The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.
Friday, December 31, 2010
Happy 1-1-11
While others will be up at midnight, we'll be asleep. I just remembered what we did last year, & we'll probably do the same tonight....We had our countdown at 9pm. It'll be midnight somewhere around the world at that time. We'll just celebrate with them! God grant you a Happy New Year!
Happy 1-1-11!
Happy 1-1-11!
Thursday, December 16, 2010
MY CHRISTMAS CARD LIST
I have a list of folks I know,
All written in a book,
And every year when Christmas comes,
I go and take a look.
That is when I realize
These names are all a part,
Not of the book they’re written in, but of my very heart.
For each name stands for someone
Who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they’ve become
The rhythm in each rhyme.
While it may sound fantastic
For me to make this claim,
I really feel that I’m composed
Of each remembered name.
And while you may not be aware
Of any special link,
Just meeting you has changed my life
Much more than you may think.
For once I’ve met somebody,
The years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word
Or of a friendly face.
So, never think my Christmas cards
Are just a mere routine
Of names upon a Christmas list,
Forgotten in between,
For when I send a Christmas card
That is addressed to you,
It’s because you’re on the list
Of folks I’m endeared to.
For I am but a total
Of the many folks I’ve met,
And you happen to be one of those
I prefer not to forget.
Whether I have known you
For many years or few,
In some way you have had a part
In shaping things I do.
And every year when Christmas comes
I realize anew,
The best gift life can offer
Is meeting folks like you.
So, may the spirit of Christmas
That forevermore endures
Leave its richest blessings
In the hearts of you and yours.
I have a list of folks I know,
All written in a book,
And every year when Christmas comes,
I go and take a look.
That is when I realize
These names are all a part,
Not of the book they’re written in, but of my very heart.
For each name stands for someone
Who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they’ve become
The rhythm in each rhyme.
While it may sound fantastic
For me to make this claim,
I really feel that I’m composed
Of each remembered name.
And while you may not be aware
Of any special link,
Just meeting you has changed my life
Much more than you may think.
For once I’ve met somebody,
The years cannot erase
The memory of a pleasant word
Or of a friendly face.
So, never think my Christmas cards
Are just a mere routine
Of names upon a Christmas list,
Forgotten in between,
For when I send a Christmas card
That is addressed to you,
It’s because you’re on the list
Of folks I’m endeared to.
For I am but a total
Of the many folks I’ve met,
And you happen to be one of those
I prefer not to forget.
Whether I have known you
For many years or few,
In some way you have had a part
In shaping things I do.
And every year when Christmas comes
I realize anew,
The best gift life can offer
Is meeting folks like you.
So, may the spirit of Christmas
That forevermore endures
Leave its richest blessings
In the hearts of you and yours.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Holloween
What is Halloween?
Halloween is a festival that takes place on October 31. In the United States, children wear costumes on Halloween and go trick-or-treating. Many carve jack-o'-lanterns out of pumpkins. Halloween parties feature such activities as fortunetelling, storytelling about ghosts and witches, and bobbing for apples.
Hallow is the same word for "holy" that we find in the Lord’s Prayer, and e’en is a contraction of "evening." The word Halloween itself is a shortened form of "All Hallows Eve," the day before All Saints Day.
Halloween developed from ancient new year festivals and festivals of the dead. In the A.D. 800's, the Christian church established All Saints' Day on November 1 so that people could continue a festival they had celebrated before becoming Christians. The Mass said on All Saints' Day was called Allhallowmas. The evening before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallows' Eve, or All Hallow e'en.
History: The Celtic festival of Samhain is probably the source of the present-day Halloween celebration. The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in what is now the United Kingdom, Ireland, and northern France. Their new year began on November 1. A festival that began the previous evening honored Samhain, the Celtic lord of death. The celebration marked the beginning of the season of cold, darkness, and decay. It naturally became associated with human death. The Celts believed that Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes for this evening.
Halloween in the United States. Many early American settlers came from England and other Celtic regions, and they brought various customs with them. But because of the strict religious beliefs of other settlers, Halloween celebrations did not become popular until the 1800's. During that period, large numbers of immigrants arrived from Ireland and Scotland and introduced their Halloween customs.
What is All Saint's Day?
All Saints' Day. Many of the customs of the Celts survived even after the people became Christians. During the 800's, the church established All Saints' Day on November 1. The people made the old pagan customs part of this Christian holy day. The Catholic church later began to honor the dead on November 2. This day became known as All Souls' Day.
All Saint's Day
The purpose behind it (All Hallows Eve) has been lost—like celebrating New Year’s Eve without a New Year’s Day. Take away the saints and our beliefs about the dignity and destiny of human beings, and the only thing left is pre-Christian superstition regarding the dead.
