Cell phone vs. the Bible

I heard this on the radio while I was driving to work this morning. I think this is a challenge we could all benefit from! I know I could! Let me know what you think!



I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phones?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we used it to receive messages from the ‘text’?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it as we traveled?

What if we used it in case of an emergency?

What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?

This is something to make you go…hmmm…where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don’t ever have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus has already paid the bill!

Easter Story Cookies

Hello and Happy Resurrection Day to everyone! This is something my parents did with us when we were kids, and I thought maybe some of you might enjoy it with your children (when they are older), and with future children. I'm looking forward to someday teaching our children Bible stories, and I think it's great to have something for them to do to help them remember. But, I thought this was cute, and wanted to share it with you!

Easter Story Cookies

to be made the evening before Easter

You need:

1 c. whole pecans

1 tsp. vinegar

3 egg whites

pinch salt

1 c. sugar

zipper baggie

wooden spoon

tape

Bible

Preheat oven to 300 degrees

Place pecans in zipper baggie and let children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces. Explain that after Jesus was arrested He was beaten by the Roman soldiers. John 19: 1-3

Let each child smell the vinegar. Put 1 tsp. into mixing bowl. Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross, He was given vinegar to drink. John 19:28-30

Add egg whites to vinegar. Eggs represent life. Explain that Jesus gave His life to give us life. John 10:10-11

Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand. Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl. Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin. Luke 23:27

So far the ingredients are not very appetizing. Add 1c. sugar. Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because He loves us. He wants us to know and belong to Him. Psalms 34:8 John 3:16

Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12 to 15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed. Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus. Isa. 1:18 John 3:1-3

Fold in broken nuts. Drop by teaspoons onto wax paper covered cookie sheet. Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid. Matt. 27:57-60.

Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF. Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door. Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed. Matt. 27:65-66

GO TO BED! Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight. Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed. John 16:20 and 22.

On Easter morning, Open the oven and give everyone a cookie. Notice the cracked surface and take a bite. The cookies are hollow!!! On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.!!! Matt. 28:1-9

A Remarkable Puzzle

Randy and I had a contest to see who could do this fastest. I won but it took us both an hour at least...I forget how long exactly! Try your luck if you want to drive yourself nuts for a good chunk of time. One hint I wish I would have known definitively beforehand--no book names begin on one line and continue on the next (which was tricky to make sure of on this blog, I must say!) :-)

Can you find the names of 25 books of the Bible in this
paragraph? This is a most remarkable puzzle. Someone
found it in the seat pocket on a flight from Los Angeles to
Honolulu, keeping himself occupied for hours. One man
from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat.
Roy Clark studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Victs
mentioned it in her column once. One woman judges the job
to be so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help calm her
nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to
spot...that's a fact. Some people will soon find themselves
in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily
capitalized. The truth is, from answers we get, we are forced
to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of
them at the worst. Something in our genes is responsible for
the difficulty we have. Those able to find all of them will hear
great lamentations from those who have to be shown.
One revelation may help, books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. And punctuation or spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete. Remember, there are 25 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph.

Carol Game

This might be fun for you to do! And, I don't think it take any research to know if it's real or not.

12 days of Christmas

I thought this was interesting!

Loving Spirit

I was unsure of whether to post this or not, but I figured we could all use the reminder. Even if we don't have any annoying relatives, we all need to be reminded to show Christ's love to our family, friends, and people we meet. Not only around Christmas time, but all through the year.

Christmas trees

I thought this was really neat! It's nice to see trees from around the world. Makes me want to travel and go see them!

This one is for December 9th

Geese

:)

Give this Christmas Away!

'Jesus' candy

Story of the Candy Cane

St. Nick

Here is the short version of his story.

Silent Night

Christ the Savior is born on a Silent Night !

Our Savior

This is true!


(thanks Matthew for showing me how 'properly' post, ha ha.)

Cool Lights

I'm sure most have seen this or similar ones before. But I think it's cool!

Mary Had The Little Lamb

Mary Had The Little Lamb

Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;
Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth.
Micah 5:2

Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall --
Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall.
Isaiah 7:14

Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;
Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod.
John 6:38

Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree
The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free.
1 Peter 1:18

Mary had the little Lamb -- men placed Him in the grave,
Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave!
Matthew 28:6

Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;
All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be.
Hebrews 4:14-16

Mary had the little Lame -- mystery to behold!
From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold.
Revelation 5: 5,6

When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:
It won't be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion's roar.
Psalm 2:12
Revelation 19:11-16

- Marv & Marbeth Rosenthal

December 1st

I got this from the Klove radio station site. Thought I would post it every day.

The Tale of Three Trees

The Tale of Three Trees
A traditional folk tale, retold by Angela Elwell Hunt

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up.

The first little tree looked up at the stars twinkling like diamonds above him. "I want to hold treasure," he said. "I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I will be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!"

The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be a strong sailing ship," he said. "I want to travel mighty waters and carry powerful kings. I will be the strongest ship in the world!"

The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and busy women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave this mountain top at all," she said. "I want to grow so tall that when people stop to took at me they will raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world!"

