOU feed them. One disciple said, "all we have is this one little boys sack lunch." All it is is 5 small loves and two tiny fishes. What good is that among 10,000 people? It barely will feed the boy who brought it. You have got to be kidding Jesus. Feed these people. HOW???   Then Jesus blessed that tiny bit of food and started giving it to his disciples. They started handing it out to the crowd of people. And everyone ate all they needed, and there were twelve baskets of left overs. One basket for each disciple. YES!! It was a miracle.   The disciples knew it. The people knew it. The little boy who shared his lunch with Jesus knew it.   Imagine the story he had to tell his mother.   "Mom!! You won't believe what happened!! Jesus took that little lunch you gave me and fed over ten thousand people."   Why did not Jesus send the crowds away hungry? It would have been the sensible thing to do. It was what the disciples suggested.   I would suggest that he did not send them away hungry because He felt their need. He loved them. This was just a graphic illustration of God's love, of Jesus love. He was teaching everyone, including the twelve apostles, a lesson. It was a lesson that they never forgot. And now we can read about it in the bible.   The reason all those people came out to hear Jesus was that he LOVED them.   Sincerely, David A. Youngs

Heaven's Zoo

I recently saw a video in which dolphins were happily playing with rings of air in the water. You know, God made the dolphin to enjoy playing with rings of air, silvery vortexes in the water that they can create. Isn't our God a great God!! Even the animals play and have fun.  Does our God really want us to have joy and happiness?   Of course He does. He created us to enjoy our lives. One of the very first fun things that Adam got to do after he was created and then God woke him up, was to look at all the animals God created. God actually brought each animal to Adam, one by one. Of course he was fascinated by them. He could see their form and function. He could sense their total and complete enjoyment of life.   Then God gave Adam the privilege as the first man of naming all the animals. You can read it right there in Genesis  2:19, 20 "19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field."   Imagine if you will all the fun and incredible pleasure seeing and naming all the animals must have been for Adam. Even today we go to the zoo -- to do what?  To see the animals God created, because it is a lot of fun. And we watch nature programs on television. WHY? To see the animals that God created, and marvel at their diversity. So here is Adam, and God brings all the animals to him. What an incredible time that must have been!!   "Adam," God might have said, "Look at this big animal. What do you think about this one?" And Adam would say, "Wow, it certainly does have a long neck, and look at those long, long legs. It stands so tall God. Why did you make it stand up so tall like that with such a long neck?" And God would say, "just wait a minute Adam, and you will see why." And then the animal would reach WAY up in the air and way up in a tree and eat the fruit found in the top of the tree. "Now do you see why Adam? I wanted it to be able to get the upper fruit from the trees. You can reach the lower fruit, but this long legged, long necked animal that I created can reach the fruit way up in the tops of the trees so that fruit can serve its purpose too. "Oh yes, Jesus," said Adam with a happy chuckle. "Now I understand. I think I will call this animal TOP FRUIT EATER." And Jesus laughed and said, "that is a very good name Adam. Yes. That is what we will call it. Top Fruit Eater."   Of course Top Fruit Eater in the language of heaven sounds a lot like "gee raff full" in our language which today we have shortened and compressed so when we see a Top Fruit Eater we just call them a "giraffe."   That first day of Adam's life must have been a whole lot of fun. And that was only the very first moments of his consciousness. Yes, God created all his creation to be full of Joy, of Happiness, and of Life. And the good news is that when God restores everything back to the way it is supposed to be someday soon, His creation again will be full of joy, happiness, and life. And I believe that then God will bring the zoo to us too. "Look at this animal that I have made," Jesus will say, "What do you guys think about this one?" I want to go to heaven and see God's zoo with no bars, no cages, no limitations, and the animals will live forever--don't you? Because I am pretty sure that we are really going to have a lot of fun there. Lets go...   This is David Youngs sharing a moment in God's word.     Sincerely, David A. Youngs

John the Revelator REVEALS!!

