I found this article and I wanted to share it with you my readers.

Every year, a group of Pearl Harbor survivors living in the Yakima Valley in Washington state gather to remember the attack they all survived, the Yakima-Herald reported.
As the years have gone on, only a handful of the original group of 70 survivors in the area remain, according to Carl Dry, 89, of Yakima, president of the Yakima chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, the paper reported.
Dry was on the east side of Oahu where the Japanese torpedo planes first hit before going on to attack Pearl Harbor 30 miles away, the paper reported.
"It was an exclusive group that lived through the first day of the war," said Dry.
"We are a dying breed, said Donald Green, 87, the Washington state chairman of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, according to the paper.
"I hate to put it that way."
The group gets together four times a year to try to keep the longstanding tradition going and to spread the message that the U.S. needs to stay vigilant always to prevent an attack, the paper reported.
When they meet, each survivor stands up to state their duty station that day, the paper reported."A few in our outfit don't want to wind it up," said Dry.
"They want to keep it going until the last man. I guess that is the way it is going to be," he said, according to the paper.

Never forget these men and women that have served our country with Honor! Within the next 20-25 years we will most likely not have these men with us anymore, Think about that next time you see a serviceman or woman and go up and thank them for their service. Their service is why we don't speak German, Japanese or another language, we ARE STILL Americans! God Bless and keep you my dear friends, Keep praying for the survival of our Nation's soul. Thank you for reading.


Your Brother in Christ
Joel

Hey folks, Anna Grace is hosting a photo-shoot give away so here is the Link, Go and sign up for it. :-)

Trip to the Cape

Hello my readers, you may be wondering why I have a picture of a shuttle taking off but I will explain.

I was mowing a lawn today and my customer came outside with his wife, they said the shuttle was about to take off, Big deal right?? (We live in Florida and they do it quite often) but when I saw that shuttle going up into the Clear blue Sky God created and then realizing (REALLY realizing) they were going into the outer expanse of God's universe, well the thought was quite amazing to me, so I have decided to take a trip down south to the cape at the beginning of the year when the weather is nice :-). Everyone is welcome to come and I hope we can get a group together to go (Especially the folks who know what is what..hint hint Stones, Fambroughs and Fosters).
I personally have never been to the cape and would love to go see where so much History has been made. Let me know if any of you would like to go.

Your friend and brother in Christ
Joel

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

I love this song so much so I thought I would like to share it with you.
:-)
Your Friend and Brother in Christ
Joel

God at Work
During the height of the Cold War, Communist countries were keeping a tight control on their borders, but God had called Brother Andrew to help the Christians behind that Iron Curtain.

"When I pulled up to the checkpoint on the other side of the Danube, I said to myself, "Well, I'm in luck. Only half a dozen cars. This Romanian border crossing should go swiftly."

"But when it took forty minutes to inspect the first car, I began to worry...literally everything that family was carrying had to be taken out and spread on the ground.

"Every car in line was put through the same routine. The fourth inspection lasted well over an hour. The guards took the driver inside and kept him there while they removed hub caps, took his engine apart, removed seats.

"Dear Lord," I said, as at last there was just one car ahead of me, "what am I going to do? Any serious inspection will show up these Romanian Bibles right away.

"Lord," I went on, "I know that no amount of cleverness on my part can get me through this border search. Dare I ask for a miracle? Let me take some of the Bibles out and leave them in the open where they will be seen. Then, Lord I cannot possibly be depending on my own stratagems, can I? I will be depending utterly upon You."

"While the last car was going through its chilling inspection, I managed to take several Bibles from their hiding places and pile them on the seat beside me.

"It was my turn. I put the little VW in low gear, inched up to the officer standing at the left side of the road, handed him my papers, and started to get out. But his knee was against the door, holding it closed. He looked at my photograph in the passport, scribbled something down, shoved the papers back under my nose, and abruptly waved me on.

