HelloFridays

HEDGEBUILDERS - don't wait until it is to late to protect your family!
Click here for more information about Internet Filtering.

It takes forever for these homemade graphics of mine to load. I would like to say it is well worth the wait, but after you've waited the 45 seconds or so you would probably be so upset that you would not get anything out of the inspirational section below. So I suggest that you go ahead and start reading the text and then come back to the top when your done. Then you can admire my limited graphics ability. Sincerely, HF graphics department.

From Beautiful Belleair Bluffs, Florida:
Hello Fridays attempts to get you to do two things: to think and to laugh, both of which are critical to your health and success in an ever-challenging world. Take a moment and ponder with your heart, and then turn around, kick back, and laugh until it hurts. You deserve the inspiration and the break! GOD BLESS.
NUMBER 33

HOW A MAN OF GOD COMMITS SEXUAL SIN

2 Samuel 11: 1- 4

"In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king's men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem. One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, "Isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite?" Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her."

How could King David, a man after God’s own heart, do this???

1. DAVID WAS IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG TIME. David was not where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to be doing. Kings were supposed to be out leading their armies -- this was one of their main responsibilities. A country and an army found courage when their king was out front leading the charge.

a. WHY WAS DAVID BACK AT THE PALACE? Maybe he was WEARY, maybe he was EXHAUSTED. David’s reign had been one big battle. Maybe he was STRESSED OUT. How could he be focused on the battlefield when he had so many administrative duties at the palace? He could have been BORED. He had won so many battles - maybe the fight just didn't excite him anymore. Perhaps he was DEPRESSED. Being king was not all it was cracked up to be, he had his critics, he had multiple wife problems, his kids were a problem - who knows. Whatever the reason, he allowed himself to be where he was not supposed to be.

2. HE WAS UP LATE AT NIGHT. David was unaccountable. Perhaps everyone else was asleep. He was anonymous in the darkness up on the roof of the palace. He could do what he wanted.

3. HE WAS LOOKING WHERE HE SHOULDN'T BE LOOKING. The great King David was a voyeur, "a peeping tom." He was up alone, hidden by the darkness, walking around the rooftop looking into the windows of the houses in his city.

4. HE BEGAN TO LUST. He discovered what the Bible calls "a very beautiful woman" bathing -- naked. He watched. He began to allow his sexual impulses to overcome his common sense.

5. HE TOOK A STEP TOWARD ADULTERY. He rationalized. He wanted to meet her, perhaps get to know her, show her a kindness -- after all she was the wife of one of his brave soldiers, and he knew it. So he sent for her.

6. HE DESTROYED HIS FAMILY. King David, a man after God's own heart, played the fool, slept with Bathsheba, murdered her husband, and destroyed his family. From that point on, David's family was a story of hatred, rape, incest, murder, rebellion, and destruction.

There are Godly husbands all over our world making the same mistakes that David did, but they are not looking into a neighbor’s window -- they are on the Internet right in their homes and offices.

Here are some important steps to protect yourself and your home from Internet-related sexual sins.

A. Do not bring the Internet into your home without some form of filtering. HEDGEBUILDERS, Integrity Online, Rated-G Online are all good choices.

B. Make filtering part of an overall strategy which includes these rules:

1. No one should stay up on the Internet while everyone else has gone to bed.

2. Put the computer in a central location in your home which gets lots of traffic. NEVER let your children have a computer connected to the Internet in their room behind closed doors.

3. Have a regular routine of checking the history files on your computer to see where everyone has been surfing.

4. No chat rooms, unless it is control chat where the only folks allowed in are there by permission.

5. Men need to be in an accountability group where their buddies are asking them about their Internet habits.

6. Do not leave your children, no matter what age, on the computer as a baby sitter when you need to be away.

7. Password-protect your Internet access, and do not let your children have access without your permission.

8. Talk openly with your family members about the dangers and keep each other accountable.

Now it's time to get SILLY

FROM THE NEWSPAPER - REALLY!
(sent in by Duane Williams - Florida)

AMANA WASHER $100. OWNED BY CLEAN BACHELOR WHO SELDOM WASHED.