John the beloved disciple of Jesus says that the person who does not love his brother whom he HAS seen has not got a clue about how to love an invisible God who he has NOT even seen.   Then in the parable of the goats and the sheep, Jesus separates them according to how well they loved other people. He sets the sheep on one side and the goats on the other. Then he tells all the people in both groups why he put all them in that particular group.   To the Sheep he says, "you fed me when I was hungry. You clothed me when I was naked. When I was homeless you took me in. You visited me in prison." In other words, you LOVED on me.   They of course ask "When did we do any of these things to you?"   And Jesus answers, "As you have done it to the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me."   Wow! Jesus is calling all of us his brother. That means that we are related!! When Jesus came as a human, now we are all his brothers and sisters. He was given to the human race, and will forever be a human through eternity.   And Jesus says, because we are all brothers, how we treat people around us right now is just like doing it to Jesus.   Now this is incredible love. To voluntarily become part of your creation. For example, I have created several computer programs. But I would never consider lowering myself to the point where I would become a lowly computer program, and give up my humanity. I can't even imagine considering doing that, even if somehow I could.   But in effect, that is what Jesus did. He was so much higher than us it is like comparing us to ants. How many of you would become an ant to save the ants? Right. I would not do it.   But Jesus loved us so much, he volunteered to become human. He stepped out of His Omnipresence or ability to be everywhere at  once and is now limited by his human body. He can only be ONE place at a time now. He gave up far more than we will ever be able to comprehend.   I believe we will be studying His great gift to us for all of eternity. This gift is so huge, so big, it will take us forever just to begin understanding it. I understand only the tiniest portion. But I love the fact that God loves me!! That is tremendous.   People name drop from time to time. They say, "I know so and so, (always a movie star, or very important person like the president of the United States). In fact, some have their picture taken with other people. They proudly display this picture.   One lady I know had her picture taken with Willy Nelson, the singer. She proudly displays this picture and will tell any one who will listen about that moment when the picture was taken.   But God loves me. He is far more important than Willy Nelson, or even President Bush. He created EVERYTHING, including these people, and me. And he loves me. I have His word saying so.   In fact, Paul asks, "if God be for us, who can be against us?" It doesn't matter. God is for us, he loves us, and that is allthat really matters, isn't it?   And someday soon we will see Him face to face. And He will LOVE us personally. I can hardly wait. Heaven awaits us.   Let's go!!!   Until next time, David A. Youngs

Guest comment by Marvin

Research has been shown that person’s physical health can be affected with bad sleep. The amount of sleep one can get also influence one’s decision making. According to the study published in the March 1st issue of the journal SLEEP, sleep deprivation impairs the ability to integrate emotion and cognition to guide moral judgements.

The study was conducted by William D.S. Killgore, PhD, and the colleagues at the Walter Reed Army Institute of research. It was focused on 26 healthy adults who made judgements about the appropriateness of various courses of action in response to three types of moral dilemmas on two separate occasions: at rested baseline and again following 53 hours of continuous wakefulness.

Good Night Sleep

Lack of sleep can result in stress, lack of concentration, moodiness, memory loss, lower motivation and fatigue. It is important to get a good night sleep otherwise it may lead to different sleep disorders. More than eighty percent of people suffering from depression are suffering with sleep problems.

At present, one of the most common problems is Sleep deprivation. In fact the Better Sleep Council surveyed a thousand adult respondents and discovered that more than 30% of them confessed to not getting enough sleep each night.

Here are 101 ways to get good night sleep for those who experience difficulty in getting sleep. 

http://www.sleepdisordersguide.com/blog/good-night-sleep-101-ways/

Does Blogging Kill You?

There appeared a recent story in the New York Times by Matt Ritchel telling about how the stress of blogging killed three people. Perhaps you read his article about how The stress of blogging can kill you. Apparently a couple of guys Russell and Marc Orchant who were bloggers died and another guy who also blogged had a heart attack.

And so because of these three people who happened coincidentally to be bloggers are not faring so well physically, then .... blogging kills. I can't think of anything more far fetched, and ... well... dumb.

I'll just bet I could find three airline pilots that had some health issues recently due to "the stress of flying." There are plenty of doctors who drop dead of a heart attack. Does that mean that we should be aware of "the stress of practicing medicine?"

Writing a blog can be stressful. Well at least for some bloggers I guess. But I can easily think of a lot of jobs that are much more stressful. How about policemen? They joke to each other about how working as a policeman sure beats having a job. But believe me, it is nothing but stress out there. Yes, they get paid quite a bit of money, but... is constantly worrying about being shot not a great stress? I should think so. Ditto with the people who work in the armed forces. Isn't seeing your buddies whom you love and work with get blown to smithereens by a bomb pretty stressful?