Years passed. The rains came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall.

One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain.

The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell.

"Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest," thought the first tree. "I shall hold wonderful treasure."

The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell.

"Now I shall sail mighty waters," thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship fit for kings!"

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven.

But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me," he muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought him to a carpenter's shop, but the busy carpenter was not thinking about treasure chests. Instead his work-worn hands fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals.

The once-beautiful tree was not covered with gold or filled with treasure. He was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took him to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ships were being made that day. Instead the once-strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat.

Too small and too weak to sail an ocean or even a river, he was taken to a little take. Every day he brought in loads of dead, smelly fish.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard.

"What happened?" the once-tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted to do was stay on the mountain top and point to God."

Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams.

But one night golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box.

"I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered.

The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful," she said.

And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening, many years later, a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake.

Soon a thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. He knew he did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and rain.

The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace, be still!" The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun.

And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry, jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her.

She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.

But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything.

It had made the first tree beautiful.

It had made the second tree strong.

And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

That was better than being the tallest tree in the whole world.

Advent

If any of our more liturgically minded friends could give us some information on the tradition of Advent, that would be great! I have fond memories of celebrating Advent as a child with my family, and would like to give my son the same gift, but I really want to dig into the traditions, more than just lighting candles on a wreath.

The first Sunday of Advent this year is the 29th.

Thank you!

Natural Family Planning

This topic was mentioned way back as something it could be interesting to discuss. So I begin the discussion! The following is the introduction from this website titled What A Woman Should Know About Birth Control:

All methods of birth control are efforts to separate sexual intercourse from procreation. This separation supports sexual relationships that are much weaker than traditional marriage—hooking up, cohabitation, adultery, and serial monogamy. These relationships erode society by leading to divorce, unexpected pregnancy, abortion, single parent households, abuse, and poverty. The consequences of birth control clearly demonstrate an unhealthy, anti-culture and anti-life, impact that raises major ethical concerns. Use of birth control is like intentionally eating unhealthy, nutrition-less, food just for the pleasure of eating. A steady diet will kill you. In much the same way, a steady diet of birth control kills relationships.

While I definitely know it is a personal choice and no one should be "guilt-ed" into not using contraception since it is one of those biblical "grey areas," the arguments of the Catholic church that contraception is largely responsible for the moral decay of society are extremely compelling (as hinted at in the above quote). I'd love to loan a CD to anyone interested that goes into the arguments in depth. Or I can post summaries here.

Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven. . .'

-- Matthew 6:9

This prayer begins where all true prayer must start, with the spirit of adoption: "Our Father." There is no acceptable prayer until we can say, "I will arise and go to my Father."¹ This childlike spirit soon perceives the grandeur of the Father "in heaven" and ascends to devout adoration, "hallowed be your name." The child lisping, "Abba, Father" grows into the cherub crying, "Holy, holy, holy." There is but a step from rapturous worship to the glowing missionary spirit, which is a sure expression of filial love and reverent adoration-"your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Next follows the heartfelt expression of dependence upon God-"Give us this day our daily bread."

Being further illuminated by the Spirit, the one praying discovers that he is not only dependent but sinful; so he cries for mercy, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors"; and being pardoned, having the righteousness of Christ imputed, and knowing his acceptance with God, he humbly prays for holy perseverance, "Lead us not into temptation." The man who is really forgiven is anxious not to offend again; the possession of justification leads to an anxious desire for sanctification. "Forgive us our debts"-that is justification; "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"-that is sanctification in its negative and positive forms.

As the result of all this, there follows a triumphant ascription of praise, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen." We rejoice that our King reigns in providence and shall reign in grace, from the river even to the ends of the earth, and of His dominion there shall be no end. So from a sense of adoption, up to fellowship with our reigning Lord, this short model of prayer conducts the soul. Lord, teach us then to pray.

¹Luke 15:18

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God.

-Nahum 1:2

Believer, your Lord is very jealous of your love. Did He choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did He buy you with His own blood? He cannot endure that you should think you are your own or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that He would not remain in heaven without you; He would sooner die than have you perish, and He cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart's love and Himself.

He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in yourself. He cannot stand the thought of you hewing out broken cisterns and neglecting the overflowing fountain that is always free to you. When we lean upon Him, He is glad; but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom or the wisdom of a friend-worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own-He is displeased and will chasten us, that He may bring us to Himself.

He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To remain in Him alone, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient satisfaction in our earthly comforts, to even prefer the company of our fellow Christians to secret fellowship with Him, this grieves our jealous Lord. He longs to have us abide in Him and enjoy constant fellowship with Himself; and many of the trials that He sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from created things and fixing them more closely on Him who created everything. Let this jealousy that would keep us near to Christ also be a comfort to us, for if He loves us so much as to care about our love, we may be sure that He will allow nothing to harm us and will protect us from all our enemies. May we have grace today to keep our hearts in holy purity for Christ alone, with sacred jealousy closing our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!