Karate Dog

A young couple lived in a town filled with crime.

After three neighbors had been robbed, the couple decided to get a guard dog.

Visiting the pet store, the young wife asked for a good guard dog.

"Sorry, we're all sold out," the clerk replied. "All we have left is this little Scottie dog. But he does know karate!"

The woman didn't believe the clerk, so he told the dog to karate a chair. The dog broke the chair into pieces. Then he told the dog to karate a table, and the dog quickly broke the table in half. So the woman bought the dog and took it home.

Her husband was disappointed and skeptical about the Scottie dog's abilities as a guard dog.

The wife told him about the dog's excellent karate skills.

"Karate, my butt!" the husband yelled.

To this very day, he is still in the hospital.

The Other Side

A sick man turned to his doctor, as he was preparing to leave the examination room and said, "Doctor, I am afraid to die. Tell me what lies on the other side." Very quietly, the doctor said, "I don't know."
"You don't know? You, a Christian man, do not know what is on the other side?"

The doctor was holding the handle of the door; on the other side of which came a sound of scratching and whining, and as he opened the door, a dog sprang into the room and leaped on him with an eager show of gladness.

Turning to the patient, the doctor said, "Did you notice my dog? He's never been in this room before. He didn't know what was inside. He knew nothing except that his master was here, and when the door opened, he sprang in without fear.

I know little of what is on the other side of death, but I do know one thing ... I know my Master is there and that is enough."

Do not be afraid, Jesus said, "I will never leave you."

A Lost Dog Encourages Persistent Prayers

By Marion Bond West

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart. —Luke 18:1 (NASB)

"Time to give up praying,” I told myself sadly. My prayers were for someone I loved very much. But after ten years, they were still unanswered.

Later that afternoon, a letter to the editor in the local paper caught my eye. “Time to take down the ‘Annie Lost Dog’ posters. Annie is back home!” Overjoyed, I could hardly believe the amazing news. I’d prayed for Annie for nearly a year because her stubborn owner refused to take his ad out of the paper.

The ad explained that Annie was very shy and lost in unfamiliar surroundings. The owner seemed quite desperate. He’d been visiting his daughter in Athens, Georgia, when Annie ran away.

A few days later a full-length story ran in the Athens Banner-Herald with a picture of the black Labrador-retriever mix and her happy owner, who said he simply refused to believe his dog wouldn’t be found. He’d returned to Athens on weekends, walking the streets calling “Annie” late into the night and sitting outside his daughter’s home in thirteen-degree weather hoping to get a glimpse of his pet. When the daughter begged her father to relinquish his hope of finding the dog and begin the grieving process, he intensified his prayers.

Ten full months after her disappearance, Annie was discovered, still wearing her identification tags, twenty-five miles from Athens. “I especially want to encourage others who have lost pets not to give up hope,” Annie’s ecstatic owner said.

The last five words seemed to leap off the newspaper and land right in my heart. Laying the paper aside, I resumed my ten-year prayer.

Father, I praise You for caring about fallen sparrows, lost dogs, and sons who’ve gone astray.

This devotion is excerpted from Daily Guideposts: 365 Spirit Lifting Devotions for Women.

Get Off The Nail

Get Off the Nail! 

by Jerry Clark

Over the years I have met and observed thousands of people and each and every last one of them say they want some improvement in certain areas of their lives. In fact, most of them flat out confessed that they hated certain situations they were in. But after further evaluations, I discovered that they weren't willing to do anything about it. It seemed to be good enough for them to just sit there and wallow in their pain, anguish and misery.

Several years ago, motivational speaker Les Brown and I were chatting after we had both conducted trainings for a Network Marketing Company. We were talking about the number of people who say they want to make changes but don't seem to ever do anything about it. I told him it reminded me of a story I heard him tell an audience over 10 years ago. Here's how the story goes…

One day a man was walking down the street on his way to work. As he walked down the street, there were dogs on just about every front porch and they all would bark as the man walked passed them. However, there was one dog that he remembered, because this dog was just sitting there and he was whimpering and whining and moaning, you know the little whimpering sounds dogs make when they are wounded or in some sort of pain. Well, this particular dog was just sitting there on the front porch making those sounds.

The man was curious as to why this dog wasn 't barking like the other dogs and why he was whimpering. He couldn't figure it out, so he just kept walking to work. The next day he was in the same situation where he was walking down the street and saw the dogs once again and this same dog that was moaning and groaning the other day was doing the same thing today and he just couldn't figure it out. Well, he walked passed for an entire week and every day the dog would be there moaning and groaning. So, finally, the guy got fed up, he said, "Let me find out what's going on." So he went and knocked on the door and a guy came out and said, "Yes, how may I help you?"

