Be on the lookout. The banner at the top of this page is going to be making a major change VERY soon. You are going to be excited to see who Jest Kidding has just partnered with. Our ministry is moving on to reach even more kids than ever in parts of the world that we have never been.

Sheldon Rhodes and Jest Kidding are all about reaching kids for Christ. We always have been, always will be. Many things may change but God’s love for kids never changes.

Well, he replied, “What if I do this?” And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Now, who still wants it?” Still the hands went into the air.

“My friends, we have all learned a very valuable lesson. No matter what I did to the money, you still wanted it because it did not decrease in value. It was still worth $20.”

Many times in our lives, we are dropped, crumpled, and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless. But no matter what has happened or what will happen, you will never lose your value. Dirty or clean, crumpled or finely creased, you are still priceless to those who DO LOVE you. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by WHO WE ARE. You are special - Don’t EVER forget it.

It seems like the founding Fathers of this small town had some foresight and wanted to insure that the residents of their town had some religious values and teaching. They had set this intersection with it’s four corners to be used for churches. At this time, there were churches on three of the corners. The fourth corner was used by all three churches for parking. However, if someone ever wants to build another church, the fourth corner would be available to them.

At first thought you might think this was a wonderful idea. However, let’s see if maybe we can sneak a peek at how God might be looking at this. First of all, all three of these churches were “Christian” churches. There wasn’t a Jewish temple, a Muslim mosque or a Morman church. They were all main line Christian denominations. It might be safe to say that they all believed and worshiped the same God?

They all believe in Jesus Christ as God’s own Son. That He died on a cross for our sins. That He was buried and rose again on the third day. They all believe that the Bible is God’s Word and they all believe that reaching the World for Christ would be a good idea.

There are some differences. They all baptize but not all the same way. They all have music but not all the same style. They all have Bibles but not the same translation. They all have Bible school for their kids and may even use the same material but don’t have it the same week. They all park in the same parking lot next to each other but go to different buildings to worship and fellowship.

We have four kids. I just can’t imagine what it would be like as a parent to have all four kids living so close to each other on four corners and not being willing to get together. I can’t help but think that God must feel a bit hurt to see His children, who all love Him, not loving each other enough to come together as one body for worship. Each of His kids seem to think that their way is right,  the other”s way is  wrong to the point that they can”t come together for a couple of hours a week to worship their only Father.

Wow, that sounds like I’m really for ecumenical. If you really know me, you would know better than that. However, I do believe that on the major points there are more churches that believe the same things than those who don’t. There are points that we may differ on but in the big picture, these are relatively minor. But you say, “These things aren’t minor, they are MAJOR differences.” Yes, they are major differences but they are minor as to what is required to be part of God’s family.

The day really will come when all of those who believe in Christ as their Savior will be together in Heaven. There are going to be a lot of surprised people there when they look around and see a ton of others there that they knew believed different than they did. Some of us may even find people that we parked next to in the same parking lot as we each went to our separate churches. Is God proud of His kids or is He a bit disgusted and disappointed in the way they act?

“To dwell above with those we love, oh twill be such glory. To live below with saints we know, now that’s another story.”

“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.” 1 Peter 1:22

One Solitary Life

“He was born in an obscure village,
The child of a peasant woman.
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until He was thirty.

He never wrote a book.
He never held an office.
He never went to college.
He never visited a big city.

He never traveled more than two hundred miles
From the place where He was born.
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness.
He had no credentials but Himself.

He was only thirty-three
When He died.
His friends ran away.
One of them denied Him.

He was turned over to His enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial.
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.
While dying, His executioners gambled for His clothing,
The only property He had on earth.

When He was dead,
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend.

Twenty centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind’s progress.

All the armies that have ever marched,
All the navies that have ever sailed,
All the parliaments that have ever sat,
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that One Solitary Life.”

Twas the month before Christmas

When all through our land,

Not a Christian was praying

Nor taking a stand.

See the PC Police had taken away,

The reason for Christmas - no one could say.

The children were told by their schools not to sing,

About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.

It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say

December 25th is just a ‘Holiday’.

Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit

Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!

CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod

Something was changing, something quite odd!

Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa

In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.

As Targets were hanging their trees upside down

At Lowe’s the word Christmas - was no where to be found.

At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears

You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your ears.

Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty

Are words that were used to intimidate me.

Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen

On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton!

At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter

To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.

And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith

Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.

The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded

The reason for the season, stopped before it started.

So as you celebrate ‘Winter Break’ under your ‘Dream Tree’

Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.

Choose your words carefully, choose what you say

Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday!

Please, all Christians join together and wish everyone you meet MERRY CHRISTMAS.

Christ is the reason for the Christ-mas Season!

Thank You Vets

Maybe it has been going on longer than I know about, but last year was the first that I remember any business really doing something to honor vets. Home Depot did a big thing for the vets. This year Applebee’s really did it up big by providing veterans with a free meal. I mean a MEAL. Not a snack or a sample - a meal. Thank you Applebee’s.

