Bob & Bonnie Horning

Romans 8:28 NIV

More Than Conquerors

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

I just heard another bad report from a friend who is experiencing bad stuff coming down on him. I won't go into details but this verse came to mind right away.

Many Believers remember the first part but seem to gloss over the 2nd part. We all get the "all things for good for those who love Him" part, but do we really understand the following part of "who have been called according to his purpose"? Our destiny in Christ is broken down into 3 parts... History, Testimony and Prophecy. So many believers get caught up in the thinking that the end is near, that we're living in the last days that they tend to rob the next generation of hope. The predestination thing seems to hang up many as well.

Here's a simplistic way to look at it, God was, and is and is to come. What that means very simply is He is all over it. Past, present and future. He exists in all three and in fact before that and after that. Time that is. So, even though you don't know the outcome of something that seems devastating in your life, He does and it is for your good.

In 1 Kings 13, we are told of many generations of very bad kings who didn't follow the Lord, but an unknown prophet came forth and declared that one day a king named Josiah would come and abolish all the false idols and such... well about 230 years (II Kings 22) later a king named Josiah came to power at a tender young age and in his early 20's they uncovered the scriptures that prophesied what he'd do and by name... this blew him away and he became a very great king who turned all of Salem/Israel back to God. Let's start following that example today and give our children and children's children a bright hope for tomorrow.

Remember today as you step forward into the future that what just happened to you is now history which is now His Story and you have a testimony that prophecies the hope for tomorrow. The world is not coming to an end, there will be a tomorrow and the sooner we start prophecying that, the sooner God will come back into our country and take back the control the enemy seems to have wrestled away from us at the moment. If you believe, you are predestined, which means God personally called you to be like His son, which means you are justified so you will become glorified... for His purposes.

God Bless you all.

We've discovered a website that is very helpful to us in our Integrated Marketing approach of real estate. We use this to show our clients (Realtors) how we compare with our local competition.

Realtors who use the most advantageous marketing in your particular area can go and pull up what you do either singularly or by comparison to your competition to show your clients just how good your online marketing is.

One disclaimer: I want to make before you look at our particular area charts is the fact that this is in no way the definitive site for keeping statistics. There is no one magic silver bullet that is the best. This one is called Alexa.com.

It has proven to be a good general overview and easy to read.

Here's how we shake out in Lancaster County, PA compared to our competition. As you can see, we enjoy the most exposure in our market. *The local newspaper website cannot be broken down to just their real estate so they were not included. Although their entire site came in a little above treb.com (The Real Estate Book), but again, that's their entire site, news, sports, weather, classifieds etc.

One last point: Alexa also provides the embed code for the charts to make it easily uploaded to your personal site as well.

When you choose a partner for marketing, look to Homes And Land and our whole Integrated Marketing approach. More than a magazine...

After reading some featured posts today, it was brought to my attention that I have none. Some were complaining, others were saying not to complain. I never worried about it. Why? Because until it was brought to my attention, I didn't know i was missing out. Now I feel down. Thanks for bringing to my attention that fact that I don't cut it even now... 180 years removed from High School.

OK, I really don't care. I am starting to learn more about what this site is about. I even stuck my neck out earlier today and stated who I was for in our coming elections... who really cares. I still don't get what the points do for me anyway... I'm just enjoying hanging out when I have the time, reading blogs, getting educated and just chillin.

So, with that in mind it made me think of a favorite story. Not really a joke, more like a parable. It's a great story to illustrate how I feel right now.

A long time ago there was a boy who was destined to be the next king. He had a wonderful friend he grew up with and they did everything together. There was one thing about this friend though that always seemed to get on the boy king's nerves. He had this annoying habit of saying "This is good, this is good!" No matter good, bad or indifferent, "This is good!" They remained friends through it all though.

Then later in life as the boy grew up and became King of his country, his boyhood friend was now one of his most trusted advisors and still best friend. One day on a hunt, the friend, whose job was to load the king's weapons, handed him his rifle and something went wrong! It backfired and blew the king's thumb clean off! His friend, terribly shaken by this, came running to him and stated nervously, "This is good, this is good!" The king in a state of shock, lost his head and had enough of his friend's quirk so he had him thrown into the dungeon and put him out of his mind for a year or so.