I used to work. Work IS stress. There are certain jobs I just don't think I would like to do. Cleaning out sewer systems. Shoveling horse and cow manure. Being a stunt double and falling down stairs or jumping out of tall buildings.

Having a dumb boss is very stressful. Not only do you and he both know that he doesn't have a clue (well, maybe he really doesn't know) but if you don't do what he tells you to do no matter how ridiculous or stupid, he can fire you. And even if you do exactly what he tells you to, and it turns out to be the wrong thing to do... you get fired. Now that is stress.

How about getting up in front of large crowds and speaking? Isn't that stressful? Some people seem to think so.

Rush hour traffic can be a stressor. That idiot ahead of you who is cutting traffic and almost hits you. That sure stresses me out.

Listen folks, I do not think you can avoid stress. My little old crazy lady I was taking care of was stressed out because the neighbors were "Bothering" her. I told her, "Eve (not her real name) how could the neighbors possibly be bothering you? You have not been outside of this house in weeks. Why the neighbors don't even know you are here. They are ignoring you completely!!"

"THAT is how they are getting to me. By ignoring me."

People who work in all types of jobs are dying everyday. But that does not mean that their jobs kill them. Unless of course they are Marines, or Army or Highway Patrol or something. But I really cannot blame blogging for killing anybody. Come on folks... blogging???

Hey, I suppose there are some people addicted to computers who stay up so long online that they eventually wither away and die. I suppose it happens. But... can you blame computing for their death? I don't think so.

Folks, I guess if you do anything long enough... (maybe 80 or 90 years) it can kill you. But if you do NOTHING for 80 or 90 years, you are going to die anyway. So let us get real here. Blogging is not going to kill you. And reading blogs won't either. Or at least I hope it doesn't.

If reading this blog kills you, please write and tell me about it.

Let us get real,

David A. Youngs

Johnny's new blog, and other thoughts.

Hey folks, Johnny Bond, (Yes, the PhotoShop specialist that put clouds behind my head in the photo to the right) has finally begun to think about writing his own blog.

His new blog will be called "A Life in the World of Johnny." Or maybe it is "A World in the Life of Johnny." Whatever.... When he gets his first blog up and running, I will tell you all about where to go to read it.

I keep getting advertisements in my email box for FREE information on how to make thousands of dollars a week with blogs. I check these out, and invariably they want to SELL me a system to make thousands of dollars a month with my blog. It seems to me that THIS is how to make a lot of money. I need to find a way to swallow my pride and sell an you am ebook on how YOU can make thousands of dollars a month with YOUR blog. And you can send me $1000's of dollars to find out how I made thousands of dollars.... Hmmmm??? And if enough people buy my ebook, then I will have made the thousands of dollars.

Hey.... Did you realize that if enough people vote for Obama in the election coming up, the good old USA might just become an OBAMANATION??? This (pun/play on words) is original with me. Please give me credit if you use it. Just mention my name.... David A. Youngs, and send people a link to this (my) blog: http://polybids.blogspot.com Thanks. I need my 15 minutes of fame.

I was talking to a friendly stranger at a restaurant today. He said this was the first presidential election where he felt that rather than voting FOR any candidate, instead he had to vote AGAINST candidates. I think he is voting ABC (Anybody But Clinton).

Just this evening on the talk radio program Money Talk I heard the moderator really chew out Barrack Obama for his ideas on how to overhaul Social Security. He said that if Obama enacted his new ideas, every entrepreneur would be taxed at the incredible rate of 65 %. I might be off a percentage point or two, but the main thrust of his comments was that this was the worst idea he had ever heard of bar none. Nobody would work very long if 65% of all their earnings were taxed away from them. No new jobs would be created because no new small businesses would be formed. I hope this doesn't happen. Small businesses employ the majority of people. And all big businesses that employ the rest were once small businesses too.

I challenge any of you fine readers to show me even a single instance of even one country or nation that taxed itself into prosperity. You won't be able too. Taxes don't make a country prosperous. They tend to make it poor. People won't work if they do not get any direct benefit from their work. Communism has proved this point over and over. When there is no incentive to work, nobody works. Nobody produces much of anything. And why should they? Especially if they get taxed to death.