The same way people gather today at the site of a tragedy on its anniversary to talk to each other and to reporters, the first Christians gathered on the anniversary of a martyr’s death to remember it the way they knew best: with the "breaking of the bread." They retold the stories to inspire each other at a time when faith meant persecution and more martyrdom. Not even death could break the unity in Jesus which Paul had named "the Body of Christ."
By the mid-fourth century a feast of "All Martyrs" appeared on local calendars. As persecutions grew less frequent, the feast was extended to include non-martyr "witnesses," Christians whose lives were "the gospel in action.”
In the 16th century at the time of the Reformation, most Protestants discarded both the doctrine of the communion of saints and the practice of praying for the dead. All Hallows Eve became "hollow" for them, the vigil of an empty feast day.
Death is not cute. Halloween began with martyrs, after all. At Halloween we need to use discernment to separate the symbols, to protect our children from very real dangers, to cut through the customs that contradict our relationship with God, including occult practices.
Most of all, be free from fear. We who are in Christ have nothing to fear, and we should be ready with an answer to those who act as if the devil were the equal and opposite of God. There is no "equal and opposite" of God.
Trick or Treat
“Trick or Treat" is thought to have come from a European custom called "souling". Beggars would go from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers could guarantee a soul's passage to heaven.
In John 14:6 Jesus said:
"I am the way the truth and the life;
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
"For by Grace are you saved through faith.
It is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast."
~Ephesians 2:8-9~
Another version:
In the Middle Ages there was a superstition that those who had died the previous year without being forgiven by you might rise to haunt you, appearing as will-o’-the-wisps or ghosts. They would jar you so you would release them by prayer and forgiveness. You might also appease them with "soul cakes"—cookies, fried cakes, "treats"—so they wouldn’t do you any mischief with their "tricks." Soon those who were living began to use the occasion for reconciliation. To wipe the slate clean for the coming year, they came, masked and unrecognizable, and boldly bargained for treats.
The connection between trick or treat and forgiveness deserves to be reclaimed, don’t you think?
Avoiding costumes and decorations that glorify witches and devils goes without saying. But, can skulls and skeletons be healthy reminders of human mortality? Can witches and devils symbolize the evil Christ has overcome?
"For God has not given us a spirit of FEAR but of power
and of love and of a sound mind."
~~~2 Timothy 1:7~~~
TRICK-OR-TREAT
The Devil has many TRICKS .....
• He says, "Don't believe in God." But, don't be fooled , the Bible says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'." (Psalm 14:1)
• He says, "Wait until your're older to become a Christian." But the Bible says, "Now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
• He says, "Christians don't have any fun." But the Bible says, "I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (fully)." (John 10:10)
• He says, "You don't need Jesus."" But the Bible says, " I (Jesus) am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, except through Me." (John 14:6)
• He says, "God would never send anyone to hell" But the Bible says, "He who believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned (judged); but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (Jesus)." (John 3:18)
JESUS has many TREATS.....
• JESUS LOVES YOU. "God is Love. In this the love of god was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. We love Him because He first love us." (1John 4:8,9,19)
• JESUS DIED FOR YOU. "Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
• JESUS INVITES YOU INTO HIS FAMILY. " As many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become the sons (children) of God." (John 1:12)
• JESUS WILL FORGIVE YOU. Jesus promises those who turn to Him: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." (1John 1:9)
• JESUS WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU. If you will receive Him as your Savior, He promises, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)
Why don't you make this a real Hallow--e"en (a hallowed evening) by accepting the best treat of all -- Jesus Christ as your Saviour. Then you can smile like the happy Halloween pumpkins. They have candles inside that glow and show up for blocks around. How much more then will your light (in Jesus) so shine before men.
"Let your light shine before men... You (Christians) are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:14,16)
The pumpkin is a vegetable related to squash. Most pumpkins weigh from 15 to 30 pounds (6.8 to 14 kilograms). The majority of pumpkins are orange, but many pumpkins are white, yellow, or other colors.
Scarecrows are used in the fields to keep the birds away from the crops. They are usually stuffed with straw and hung on a pole. We often see them used as a popular fall decoration.
The Jack O Lantern
The Jack O Lantern was originally a turnip that was carved out and a candle put in it. The word jack-o'-lantern is from an old Irish story. Once there was a man named Jack, who could not enter heaven because he was a miser. He could not enter hell either, because he had played jokes on the devil. When he died, he went to the devil. The devil threw Jack a hot coal and told him to put it inside the turnip he was eating. "This is your lantern," said the devil. As a result, Jack had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day.
Some Christians carve pumpkins with crosses or the name of Jesus or any other Christian symbol.
