MY LIFE IN INK --

We already watched the new year celebrations from Australia this morning on the news, so let me be the first to wish all of our Australian peeps a very happy new year! I can tell that you haven't clicked on this morning, so I'm guessing the partying must still be going on. There's no way that this blog even compares to a good party. 

Actually, so far this morning, it's just us peeps in the United States, plus a reader in Brazil.

I am so looking forward to a good year in 2008! It's going to be a great year.

The days are already getting longer -- the sun sets a minute or so later every day, and pretty soon, the sun will start coming up earlier. It's kind of stuck at waking up at 7:13 a.m. It doesn't sound like much of a big deal but every minute counts because it's another minute of sunshine that warms the dirt in the back yard.

And there are only 33 days until Ground Hog Day -- that's the real harbinger of spring. Forget the robins. When Ground Hog Day gets here, I'm thinking flower beds and this year, a vegetable garden too. Ground Hog Day is when I start looking for little daffodils and tulip to start peeping through.

Which reminds me -- it's too late for this year but if you want a really good way to keep the squirrels out of your tulip beds, here's a tip I read in one of my gardening magazines. After you plant your tulips beds, lay a mesh of "chicken wire" that you can get at a hardware store. Then cover the mesh up with top dirt. The squirrels have another layer of challenges trying to get to the tulip bulbs. You don't have to worry about the daffodils because squirrels don't like them. But to my great annoyance, I find half eaten tulip bulbs in the yard. So next fall, I'm going to add chicken wire on top of the bulbs and cover them up with dirt.

I am busy knitting another scarf. It was actually supposed to be for someone special for his birthday but I didn't quite get it done in time so we sent another birthday present and this will kind of be like an add-on bonus present that comes a week or so later.

The sugar free chocolate chip cookie recipes that I made the other day are almost gone. Vanished! Kaput! Disappeared, each and every one. We have two options for that predicament -- either slow down on the munchies or make some more cookies.

I can tell you which way Quint is going to vote.

And I have launched what I call "Recipe Panels." The recipes are printed on a tri-fold brochure weight paper. I have a note card holder that I use for my recipe cards so I wanted something that wouldn't be flopping over when I try to read a recipe. And the print is a good size. Makes it easier to read. Like from the distance of my electric mixer to the spot on the counter where the recipe card holder is. No more mouse print for recipes!

I'm presently working on a good smoky barbecue sauce that's sugar free. The problem with barbecue sauce is that it relies on brown sugar and Splenda hasn't done anything with that except to make a 1/2 and 1/2 brown sugar.

That doesn't work for diabetics, but I have been able to find a sugar free honey at Wal Mart. Can you believe it? Sugar free honey! Oh, I'm sure it's one of those "unnatural" synthetically flavored things, but I don't care. As long as it tastes good. So far, I haven't quite gotten there yet.

You know, southerners are very particular about how their barbecue tastes! Has to be smoky and sweet. And it has to bite you back just a little bit. I have two versions -- one that bites back and one that kicks you and you fall down smacking your lips!

I used to stuff little hot peppers into my pockets before I'd head off to school. Hot is good! That's why the Szechuan Sauce is one one of the panels of this first Recipe Panels offering. When I get a chocolate cookie recipe to my liking, it will replace the Szechuan Sauce recipe. Then the Szechuan Sauce will go on another tri-fold with the barbecue sauces and a tomato ketchup that's sugar free.

The food lab is open for culinary adventures!

And I cannot stress enough how important it is to get some exercise -- especially if you're diabetic. Or even if you're not, it's a great idea. Just walk out your door and keep going for fifteen minutes, then turn around and come back.

What we have discovered is that for every ten minutes that we walk, Quint's blood sugar decreases 10 points. Yes, he did the "before and after" pin pricks for about a week to see if it really was a consistent result. It was. Now we've worked our way up to 60 minutes a day at a mall that isn't too far from here. Takes four minutes to drive over there.

Oh sure. We just sit with a cup of coffee at the table and talk about getting our you know whats up and to go over to the mall. Then we talk some more. Well, you know how that goes. My grandmother used to tell me that trying to get a word in edgewise with me was like trying to thread a sewing machine with the needle running up and down. Finally, we get ourselves up and drove over there. We park by the exit that has lockers for mall walkers' coats. When off we go. After we're finished, we pat each other on the back a lot, bragging about how much better we feel after we've walked.

