Samuel Davies Travel Mug

"The venerable dead are waiting in my library to entertain me and relieve me from the nonsense of surviving mortals." - Samuel Davies 1723-1761

I love this quote! I am now making it available on a high quality ceramic travel mug. Click here to view the mug and order online.

http://www.cafepress.com/fathertofather

He That Tilleth His Land

He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding. (Pro 12:11)


Here's my newest "toy."

And here are the firstfruits of our harvest:

Monergism Books

I've found a great place to get solid, doctrinally correct books at very good prices. I have joined their affiliate program. They "pay" you in books! To check out their selection, click on my link:




Here is an example of one of the books I'll be ordering shortly. Our church is beginning the process of installing elders. For those men desiring to be considered for church eldership and for those who wish to know what they should look for in eldership candidates, Biblical Eldership by Alexander Strauch is a definitive theological work on biblical eldership.

Biblical Eldership

If you'd like to pick some some credits in order to add to your own library, consider signing up as an affiliate. You can register by clicking here.

Bombshell May Have Been Averted

Praise God. It sounds like the bureaucrats heard from the people and actually listened. I'm not positive we're all out of the woods yet, but this sounds a lot more promising. From the sound of this I don't think we have to worry about federal agents knocking down our doors in the middle of the night because we sold some used curriculum on eBay. It also seems to let resellers off the hook unless they are trying to sell recalled products.

http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html

I'll update if I hear more. I'm still not sure about the specifics regarding the sale of new, home produced products (like baby blankets). If you know, please leave me a comment here.

Small Business Bombshell!

Maybe I've had my head buried in the sand lately, or I've been concentrating on other things, but something just almost completely slipped by my notice. Last week my daughter alerted me to something she was reading on Jennie Chancey's sewing forum, Sense and Sensibility. At Church last Lord's Day, one of the ladies in our fellowship was talking about it. Then just last night I received an email from a friend expressing the same concerns. It seems as though the nanny state has determined to protect all our children from lead poisoning. However, rather than aiming squarely at the main culprit of lead distribution in toys; "Red China," our bureaucratic empire headed by the elite group of legislators decided this would be a great time to take a pot shot at all those small businesses across America.

It turns out that this new law, which I understand has already passed and will go into effect on February 10, 2009, requires that every product that can appear to be targeted for children under 13 years old must pass rigorous lead testing. It doesn't matter if the component parts have already been tested for lead, each end product must be tested also. This also applies to book sellers. This will add a lot of unnecessary expense and will expose small business owners to extremely harsh and unreasonable punishment if they violate this law knowingly or ignorantly. The penalty is $100,000 and two years in prison.

This is an outrage! I don't watch TV, but from what I understand, the media is largely ignoring this. I even wondered if it were for real or not. But after a bit of internet research, it seems to be accurate.

I have not researched this as thoroughly as I need to, but I wanted to get the word out to my readers as soon as possible. Check out the following link:
http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/

This is an organization that is standing together to fight this. As a disclaimer, I haven't thoroughly examined this website either. But it does not appear to contain objectionable material. There's a link there to "Ideas for Change in America." I did check out that site and found a bunch of left wing liberal causes. I signed up anyway and registered my vote against this one issue.

I have a feeling that we'll be needing to call our legislators pretty regularly starting after say...January 20. The Obamanation is beginning, though this law was passed under the Bush regime.

Lose Your Job, Kill Your Baby...So Sad

In a disturbing article I read this morning, it seems as though Planned Parenthood is getting a surge of new business. If this is true, then it is truly despicable, but believable in this wicked society in which we live.

The Bible calls children a blessing. A family with many children is truly wealthy. Though in our society that wealth is often seen in heritage and non-monetary ways, I believe that God intends for children to bring financial wealth to a family as well. I know several families who work together on their farms or family businesses. Many hands make light work.

So, if God provendentially removes your job, don't cut off His blessings. Rather, find a way to work beside the children He has given you and rejoice that He is sending another helping hand into your fold. Those are my long term plans that could be shortened anytime God wills it. Remember that He is in control and, if you belong to Him, He works all things in your life for good.

Want to Be a Vision Forum Affiliate?

Vision Forum (both their ministry and their business) is one of the most outstanding organizations I have had the pleasure of associating with. They are a "voice crying in the wilderness" calling fathers to turn their hearts to their children and the hearts of children toward their fathers.

I was very excited when I learned that I could be an affiliate and promote their God honoring and family friendly books and products on my own website. From time to time I will post a special in one of these blog entries. You may have seen these links.

If you would like to become an affiliate as well, and earn a bit of extra cash by sharing these wonderful products, click on the link below to set up your own affiliate account:

Webmasters Earn Money Here!

- Mike

Achieve Outstanding Results - With Passion!

Do you have a product or service to sell? Is there a ministry or non-profit organization that you support? You are excellent in what you do, but your challenge is in letting others know about it? I may be able to supply just the boost you need!

If you’re like me, you are a Christian father who has a longing to work for himself. Or maybe you are a Christian lady who supports her family's vision by running a business out of your home. Perhaps, you are a Christian leader or minister who is working to make a difference in the physical and spiritual lives of people everyday. Whether you produce a product, or you simply have good information to share, people can’t support your efforts if they don’t know you exist.

Direct mail advertising is one of the most effective means of reaching your target audience. Using direct mail, you can benefit families by making them aware of excellent materials that they can use to educate their children, spread the Gospel, or make a positive difference in their communities.

As part of my plan to secure self employment, I have invested in a course on writing direct mail. So far, I’m loving it! I can now channel my passion for causes and products I believe in to a means of supporting my family. I see this as a win-win situation all around. You benefit by gaining customers or donors. The customers and/or donors benefit by receiving your excellent product or the blessing of helping ministries in need. I benefit by doing something that I love (writing), and using it to directly support my family.

I already have a sample piece I can share with you that I wrote for my favorite restaurant.

Drop me an email today at mike@mikesoutherland.com to discuss how I can help you bring in the response you need for your business or ministry.