You see, during the time that I served, the military guys really didn’t have much respect or honor. Guys coming back from Vietnam were certainly not welcomed back as heroes like we welcome troops coming back from the gulf area today. It seems like most of the guys in the Army at least during that era, were not in Nam because they wanted to be. Back then we were still drafting guys. They were in but many not by their own choice. Then they were sent where they did not volunteer to go. Yet when they came home (if they didn’t get killed first) they came back to a nation who was against them personally. That was just wrong.

Then there were those like myself who signed up freely without being drafted. We came back to the same non-welcome committee.

I don’t care if you were in favor or not of the Vietnam war, the gulf war, WWII or any other war, we owe our freedom to the men and women in uniform that has made and is making or keeping our freedom. Without a strong military our country would not be the wonderful place to live that it is and has been.

If nothing else, I feel that the events of 9-11 caused a major change of attitude towards the military. I know how great it must feel for a vet to have someone come up to them now and say, “Thank you for your service to our Country”. I hope you don’t pass up any opportunity you have to thank a vet.

Be faithful in praying for the leaders of our Country and for those who faithfully show up each day in uniform doing what needs to be do so that you and I can enjoy the freedoms we have. Personally I always hated the saying, “Rather red than dead”. Not me, I was and still would be willing to fight and die fighting to keep freedom alive.

Thank you Applebee’s and every business that has done something to show honor to our hereos of freedom.

There are lots of ways to celebrate Halloween.  I don’t know what you did but I was able to share the gospel with hundreds of kids that night. All together I did 5 programs that weekend. This young magician was there to teach me a trick or two. Well, maybe not. I have often wondered how God is preparing in the younger generation to carry on the ministry of gospel magic.

CHECK THIS OUT

We have something new and exciting we’d like to share with you!  It’s the new Jest Kidding toolbar – once added to IE or Firefox, each time you shop at more than 1,300 stores (from Amazon to Zazzle!) a percentage of your purchase will automatically be donated to Jest Kidding – at no cost to you (and you may even save money as the toolbar provides coupons and deals as well!).  The toolbar also has a search box and each time you search the Internet, about a penny is donated to Jest Kidding. http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/jest-kidding

And please pass this along to all of your friends.  The two minutes it takes to add this toolbar to your browser can make a lifetime of difference!

Get the toolbar NOW!  http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/jest-kidding

Say that three times real fast.

I was walking from the office to the house the other night when out from under our son’s car came running a skunk. I had smelled him a few times before but this was the first time I had seen this one. It ran away from me down the driveway and behind the house. I was in hopes that I had seen the last of him. That proved to not be the case.
Off and on all summer there has been a groundhog digging his way under our back porch. I have seen him a time or two but have not be successful in catching him. I will admit, he is good at springing traps without getting caught. I have to give him credit for that. Well, he failed to teach his secrets to the skunk. Yep, you guessed it, I caught the skunk in the trap.
Have you ever given any thought as to what you would do with a live skunk in a trap? Let’s consider this for a moment. You have the north end of the skunk and the south end. As long as you are looking south facing the north end of the skunk you are fine. But if you are looking north, you are looking into the face of the south end of the skunk. That is not so good.
Every time our travels take us through Iowa I can’t help but think about this set up as we cross the North Skunk River and then the South Skunk River. I don’t have any clue as to who named these rivers that or why. Maybe I don’t want to know. However, it had to be someone who knew something about the two compass directions of a skunk. Yesterday we crossed those two rivers again. I handed Vicky my cell phone and to my surprise, she got this picture. She wasn’t quite as lucky on the North Skunk. Maybe next time.

Some things in life should be avoided at all costs just like the south end of a skunk. If you mess around with those things you are sure to end up in a situation that stinks. You are free to explore skunks to your hearts’ content. Just keep in mind that most people are smart enough to keep as far away for them as possible. So the next time you are tempted, remember the skunk story.
By the way, there are a couple of things you can do to get the skunk out of the trap without getting sprayed but I will let you ponder that.

We had not shut anything off that was on, the freg and freezer seemed fine and so did everything else in the house. I was just about ready to call the fire department. I didn’t know what to tell them. I couldn’t see the fire or the smoke but could sure smell it. So what do you tell them? Come and smell it with us? We finally went back outside for about the 4th or 5th time. Ked asked if maybe the office building was burning down. I tried to determine which way the wind was blowing but it was pretty still. I told Ked that I had looked over to the office earlier and didn’t see anything but neither of us had gone over. I kind of figured that if it was the office, that would be bad but at least there wasn’t anyone inside. We walked all around the office building outside and I started out towards the road to see if maybe it might be the neighbors’ house across the street. If so, I would wake them up and get them out.