He said, "Sir, is this your dog? "

"Yes, that's my dog. "

"Well, what's wrong with him?"

The owner of the dog said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, he's been sitting here moaning and groaning, whimpering and whining for an entire week. The rest of the dogs are barking, your dog should be barking too, why is he moaning and groaning?"

The owner said, "Well, he's actually sitting on a nail." And the guy said, "What! Your dog is sitting on a nail. Why doesn't he get off?"

"Well, it just doesn't hurt him enough."

Wow! You know most people are like that dog sitting on a nail. I mean, sure, they would like to get off the nail, but what if they got off the nail and they died or something?

They never seem to stop to consider that maybe they would be healed, maybe they would be free, maybe they would be able to move about and discover some new and exciting options for their lives. But, nope! Instead, they just sit there on that nail because they're not sure what's going to happen if they get off.

I mean, there are no guarantees of safety so to speak. Even though, it's not the best feeling in the world, sitting on a nail, I mean, it's not comfortable sitting on a nail, it kind of hurts, but at least they know what to expect. They know that they have $900 per week coming in so they can pay their bills and put food on the table and they can put some clothes on their back and a roof over their heads. You know, that's enough for most people.

They may even get upset with you if you question their so called security, I mean, if you hand them a book or tape program or tell them about a seminar that can give them some effective strategies for getting off nails, they may resent you for it.

Well, you're different. You are willing to learn some effective nail removing strategies that could set you free because you and I both know that there is no such thing as security.

Well, maybe I should take that back. I do know of a place where security exists on this planet. It's called the graveyard. And you know what, most people tip toe through life so that they can arrive at the graveyard safely. Of course this will not be you… Right?

That's right. Simply because, instead of moaning and groaning, whimpering and whining about not getting the results you desire, you are a Developing Charging Rhino! And Rhinos always choose to GET OFF THE NAIL and create the conditions they desire.

Faithful Old Dog Awaits Return of Master Dead for Seven Years

Hachiko the Faithful Dog

Hachiko is on now on display at the Tokyo Museum of Art.

Each year on April 8th at a solemn ceremony in Tokyo's Shibuya railroad station, hundreds of dog lovers do homage to the loyalty and devotion of an Akita dog, Hachiko, faithful pet of Dr. Eisaburo Ueno, a professor at Tokyo University.


Hachiko was born in Odate, Japan in November 1923, a white male Akita dog. At the age of two months, he was sent to the home of Professor Ueno of the Agricultural Department of the Tokyo University. The professor's home was in the Shibuya district of Tokyo. The professor commuted to the agricultural department in Komaba and the agricultural experimental station in Nishihara.


Tragedy struck on May 21, 1925, when Dr. Ueno did not return because he had suffered a stroke and died at the university. Hachiko was eighteen months old. The next day and for the next nine years, Hachiko returned to the station and waited for his beloved master before walking home, alone. Nothing and no one could discourage Hachiko from maintaining his nightly vigil. It was not until he followed his master in death, in March l934, that Hachiko failed to appear in his place at the railroad station.

A rare photo of Hachiko

Hachiko was sent to homes of relatives or friends, but he always continued to await his master, who was never to return, at the train station.


The fidelity of Hachiko was known throughout Japan, owing to an article, "Faithful Old Dog Awaits Return of Master Dead for Seven Years" in the October 4, 1933 issue of Aashi Shinbun (Asahi News). Upon his death, newspaper stories led to the suggestion that a statue be erected in the station. Contributions the from the United States and other countries were received. 


Today, the statue of the Akita, Hachiko, pays silent tribute to the breed's faithfulness and loyalty. A bronze statue of Hachiko was put up at his waiting spot outside the Shibuya railroad station, which is now probably the most popular rendezvous point in Shibuya. Hachiko was mounted and stuffed and is on now on display at the Tokyo Museum of Art.

Who is between you and your danger?

A man brought his son to the park. While the son was playing with his battery operated toy boat by the lake, the man sat nearby on the grass reading his papers. From time to time, he glanced away from his papers to check on his son. 

The cool day was making him sleepy and so he closed his eyes to take a short nap. Before sleep could grip him, he saw from the corner of his drowsy eyes, a dog rushing towards his son. His fatherly instinct went into overdrive and in a twinkling of an eye, he was up and running. He threw his full body weight on the charging pitbull and knocked the creature over. 

Thankfully, the loose dog was in a shock and ran away. The brave father was not bitten. As the frantic owner of the dog ran to apologize, she found the man still lying on the spot between his little son and her pitbull.

This story reminds me of Jesus Christ. He threw Himself in the path of the charging devil and rescue us from hell and danger. Today, we have a relationship with God because of the sacrifice made at Calvary.