On Wednesday evening we are going to church for the inaugural meeting of our Prayer Circle at church. There's about a dozen or so of us who met with Pastor Rensner after church on Sunday to figure out a time that would work. 

If you would like to identify your Spiritual Gifts, go to this web site and take the test: http://www.acts17-11.com/giftsinv.rtf

These are gifts that the Apostle Paul identifies as gifts the Holy Spirits gives. They are apostleship, prophecy, evangelism, pastoring, teaching, serving, exhortation, giving, leadership, compassion, healing, miracles, tongues, interpretation, wisdom, knowledge, faith, discernment, helps and administration.

This inventory is based on Acts 17. It's a thoughtful, detailed test -- more than a hundred questions, so give yourself plenty of time to prayerfully consider your answers.

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BHUTTO'S SON SAYS HE'S GOING TO PICK UP HIS MOTHER'S MANTLE --

So he's only 19 years old and finishing his studies at Oxford. Besides, in Pakistan, you can't run for parliament unless you have a bachelor's degree.

But then, if Musharref suspended the constitution, wouldn't that allow for this exception? See, Mr. President Mushie Mushie, you've got to be careful when you go suspending your constitution and disbanding your supreme court and disbarring all your lawyers.

If I could figure out that a suspended constitution would allow for Bhutto's son to walk in and take her place, you can bet that some bigger brains than mine will figure it out too.

And you know that in this day of high technology that someone would get a video of the incident that brought down Bhutto's mother: http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/55318/video-rips-apart-govts-claim-on-how-bhutto-died.html (warning: graphic shot)

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BIBLE STUDY -- Galatians 5: 1-26

Paul is still trying to get the Galatians to understand that they cannot "cherry pick" the laws of Moses -- that is, if the Judaizers have their way with this debate and convince the new converts in Galatia that they have to be circumcised in order to be saved, then the converts have to go back to the old Mosaic law and obey everything -- the Mosaic law in its entirety.

But what Paul is really preaching most strongly is that the old law was replaced by Christ and his message of salvation.

In verses 2-6, Paul presents his entire premise in this matter: Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

The Judaizers, on the other hand, were adamant in their belief that God's acceptance of new converts was dependent on whether or not the men were circumcised. This infuriated Paul. And Paul was a man to reckon with when it came to trifling with the Scripture and the message that Jesus Christ had given him to share with the believers.

Paul uses strong language that would have deep meaning when he continues with verses 7-8: You were running a good race. Who cut in on you and kept you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.

Then Paul warns them by using a proverb about yeast. When yeast is used in the Bible, it often refers to false teaching or evil, as in this case. Paul says that a little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.

There's the warning for them to watch out!

Continuing, Paul says in verse 10: I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be.

Paul calls these people agitators. And he says he wishes they'd just go emasculate themselves. This is a touch of sarcasm, no doubt.

It kind of reminds me of the time when Christ was talking about people who would harm his little ones -- better that they'd have a millstone tied around their neck and get thrown off a cliff.

It's like Paul was saying, "Off with you!" I mean, really off with you.

Paul contrasts their sinful nature and their life by the Spirit. We see this most clearly in verses 17-18: For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

And then, as if he were not making his message strong enough, Paul outlines what he believes people do when they are living in their sinful nature (verses 19-21): The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul then outlines the fruits of the Spirit in verse 22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Paul then tells the Galatians that those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with is passions and desires (verse 24).

And finally, Paul adds this note in verses 25-26: Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

A YEAR'S WORTH OF E-MAILS -- from Joyce Cunningham

I must send my thanks to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet towel with every envelope that needs sealing.

Also, now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all, but that will change once I receive teh $15,000 Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my because I have 363,214 angels looking out for me, and St. Theresa's novena has granted me my every wish.

I no longer each KFC because chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

Thanks to you, I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make  a wish within five minutes.

Because of your concern I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Petter since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put "Under God" on their cans.

I no longer use Saran wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

And thanks for letting me know I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face -- disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer to to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or FedEx since they are actually al-Qaeda in disguise.

I no longer at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica, Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan.

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

Thanks to you, I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my ***.

And thanks to your great advice, I can't ever pick up $5.00 I dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

If you don't forward this message to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5 pm this afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a big hair hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician...

Oh, by the way --

A South American scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mails with their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.

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MENTAL FENG SHUI from Alice Stubbe

#1 -- Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.