The Jack O Lantern (from a Catholic web site:)
The folktale of "Jack o’ the Lantern" arrived with early Irish Catholic colonists in Maryland. It quickly grew in popularity because of the independent spirit admired in this country. Jack has the cleverness to outwit the devil himself, but it isn’t enough to get him into heaven. He must roam forever between heaven and earth, holding his pumpkin lantern high. (Originally the lantern was cut from a turnip; after the story crossed the ocean, colonists changed it to the colorful vegetable they found here, the pumpkin.)
As you carve your pumpkin (or roast the oiled seeds at 325 degrees for 25 minutes), tell others the tale behind jack-o’-lanterns. Talk about what it means to be a saint and why Jack didn’t make the grade. Don’t be afraid to point out the "moral of the story" (which is why it was told in the first place). Jack was so self-centered he never helped another human being. He was given a good set of brains, but he used this gift only for himself. He knew about faith and the power of the cross, but he used it like a piece of magic instead of as the way of Jesus (see Luke 9:23). The cross is indeed strong enough to vanquish the devil. But embracing the cross is what brings eternal life.
Halloween also invites us to talk openly about death in a culture that labors mightily to deny it. Seventy-five percent of Americans do not have a valid will, much less a Living Will or an organ donor card. "If I die..." people say, instead of, "when I die." Do we think death is optional? Death is a fact of life.
My problem with this story:
In John 14:6 Jesus said:
"I am the way the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
"For by Grace are you saved through faith. It is a gift of God not of works lest
any man should boast." ~Ephesians 2:8-9~
The power is not in the cross itself, but in Jesus, the son of God.
He died that we might live!
The Tale of Jack O'Lantern
Jack, the Irish say, grew up in a simple village where he earned a reputation for cleverness as well as laziness. He applied his fine intelligence to wiggling out of any work that was asked of him, preferring to lie under a solitary oak endlessly whittling. In order to earn money to spend at the local pub, he looked for an "easy shilling" from gambling, a pastime at which he excelled. In his whole life he never made a single enemy, never made a single friend and never performed a selfless act for anyone.
One Halloween, as it happened, the time came for him to die. When the devil arrived to take his soul, Jack was lazily drinking at the pub and asked permission to finish his ale. The devil agreed, and Jack thought fast. "If you really have any power," he said slyly, "you could transform yourself into a shilling."
The devil snorted at such child’s play and instantly changed himself into a shilling. Jack grabbed the coin. He held it tight in his hand, which bore a cross-shaped scar. The power of the cross kept the devil imprisoned there, for everyone knows the devil is powerless when faced with the cross. Jack would not let the devil free until he granted him another year of life. Jack figured that would be plenty of time to repent. The devil left Jack at the pub.
The year rolled around to the next Halloween, but Jack never got around to repenting. Again the devil appeared to claim his soul, and again Jack bargained, this time challenging him to a game of dice, an offer Satan could never resist, but a game that Jack excelled at. The devil threw snake eyes—two ones—and was about to haul him off, but Jack used a pair of dice he himself had whittled. When they landed as two threes, forming the T-shape of a cross, once again the devil was powerless. Jack bargained for more time to repent.
He kept thinking he’d get around to repentance later, at the last possible minute. But the agreed-upon day arrived and death took him by surprise. The devil hadn’t showed up and Jack soon found out why not. Before he knew it Jack was in front of the pearly gates. St. Peter shook his head sadly and could not admit him, because in his whole life Jack had never performed a single selfless act. Then Jack presented himself before the gates of hell, but the devil was still seething. Satan refused to have anything to do with him.
"Where can I go?" cried Jack. "How can I see in the darkness?"
The devil tossed a burning coal into a hollow pumpkin and ordered him to wander forever with only the pumpkin to light his path. From that day to this he has been called "Jack o’ the Lantern." Sometimes he appears on Halloween!
The Witness bracelet
The bracelet has 6 colored beads on a 10 inch leather strip. Each color represents a part of the story of our Lord Jesus Christ and what H+did to save us, His children.
THE INSTRUCTIONS:
The materials are readily available from any craft store. You can get the materials in the craft section of Walmart.
For each bracelet: 1 leather strip about 10 inches in length You can substitute just about anything that will form a bracelet for the leather.
1 Yellow (or gold) bead
1 Black bead
1 Red bead
1 White bead
1 Blue bead
1 Green bead
At approximately 4 inches from one end of the strip, tie a single not. Now thread each bead in the order shown, that is, gold, black, red, white, blue and green, onto the strip. Tie a single not in the strip so that the beads will not fall off (at about 4 inches from the opposite end). Tie the bracelet around your wrist and you have finished. Or you can place the leather stripe and one bead of each color in a small baggy stapled on a paper explaining what each color represents.