"Surely thirty seconds had not passed. I started the engine and inched forward. Was I supposed to pull over, out of the way where the car could be taken apart? Was I ... surely I wasn’t...I coasted forward, my foot poised above the brake. Nothing happened. I looked out the rear mirror. The guard was waving the next car to a stop, indicating to the driver that he had to get out. On I drove a few more yards. The guard was having the driver behind me open the hood of his car. And then I was too far away to doubt that indeed I had made it through that incredible checkpoint in the space of thirty seconds.

"My heart was racing. Not with the excitement of the crossing, but with the excitement of having caught such a spectacular glimpse of God at work!"


This is a true story from Brother Andrew's book God's Smuggler. God has used Brother Andrew to take Bibles behind the Iron Curtain for many years, and is still using Him to take the Gospel into all parts of the world. Please be in prayer for Him and the Open Doors Ministry.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who might like to read it. :-)

* He is called "Brother" Andrew to preserve his anonymity and because he is a brother to all who follow Christ.

He is our help in time of need

I have decided to share a little testimony of God's great love for his little children in their smallest needs.

I was feeling very down and completely rejected a few weeks ago, so as I turned to the book of Job (which was the book I had been reading through at the time) my Bible opened to Psalm 40 (Now I am not one to just open their Bible anywhere and say this is a message from God but on this occasion I think it must have been Him.) so I decided to just see what this Psalm said so I began to read, and as I read this verse "But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer" I was completely overtaken with the most joy and encouragement I think I have ever experienced. God is indeed our Helper and our Delivered, a constant friend in time of trial. All that I am and all that you are God has made perfect according to His will.

This is one of the many instances God has brought me up from a low place back into His powerful fortress of protection and peaceful rest.

"And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD."


Your brother in Christ

Joel M. Gaffney

Psalm 24

This passage of scripture was very encouraging to me today. When we look around at all the chaos in the world today keep in mind this Psalm.

Your brother in Christ
Joel



Psalm 24 (KJV)
1. The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.

2. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.

3. Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place?

4. He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.

5. He shall receive the blessing from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.

6. This is the generation of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Selah.

7. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

8. Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

9. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.

10. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.

Paintball!!!!!

This past Saturday I went to Full Throttle paintball field with 3 good friends and we had a super awesome time playing paintball. We had hoped to get about 20 people to go but that did not work out, I will not mention names (you know who you are) "cough" anyway the Lord gave us a beautiful day to play the sport we love so we thank Him for that. I hope you enjoy these few pictures I took, sorry I did not take more :-( but since it was Jeff's camera I did not want to chance ruining it. Enjoy and God bless

What a beautiful day!

Joseph on a recon mission

Oh look! a man with a gun

Taking a well deserved break

I want a decal on my truck now!!

So much gear!! and that is only my gear and half of Evan's stuff

This kid was pretty cool, He brought four radios so we could communicate
with our team across the field :-)

Evan looking for the enemy

Gabe, Here he comes to save the day!! :-P

Take the fort!!!!!!

Dear Readers

Dear Readers, as some of you know I have not been feeling very well for the past couple weeks, that is why I have not posted anything new but starting next week I will be posting some exciting things, so please check back next week :-)

I also want to thank you all for your prayers, I really appreciate all of them. :-)


Your Brother in Jesus Christ
Joel



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

A prayer for our times

I was driving to work today when this song came on the radio, as I sat listening to the lovely words I thought what a powerful prayer this is and how the church today truly does need to be revived again.

We praise Thee, O God!
For the Son of Thy love,
For Jesus Who died,
And is now gone above.

Chorus.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Hallelujah! Amen.
Hallelujah! Thine the glory.
Revive us again.

We praise Thee, O God!
For Thy Spirit of light,
Who hath shown us our Savior,
And scattered our night.

All glory and praise
To the Lamb that was slain,
Who hath borne all our sins,
And hath cleansed every stain.

All glory and praise
To the God of all grace,
Who hast brought us, and sought us,
And guided our ways.

Revive us again;
Fill each heart with Thy love;
May each soul be rekindled
With fire from above.