SNOW BLOWER FOR SALE...ONLY USED ON SNOWY DAYS.

FREE PUPPIES...PART GERMAN SHEPHERD, PART DOG

2 WIRE MESH BUTCHERING GLOVES, 1 5-finger, 1 3-finger, PAIR: $15

TICKLE ME ELMO, STILL IN BOX, COMES WITH IT'S OWN 1988 MUSTANG, 5L, AUTO, EXCELLENT CONDITION $6800

'83 TOYOTA HUNCHBACK -- $2000

FREE PUPPIES: 1/2 COCKER SPANIEL - 1/2 SNEAKY NEIGHBOR DOG

FREE YORKSHIRE TERRIER. 8 YEARS OLD. UNPLEASANT LITTLE DOG.

GERMAN SHEPHARD. 85 lbs. NEUTERED. SPEAKS GERMAN. FREE.

NORDIC TRACK $300 - HARDLY USED - CALL CHUBBIE

BILL'S SEPTIC CLEANING - "WE HAUL AMERICAN MADE PRODUCTS"

HUMMELS - LARGEST SELECTION EVER - "IF IT'S IN STOCK, WE HAVE IT!"

HARRISBURG POSTAL EMPLOYEES GUN CLUB

GEORGIA PEACHES - CALIFORNIA GROWN - 89 cents lb.

NICE PARACHUTE - NEVER OPENED - USED ONCE - SLIGHTLY STAINED

FREE: FARM KITTENS. READY TO EAT.

AMERICAN FLAG - 60 STARS - POLE INCLUDED - $100

NOTICE: TO PERSON OR PERSONS WHO TOOK THE LARGE PUMPKIN ON HIGHWAY 87 NEAR SOUTHRIDGE STORAGE. PLEASE RETURN THE PUMPKIN AND BE CHECKED. PUMPKIN MAY BE RADIOACTIVE. ALL OTHER PLANTS IN VINCINITY ARE DEAD.

OUR SOFA SEATS THE WHOLE MOB - AND IT'S MADE OF 100% ITALIAN LEATHER.

ALZHEIMER'S CENTER PREPARES FOR AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER

GAS CLOUD CLEARS OUT TACO BELL.

OPEN HOUSE - BODY SHAPERS TONING SALON - FREE COFFEE & DONUTS

I'VE BEEN THINKING. . . >/td>
(sent in by Laurie Hale - Texas)

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station...

If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?

I believe five out of four people have trouble with fractions.

If quitters never win, and winners never quit, what fool came up with, "Quit while you're ahead"?

I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a whole lot more as they get older, then it dawned on me . . . they were cramming for their finals.

I thought about how mothers feed their babies with little tiny spoons and forks so I wonder what Chinese mothers use. Perhaps toothpicks?

Why do they put pictures of criminals up in the Post Office? What are we supposed to do . . . write to these men? Why don't they just put their pictures on the postage stamps so the mailmen could look for them while they delivered the mail?

Never agree to plastic surgery if the doctor's office is full of portraits by Picasso.

If it's true that we are here to help others, then what exactly are the OTHERS here for?

STRESSED spelled backwards is DESSERTS.

Clones are people two.

Go ahead and take risks....just be sure that everything will turn out OK.

No one ever says "It's only a game," when their team is winning.

If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

Nostalgia isn't what it used to be.

IT'S COFFEE TIME >/td>
(sent in by Cheryl Orr - Florida)

A grandmother was surprised by her 7 year old grandson one morning. He had made her coffee! She drank what was the worst cup of coffee in her life. When she got to the bottom, there were three of those little green army men in her cup.

Puzzled, she asked "Honey, what are the army men doing in my coffee?"

Her grandson answered "Grandma, it says on TV, The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup.

THE CROW >/td>
(sent in by Ray Sommer - Florida)

According to the Knight-Ridder News Service, the inscription on the metal bands used by the U.S. Department of the Interior to tag migratory birds has been changed. The bands used to bear the address of the Washington Biological Survey, abbreviated "Wash. Biol. Surv.", until the agency received the following letter from an Arkansas camper:

"Dear Sirs: While camping last week I shot one of your birds. I think it was a crow. I followed the cooking instructions on the leg tag and I want to tell you, it was horrible."