The color of the bracelet: The gold stands for heaven, the black for sin, the red for the sacrifice of Christ, the white for purity (his and ours when he becomes Lord of our lives), the blue for the Holy Spirit and the green for everlasting last with Jesus Christ.
Halloween is a festival that takes place on October 31. In the United States, children wear costumes on Halloween and go trick-or-treating. Many carve jack-o'-lanterns out of pumpkins. Halloween parties feature such activities as fortunetelling, storytelling about ghosts and witches, and bobbing for apples.
Hallow is the same word for "holy" that we find in the Lord’s Prayer, and e’en is a contraction of "evening." The word Halloween itself is a shortened form of "All Hallows Eve," the day before All Saints Day.
Halloween developed from ancient new year festivals and festivals of the dead. In the A.D. 800's, the Christian church established All Saints' Day on November 1 so that people could continue a festival they had celebrated before becoming Christians. The Mass said on All Saints' Day was called Allhallowmas. The evening before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallows' Eve, or All Hallow e'en.
History: The Celtic festival of Samhain is probably the source of the present-day Halloween celebration. The Celts lived more than 2,000 years ago in what is now the United Kingdom, Ireland, and northern France. Their new year began on November 1. A festival that began the previous evening honored Samhain, the Celtic lord of death. The celebration marked the beginning of the season of cold, darkness, and decay. It naturally became associated with human death. The Celts believed that Samhain allowed the souls of the dead to return to their earthly homes for this evening.
Halloween in the United States. Many early American settlers came from England and other Celtic regions, and they brought various customs with them. But because of the strict religious beliefs of other settlers, Halloween celebrations did not become popular until the 1800's. During that period, large numbers of immigrants arrived from Ireland and Scotland and introduced their Halloween customs.
What is All Saint's Day?
All Saints' Day. Many of the customs of the Celts survived even after the people became Christians. During the 800's, the church established All Saints' Day on November 1. The people made the old pagan customs part of this Christian holy day. The Catholic church later began to honor the dead on November 2. This day became known as All Souls' Day.
All Saint's Day
The purpose behind it (All Hallows Eve) has been lost—like celebrating New Year’s Eve without a New Year’s Day. Take away the saints and our beliefs about the dignity and destiny of human beings, and the only thing left is pre-Christian superstition regarding the dead.
The same way people gather today at the site of a tragedy on its anniversary to talk to each other and to reporters, the first Christians gathered on the anniversary of a martyr’s death to remember it the way they knew best: with the "breaking of the bread." They retold the stories to inspire each other at a time when faith meant persecution and more martyrdom. Not even death could break the unity in Jesus which Paul had named "the Body of Christ."
By the mid-fourth century a feast of "All Martyrs" appeared on local calendars. As persecutions grew less frequent, the feast was extended to include non-martyr "witnesses," Christians whose lives were "the gospel in action.”
In the 16th century at the time of the Reformation, most Protestants discarded both the doctrine of the communion of saints and the practice of praying for the dead. All Hallows Eve became "hollow" for them, the vigil of an empty feast day.
Death is not cute. Halloween began with martyrs, after all. At Halloween we need to use discernment to separate the symbols, to protect our children from very real dangers, to cut through the customs that contradict our relationship with God, including occult practices.
Most of all, be free from fear. We who are in Christ have nothing to fear, and we should be ready with an answer to those who act as if the devil were the equal and opposite of God. There is no "equal and opposite" of God.
Trick or Treat
“Trick or Treat" is thought to have come from a European custom called "souling". Beggars would go from village to village begging for "soul cakes" made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers could guarantee a soul's passage to heaven.
In John 14:6 Jesus said:
"I am the way the truth and the life;
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
"For by Grace are you saved through faith.
It is a gift of God not of works lest any man should boast."
~Ephesians 2:8-9~
Another version:
In the Middle Ages there was a superstition that those who had died the previous year without being forgiven by you might rise to haunt you, appearing as will-o’-the-wisps or ghosts. They would jar you so you would release them by prayer and forgiveness. You might also appease them with "soul cakes"—cookies, fried cakes, "treats"—so they wouldn’t do you any mischief with their "tricks." Soon those who were living began to use the occasion for reconciliation. To wipe the slate clean for the coming year, they came, masked and unrecognizable, and boldly bargained for treats.
The connection between trick or treat and forgiveness deserves to be reclaimed, don’t you think?
Avoiding costumes and decorations that glorify witches and devils goes without saying. But, can skulls and skeletons be healthy reminders of human mortality? Can witches and devils symbolize the evil Christ has overcome?
"For God has not given us a spirit of FEAR but of power
and of love and of a sound mind."
~~~2 Timothy 1:7~~~
TRICK-OR-TREAT
The Devil has many TRICKS .....