When taxes are repealed, the economy grows at a rapid pace. Raise the taxes and the economy goes into a recession. Guess which one has been happening lately???

Well, I gotta run.

Think before you act.

David A. Youngs

Modern Psalm of David (me)

I praise my God

Today I praise Him for the sunshine
that finally follows after rain.
I praise Him for the loving Spirit
that heals my heartache after pain.

There is a pathway He lays before me
a long and narrow winding road
That leads at last into His kingdom
where I may enter in the fold.

And if I choose to walk that pathway
to take my cross and follow Him
He will fill me with His Spirit.
Yes nothing more I need but Him.

So today I praise His tender mercies
and recall His constant care
For my Redeemer is so awesome
and I know He's always there.

dayo 04-03-2008

Using Windows Live Writer

Hi folks, I am trying out this new program I just downloaded from MicroSoft called Windows Live Writer or just Live Writer for short.

So far it has a lot of appeal to me because it enables me to insert a lot of html special coded things like a hyperlink or a map or even a video. A VIDEO???

This just might turn out to be very interesting. I even have a video I just might insert some time. The only thing I can see that it is missing is the TAGS section that appears when I am writing the blog from my usual blogging program.

When I first set it up, Live Writer asked if I already had a blog. When I told it yes, Blog Writer asked only for the URL. Then it downloaded all kinds of things automatically. It even had a few pictures already to use that I had used previously.

This is my first time using Windows Live Writer and it will take a little getting used to. I actually writes in what appears to be the column of the blog. And I guess it has the ability to add additional plug ins to make itself even more adaptable. I am not sure what I am supposed to do if I want to create a new blog on a different blog site or even my own site. I guess I will find out in time. Life is all a big experiment, and this is an experiment too.

Sincerely,

David A. Youngs

Crazy People IV

Note: the names have been changed to protect the guilty and the crazy.

Will the craziness ever end? One evening my telephone rang. It was Adam.


"I need your help. My wife Eve is in jail."

"What!? What happened?"

"Well, it is all a big mistake. Eve and I were fighting and she beat me up. Then she threatened to kill herself and I called 911. The police showed up and after they questioned us both, they hauled her off to jail."

"Why did they do that?"


"Well, she did not deny she had hit me, and I have a small scratch on my forehead. So they took her off to jail. She is being charged with a felony, and her bail is set at $50,000. You gotta help me."


"Well, I don't have any money. You promised me you would not call 911 any more. Remember the last time you did that, the police came over and wanted to see Eve? She wasn't there, and the police came back during dinner and demanded to see her to see if she was alive. You promised me you would not call 911 any more."


"What am I supposed to do when Eve threatens to kill herself?"


"You might just try talking her out of it. Every time you call 911, the police get involved. Haven't you figured that out yet? By the way, what were you and Eve fighting about any way?

"Oh, I don't know. I might have mentioned to her that I no longer loved her and that I loved our next door neighbor much more than I ever loved her. And then she just up and hit me!!"

"Hmmmm. I wonder why....."

"Okay. But what do I do now that Eve is in jail?"

"You might try waiting and seeing what happens."

"Oh, I can't do THAT. I am responsible for Eve being in jail, and I have to get her out."

"All right. So what do you think you are going to do?"

"I am going to call the district attorney right now and tell him what a big mistake has been made."

"Adam!! I am not sure that is such a good idea. You haven't done real well in calling people lately. It might be better to wait a while."

"Oh, I can't wait. No!! I am going to call the district attorney right now. Bye."

And with that bit of news, Adam was no longer on the line.

I waited about two hours and called Adam back.

"Hey Adam, how are things going?"

"Just terrible. Did I tell you my wife Eve is in jail?"

"Yes... about two hours ago you told me that Adam. Are you okay?"

"Well, I am okay. But I put Eve in jail. It is my fault. And the district attorney won't talk to me."

"Hmmmm. Why doesn't that suprise me? Why don't you get some sleep and call me back in the morning."

"Okay David, but I did get ahold of the district attorney's secretary. She says she doesn't know anything about the case yet. They don't even have the paper work yet."

"Look Adam, there is NOTHING more you can do right now. Why don't you go to bed and go to sleep?"

"My wife Eve is not going to sleep. She is in JAIL!!! And it is all my fault. I feel like going out and killing myself. But then who will feed the cats?"