As I was heading towards them, I looked down the road to see if it might be coming from the neighbors’ house to the east of us. When I did, I could see smoke coming from the very back of their yard close to the corn field. I don’t know if they had had a cookout, were burning brush or just what but sure felt good knowing where it was coming from. By this time it was just starting to get light enough that I could see it. We had a flash light because when we first started looking it was too dark outside to see anything. There was quite a bit of smoke coming from that place in the neighbors back yard but it wasn’t anywhere close to their house or barn. I figured if it got going very big that someone driving by would see it or the neighbor would be getting up before long. They seem to get an early start. Ked had suggested earlier that maybe it was someone burning something. I told him that I thought the same thing but no one would be burning stuff at 5 in the morning at least not unless they didn’t know about it. So at least the mystery was settled and we went back to bed. I wasn’t afraid to go back to sleep but by that time all of us were wide awake.

You would have to go a long way to find a view any better than what you see when you get here. Wow! God created some totally magnificent scenery for us to enjoy. Looking over the vast openness also sheds some light as to how small we humans really are. Notice in the picture that you can see the curve of the earth.

I like to get my completed programs out of the chapel and back into the van as the week progresses. That keeps things to a minimum that curious kids can get into. Which has never happened by the way. It also lessons the amount of work that needs done on the last day before we can leave. So after lunch, Vicky and I both grabbed a load and were heading to the van to deposit them. I was in front of Vicky by just a few feet. Being warned about the possibility of seeing snakes, I was watching where I was going as I turned the corner outside the back of the chapel. I had not taken more than three or four steps when I heard the rattleing sound of a rattle snake right behind me. Before I could turn around, all I can remember is Vicky yelling something about a snake. She seems to remember screaming but I couldn’t say for sure or not. I looked and a 3 1/2 foot prairie rattler was crawling along the side of the chapel towards me. It stopped for a second and then continued a couple more feet. The snake had been right at the corner of the building and I had to have gone within two feet of it as I went past. With Vicky right behind me, when she got there it gave a short soft rattle just before it’s hard longer one. I don’t remember hearing the short one. That is when she saw it. I sat my load down and and told Vicky to keep an eye on it as I went to either find help or something to kill it with.

There were a group of campers with a couple of counslers setting just past the door of the chapel. I asked if they knew who could kill a snake. They all agreed that it would be Matt, the camp director. He lives on the property and has had lots of experence with rattle snakes. I ran into the chapel which is also the dining room and just yelled for Matt. I didn’t know if he was still in there or not but figured that if I yelled loud enough if he was there he would be sure to hear me. Sure enough, he was there and I motioned for him to come quickly. He jumped up and ran my way. I told him there was a rattle snake right outside and around the corner. He opened the door of a utility closet in hopes of finding a shovel but the only thing that was handy was a squeegie with a long handle. He said, “I have killed a lot of snakes with a lot of things but never with a squeegie. I guess I will be adding this to my list.”

We rounded the corner and it didn’t take Matt long to land a crushing blow to the snakes head. The excitement was quickly over. I remember him saying something about it being a big male and that one bite from him would kill a person. Matt has lost 1200 pound cattle to these snakes. It was about that time that he noticed that Vicky had sandals on. It was shortly after that we learned the rattlers will usually give a short soft rattle first as a warning. Then when they are ready to strike they will give the harder, longer one indicating that they are ready to strike. Matt also told me later that one that size could have struck Vicky from the distance between them without any problem.

Somewhere along the line, someone must have brought Matt a shovel. I must have blinked because before I knew it, Matt was coming back from somewhere with the shovel and the head of the snake was gone. Someone asked him what he did with the head and he said he buried it. He told us that they can still bite after they are dead. The body of the snake was still squirming at that time. Matt stretched it out for everyone to look at before he held it up. As you can see, it is almost the size of the kid in the background and if nothing else, the length of the shovel handle should give you an idea as to how big it was.

Matt then broke the rattles off and gave them to me saying that would be a good souvenir of camp. He then asked one of the counselors to take it to show some of the boy campers. They had been in hopes of seeing a rattle snake while they were at camp. Actually one of the counselors had seen a smaller one the day before but it got away. Then later Thursday night right after the evening chapel they found and killed another one. It was smaller than the one Vicky found but still a nice size. They say rattlers quite often travel in pairs and they were in hopes that this was the one traveling with the one killed earlier.

It has always been the case that if I or any of our kids couldn’t find something, Vicky could. I can look in the same place 3 or 4 times and not find it and then she will walk into the room and pick it up. How does she do it? Well, Thursday she announced that she is giving up title of “The Nana Who Finds Everything”. After finding that snake and the scare it gave her, she doesn’t want to be finding things any more. I can’t say that I blame her.

I told her that now we are “real missionaries” because we now have our snake story.

Now just for fun, let me share a couple of thoughts that went through my mind in the minutes after all of this was over. I was reminded of the passage in Genesis 3:15 where God said to Satan, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel”. This day there was a woman, Vicky, that I’m sure Satan would have loved to have had that snake strike her heel but God protected her and did not allow any harm to come to her. As for the snake, it got it’s head crushed. Satan was defeated once again. I can’t help but think that that passage passed through Satan’s mind Thursday as well. It must hurt to be reminded in such a graphic way of his fate and destiny. Sure glad I’m on the winning side of that deal aren’t you?

“The LORD will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life.” Psalm 121:7