• He says, "Don't believe in God." But, don't be fooled , the Bible says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God'." (Psalm 14:1)
• He says, "Wait until your're older to become a Christian." But the Bible says, "Now is the day of salvation." (2 Corinthians 6:2)
• He says, "Christians don't have any fun." But the Bible says, "I (Jesus) have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (fully)." (John 10:10)
• He says, "You don't need Jesus."" But the Bible says, " I (Jesus) am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father, except through Me." (John 14:6)
• He says, "God would never send anyone to hell" But the Bible says, "He who believes in Him (Jesus) is not condemned (judged); but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (Jesus)." (John 3:18)
JESUS has many TREATS.....
• JESUS LOVES YOU. "God is Love. In this the love of god was manifested toward us, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world that we might live through Him. We love Him because He first love us." (1John 4:8,9,19)
• JESUS DIED FOR YOU. "Greater love has no man than this, than to lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)
• JESUS INVITES YOU INTO HIS FAMILY. " As many as received Him (Jesus), to them He gave the right to become the sons (children) of God." (John 1:12)
• JESUS WILL FORGIVE YOU. Jesus promises those who turn to Him: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins." (1John 1:9)
• JESUS WILL NEVER LEAVE YOU. If you will receive Him as your Savior, He promises, "I will never leave you, nor forsake you." (Hebrews 13:5)
Why don't you make this a real Hallow--e"en (a hallowed evening) by accepting the best treat of all -- Jesus Christ as your Saviour. Then you can smile like the happy Halloween pumpkins. They have candles inside that glow and show up for blocks around. How much more then will your light (in Jesus) so shine before men.
"Let your light shine before men... You (Christians) are the light of the world." (Matthew 5:14,16)
The pumpkin is a vegetable related to squash. Most pumpkins weigh from 15 to 30 pounds (6.8 to 14 kilograms). The majority of pumpkins are orange, but many pumpkins are white, yellow, or other colors.
Scarecrows are used in the fields to keep the birds away from the crops. They are usually stuffed with straw and hung on a pole. We often see them used as a popular fall decoration.
The Jack O Lantern
The Jack O Lantern was originally a turnip that was carved out and a candle put in it. The word jack-o'-lantern is from an old Irish story. Once there was a man named Jack, who could not enter heaven because he was a miser. He could not enter hell either, because he had played jokes on the devil. When he died, he went to the devil. The devil threw Jack a hot coal and told him to put it inside the turnip he was eating. "This is your lantern," said the devil. As a result, Jack had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgment Day.
Some Christians carve pumpkins with crosses or the name of Jesus or any other Christian symbol.
The Jack O Lantern (from a Catholic web site:)
The folktale of "Jack o’ the Lantern" arrived with early Irish Catholic colonists in Maryland. It quickly grew in popularity because of the independent spirit admired in this country. Jack has the cleverness to outwit the devil himself, but it isn’t enough to get him into heaven. He must roam forever between heaven and earth, holding his pumpkin lantern high. (Originally the lantern was cut from a turnip; after the story crossed the ocean, colonists changed it to the colorful vegetable they found here, the pumpkin.)
As you carve your pumpkin (or roast the oiled seeds at 325 degrees for 25 minutes), tell others the tale behind jack-o’-lanterns. Talk about what it means to be a saint and why Jack didn’t make the grade. Don’t be afraid to point out the "moral of the story" (which is why it was told in the first place). Jack was so self-centered he never helped another human being. He was given a good set of brains, but he used this gift only for himself. He knew about faith and the power of the cross, but he used it like a piece of magic instead of as the way of Jesus (see Luke 9:23). The cross is indeed strong enough to vanquish the devil. But embracing the cross is what brings eternal life.
Halloween also invites us to talk openly about death in a culture that labors mightily to deny it. Seventy-five percent of Americans do not have a valid will, much less a Living Will or an organ donor card. "If I die..." people say, instead of, "when I die." Do we think death is optional? Death is a fact of life.
My problem with this story:
In John 14:6 Jesus said:
"I am the way the truth and the life; no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
"For by Grace are you saved through faith. It is a gift of God not of works lest
any man should boast." ~Ephesians 2:8-9~
The power is not in the cross itself, but in Jesus, the son of God.
He died that we might live!
The Tale of Jack O'Lantern
Jack, the Irish say, grew up in a simple village where he earned a reputation for cleverness as well as laziness. He applied his fine intelligence to wiggling out of any work that was asked of him, preferring to lie under a solitary oak endlessly whittling. In order to earn money to spend at the local pub, he looked for an "easy shilling" from gambling, a pastime at which he excelled. In his whole life he never made a single enemy, never made a single friend and never performed a selfless act for anyone.