"Okay Adam, I see your point. Why don't you just stay up all night. Then you will be in real good shape to face tomorrow."

"Oh I don't know David. I am so tired. I think I might go to sleep."

"Well if that is what you really want to do Adam. I will leave that decision with you. YAWN... I know I am really tired Adam. I am going to bed now. Goodbye."

When I woke up in the morning, there were several messages on my voice mail. Guess who they were from? They were of course from Adam. So I called him.

"Adam, this is David. What are the visiting hours so my wife and I can go and visit your wife in jail?"

"I don't know David. I will have to get back to you on that. The secretary to the district attorney said she will call me back just as soon as she gets any information on my wife's case. I have to stay right by the phone in case she calls."

"Well, Okay Adam. It sounds like things are all under control."

"But my dear wife Eve is in JAIL!!!"

"Yes, we have already covered that. She is in jail. I know that Adam."

"But you don't understand David. It is my fault she is there. I was the one that called 911. Then the police came and took her to jail. I feel like hanging myself. What am I going to do?"

"You are going to wait for the secretary of the district attorney to call you on the telephone. That is what you are going to do Adam."

"Oh yeah. Right. David, I have to go. She might be calling me right now."

"Okay Adam. Call me back when you find out the visiting hours, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Goodbye."

Several hours went bye. Adam did not call. Finally I felt like I should call just to see if he was still alive.

"Hello Adam. Hey, did you ever find out when visiting hours are? My wife and I would like to visit Eve in jail and encourage her."

"Oh I don't know when the visiting hours are. But you can't visit her in jail. She is OUT!! It was a miracle. The district attorney's secretary called finally. They had just gotten the paper work. I told her it was all a big mistake. I was NOT pressing charges. She finally asked me what I wanted to do. I told her, 'drop the charges against Eve.' And so she did. And now Eve is out and is on her way home on the bus. It is a miracle I tell you. A miracle."

"Wow. That is great news Adam. And you did not have to post bail or anything."

"No. I think Eve is coming in right now. David, Eve is home. I gotta go."

"Just don't call 911 any more Adam."

"Oh, I know better than that. I won't. I gotta run David. Eve is HOME!!!"

Later I called back and talked briefly with Eve. She had a rough night in jail. Nobody threatened her and she was treated real nice by everybody, but still she was in JAIL!! And she vomited everytime she ate anything because she was so stressed out. She was glad to be back home with Adam, and hoping that they could work things out.

Why do I think that there may be some more adventures before they get everything all "worked out?"

People are acting crazy.
Try to act like you are sane.

David A. Youngs

Crazy People, part 3

I got a call from "Jim" (not his real name, I don't need any law suits here.) He had to move the motor home I gave him.

Why? Well, he moved it into the trailer park without first clearing it with the park owner. When she came out to see what was going on, he and she got into a big discussion. And of course Jim started shouting and waving his arms around because that is his modus operandi. The owner of the park, whom we will call "Ruth" because she is definitely not ruthless (pretty nice play on words, huh?) decided she had had enough of Jim's attitude. She told him he needed to move his nice motor home right on out of her park... and do it pronto.

At first, as Jim was telling me this, I was sort of sympathizing with him, but then he got to the kicker.... he had never paid her his rent for the month. No wonder she was already predisposed against him. So, he did not pay the rent, he moved out his tiny travel trailer, and moved in my huge motor home. Which doesn't fit in the space where he put it... And then he got into a fight with his landlady. Hmmmm.

Now lest you think that Jim got a good deal from me when I gave him the motor home, you should know that it will take thousands and thousands of dollars to fix all the myriad things wrong with it. I did not bless Jim, I cursed him with a motor home. It is a money pit.

And during their very animated and loud discussion, Jim had the audacity to try to tell Ruth how she should run her trailer park. It is no wonder that Jim was asked to move. I mean... three strikes and you are out of there.

Yes... this is the same Jim that threw all his wife's things out into the yard. That Jim. And now Jim was asking me to help him find a new place to live.

When I asked Jim what happened to his travel trailer, he causually mentioned that it had burned. Burned? Well, he told his wife "Angela" to set it on fire. And for some strange reason, for once she actually did what Jim asked her to do. So it was partially burned inside. Jim was bemoaning the fact that she had set it on fire.