#2 -- Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

#3 -- Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

#4 -- When you say "I love you," mean it.

#5 -- When you say "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

#6 -- Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

#7 -- Believe in love at first sight.

#8 -- Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

#9 -- Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

#10 -- In diagreements, fight fairly. No name calling!

#11 -- Don't judge people by their relatives.

#12 -- Talk slowly but think quickly.

#13 -- When someone asks a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

#14 -- Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

#15 -- Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

#16 -- When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

#17 -- Remember the three Rs: Respect for slef, Respect for others, and responsibility for all your actions.

#18 -- Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

#19 -- When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

#20 -- Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

#21 -- Spend some time alone.

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MY LIFE IN INK --

Welcome readers in Germany, Malaysia, China, and -- of course -- our peeps here in the United States.

It's hard to believe that today is Friday. Time is just whistling by -- so fast, it seems as if I were being pulled by gravity into the future.

FOOTNOTE TO HISTORY: First is was a suicide bomber -- then it was a gunman -- now, the story coming out of Pakistan is that Bhutto's fatal wounds are attributed to shrapnel from a bomb that went off pretty close to her. The bomb also killed 20 people. The person who shot her was the suicide bomber.

And now, just in -- the cause of death has been changed to a skull fracture that was caused by Bhutto hitting her head on a lever of the sun roof when she ducked back into the vehicle she was riding in. Medical reports now say there was a wound to her left temporal bone from which brain matter was exuding. (Read more: http://in.news.yahoo.com/071228/211/6oyrl.html). However, there was no autopsy performed and now there is an investigation as to why no autopsy was done.

It was an enormously sad day for the people of Pakistan, and also for the Pakistanis who live in the United States who fear for their relatives who still live in Pakistan.

And now Pakistan is burning. Rioters are running around on the streets setting off fire bombs, apparently. If you look at the news, all you can see is flames and scorched earth.

Hopefully there will be a settling down today. Our prayers go to Bhutto's survivors. She has three children who are now without their beloved mother, and a husband who mourns her as well.

It's raining here today. Not freezing either. I think the temperature is 38 degrees. I actually don't have any big humongous projects planned for today. I'm nearly finished knitting Quint's scarf. One more 2-hour movie will finish it off.

I do have some counseling clients coming over later this morning and one this afternoon, so it's a good thing I don't have any big plans. No sense in adding all that silly pressure on myself.

Life is good. And the earth is still rotating at about 1,000 miles an hour so I'm just trying to hang on so I don't go zooming off into space!

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BIBLE STUDY: Galatians 4:1-31

Well, let's see what Paul has to say for today.

Paul spends the first seven verses of this chapter clarifying his comparison to us as heirs when we are children, and not any different from a slave of the household except that the slave doesn't have any ownership in the father's estate.

Big difference.

But children are subject to guardians and trustees until the father decides when the time has come when a child no longer comes under those rules of others.

Paul compares that timing to God who, when the time had come, sent his son to the earth. This Son of God was born of a woman who was born under the law, but he came to redeem all the rest of us who were also under the law so that we could receive the rights of sons -- children of God.

And because we are children of God, we receive the Spirit of God's Son into our hearts. This Spirit, then, gives us the voice to call out to our Father in heaven to hear us. Thankfully, this Spirit means we are no longer slaves. This Spirit that now lives in our hearts makes us God's heirs.

It's not just Paul's pristine rules of logic that form this argument, although you can see Paul's quick, logical mind working through his rationale, step by step. Keep in mind that Paul, first of all, was a Greek. And oh how the Greeks loved to develop rational thoughts. They developed layers upon layers of thought, one on top of the other until they had reached a valid conclusion that was based on these foundational layers.
 
But these early verses of Chapter 4 were no mere exercise of rational entertainment. Oh no. Paul wanted to make certain that the people in Galatia knew full well that they were now children of God. And that happened at the exact moment when they received the Holy Spirit in their hearts. They had been baptized into the Spirit of God. They were sealed forever as children of God. And as such, they were heirs of God's kingdom.

And here comes the big reprimand in verses 8-11: Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

But now that you know God -- or rather are known by God -- how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?

Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you.

Paul is talking about observances like the Day of Atonement, and the New Moons, Sabbaths, Passovers and Firstfruits, etc. To Paul's way of thinking, the Jews were observing all these festivals just to get in good with God. And Paul was not happy at all that the Galatians returned to the old covenant law rituals the minute he turned his back.