One Halloween, as it happened, the time came for him to die. When the devil arrived to take his soul, Jack was lazily drinking at the pub and asked permission to finish his ale. The devil agreed, and Jack thought fast. "If you really have any power," he said slyly, "you could transform yourself into a shilling."
The devil snorted at such child’s play and instantly changed himself into a shilling. Jack grabbed the coin. He held it tight in his hand, which bore a cross-shaped scar. The power of the cross kept the devil imprisoned there, for everyone knows the devil is powerless when faced with the cross. Jack would not let the devil free until he granted him another year of life. Jack figured that would be plenty of time to repent. The devil left Jack at the pub.
The year rolled around to the next Halloween, but Jack never got around to repenting. Again the devil appeared to claim his soul, and again Jack bargained, this time challenging him to a game of dice, an offer Satan could never resist, but a game that Jack excelled at. The devil threw snake eyes—two ones—and was about to haul him off, but Jack used a pair of dice he himself had whittled. When they landed as two threes, forming the T-shape of a cross, once again the devil was powerless. Jack bargained for more time to repent.
He kept thinking he’d get around to repentance later, at the last possible minute. But the agreed-upon day arrived and death took him by surprise. The devil hadn’t showed up and Jack soon found out why not. Before he knew it Jack was in front of the pearly gates. St. Peter shook his head sadly and could not admit him, because in his whole life Jack had never performed a single selfless act. Then Jack presented himself before the gates of hell, but the devil was still seething. Satan refused to have anything to do with him.
"Where can I go?" cried Jack. "How can I see in the darkness?"
The devil tossed a burning coal into a hollow pumpkin and ordered him to wander forever with only the pumpkin to light his path. From that day to this he has been called "Jack o’ the Lantern." Sometimes he appears on Halloween!
The Witness bracelet
The bracelet has 6 colored beads on a 10 inch leather strip. Each color represents a part of the story of our Lord Jesus Christ and what H+did to save us, His children.
THE INSTRUCTIONS:
The materials are readily available from any craft store. You can get the materials in the craft section of Walmart.
For each bracelet: 1 leather strip about 10 inches in length You can substitute just about anything that will form a bracelet for the leather.
1 Yellow (or gold) bead
1 Black bead
1 Red bead
1 White bead
1 Blue bead
1 Green bead
At approximately 4 inches from one end of the strip, tie a single not. Now thread each bead in the order shown, that is, gold, black, red, white, blue and green, onto the strip. Tie a single not in the strip so that the beads will not fall off (at about 4 inches from the opposite end). Tie the bracelet around your wrist and you have finished. Or you can place the leather stripe and one bead of each color in a small baggy stapled on a paper explaining what each color represents.
The color of the bracelet: The gold stands for heaven, the black for sin, the red for the sacrifice of Christ, the white for purity (his and ours when he becomes Lord of our lives), the blue for the Holy Spirit and the green for everlasting last with Jesus Christ.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Announcing the new Built-in Orderly Organized Knowledge device (BOOK)
The BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology. No wires, no electric circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy even a child can operate it. Just lift its cover!
Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere - even sitting in an armchair by the fire - yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc. Here's how it works:
Each BOOK is constructed of sequentially-numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs in half.
Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. This makes them thicker and harder to carry, and has drawn some criticism from the mobile computing crowd.
Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The BOOK may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it.
The BOOK never crashes and never needs rebooting, although like other display devices it can be unusable if dropped overboard. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.
An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the BOOK in the exact place you left it in a previous session - even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus, a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOKmarks can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of pages in the BOOK.
You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (Pencils).
Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is being hailed as the entertainment wave of the future. The BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform. Look for a flood of new titles soon.
Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere - even sitting in an armchair by the fire - yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-ROM disc. Here's how it works:
Each BOOK is constructed of sequentially-numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. These pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder which keeps the sheets in their correct sequence. Opaque Paper Technology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of the sheet, doubling the information density and cutting costs in half.
Experts are divided on the prospects for further increases in information density; for now BOOKs with more information simply use more pages. This makes them thicker and harder to carry, and has drawn some criticism from the mobile computing crowd.
Each sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into your brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. The BOOK may be taken up at any time and used by merely opening it.
The BOOK never crashes and never needs rebooting, although like other display devices it can be unusable if dropped overboard. The "browse" feature allows you to move instantly to any sheet, and move forward or backward as you wish. Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected information for instant retrieval.
An optional "BOOKmark" accessory allows you to open the BOOK in the exact place you left it in a previous session - even if the BOOK has been closed. BOOKmarks fit universal design standards; thus, a single BOOKmark can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOKmarks can be used in a single BOOK if the user wants to store numerous views at once. The number is limited only by the number of pages in the BOOK.