The bands are now marked Fish and Wildlife Service.

SEEING EYE AIRLINES >/td>
(sent in by Larry LeGrande - Florida)

I was flying from San Francisco to Los Angeles. By the time we took off, there had been a 45-minute delay and everybody on board was ticked. Unexpectedly, we stopped in Sacramento on the way. The flight attendant explained that there would be another 45-minute delay, and if we wanted to get off the aircraft, we would reboard in 30 minutes.

Everybody got off the plane except one gentleman who was blind. I noticed him as I walked by and could tell he had flown before because his Seeing Eye dog lay quietly underneath the seats in front of him throughout the entire flight.

I could also tell he had flown this very flight before because the pilot approached him and, calling him by name, said, "Keith, we're in Sacramento for almost an hour. Would you like to get off and stretch your legs?"

Keith replied, "No thanks, but maybe my dog would like to stretch his legs."

Picture this: All the people in the gate area came to a completely quiet stand still when they looked up and saw the pilot walk off the plane with the Seeing Eye dog! The pilot was even wearing sunglasses!!! People scattered. They not only tried to change planes, they also were trying to change airlines!

Now it's time to get SILLY

Get the POWERPAGE

Are you tired of your old start page when you connect to the Internet. Perhaps it is AOL or MSN, or Yahoo or something. You never know what you are going to get, and you never know where those links will take you. I have just published a brand new start page for Christians called the POWERPAGE. It features safe Search Engines, free e-mail (Hotmail), and positive links to Sports, Weather, Stocks, Travel, Daily Inspiration, Humor, Kids Stuff, Entertainment, Family sites, Promise Keepers, and much more.

Click here to take a look at the real POWERPAGE in action right off the web. Sample the links and the Search Engines.

POWERPAGE for Internet Explorer

POWERPAGE for Netscape Navigator

Why not plug the POWERPAGE into your browser. You will be glad you did. Here's how:

If you are using Netscape Navigator, Release 3 or prior:
1. Under the "Options" menu, select "General Preferences".
2. Under the "Appearance" tab, in the "Startup" box, click the button selecting "Browser Starts With: Home Page Location".
3. Type http://www.hedge.org/powerpage/powerpage.html in the box immediately underneath.
4. Click "OK".

If you are using a newer release of Netscape Navigator:
1. Under the "Edit" menu, select "Preferences".
2. Click the button selecting Navigator starts with "Home page".
3. In the Home page "Location" box, type http://www.hedge.org/powerpage/powerpage.html
4. Click "OK".

If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0:
1. Under the "View" menu, select "Options".
2. Under the "Navigation" tab next to "Page", select "Start Page".
3. Next to "Address", type http://www.hedge.org/powerpage
4. Click "OK".

If you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0:
1. Under the "View" menu, select "Internet Options".
2. Under the "General" look for Home Page".
3. Next to "Address", type http://www.hedge.org/powerpage
4. Click "OK".

If you are using the AOL browser:
1. Click on "Prefs" in the browser menu.
2. Change the address of the home page to http://www.hedge.org/powerpage
3. Click on "OK".

Kadywompus

center>

Now it's time to get SILLY

The Fork >/td>
(sent in by Mike Sauerwein - Florida)

The sound of Martha's voice on the other end of the telephone always brought a smile to Brother Jim's face. She was not only one of the oldest members of the congregation, but one of the most faithful. Aunt Martie, as all of the children called her, just seemed to ooze faith, hope, and love wherever she went.

This time, however, there seemed to be an unusual tone to her words. "Preacher, could you stop by this afternoon? I need to talk with you." "Of course, I'll be there around three. Is that OK?"It didn't take long for Jim to discover the reason for what he had only sensed in her voice before. As they sat facing each other in the quiet of her small living room, Martha shared the news that her doctor had just discovered a previously undetected tumor. "He says I probably have six months to live". Martha's words were naturally serious, yet there was a definite calm about her.