As if that were not bad enough, now Paul is saying that he thinks he wasted his time coming to Galatia on his first missionary journey.

Then Paul makes an interesting reference to an illness that brought him to Galatia in the first place. He doesn't go into any details so we don't really know what he's talking about. Oh, for sure, people have speculated as to what this illness could have been. But it's just that -- speculation. We don't have any references that would bring these speculations of failing eyesight, epilepsy, or malaria to the light of reality.

Whatever this illness way, it must have been pretty serious. At least for the time he stayed in Galatia, for Paul recognizes that it must have been bad enough to have been a trial for the Galatians (verse 14). To me, that seems as if it were a medically acute condition, not a chronic illness that would have laid him low for a long period of time. After all, Paul did recuperate and went on at least a couple more missionary journeys -- maybe he even went on to Spain on a fourth journey as some believe.

And then in verse 15, we get one more clue that this illness might have had something to do with Paul's eyesight: What has happened to all your joy? I can testify that, if you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me.

Could have been stress, too. I've had patients who were so stressed that they lost their eyesight. Stress can do that. In the body stress is opportunistic. It settles where it finds weakness. For Paul, that could well have been his eyes. Especially when you remember that Jesus got Paul's attention by temporarily blinding him for a few days.

Don't you think that it's possible that God needed for Paul to spend more time with the Galatians? And how else could God have stopped Paul in his tracks at this place in Paul's journey?

Could Paul have been that stressed? Of course he could have been. Paul was not a lukewarm type of person. You don't get the kind of determination and vehemence and intensity of spirit in a person without having a byproduct of stress over from the psyche into the body!

Besides, there are no coincidences where God is concerned. This is the same God who watches over sparrows, and makes flowers bloom into fields of beauty.

God does not squander the health and well-being of his faithful follows, least of all one of his favorite missionaries -- someone that he had to first strike blind to get his attention on the way to Damascus many years before.

Paul was laid low in Galatia. And whatever the illness was, it apparently was not a brief temporary ailment.

Then Paul attacks the people who are zealous and warns the Galatians in verses 17-18: Those people are zealous to win you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate you from us, so that you may be zealous for them. It is fine to be zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be always and not just when I am with you.

Then Paul switches to a tender, affectionate tone with this letter in verses 19-20: My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you, how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone, because I am perplexed about you!

In closing this chapter, Paul once again reminds the Galatians about Abraham who had two sons -- one born of a slave woman and the other by a free woman. Paul tells the Galatians that they are descended from this free woman, that they are free brothers of Isaac.

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GEE, IT'S NOT EVEN NEW YEARS YET -- SO WHY WOULD THERE BE A BIG DRUNKEN BRAWL AT THE SOUTH POLE?

Actually, it's summer down there -- with daytime temperatures hovering around the freezing temperature with balmy breezes bringing in light snow flurries.

So what happened to all that good summer cheer?

Well, for starters it's Christmas and apparently a couple of guys were celebrating Christmas with a few elbow lifters. Then things got punchy and not so friendly. One guy ended up with a broken jaw. He was "retrieved" but had injuries too serious to be treated at the McMurdo station so he was airlifted to New Zealand with a nurse and paramedic with him. The other man was hurried on back to the United States.

They were employees of Raytheon Polar Services.

I wonder what their next employee reviews are going to look like now that they've drawn international fame to themselves and their company. And who brought the liquor anyway?

And weren't they supposed to be concentrating on astrophysics, seismology and other important stuff? Cracking each other in the face does not cause earthquakes, guys!

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2232455,00.html

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MY LIFE IN INK --

Welcome readers in China, Germany and here at home in the good ole U.S.A. this morning! It looks like we are going over 81,000 hits today! Can you believe it?!!

DISASTER IN PAKISTAN: For those of you who don't tune in to the news on a regular basis, I have to give you some really sad news. Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto of Pakistan was killed this morning. Her death followed a political rally -- and of course, there were suicide bombers involved, but her death was caused by gunshots (from an AK47) that hit her in the neck and chest. Five in all, I believe, were confirmed. She was alive when she arrived at the hospital, but bled out shortly after.

Sad, really sad. And lots of finger pointing, I can tell you that. The Taliban did it. No, Al-Quaeda did it. No, it was Musharref. He couldn't protect her. He did it.