"Only because you told me to!" was Angela's response. "Yes, but you never did anything else I ever told you to. Why did you have to do that?" Nobody could ever quite explain why Jim asked Angela to set the trailer on fire.

I don't know, but I don't really think I will be able to find a new place for Jim to live. I mean, what is he going to tell the new prospective landlord?

"Well, I am crazy, so I burned the travel trailer I was living in and then without telling the landlady I moved in a huge motor home that was 30 feet long instead of the 18 feet the travel trailer was. Oh... and I 'forgot' to pay my rent, and then the land lady and I had a big fight, and now I have to move.... so.... ummmm.... could I move into your park?"

If you were the landlord, what would YOU say? When Jim asked if he could park the motor home back up in "my" yard, I said "NO!!!" I don't own the place. And I don't need any more crazy neighbors. I have a couple of those already across the street.

"How about if I just park it on the street in front of your house?"

"NO!! It is illegal and you will soon be talking to the police explaining to them why you are parking illegally on the street."

So Jim is trying to find a place to park. I mean, another place. Meanwhile he is still where he was, down in Ruth's park. She won't accept his money because that would be in effect agreeing to allow him to stay there. And Jim IS trying to find another place. But... it is a strange thing--nobody will let him move in. Isn't that odd? Maybe he should use Ruth for a reference.... yeah, that would probably help a whole lot.

Some people really are crazy. Don't be one of them.
David A. Youngs

Crazy People, part 2

There is a picture of me to the right in which I am looking incredulous. Or maybe just plain crazy. But I really do not have the challenges that one couple I know has.

I will call them Bill and Angela because that is not their real names, and if they ever read this I do not want a law suit.

Well, I went to see Bill. He is a feisty little fellow only slightly thicker than a broom stick. He seems to be always in perpetual peripatetic mode. I mean the guy can't even stand still. He is always vibrating and jumping all around. And he is always complaining about something. If it isn't taxes, it is the police. And if it isn't the police, it is about the people around him, and how utterly unfair life is, and how he always gets the small end of the stick, the raw deal, life is never fair, blah blah blah.

He came home and his wife Angela had been there and gone. She had moved a few things around in his trailer, and of course this really set Bill off. He just came unglued. He started heaving the offending items that were on "his table, his chair, his counter" out the door into the middle of the lawn. Books, a back pack, a bottle of bleach, all sorts of things.

Just about the time he finished, up walks Angela. I don't know where she had gone, and I guess it really did not matter. But she was extremely angry to see her things being cast out into the yard. And she and Jim started having words about it.

"Why are you throwing my things out."
"Well you left them on MY table."
"It is my table too."
"No... I paid for this trailer (I may have not mentioned, but they live in a tiny trailer) with MY money, so it is MY trailer."

I left them screaming at each other out in the yard with Angela trying to rescue her backpack because "it is full of stolen things I have to return to campus security." Enough said.

Two hours later, my friend John and I came back to see if Angela and Bill had killed each other. No... but things were rapidly getting worse.

Angela decided that if Bill was going to throw her things out in the yard, maybe she should show Bill what it felt like. So... she tossed out some of his things into the yard. The stereo was scattered in broken pieces all over the lawn. Bill had just bought it a couple of days before. John and I could not help it -- we started laughing. Bill was NOT AMUSED. Not in the least.

"I suppose you and your wife NEVER had an argument."

"No, you don't understand. Ha HA ha The reason I am laughing," replied John doubling up with paroxysms of laughter, "is that you remind me ha ha ha of exactly what me and my wife ha ha ha used to do."

Finally after several minutes John could control his laughter for just a moment. "Hey, what are you going to do with your NEW stereo system?"

"It is trashed, I am going to junk it."

"Do you mind if I have it?"

"Oh yeah, you can have it. Sure."

So laughing as we went, we gathered up all the scattered bits and pieces. We even found the speakers broken up and in the trash can already.

I asked Angela if she had enjoyed throwing out Bill's things into the yard.

"YES!! I did!" she replied very emphatically. And by the way her eyes gleamed when she said it, I think she really did enjoy it.