You can also make personal notes next to BOOK text entries with an optional programming tool, the Portable Erasable Nib Cryptic Intercommunication Language Stylus (Pencils).
Portable, durable and affordable, the BOOK is being hailed as the entertainment wave of the future. The BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform. Look for a flood of new titles soon.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Car in Neutral
Photo 1: See the spot on the right, in front of the house? That's where I got out of my car to help Anthony lock the back door.
See the spot on the left? That's where my car rolled to because I had left it in neutral.
See the bruises on my arms (if you could)? Those are from where I had tried to steer the car thru the open window.
See the bruises on my legs (if you could)? That's from where, after I opened the door, trying to get in. I held on so I wouldn't fall into the creek shown in photo 2.
PS: I didn't steer the car.....couldn't......God did!
See the spot on the left? That's where my car rolled to because I had left it in neutral.
See the bruises on my arms (if you could)? Those are from where I had tried to steer the car thru the open window.
See the bruises on my legs (if you could)? That's from where, after I opened the door, trying to get in. I held on so I wouldn't fall into the creek shown in photo 2.
PS: I didn't steer the car.....couldn't......God did!
Monday, June 28, 2010
To Those of You Born 1930 - 1979
TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!
First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.Then after that trauma,
we were put to sleep on our tummies
in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.
As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.
We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?
Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.
No one was able
To reach us all day….
And, we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes..
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good.
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ?
The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control,
mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms
tearing up the country from one end to another,
and with the threat of swine flu
and terrorist attacks.
Are we sure this is a good time
to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'
For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us... ..go ahead and delete this.
For the rest of us...pass this on.
A Small Prayer!
God determines who walks into your life....it's up to you to decide who you let walk away,
who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go..
I need this back. If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for you.
When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this.
Father,
God bless my friend in whatever it is that You know they may need this day!
And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity, and power
as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you.
Amen.
First, we survived being born to mothers
Who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing,
Tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.Then after that trauma,
we were put to sleep on our tummies
in baby cribs covered with bright colored lead-base paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles,
Locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode
Our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.
As infants & children,
We would ride in cars with no car seats,
No booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.
Riding in the back of a pick-up truck on a warm day
Was always a special treat.
We drank water
From the garden hose and not from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends,
From one bottle and no one actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon.
We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar.
And, we weren't overweight.
WHY?
Because we were
Always outside playing...that's why!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day,
As long as we were back when the
Streetlights came on.
No one was able
To reach us all day….
And, we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps
And then ride them down the hill, only to find out
We forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes
a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's and X-boxes.
There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
No video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
No cell phones,
No personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms.
WE HAD FRIENDS
And we went outside and found them!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth
And there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt,
And the worms did not live in us
Forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays,
Made up games with sticks and tennis balls and,
Although we were told it would happen,
We did not put out very many eyes..
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and
Knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just
Walked in and talked to them.
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team.
Those who didn't had to learn to deal
With disappointment.
Imagine that!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law
Was unheard of.
They actually sided with the law!
These generations have produced some of the best
Risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever.
The past 50 years
Have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility,
and we learned how to deal with it all.
If YOU are one of them?
CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others
who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the
lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives
for our own good.
While you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know
how brave and lucky their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house
with scissors, doesn't it ?
The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:
"With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control,
mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms
tearing up the country from one end to another,
and with the threat of swine flu
and terrorist attacks.
Are we sure this is a good time
to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'
For those that prefer to think that God is not watching over us... ..go ahead and delete this.
For the rest of us...pass this on.
A Small Prayer!
God determines who walks into your life....it's up to you to decide who you let walk away,
who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go..
I need this back. If you'll do this for me, I'll do it for you.
When there is nothing left but God, that is when you find out that God is all you need. Take 60 seconds and give this a shot! All you do is simply say the following small prayer for the person who sent you this.
Father,
God bless my friend in whatever it is that You know they may need this day!
And may their life be full of your peace, prosperity, and power
as he/she seeks to have a closer relationship with you.
Amen.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Hot! Hot! Hot!
Have you done something strenuous in the sun & gotten all hot & sweaty? You know, when the heat is almost unbearable, & the sweat is just running off you in rivulets? You want to strip the layers of clothes off, but you can’t, & you can’t go inside to get any relief yet. Can you just feel it??....
Now you know what a woman feels like when she is having a hot flash!
Now picture this happening to you in the middle of church, or in the winter!
Now you know what a woman feels like when she is having a hot flash!
Now picture this happening to you in the middle of church, or in the winter!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Prayer
"Please pray for......"
Some people are "Prayer Warriors." Others just send up a quick prayer & go on with their life.