It will take a while to sort it all out, to be sure. But in the meantime, democracy has lost a strong friend in Pakistan and throughout the region.

al-Qaeda terrorists have claimed responsibility for her death. From the foreign news organization, Adnkronos International (AKI)comes this: "We terminated the most precious American asset which vowed to defeat the mujahadeen," says al-Qaeda's commander Mustafa Abu Al-Yazid. Al-Yazid is the main al-Qaeda commander in Afghanistan.

Bhutto had been in Rawalpindi where she had just finished a pre-election rally in this garrison town. She had talked about a war against terrorism and al-Qaeda.

In fact, according to Bloomberg News, Bhutto had received a letter from "friends of al-Qaeda" on October 23 where they threatened more suicide attacks and were targeting her.

HARD TO SHIFT GEARS -- This is going to be one of those days when we'll be glued to the news as it develops and pray and pray that Bhutto doesn't become another Archduke Ferdinand, whose murder is attributed to triggering World War I.

Is there any good news anywhere in the world?

I suppose our own home-grown presidential candidate type politicians, all 54 gadzillion of them, will claim that they were Bhutto's best buddy and on her side in her run for democracy in Pakistan. I suspect that even the candidates who still do not believe that terrorism is a world threat, but rather, just a police action, will do some quick re-posturing, hoping that we wouldn't notice.

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BIBLE STUDY: Galatians 3:1-29

I have always had the greatest respect for missionaries. They go into environments that are often hostile to them and try to bring a new message of salvation to people who do not know Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine how difficult and challenging that would be?

For sure, in retrospect after people have been converted and know the peace that comes from changing to this belief in Christ, it all seems so easy. But not so! Especially when overcoming idolatries are tied with unbelief. Cruel kings like Herod have their little dynasties that they don't want to have upset.

And when people like Paul went around telling big crowds of people that Jesus Christ was crucified because he was acknowledged as the King of the Jews, well that just didn't set right. Especially when Paul was preaching that Jesus promised to come back. He was going to come down, right out of heaven. And great numbers of people believed Paul and the other missionaries who were preaching this gospel message throughout the region.

The death threats were real. The stonings were real. The jail cells were dark and wet and verminy and very real.

Paul was a missionary. There was nothing that any of these dictator kings could do that would shut him up. He just kept on preaching and preaching. And converting great numbers of people to Christianity.

It was a flame that caught fire deep in the believers' souls and it still burns brightly in all Christians to this very day. It is God, alive working through the Holy Spirit.

Those were dangerous times to be a missionary. And it was absolutely hazardous to bring the gospel message to some areas of the middle East. It isn't any easier in this modern age either.

In this third chapter of Paul's letter to the Galatians, he really lays into them. He is not pleased with what has happened to his converts who had come to believe in Christ after he left them to go on to other places.

It appears that the Father of Lies was whispering into the Galatians' ears and worming his way into their hearts. Not unlike Satan who slithered into Eden and convinced Eve that God didn't really mean it when he said you shouldn't eat of that particular tree.

"Oh, really?" Eve must have thought. "Then I must have misunderstood." Then one little bite and mankind was changed forever.

So now there are these vehement people, actually Jewish Christians, who were called Judaizers going behind Paul as he founded churches. The Judaizers were reminding the new converts that they were still beholding to the follow the practices laid out by Moses. They were particularly adamant on insisting that all new converts to Christianity be circumcised.

And what does Paul do when he hears about this?

He sends off one of his most blistering letters to the Galatians. You can just about see the flames coming out of the end of his pen as he writes in verses 1-5: You foolish Galatians!

Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified.

I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?

Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing -- if it really was for nothing?

Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

Keep in mind that these people in Galatia that Paul was talking to were Jewish. And by their Jewish faith, they most fervently believed that they were descendants of Abraham. Paul reminded them that God had told Abraham that "All nations will be blessed through you." Paul then tells the Galatians, "So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith." (verse 8b-9)

But then, in verse 10, Paul says that all those who rely on observing the law are under a curse.

Now what's he talking about. He just said the descendants of Abraham were blessed, and in his next breath, he says they are cursed if they observe the law?

A footnote in my Concordia Study Bible (p. 1795) says that this is a reference to legalists  -- those who refuse God's offer of grace and insist on pursuing righteousness through their works.

Ah, so Paul is laying a foundation for his message of grace in verses 11-14: Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because "The righteous will live by faith."