William P. Mackay 1863



I especially love the last verse "may each soul be rekindled"

May God Bless you and fill you with his bountiful love this week as you go about your daily tasks.

Your Brother in Christ
Joel

The Potter's Masterpiece Part 1

In the vast Liverpool Station thousands of Londoners hurried to their respected trains and carriages, the smoke and steam filled the air, but for one arriving passenger that June morning in 1886 the sights and sounds meant nothing for he was too exhausted to think about these things. This man however was quite strangely clothed, on his head he wore a large peaked cap under which hung a thick heavy veil which covered his entire face all the way to his neck, His Body was completely covered in a long cloak which hung down to his feet which were clad in huge slipper like shoes, which were more like big canvas bags. As he limped slowly through the station supported only by a cane held in his left hand which was the only part of his body exposed to view. He did not know where he was going nor did he know anyone who would take him in. As he walked pondering these two questions a crowd of curious spectators began to form around him, the man stopped and stood still hoping that they would go away and leave him alone, but they did not, the crowd grew larger, the people would call “What do you have hidden under that cloak?” another would say “whatever it is it sure does smell” and many other rude comments. The man knew if he said anything they would not be able to understand him so he tried to walk away, but realized he was blocked in by the ever growing mob that surrounded him, panic was setting in and he did not know what to do, when through the crowd pushed a policeman who told the man to come with him, as the policeman was leading the man away other policemen arrived and set about breaking up the mob. The policeman half dragged the man into an empty waiting room where after the man had collapsed the officer questioned him but could not understand over the squeals and other sounds that the man made. This man is Joseph Merrick also known as The Elephant Man.










You may be wondering why I have decided to post about such a strange man. Well you have to know who this “strange” man is in order to understand and I hope appreciate who he was and what message God has presented to us through this remarkable man.





Joseph Carey Merrick was born in Leicester England. He was the firstborn child to the Merrick family. His mother adored him while his father treated with indifference; this could be contributed to his being conceived before his parents were wed. Joseph seemed to be a healthy boy until his 2ND year, when his mother noticed a slight swelling under his upper lip, which then grew hard and spread to his cheek turning his lip inside out. As he grew older and his condition worsened, his mother turned to the scriptures to understand and also cope with her son’s condition. In answer to his questions why he looked this way, she loving taught him about God’s absolute sovereignty and unfailing love, her own conviction and belief lead him to understand God had a purpose in giving him his deformity. As Joseph grew older and read for himself about God’s detailed planning of each individual (physical appearance and personality) before he or she is born. “My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:15-16)


As Joseph grew his condition worsened, by the age of five his right arm and leg had swollen, large lumps or bone began to form all over his head, his feet were becoming enlarged. The lump on his head eventually became so enlarged he could not see out of his right eye. His skin in various places became bumpy and discolored. One bony mass on his right side became so large and doubled over so that he could not hear out of that ear. All this was hard on Joseph but he knew he could always count on his mother's tender love and care. When Joseph's leg became injured in a fall he could not run as fast as he could before (which was not very fast) and the boys on the street would not let him play in any of the games so they chased him away. Joseph never wanted to force himself on anyone or go where he was not wanted, so he began to spend more time by himself.


When we as Christians begin to look on what God has put on the inside of a person rather than the outward appearance of an individual, that is when we can begin to see how best to help that person and work with them to meet God's goals for their lives as well as for yourself.



But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, Why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor? Romans 9:20-21

And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Your hands have made me and fashioned me; Give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments. Psalms 119:73

But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him, for the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18




Part 2 coming soon



Please let me know what you think.
Your Brother in Christ
Joel


Resources from the Joseph Merrick Story published by The Institute in Basic Life Principles, you can purchase a copy of this book by going to their website http://store.iblp.org/products/HOF2/

Beach Day!!!!!

Thursday I spent 6 hours at the beach with friends and had a blast. Here are some pictures of the time we spent swimming,talking,laughing,joking,surfing,eating,drinking water :-) and having a good wholesome time. :-) please pardon the poor quality of the pics (still getting used to a digital camera) hope you enjoy them.