Then one day on another hunt, the King without his best friend along, found himself in an area he shouldn't have been in. It was controlled by cannibals! His whole party was taken captive and the tribe was preparing the big pots to cook them up, when they noticed the King was missing a thumb. In their culture it was considered terribly bad luck to eat a person who was not totally whole. So they released the King.

Upon returning to his kingdom, he was feeling very bad now about tossing his best friend in the dungeon, as well as his whole hunting party who fell into the hands of the cannibals. He went to let his friend out and to apologize. "I'm so sorry I did this to you" he said after telling him the whole story of what just happened and how they released him. The friend just smiled and said, naturally, "This is good, this is good!" The King blew his top again and said "Again with this is good! Haven't you learned anything while in here, I feel awful that I threw my best lifelong friend and confidante in the dungeon and all you can say is This is good??? What's the matter with you?" To which his friend said, "If you hadn't done this to me, I would have been with you!" "This IS good!

So keep in mind, Featured or not, McCain or Obama, bail out or no bail out, 401K or no 401K... This is good! And temporary.

The Kingdom IS at hand. God bless everyone on Active Rain network... no exceptions.

Bob

I hope this makes you laugh, if not, at least a smile. Isn't Photoshop a wonderful tool? OK, toy?

Now that you're done laughing... are you done yet?

I'm concerned for our country and this upcoming election.

A blog by Fran the other day really got me on my knees and praying for our nation to not follow the past mistakes we have made...

Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

Our country has a history of blaming the one in the White House when things have gone wrong in our financial houses. They have always turned to style instead of practical function. Most times we have erred on the side of quick reaction and justification instead of a more painful longer lasting remedy.

With that said, and knowing that an eagle needs both his right and left wings to fly straight... to have a totally left congress and a totally left White House will bring us into uneven flight, quite possibly a deathspin that we won't be able to ever escape and we better be prepared.

Although being a registered Republican, I lean to the left on many issues. I think we are much more alike than people think. I am very concerned about many things the Democrats fight for. I just don't agree with the way they want to bring them about. Helping the poor, the environment are not foreign to Republicans... but sometimes when they are discussing these things in Washington, you'd think we were against them. Socialism is not the answer and more regulation that we can't possibly police is not either. We have a management problem. It's that simple. We need managers in office not more lawyers. (Analysts show that 1/10 of the money allocated to help people actually go to the people, management expense takes 9/10ths) We need people who want to find solutions that work for all of us, not just some of us. I'm talking about the lobbyists and all the cronies in DC that have their ears ... with their pocketbooks.

These are just some reasons I've decided to put my support of Obama aside and pull the lever for McCain. I think "Joe the Plumber" did me in... WE ARE Joe the Plumber... except I already own a business and I am being squeezed as all of us "independent contractors" are. We are small business and we will get squeezed even more with the Democrats having free run of the place! I was almost fooled by the style of Obama, but I have seen through the smoke screens now and know without a shadow of a doubt that Obama is God's discipline, I opt and pray for His mercy instead. Please vote life!

Tougue in cheek...

Sarah Palin is invited to meet with the Pope while he is vacationing in Venice . The liberal press reluctantly watches the semi-private audience, hoping they will be able to allot minimal coverage, if any.

The Pope asks Governor Palin to join him on a Gondola ride through the canals of Venice .. They're admiring the sights and agreeing on moral issues when, all of a sudden, the Pope's hat (zucchetto) blows off his head and out into the water. The gondolier starts to reach for the Pontiff's cap with his pole, but this move threatens to overturn the floating craft.

Sarah waves the tour guide off, saying, "Wait, wait. I'll take care of this. Don't worry." She steps off the gondola onto the surface of the water and walks out to the Pope's hat, bends over and picks it up. She walks back across the water to the gondola and steps aboard. She hands the hat to the Pope amid stunned silence.

The next morning, the topic of conversation among Democrats in Congress, CBS News, NBC News, ABC News, CNN, the New York Times, Hollywood celebrities, and in France and Germany is:

"Palin Can't Swim!"

I know it's a tired old joke... but the names have been changed to promote the innocent!