Titus 2:11-3:11

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority.

Let no man despise thee.

Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work, To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.

These things are good and profitable unto men. But avoid foolish questions, and genealogies, and contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and vain. A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject; Knowing that he that is such is subverted, and sinneth, being condemned of himself.

Matthew 15:21-28

Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word.

And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.

Jesus said [to the Syrophoenician woman], “O, woman, great is thy faith.” She had not heard of the prophecies concerning Jesus; she was not bred and born and educated in a way in which she was likely to become a believer, and yet did become a believer of the first class. It was marvellous that it should be so, but grace delights in doing wonders. She had not seen the Lord before in her life, she was not like those who had associated with him for many months: and yet, with but one view of him, she gained this great faith. It was astonishing, but the grace of God is always astonishing. Perhaps she had never seen a miracle: all that her faith had to rest upon was that she had heard in her own country that the Messiah of the Jews was come, and she believed that the Man of Nazareth was he, and on this she relied.

O brethren, with all our advantages, with the opportunities that we have of knowing the whole life of Christ, and understanding the doctrines of the gospel as they are revealed to us in the New Testament, with many years of observation and experience, our faith ought to be much stronger than it is. Does not this poor woman shame us when we see her with her slender opportunities nevertheless so strong in faith, so that Jesus himself commending her says, “O woman, great is thy faith.”

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Little Dogs," delivered August 6, 1876.

Keyser Model Kits P.O./P.O. Tours 4-6-0 locomotive in HO scale...

...and even all that may be wrong. I have found very little information on this other that the original owner and photographer's pictures. It will be on its way here shortly to join my growing stash of kits set aside to keep my fingers busy when work runs out. I have found nothing on the net except for a few auction listings and so would appreciate any history out there if you readers would know of it...

Luke 12:42-50

And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.

But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

I am come to send fire on the earth; and what will I, if it be already kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!

Sorry I'm not posting with any regularity...

...it's going to continue to be a very busy summer, I hope to be settled into the new home by fall.


...the old logging road that basically cuts our property in half...


...my train room will be nestled into that grove of pine---surrounded by a 4 bedroom/2 bath house...

II Corinthians 6:14-18

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

And the band plays on...the Great Gaffiti Debate...

I hope this turns out well...

No one will be able to stand before eternity's final bar and say, "So and so made me do it." Some yutz made a conscious decision to go out and vandalize something, already knowing full well that it's wrong. That society has accepted the idea that outside forces motivate an individual's actions only gives the offender a guilt free pass to go out and do more...after all, it ultimately isn't his fault, it's those miscreants at the train club down the street that made him do it, right?

My putting a bar on my layout does not mean I condone the drinking that led some drunk to hit the road last night and kill a family of five just up the road from my house. My putting a nude of a girl swimming does not mean I condone the adultery that led to two divorces I know of.*** The tank cars I model carry the same chemicals used to make crystal meth in some wannabe chemist's lab. Does my modeling fire hydrants mean I condone the actions of the arsonist that necessitates their presence in my neighborhood?

How many have hobos on their layout? Do you understand that they used to light their fires with grease stolen from the journal boxes on the trucks? This often robbed wheelsets of important lubricant which, if not spotted in time, would lead to a hot box, which would then lead to sheared axles, the resulting derailments costing untold thousands in damages, fires and even the loss of life? Their graffiti was and is a road map of suckers willing to cater to their panhandling.

I model what appeals to my sense of reality because it enhances my models. My N scale reflects a tinplate heritage, my HO goes two ways, collector model and scenicked realism. That other people enjoy my work is a plus but not a driving force. I lose no sleep over those who may be offended...there's always plenty, no matter the topic. Our national motto should be changed from "E Pluribus Unum" to "Perpetuo Offensus Ad Infinitum".

Don't get me wrong, watching one's work get destroyed on a daily basis is something I too have to deal with. It plainly sucks eggs. I deal with graffiti and vandalism every day making my rounds. Sometimes my job requires carrying a ballistic clipboard. Take a ride with me and you might understand why I have little patience for self-righteous indignation. But I've long ago learned to separate my modeling from what I work with. I own the cars, I "tag" the cars so therefore I accept full responsibility for damaging railroad property and regularly sentence myself to community service cleaning the railroad shops (read that: clean the workbench).

***BTW, my removing these elements from my layout was more in keeping with Godly virtue in that I did not want a weaker brother or sister to stumble at a liberty I have, something much more pleasing to Christ.