The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it written, "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

Can you just imagine what you might think if you were a member of that early church in Galatia. First comes this fiery spokesman for Christ. Everything he says makes sense to you.

Maybe you'd heard about this man Jesus who had been crucified. Certainly news travelled throughout the region and people heard things. So here comes Paul to tell them all what the death of Christ meant to them and why they should believe that this man, Jesus Christ, was really the Son of God who had died for their sins and ascended into heaven.

And salvation was theirs. All they had to do was believe that Jesus Christ ws the Son of God who had come to earth to die for their sins too.

The Galatians believed. You can bet they believed. Paul was very pleased with the church at Galatia when he left them to continue with his missionary journey. Then, these Judaizers came tiptoeing in behind him, upsetting his message of salvation by telling them that they had to do certain things under the old laws to be worthy of, or earn, their salvation.

Oh my goodness. Did this set off a firestorm in Paul's head! Off goes this letter. And it's not to just one little congregation. Oh, no. He sends this letter with other apostles to be read to all the churches in Galatia.

It was kind of like an "Oh, I get it," moment for the Galatians. It was a close call, for sure. But Paul had introduced the Galatians to this concept of grace and Paul's letter to them brought them back to this concept.

Paul makes this point most clearly in his analogy back to Abraham (verses 16-18): The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.

What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Okay, you may ask. If we're all going to be saved by grace, then why bother being such a stickler by obeying each and every little law? What's the big deal need for being a law-abiding citizen?

There's a cross reference here to Deuteronomy 33:2 that the law was delivered to Moses by the Lord and angels: The Lord came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones and from the south, from his mountain slopes.

Paul tells the Galatians that the law was put into effect through angels by a mediator. A mediator, however, does not represent just one party; but God is one. (verse 19b-20)

Paul reiterates that according to Scripture, all men are held prisoner because of sin so what is promised is given through faith in Jesus Christ to those who believe, but the law does not offer righteousness, nor does the law offer eternal life. You can only have eternal life through faith in the promise of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Then Paul wraps up this chapter with this promise that brings peace of mind back to the Galatians in verses 26-29: You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

Oh, it is a gloriously sunny day here in central Illinois, with a promise to get up into the 40s later this afternoon.

I should have mentioned that when you make the strawberry jam, you need to put the extra jam in the half-pints in the freezer. You can't store the delectable little goodies on the shelf because they haven't been preserved in a water bath. However, it is my contention that the reason the strawberry jam tastes like fresh strawberries is because it doesn't get cooked in a water bath for 35 to 40 minutes.

I am going to get some frozen blackberries when I go to the store after lunch. Love blackberries!

I rescued some blackberry bushes that were trying to grow out from under the concrete of our next door neighbor's garage last summer. Since she now lives in a nursing home, I asked her daughter if I could move the poor little things out into the sunlight and she let me have them. So I have my own little mini-thicket with six bushes. It's amazing what sunlight and Miracle Grow did for them. And I could hear them giggling in their shower when I watered them in the evening. I transplanted them into a bright sunny area in my yard. They're next to an Azalea and a Spirea I planted last summer -- two of my mother's favorite flowering shrubs.

The kitchen is going to be a dust cloud of flour this afternoon. It's going to be a breadmaking day and I'm really excited about inducting my new turbo-charged mixer, complete with dough hook, into my food lab, as Quint calls the kitchen here in Effingham.

I was excited to see that the Effingham Daily Newspublished my "Hearts Go Home For The Holidays" piece that was a copy of a blog written earlier in December. Complete with by-line and all that stuff. Of course, except for our immediate neighbors and friends at church, nobody here in town knows who I am. But maybe I'll just have to send the newspaper more stuff from time to time.

I am getting busier though since Blue Cross/Blue Shield changed the practice address from Tinley Park. Insurance referrals are calling to make appointments for counseling and that's a good thing. Especially since it appears that we are going to have to take a couple of full grown, past their prime maple trees that lose limbs every time the wind blows. Or even a strong breeze. The interior of the limbs don't look very healthy. And we're also going to need to replace most of the windows in the house. Good thing I truly enjoy counseling, huh?

##

MOVIE MAGIC -- National Treasure hits the jackpot (again)!