John took the pieces home, and bungee corded and taped things up. He fitted all the little internal cable fittings back together. And believe it or not, it sort of worked. Well, He had to realign the head on the cd player, but the changer actually worked and everything. All the screw holes were broken, but it is amazing what shipping tape (and I mean a LOT of shipping tape) and bungee cords can do. So for 4 hours of hard work, John had a free stereo system. It definitely did not look very good. But he could load up to five cd's at once. Of course the sound quality wasn't quite the same, so he stuffed some material into one of the holes on each speaker boxes to "equalize the bass" and muffle the rattling. And then, believe it or not, it sounded mighty good.

Of course Bill wanted his stereo back, but John wasn't going to have any of that. "You told me I could have it, and now I have invested hours and hours of hard and challenging work into realigning the head, and basically rebuilding the entire system from tiny little pieces. No way are you going to have it back. Besides if I gave it back, Angela would just throw it out into the yard again."

It is still sitting in John's computer room blasting out love ballads and country and western music. And it it mostly clear wrapping tape and bungee cords now.

Occasionally John will go past Bill's house to see if there are any other salvageable things out on the lawn. Who knows, he might just get lucky again.

People really are crazy. Don't be one of them.

David A. Youngs

Cats can be really strange

I don't know about you, but my cats can be really strange. They are thinking up new ways to amuse themselves and me. Just yesterday for example, Silly Rocket Girl decided to climb up the cat tower. Shadow Guy Wookie was already at the top of the cat tower, and he was laying on the blanket that was draped over the tower. Normally when Silly decides to get on the tower, she climbs in a lower hole into the tower. But last night she decided to climb to the top of the tower UNDER the blanket. Shadow looked over the edge and watched as this mysterious bulge in the blanket started moving up the tower toward him. He wasn't too concerned until this bulge crested the top of the tower and started actually pushing against him. By this time, he had had enough and reached out a massive paw and WHACK, he hit the bulge.

The mysterious moving bulge reacted with a startled muffled meOW! Satisfied, Shadow started to go back to sleep. But Silly Girl kept pushing and pushing. Finally Shadow relented and hopped down the tower. Silly girl pushed on forward until suddenly she thrust her head and shoulders out beyond the blanket. The blanket then draped itself along her shoulders and over her back and looked exactly like a robe that royalty would wear. Silly Girl was so proud of herself. She sat up and started looking around her new domain. My wife grabbed the camera and took several pictures of Silly Girl.

I have no idea of why Silly Rocket Girl decided to climb up the cat tower UNDERNEATH the covering blanket. It was probably one of the most weird things I have ever watched. But it was sure funny.

I hope your pets bring you as much pleasure as mine do me.

Sincerely,
David A. Youngs

My Incredibly Smart Cats

To the left you can see one of my incredibly smart cats named Silly Rocket Girl. It is a long story how she got this name, and if you want to hear it, respond to this blog and I will tell it to you.



Click on the photo to see it really big!!



One night recently Silly Girl stood over by the bathroom door and meowed to get into the bathroom. At least that is what my wife and I thought she was doing. So I stopped what I was doing and got up out of my chair to let her in the bathroom. But as I opened the bathroom door, she scurried away and.... ran over and jumped up into my chair that I had just been sitting in. She never really wanted to go into the bathroom at all. She just wanted me to get up out of my chair so she could sit there. When I realized I had been outsmarted by a cat, I called it an evening and went off to bed, leaving a very happy and satisfied Silly Girl in possession of the chair. Now if this is not a proof of superior intelligence in a cat, I really do not know what is.



Even as I type this very blog, I am having to sit on the very edge of my computer chair because Silly Girl is taking up 3/4 of the chair and sleeping there. She did let me move her ever so slightly so I could at least sit down. I guess you might say that she, along with all our other cats, is spoiled. But when she is so smart, I hate to think what she might do if I make her move.

Sincerely,
David A. Youngs

Home Business?? Home FRAUDS!!

How many of you are literally being bombarded by "opportunities" to go into businesses that you can run from home? If you are like me, your spam filter is working overtime just to keep all these "opportunities" from drowning you in outrageous schemes. Now I am sure that some of these business plans must be legitimate, but from where I sit, (with a cat satisfactorily resting in my arms) a lot of these "opportunities" are basically offering you the great chance to send all your money off to somebody else.

Lately I have been approached repeated online with the concept of "free information." Just put your email address and your name in the appropriate boxes and free information will immediately be mailed or emailed to you. This sounds legitimate. After all, who would not want to actually check out a supposed opportunities before "investing" in them with your time and money -- especially your money. So I put in my name and my email address and then what happens?

