Email John Pierce, Upsilon Zeta!

[Tom Earp]

Since I have forwarded very little of late, this three part may surprise you. I hope it gets you thinking as it did me. The first is humorous, esp. being a former cattleman. The next two are what I really wanted to forward.

May your day be like the man in part three. Do something for someone- you'll benefit equally as much as they will.

Have a wonderful weekend.

JP







Subject: Wise Old Farmer



A wise old farmer went to town to buy a new pickup truck, that he saw advertised in the paper for a certain price. After telling the salesman which truck he wanted, they set down to do the paperwork.
The salesman handed the farmer the bill, and the farmer declared "This isn't the price I saw!"
The salesman went on to tell the old wise farmer how he was getting extras such as power steering, power brakes, power windows, special tires, etc. and that was what took the price up. The farmer, needing the truck badly, paid the price and went home.

A few months later, the salesman called up the farmer and said, "My son is in 4-H and he needs a cow for a project. Do you have any for sale?"
The farmer replies, "Yes, I have a few cows I would sell for $500 apiece. Come and look at them and take your pick." The salesman said he and his son would be right out.

After spending a few hours in the field checking out all the farmer's cows, the two decided on one and the salesman proceeded to write out a check for $500. The farmer said -- "Oh, now wait a minute, that's not the final price of the cow. You're getting all the extras with it and you have to pay for that too".

"What extras?" asked the salesman. Below is the list the farmer gave the salesman for the final price of the cow........

BASIC COW.........................................$500.0 0
Two-tone exterior...............................$ 45.00
Extra stomach.....................................$ 75.00
Product storage..................................$ 60.00
Straw compartment...........................$120.00
4 spigots @ $10 each........................$ 40.00
Leather upholstery............................$125.00
Dual horns............................................$ 45.00
Automatic fly swatter.........................$ 38.00
Fertilizer attachment.........................$185.00

GRAND TOTAL .............. $1,233.00
********************************************
Did you know that 52 of the 55 signers of "The Declaration of
> Independence" were orthodox, deeply committed, Christians?
>
> The other three all believed in the Bible as the divine truth,
> the God of scripture, and His personal intervention.
> It is the same Congress that formed the American Bible Society,
> immediately after creating the Declaration of Independence, the
> Continental Congress voted to purchase and import 20,000 copies of
> Scripture for the people of this nation.
>
>
> Patrick Henry, who is called the firebrand of the American
>Revolution, is
>
> still remembered for his words, "Give me liberty or give me death";
>but in
>
> current textbooks, the context of these words is omitted. Here is
>what he actually said:
> "An appeal to arms and the God of hosts is all that is left
> us. But we shall not fight our battle alone. There is a just God that
> presides over the destinies of nations. The battle, sir, is not to
>the
> strong alone. Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at
>the
> price of chains and slavery? Forbid it Almighty God. I know not what
> courseothers may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me
>death."
> These sentences have been erased from our textbooks. Was Patrick
>Henry a Christian? The following year, 1776, he wrote this: "It cannot
>be
> emphasized too strongly or too often that this great Nation was
>founded not by religionists, but by Christians; not on religions, but on
>the
>Gospel of Jesus Christ. For that reason alone, people of other faiths
>have been
>afforded freedom of worship here.
>
>
> Consider these words that Thomas Jefferson wrote in the front of his
>
> well-worn Bible: "I am a real Christian, that is to say, a disciple
>of the
> doctrines of Jesus. I have little doubt that our whole country will
>soon
> be rallied to the unity of our creator." He was also the chairman of
>the American Bible Society, which he considered his highest and most
> important role.
>
>
> On July 4, 1821, President Adams said, "The highest glory of the
>American
>
> Revolution was this: "It connected in one indissoluble bond the
>principles of civil government with the principles of Christianity."
>
>
> Calvin Coolidge, our 30th President of the United States reaffirmed
>this
>
> truth when he wrote, "The foundations of our society and our
>government
> rest so much on the teachings of the Bible that it would be difficult
>to
> support them if faith in these teachings would cease to be
>practically
> universal
> in our country"
>
>
> In 1782, the United States Congress voted this resolution: "The
>Congres of
>
> the United States recommends and approves the Holy Bible for use in
>all schools."
>
>
> William Holmes McGuffey is the author of the McGuffey Reader, which
>was
>
> used for over 100 years in our public schools with over 125 million
>copies sold until it was stopped in 1963. President Lincoln called him
>the
> "Schoolmaster of the Nation." Listen to these word of Mr. McGuffey:
> "The Christian religion is the religion of our country. From it are
>derived
> our nation, on the character of God, on the great moral Governor of
>the
> universe. On its doctrines are founded the peculiarities of our free
>Institutions. From no
> source has the author drawn more conspicuously than from the sacred
> Scriptures. From all these extracts from the Bible, I make no
>apology."
>
>
> Of the first 108 universities founded in America, 106 were distinctly
>
>
> Christian, including the first, Harvard University, chartered in
>1636. In
> the original Harvard Student Handbook, rule number 1 was that
>students
> seeking entrance must know Latin and Greek so that they could study
>the
> Scriptures: "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly
>pressed
> to consider well, the main end of his life and studies, is, to know
>God
> and Jesus Christ, which is eternal life, John 17:3; and therefore to
>lay Jes
> us
> Christ as the only foundation for our children to follow the moral
> principles of the Ten Commandments."
>
>
>
> James Madison, the primary author of the Constitution of the United
>
> States, said this: "We have staked the whole future of all our
>political
> constitutions upon the capacity of each of ourselves to govern
>ourselves
> according to the moral principles of the Ten Commandments."
> Today, we are asking God to bless America. But, how can He bless a
>Nation
> that has departed so far from Him? Prior to September 11, He was not
> welcome in America. Most of what you read in this article has been
>erased from our textbooks. Revisionists have rewritten history to remove
>the
>truth
> about our country's Christian roots.
> You are encouraged to share with others, so that the truth of our
>nation's
>
> history will be told.
> John 3:16. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
> Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal
>life!
>This information shared is only a drop of cement to help secure a
>foundation that is crumbling daily in a losing war that most of the
>country doesn't even know is raging on, in, and around them...
It might be a good idea to share this with others...
*******************************

