Husbands who clean SMILE more.

American men still don't pull their weight when it comes to housework and child care, but collectively they're not the slackers they used to be. The average dad has gradually been getting better about picking himself up off the sofa and pitching in, according to a new report in which a psychologist suggests the payoff for doing more chores could be more sex.

"If a guy does housework, it looks to the woman like he really cares about her  he's not treating her like a servant," said Coleman, who is affiliated with the Council on Contemporary Families. "And if a woman feels stressed out because the house is a mess and the guy's sitting on the couch while she's vacuuming, that's not going to put her in the mood."

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FIVE THINGS THE ISRAELITES WERE NOT TOLD TO DO!

1. They were not told to make a serum to cure them of the snake's poison.
Church membership, keeping the commandments, baptism, etc. are good but you cannot use methods and programs as a serum of good works to cure man.

2. They were not told to help others who were bitten in order to get relief for themselves. Flesh wants to engage in works with the hope that helping others will counteract the deadly venom of sin.

3. They were not told to fight the serpents. Many Christians try and exterminate the Serpents. This becomes human effort and many times provides the energy to the flesh.

4. They were not told to make an offering to the serpent on the pole. Grace ceases to be grace if any price is paid for what it brings.

5. They were not told to pray to the serpent. You cannot substitute prayer to Christ for faith in Christ.

Religion is man’s attempt to deal with self through his own ability and effort. This is why religion can never save. Only Jesus can save!

To look on the serpent on the pole is the same as trusting Christ's death on the cross.

7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
Numbers 21:7-9

Your faith in the workplace

A judge rejected a harrassment claim by an employee bothered by a recently converted co-worker who posted religious sayings in her cubicle and expounded at length on her new faith.

An employer "has no legal obligation to suppress any and all religious expression merely because it annoys a single employee," he ruled.

But more often, says Starr, employers have been able to shut down "people who are actively proselytizing or expressing their religious viewpoint in a way others find disturbing."

"The touchstone," he says, "is whether the behavior is disruptive."

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Texas prison reforms praised

Long known for its tough-on-crime image, Texas on Thursday was hailed nationally for a package of reforms designed to curb its wildly growing prison population. But even as lawmakers were lauded for innovative programs for drug and alcohol abusers, Texas pushed past California to become the nation's leader in putting people behind bars.

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Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

good stuff

Sunday Night Reflections- A Packed House

Every chair was taken during our second service. If anyone else would have showed up, they would have been standing. Preaching Jesus out of the Old Testament is a great joy of mine. Seeing Christ in the OT is an amazing display of the divine authorship of the Bible. Number 21 teaches, the dangers of looking away from the Cross. I used this analogy.

What do these things have in common: Crucifix, Backslide, Backward Victory, Eye Gouge, ½ Nelson , Airplane Spin, Boston Crab, Corkscrew and the Cross-Face Chicken Wing? These are all official WWE wrestling moves. There is another move that doesn’t have an official name but it should. If you have ever wasted an evening watching a wrestling match, have probably seen this move. It is the climatic momentum shifter; THE LOOK AWAY. A wrestler has just pulled off the perfect body slam. His opponent is squirming on the mat. Since it is impossible to resist the temptation for self-glory, the wrestler looks away, throwing his hands in the air while breathing in the intoxicating cheers of his adoring fans. The cheers of the fans have suddenly changed though. In a moment they become frantic calls of concern and attention. Unable to pull himself from the moment of glory the wrestler is unaware that his opponent has recovered and is fast approaching with an aluminum chair! WHACK! The look away gets them every time.

There is a similar sin that gets US every time, LOOKING AWAY FROM THE CROSS.

Looking away from the Cross is taking our eyes off of the saving and dilivering power of God. Instead we look to ourself, our jobs, our circumstances etc. When we look away from the truth, we get snake bitten. The remedy? Look at the serpent on the pole, (a picture of the finished work of Christ on the Cross) and live.

What a victory it was to see the alter filled with men and women who responded to the question, "Who needs to look back to the Cross, and Who needs to look to Cross for the first time?" It's times like that that I feel the grace of God abounding greatly as He allows me to participate in this great message called The Gospel.