Scripture

On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.”

~John 7:37-38, NLT

Quote

The water cleanses, and those who distinguish themselves as great in the Kingdom of Heaven, love to hang out near the water.

~Calvin Miller [Until He Comes, Day 161]

Sometimes I read things that I know I must quote. You need to know that  the following thoughts come from Calvin Miller, not Jack Bailey. There are times when I am reading the scripture that it refreshes my spirit like a good cool shower on a hot day. I came in from a hot day at VBS last week and opened Miller’s devotional and read John 7:37-38 and immediately, I felt refreshed. No thunder, no rain, no running brooks of bubbling cool water but soul refreshing. Our garden was parched, the little branch behind the house is dry but somehow Jesus words gave me joy as if it were coming a down pour. You may not know it, but I am a dreamer. I survive by dreaming. Without the dream, I think I would go insane. I do not dream of evil, ugly, poor, wretched, sick, perverted or unpleasant things. In my dreams, everyone is healthy, prosperous and happy. I guess you might say dreaming of heaven where everything is perfect. One thing is certain: I am thirsty. I long for water–cool refreshing water and I dream of being refreshing to others. Miller thoughts challenge me…

Those who drink the water of life {Jesus} brings refreshment to all they touch. The drinkers cherish this water because it bubbles with eternity. With these water bearers, redemption becomes a roaring river that cleanses the world they serve. Their sensitive eyes see things that other miss.  Deep humility keeps them from seeing any virtue in themselves. The Water redeems and those who distinguish themselves as great servants of the LORD love being close to the Water. They thirst for the Water each moment in fear that they will become barren and dry like the parched earth. They are addicted to the Water. They seek Jesus {Living Water} with all their heart. Behind them is a path that has blossomed with life, a life that has come from the refreshing Water. Others bless these Water bearers for the grace they never saw. They have not the slightest suspicion that the life springing up behind them came as a result of their obedience.

Extra

Praise the LORD for the five minute shower. We have a little mud on the top. I figure we got maybe 1-2 tenths but it will buy us some time. I stayed up to watch it but it was over so quickly that there wasn’t much to see. It is far better than nothing. Plus, I think cooler air is coming in and that will help. I think those south of us got a good rain.

PTL. Christy texts me last night. Our building fund offering yesterday was $41,233.14 which gives us a grand total of $210,884.19. WOW! Thank You Jesus!

Our total Mission giving for the first 5 months was $19, 928.00. Of course we have two more weeks in the first semester so we will exceed the $20,000.00 mark. The LORD is good! What a joy it is to be able to give.

Many are upset about Cracker Barrel’s blatant disregard for family values. Dan Evins built the first Cracker Barrel Country store in Lebanon, Tennessee, in September of 1968. Evins was one of us but he lost control of the company in 2001. Of course, wikipedia makes it should like Evins was a racist but this is what I found on their post about Evins.

During the early 1990s, Cracker Barrel became the subject of nationwide controversy when Evins personally instituted an official company policy of discrimination, prohibiting the hiring of any individual whose “sexual preferences fail to demonstrate normal heterosexual values.” Following massive public backlash and large shareholders such as the New York City Employee Retirement System threatening to vote out the entirety of upper management, the company reversed the policy.

{I don’t remember any massive public backlash, do you?}

For the next decade, Evins continued to spark controversy through his public and private encouragement of discriminatory practices against female and minority employees, practices which violated the company’s own non-discrimination policy.

In July 2001, shareholders stripped Evins of his position as president and CEO of the company, replacing him with Michael A. Woodhouse, who at the time was serving as the company’s chief operating officer. Evins was allowed to maintain his position as chairman of the board. The same year, shareholders forced the company’s board to vote unanimously to add sexual orientation to Cracker Barrel’s non-discrimination policy, with the term officially being added the following year.

In May 2004, the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) announced it had settled a lawsuit alleging that Cracker Barrel employees at approximately 50 of the company’s 500 locations discriminated against minority customers, including 50 stores located in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia that engaged in various discriminatory policies including racially segregated seating and service quality. In the settlement agreement Cracker Barrel pledged to implement a series of changes, including to strengthen and make public the company’s non-discrimination policies, retrain and/or terminate employees in violation of the new policies, and pledged to focus on improving minority representation and civic involvement.

A few months following the announcement, the company’s board of directors (with the backing of shareholders), quietly voted to adopt a mandatory retirement age of 70 for all Cracker Barrel executives and board members. The implementation of this rule prompted company founder Evins, who was 69 at the time, to announce his retirement as chairman of the company’s board. At the company’s 2004 annual meeting, shareholders voted to reelect Michael A. Woodhouse as CEO, while also granting him Evins’ title as chairman of the board, effectively merging the roles.

…………………..

Same old, same old, a bunch of know it all yankees and leftist hijacked Cracker Barrel and now they have all but destroyed it.  A special thanks to Mr. Bush for allowing the DOJ to strong arm a business all because they didn’t hire gays. In other words, Cracker Barrel is no longer Cracker Barrel. They are deceiving the public. They need to change the signs. I have no idea what they should call it but certainly not Cracker Barrel. This is not what Dan Evins intended. It is a sad day because a lot of folks loved Cracker Barrel. You always knew what you were going to get.