God loves it when we talk to Him. When we request for honorable things, He will give us favor. When we cry in the midst of danger, He will step between us and the danger. 

We can trust God because He has promised, "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you." (Psalm 91:7). 

Rev Albert Kang

The Bull in The Dog

Dogged Persistence

 

"It is God himself in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work [of telling his Good News to others], and so we never give up."¹

I once read about a man who loved to hunt, and bought two topnotch bird dogs. He kept and trained them in his large back yard.

Down the street lived a vicious-looking bulldog who liked to crawl under the fence to attack the two setters. Day after day he would come, and the two setters would tear the bulldog apart, until he could take no more and slip away with his tail between his legs.

But, each day, for weeks, he kept returning. And each day would go home whining in pain, licking his wounds.

After several weeks something interesting happened. The setters had only to hear the bulldog coming and quickly scurried into the basement of their owner's home. They had had enough, even though they had beaten the stuffing out of the pesky bulldog time and time and time again.

The bulldog's dogged persistence made him the winner. Determination, persistence, hanging in when others check out—that's what makes a winner a winner.

Suggested prayer: "Dear God, help me to give up on and let go of those things in my life that are not in harmony with your will, and to never give up on those things that are. And give me the wisdom to know the difference. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully in Jesus' name."

1. 2 Corinthians 4:1 (TLB)(NLT).

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By Dick Innes

Why Dogs are Better Than Kids

Why Dogs are Better Than Kids

45 minutes to get a dog ready to go outside in the winter?  -- NOT!

Dogs cannot lie.

Dogs never resist nap time.

You do not need to buy a mobile phone for a dog.

Dogs do not pester you about having another kid.

Dogs do not care if the peas have been touched by the potatoes.

Average cost of sending a dog to school: $42...
Average cost of sending a kid: $103,000...

Dogs are housebroken by the time they are 12 weeks old.

Your dog isn't embarrassed if you sing in public

Do Not Talk To My Parrot

Mrs. Lonefold's dishwasher quit working, so she called a repairman.

He couldn't accommodate her with an evening appointment, and, since she had to go to work the next day, she told him: "I'll leave the key under the mat. Fix the dishwasher, leave the bill on the counter, and I'll mail you the check. By the way, don't worry about my Rottweiler. He won't bother you. But, whatever you do, do not under *any* circumstances talk to my parrot!"

When the repairman arrived at Mrs. Lonefold's apartment the next day, he discovered the biggest and meanest looking Rottweiler he had ever seen.

But, just like she had said, the dog just lay there on the carpet, watching the repairman go about his business.

However, the whole time he was there, the parrot drove him nuts with incessant cursing, yelling, and name-calling. Finally the repairman couldn't contain himself any longer and yelled: "Shut up, you stupid ugly bird!!"

To which the parrot replied: "GET HIM, Brutus!!"

Puppy Without Hip Joint

Bob Weber, past president of Kiwanis International, told this story. He had spoken to a club in a small town and was spending the night with a farmer on the outskirts of the community. He had just relaxed on the front porch when a newsboy delivered the evening paper. 

The boy noted the sign Puppies for Sale. The boy got off his bike and said to the farmer, "How much do you want for the pups, mister?"

"Twenty-five dollars, son."

The boy's face dropped. "Well, sir, could I at least see them anyway?"

The farmer whistled, and in a moment the mother dog came bounding around the corner of the house tagged by four of the cute puppies, wagging their tails and yipping happily. At last, another pup came straggling around the house, dragging one hind leg.

"What's the matter with that puppy, mister?" the boy asked.

"Well, Son, that puppy is crippled. We took her to the vet and the doctor took an X ray. The pup doesn't have a hip joint and that leg will never be right."

To the amazement of both men, the boy dropped the bike, reached for his collection bag and took out a fifty-cent piece. 

"Please, mister," the boy pleaded, "I want to buy that pup. I'll pay you fifty cents every week until the twenty-five dollars is paid. Honest I will, mister."

The farmer replied, "But, Son, you don't seem to understand. That pup will never, never be able to run or jump. That pup is going to be a cripple forever. Why in the world would you want such a useless pup as that?"

The boy paused for a moment, then reached down and pulled up his pant leg, exposing that all too familiar iron brace and leather knee-strap holding a poor twisted leg. 

The boy answered, "Mister, that pup is going to need someone who understands him to help him in life!"

Dogs With Strange Names

A girl was visiting her friend who had acquired two new dogs, and asked her what their names were. 

The friend responded by saying that one was named Rolex and one was named Timex.

Her friend said, "Whoever heard of someone naming dogs like that?"

"Helloooooooooooooo," answered the girl. "They're watch dogs!"