A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a regional sales convention in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night's dinner. Well, as such things go, one thing led to another. The sales manager went longer than anticipated and the meeting ran overtime. Their flights were scheduled to leave out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport, and they had to race pell mell to the airport.

With tickets in hand, they barged through the terminal to catch their flight back home.
In their rush, with tickets and brief-cases, one of these salesmen inadvertently kicked over a table which held a display of baskets of apples.

Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their nearly missed boarding.

All but one. He paused, took a deep breath, got in touch with his feelings, and experienced a twinge of compassion for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned.

He told his buddies to go on
without him, waved goodbye, told one of them to call his wife when they arrived at their home destination and explain his taking a later flight.

Then he returned to the terminal where the apples were all over the terminal floor. He was glad he did.

The 16 year old girl was totally blind!

She was softly crying, tears running down her cheeks in frustration, and at the same time helplessly groping for her spilled produce as the crowd swirled about her, no one stopping, and no one to care for her plight.

The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more.

As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become battered and bruised; these he set aside in another basket.

When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, "Here, please take this $20 for the damage we did. Are you okay?"

She nodded through her tears. He continued on with, "I hope we didn't spoil your day too badly."
As the salesman started to walk away, the bewildered blind girl called out to him, "Mister...." He paused and turned to look back into those blind eyes.

She continued, "Are you Jesus?"

He stopped in mid-stride, and he wondered.

Then slowly he made his way to catch the later flight with that question burning and bouncing about in his soul:
"Are you Jesus?" Do people mistake you for Jesus?
That's our destiny, is it not?
To be so much like Jesus that people cannot tell the difference as we live and interact with a world that is blind to His love, life and grace.

If we claim to know Him, we should live, walk and act as He would.
Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and going to church.
It's actually living the Word as life unfolds day to day.

You are the apple of His eye even though we, too, have been bruised by a fall.

He stopped what He was doing and picked you and me up on a hill called Calvary and paid in full for our damaged fruit.

Let's start living like we are worth the price He paid.


************************************************** **
My Response to Him!




ohn, this rings so true. While I am not a Sunday attendee I too beleive. In reading the Apple story, it remeinded me of this.

I was going into an OSCO Drug for something and saw an Elderly Lady standing on the sidewalk trying to cross to get to her car. Other people were standing there just looking at Her. Needless to say, I was pissed. I went to Her and asked if I could be of service and help her to her car. All of these people there and not a one offered her help.

In retrospect, I do not know if it was my upbringing, Boy Scouts, APO membership, or being a Brother of LXA, I hope is all of these. I felt so good doing something to help someone else!

In the same vein, Mrs. Milldrad Ligon our Patroness was at the House for Founders Day. All of Her Boys went up to pay their respects. When it was time for us to go to Ritual, one of the Actives said " Can I help you"? No was Her reply. Knowing this lovely Lady as I did, I walked over and said "Mrs. L may I escort you to the car". Her reply was "why yes Tom Thank You".

As the young men were standing there with thier mouths open, I came back and said, " A Southern Lady is never asked if she can be help". A Southern Lady may be Escorted.


Thought you might get a kick out of especially the last one!

Yours,

In ZAX,

Tom Earp
LX Z # 1

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One Must Remember, Being a Brother Of Lambda Chi Alpha is an Honor, not a right!