I recently read a book (Christian fiction) about a half dozen angels who had been sent to watch over a town after a town leader had prayed to God on his deathbed. It made prayer even more real, in that, you saw how these angels would personally take your prayer into the throne room of God & wait for a response, then return to carry out God's answer.
An angel is a messenger of God. He does God's bidding. He WANTS to help us if we will only ask. Ask...Speak out loud....Believe you will hear from God. God SPOKE this world into existence. Jesus did not just place his hands on people & think healing into them. He SPOKE.
The Bible says that Jesus could have called upon 10,000 angels at any time.
So, the next time you pray, think about that angel who is carrying your prayer up to the throne room of God. And know that God will answer....that your prayer is so important to him that he created messengers to go back & forth from Heaven to Earth.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Palm Sunday
On the Sunday before the Resurrection (Easter), Jesus rode triumphantly into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people spread branches of palm trees on the ground shouting, `Hosannah!`
Hosanna means: "save I pray thee; keep; preserve"
Zechariah 9:9 - "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."
John 12:13,14 - "Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna:Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,"
The palm was considered a symbol of victory.
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;"
~Revelation 7:15~
The Branches Were:
• The emblem of victory - Revelation 7:9
• Carried at feast of tabernacles - Leviticus 23:40
• Used for constructing booths - Nehemiah 8:15
• Spread before Christ - John 12:13
In the first century after Christ, palm symbols were put on the tombs as a special sign of martyrdom. This was considered victory and triumph for the Christian.
Today, in some churches, palm leaves are brought in and sometimes twisted into crosses. Greek Orthodox Christians receive branches of fragrant bay leaves. The leaves are then used in cooking during the year.
It is said that since the first Palm Sunday the backs of donkeys have been marked with a cross. If you look, you may find a dark stripe of hair down the donkey’s back that is crossed by another stripe which spreads across his shoulders.
Hosanna means: "save I pray thee; keep; preserve"
Zechariah 9:9 - "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass."
John 12:13,14 - "Took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried, Hosanna:Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon; as it is written,"
The palm was considered a symbol of victory.
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all
nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;"
~Revelation 7:15~
The Branches Were:
• The emblem of victory - Revelation 7:9
• Carried at feast of tabernacles - Leviticus 23:40
• Used for constructing booths - Nehemiah 8:15
• Spread before Christ - John 12:13
In the first century after Christ, palm symbols were put on the tombs as a special sign of martyrdom. This was considered victory and triumph for the Christian.
Today, in some churches, palm leaves are brought in and sometimes twisted into crosses. Greek Orthodox Christians receive branches of fragrant bay leaves. The leaves are then used in cooking during the year.
It is said that since the first Palm Sunday the backs of donkeys have been marked with a cross. If you look, you may find a dark stripe of hair down the donkey’s back that is crossed by another stripe which spreads across his shoulders.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Jesus on the Cross
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I often wondered about why, at Easter, I'd see a cross displayed with a cloth draped upon it. I thought the cloth represented the Risen Lord. But after going to the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Florida, I saw the true meaning.
After Jesus died they took a long piece of cloth, wrapped it around His chest, under His arms, and across the horizonal bar of the cross. This held Him in place while they removed the spikes in His hands and feet. Then, after they took His body down, the cloth remained.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Elvis Presley-75th b'day.
It made me think of my neighbors in Sevierville, TN, Rex & Elisabeth Mansfield. Rex was inducted into the army with Elvis, was in basic training with him, & traveled to Germany with him. Elisabeth was born in Bamberg, Germany. She lived in the US for a while after her mother married an American GI when Elisabeth was a teen, then returned to Germany when her step-dad was re-assigned there. That's when she became Elvis' personal secretary.
Rex & Elisabeth wrote a very interesting book called Sergeant Presley, Our Untold Story of Elvis' Missing Years. In it they tell about their army years together. And how Elvis meets Elisabeth, "with whom Elvis was romantically linked"...before Priscilla. When Rex began dating Elisabeth (after Elvis met Priscilla), Elvis was not happy.
There are also a lot of pictures of Elvis, Rex, & Elisabeth in the book.
I didn't ask them a bunch of question about Elvis. They seemed more interested in talking about their Christian faith. They are very active in their church in Sevierville!
Rex & Elisabeth wrote a very interesting book called Sergeant Presley, Our Untold Story of Elvis' Missing Years. In it they tell about their army years together. And how Elvis meets Elisabeth, "with whom Elvis was romantically linked"...before Priscilla. When Rex began dating Elisabeth (after Elvis met Priscilla), Elvis was not happy.
There are also a lot of pictures of Elvis, Rex, & Elisabeth in the book.
I didn't ask them a bunch of question about Elvis. They seemed more interested in talking about their Christian faith. They are very active in their church in Sevierville!
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