"I'm so sorry to . . .", but before Jim could finish, Martha interrupted. "Don't be. The Lord has been good. I have lived a long life. I'm ready to go. You know that."

"I know," Jim whispered with a reassuring nod.

"But I do want to talk with you about my funeral. I have been thinking about it, and there are things that I know I want."

The two talked quietly for a long time. They talked about Martha's favorite hymns, the passages of Scripture that had meant so much to her through the years, and the many memories they shared from the five years Jim had been with Central Church.

When it seemed that they had covered just about everything, Aunt Martie paused, looked up at Jim with a twinkle in her eye, and then added, "One more thing, Preacher . . . When they bury me, I want my old Bible in one hand and a fork in the other".

"A fork?" Jim was sure he had heard everything, but this caught him by surprise. "Why do you want to be buried with a fork?"

"I have been thinking about all of the church dinners and banquets that I attended through the years," she explained. "I couldn't begin to count them all, but one thing sticks in my mind. At those really nice get-togethers, when the meal was almost finished, a server or maybe the hostess would come by to collect the dirty dishes. I can hear the words now. Sometimes, at the best ones, somebody would lean over my shoulder and whisper, 'You can keep your fork.' And do you know what that meant? Dessert was coming! "It didn't mean a cup of Jell-O or pudding or even a dish of ice cream. You don't need a fork for that. It meant the good stuff, like chocolate cake or cherry pie! When they told me I could keep my fork, I knew the best was yet to come!

"That's exactly what I want people to talk about at my funeral. Oh, they can talk about all the good times we had together. That would be nice . . . But when they walk by my casket and look at my pretty blue dress, I want them to turn to one another and say, 'Why the fork?' That's when I want you to tell them, that I kept my fork because the best is yet to come!"

A NEW PAIR OF SHOES >/td>
(Sent in by Chiqui Polo - Texas)

It is said that this is an eye witness account which happened in the City of New York, on a cold day in December...

A little boy about 10 years old was standing before a shoe store on Broadway, barefooted, peering through the window and shivering with cold. A lady approached the boy and said, "My little fellow, why are you looking so earnestly in that window?"

"I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes," was the boys reply.

The lady took him by the hand and went into the store, and asked the clerk to get half a dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel and he replied: "Certainly," and quickly brought them to her.

She took the little fellow to the back part of the store and removing her gloves, knelt down, washed his little feet and dried them with a towel. By this time the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy's feet, she purchased him a pair of shoes and tying up the remaining pairs of socks, gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, "No doubt, my little fellow, you feel more comfortable now?"

As she turned to go, the astonished lad caught her by the hand, and looking up in her face, with tears in his eyes, answered the question with these words, "Are you God's Wife?"

May God use us to bless others!!

Hey,

I am down to one Hello Fridays a month for now. Just not enough time in a day. Diane and I am preparing to move to Tennessee in the next month or so. We covet your prayers.

HEDGEBUILDERS continues to grow. We are adding schools and churches daily now. We still have a long way to go, and again here we covet your prayers. We were recently blessed to be added to the Focus on the Family web site, and if you read Christian Computing Magazine you might look for the article on HB in the November issue. The Mustache Guy

God bless and have a great month! Ken

P.S. I have built in an Archives section below if you would like to read any of the previous issues.

Click on the banner above for more information about Hedgebuilders.

This animated banner graphic was created by Susan Lewis dba Full Circle Associates and can be used on other HedgeBuilder sites as long as this link is included.

This EDITION of HF has been sponsored by HEDGEBUILDERS.

I would love to hear from you at Hello-Fridays@juno.com

(Special note to new "Hello Fridays" recipients. "Hello Fridays" is a free, bi-monthly, e-mail publication (and now Web page) that I send out which includes inspiration and wit. It all started in February of 1997. You are receiving it because you either requested it, someone else put you on the recipient's list, it was forwarded to you, or through sheer dumb luck. If, for some unexplainable reason, you would like to discontinue receiving HF, you can e-mail me at Hello-Fridays@juno.com to let me know to remove you from future mailings. Also if you come across any neat stuff, either serious or funny, that you think would make a great addition to HF, please send it my way.)