Up pops a little dialog page asking for my credit card numbers. Why? Who needs your credit card information to send you FREE stuff? Because you have to pay for the "free" information. Suddenly it is explained that you are only paying initially for the small shipping charge required to send you the free information.

Whatever you do, DO NOT put your credit card information in the boxes. At least not until you read ALL the fine print that they are hoping you will overlook. Most of the time, if you take enough time to read everything, you will find that by filling in the boxes you do get the "free information" AND if you do not cancel, you are also agreeing to a significant monthly charge on your credit card forever. Or until you get tired of paying and paying for that little bit of free information.

Look folks, this is the same scam that sends you a check by snail mail. But if you read the back of the check you discover that if you sign and deposit the check, by affixing your signature to the check, suddenly you have agreed to change your telephone long distance provider, or just signed yourself up for a new life insurance policy which costs only $45 a month, or any number of other things you would not want nor agree to.

My advice to you is DO NOT sign nor deposit the check. This little check (and believe me, compared to the future significant hit to your bank account it is a little check) may be one of the most expensive things you have ever signed.

When the Lottery first came to California and you could buy and scratch off lottery tickets, some bright person in the place where I worked decided that it would be a brilliant idea if everybody pooled their money together and bought a hundred tickets. They were convinced that at least some of the 100 tickets would be winners, and all the people who pooled their money together would share in the winnings. They looked at me as if I was a fool for not reaching deep into my pocket and pulling out lots of green pieces of paper with dead presidents on them.

What happened? They bought one hundred tickets for one dollar each. Out of one hundred scratch off lottery tickets they WON.... about $55. But rather than take the "winnings" they felt inspired to "reinvest" their money and buy 55 more tickets. When they scratched them all, they WON again.... about $26. Well, that did not seem like very much so they bought 26 more tickets and began scratching in earnest again. Again they won... about $14 which they again reinvested in more tickets. I am not sure of all the exact details, but after buying more tickets, scratching them off and winning less, etc., eventually they had two or three tickets and finally they did not win anything. So they had successfully parleyed the initial investment of $100 into a grand winning total of zero dollars.

And yet they were elated. They all told me that they were winners, and I was a fool for not getting involved with this opportunity. When I saw where they were going I said, "well, if you give me $100, I will give you back $75 dollars. And I will continue to give you back 75% of whatever you want to give me. Then you can win at a higher rate!!"

To this they responded, "But you are not giving us the opportunity to win BIG. The scratch off lottery tickets can win up to $3000." Okay, I had to concede their point. But -- did THEY win $3000? NO!! They ended up with zero dollars. And I have found that this is what happens with most home businesses.

Not only do they initially cost money to "join the company" but you have to continue to "invest" your money every month to buy products, to pay for paperwork, to have access to your incredible $5000 web pages (which are exactly like everyone else's web pages except for one or two tiny details such as YOUR web page has YOUR name or associate number associated with it.) or to be a member with access to all the "training" provided. In the end, you spin your wheels, you invest all your time, effort and money, and what do you end up with?

Zero net dollars return. Well, just like my friends at work, you might get a diminishing return on your investment. And just like my friends, you can pretend that even though in the end you are broke you are a winner because you are in business for yourself, and just look at all the "profit" you made. You have got web pages! And own a business, and... are more broke than ever.

So, why do people keep falling for this fraud? Because deep down inside we would all like for it to be true that we can get something for nothing with practically no effort on our part. Yes, it would be nice to earn a gazillion dollars on the web. And there are those who have -- or at least they tell us they have and if we will just sign up, they will send us the free information that will teach us how we too can do it. Just put your credit card information right here in these little boxes. Most of the people offering to show you how to earn a lot of money are earning most of their money by hoaxing you into sending them yours.

I can't stop you. Go ahead... send them your money. I just wish you would send it to me instead. Hey, I will give you $75 return for every $100 you send me. And I will guarantee that. Maybe I will even buy you a lottery ticket from time to time, as a bonus. So... what IS your credit card number any way. Go ahead. Send it to me. You will be enrolled in a special class all by yourself called "the hidden reality about home businesses" And the best part is that you can enroll in this class just as long as you want, and every month you will learn even more. What are you waiting for? Enroll today.

Sincerely,

David A. Youngs