Gabe on a wave kinda

Lane & Zach listening to their noise

Gabe crashed

Lacy being cute :-)

Why do I always have pics of Gabe???

Zander, Dylan and Austen

Olivia, Leah and Michelle

Flat as a pancake at 2pm

Hope you enjoyed these few pictures of our day at the beach :-)
God Bless :-)

Hello everyone I promised a really big post, but I have hit a snag, I could not use the materials I was counting on so I have to rewrite everything I had already typed. Please be patient a little while longer, I am doing research about the topic, so I will be working on it this week. Lord willing I will have it up next Monday, until then thank you for your patience I pray I will not let you down. God Bless and have a wonderful week.

Your brother in Christ
Joel Gaffney

A bit of National History

I found this song on an old record I bought for 10 cents at the library, It is no ordinary song, it is a marching song of our Continental army back in 1776, It is a song of hope, courage and a belief in an Almighty God. Let us read these words and remember that God started this nation for his purposes not for our own leisure and amusement. Let us remember also the Men, Women and Children that God has used to make this a country to be proud of.





Chester
(William Billings)

Let tyrants shake their iron rod
And slav'ry clang her galling chains;
We'll fear them not. We trust in God;
New England's God forever rains.

Howe and Burgoyne and Clinton, too
With Prescott and Cornwallis join'd,
Together plot our overthrow,
In one infernal league combined.

When God inspired us for the fight
Their lines were broke, their lines were forc'd,
Their ships were shelter'd in our sight
Or swiftly driven from our coast.

The foe comes on with haughty stride,
Our troops advance with martial noise.
Their vet'rans flee before our youth
And generals yield to beardless boys.

What grateful offerings shall we bring,
What shall we render to the Lord?
Loud hallelujahs let us sing
And praise his name on every chord.


May God Bless each and everyone of you.

Your friend and brother in Christ
Joel

Happy Birthday America

God Bless and Happy Birthday American!!!!!!!!!!!
A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. – Thomas Jefferson (1801)

Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of Liberty. – Thomas Jefferson


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 course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death! -Patrick Henry to the Virginia House of Burgesses, 1775

To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical. – Thomas Jefferson

Government at its best is a necessary evil, and at its worst, an intolerant one. – Thomas Paine

God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it. – Daniel Webster (1834)

The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government – lest it come to dominate our lives and interests. – Patrick Henry

If we were directed from Washington when to sow and when to reap, we would soon want for bread. – Thomas Jefferson

When the government fears the people, it is liberty. When the people fear the government, it is tyranny. – Thomas Paine

Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed; as they are in almost every kingdom of Europe. The supreme power in America cannot enforce unjust laws by the sword; because the whole body of people are armed, and constitute a force superior to any body of regular troops that can be, on any pretense, raised in the United States. – Noah Webster

I believe the states can best govern our home concerns and the federal government our foreign ones. – Thomas Jefferson

These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated. – Thomas Paine
The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but the newspapers. – Thomas Jefferson

I am thankful to be back in Palm Coast :-) The sun is out, the weather is perfect and God is a great Savior. I will be extremely busy for the next several weeks (Praise the Lord), but I will post as often as I can. God Bless each and everyone of you.


Your Brother in Christ
Joel

The Red tails!!! ( Tuskegee airmen plane)

Paintball Car

P-51 Mustang just the cockpit

This was cool, even if it was a reproduction. I have seen the real Spirit of St, Louis at the Smithsonian

My Sunday car

This Plane was used in the filming of Indiana Jones Temple of Doom

out for a Sunday flight.

This is a reproduction of the plane used in the movie Flyboys starring James Franco.

I loved this part :-)

Our flight crew (good thing we were on the ground)

Me and Jeff inside a B-17 :-)

Ok here is my blog, I am still working things out right now, but I wanted to start posting. :-)

Any good suggestions are most welcome.