Nicholas Gage gets another blockbuster with National Treasure: Book of Secrets. This is a sequel to its 2004 version. This time its about John Wilkes Booth's assasination of President Abraham Lincoln. Cage plays his original character, Ben Gates, from the original Treasure. But this time, Gates learns that his great great grandfather had somehow been involved in the plot to kill the president. Gates wants to clear the family name. So there you have the plot, which apparently winds through the Maryland swamps with all the excitement of a roller coaster ride.

The movie took in $45 million in its debut weekend.

What was a surprise, perhaps, was that Charlie Wilson's Warcame in fourth in its inaugural weekend with a very anemic $9,682,000 box office. That's pretty pathetic since the movie boasted what is supposed to be Hollywood superstardom, Julie Roberts and Tom Hanks.

Who knows -- maybe it's because Julie Roberts says "Republican" comes in the dictionary between "reptile" and "repugnant." Not a nice thing to say to moviegoers if you want them to fork over $10 for a ticket.

Same goes for Tom Hanks who has been pretty vocal about his opposition to all things political in the middle East.

So Charlie Wilson's War would have you believe that this former congressman from Texas practically single-handedly funded arms for the Afghans so that they could beat the socks off the Russians who had invaded their country. The movie just kind of sidesteps the fact that President Ronald Reagan, as Commander in Chief, had quite a bit to say about all that funding, including signing the bill that appropriated the expenditures.

But Hollywood has always played loose with history, as if they had both the right, talent, and authority to rewrite history.

The cute little rodents, in their second movie week, beat out Charlie Wilson as our little Christmas cuties sang their way into America's hearts again with another version of Alvin and the Chipmunks grossing $27,900,000 just for the second week, bringing the cumulative gross to $83,767,000. This chipmunk's budget was $60 so they're already in the black.

Charlie, on the other hand, has a budget of $75 million. That's a long way to go for the big deal super stars to trip over their tongues.

I like Jack Nicholson's quip in the trailer for his new movie with Morgan Freeman, when Nicholson turned to another actor and said, "No one cares what you think." This new movie, The Bucket List, have Nicholson and Freeman making a list of all the things they want to do before the "kick the bucket." Now that's a movie we can't wait to see. I think it debuts on January 11.

As for Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep and Robert Redford (from their disastrous anti-Iraq propagandamentary Lions for Lambs), nobody cares...

Lions for Lambs had a budget of $35 million and now in its 7th week, is #42 out of 50 films and has grossed a money-pit paltry sum of $14,927,651.

I guess nobody wants to see Angelina get naked either. Her nude scene debut in Beowulf, in its 6th week, managed to collect $358,000 in ticket sales this past weekend. That brings the gross to $80,404,000 of its $150 million budget.

for full list of box office receipts, see: http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/

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BIBLE STUDY: Galatians 2:1-21

Paul continues his recount of what happened to him after his conversion when he says, in verse 1, Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also.

Remember that Barnabas was a Levite from Cyprus.

And Titus was born in Crete. Titus was the nephew of the governor of that island. It was Titus' uncle who had heard the news of Jesus Christ that was being preached on the "mainland" and send his nephew Titus to investigate. Titus became a convert of Paul's and often accompanied him on his missionary journeys.

Paul tells the Galatians of his trip to Jerusalem where he met with the James, Peter and John, whom he recognizes in verse 2b as leaders.

Paul also mentions that not even Titus, who was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised (verse 3). Paul continues his stand that circumcision is not a requirement of faith in verse 6: As for those who seemed to be important -- whatever they were makes no difference to me; God does not judge by external appearance -- those men added nothing to my message.

Interesting note here in verse 8: For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles. Paul goes on to assure the Galatians that these Jewish leaders -- James, peter and John, had given him the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me.

Paul then says, in verse 10: All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Paul then continues to share information about his disagreement with Peter in verses 11-15: When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, "You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?..."

This, then, becomes a major cornerstone of Paul's ministry to the Gentiles for he wanted to make sure that his converts, and the Jewish leaders alike, believed that man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ (verse 15a).

Paul is adamant in his point that by observing the law no one will be justified (verse 15b).

Paul then makes his strong point in verses 20-21: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!

Okay, so the big distinction here is that Gentiles don't have to be circumcised in order to become a Christian -- or to be saved either. But that was only one aspect of the law. Paul becomes more panoramic when he says that we can't get to heaven just by being good and obeying all the laws.

Righteousness comes through redemption and redemption comes from Jesus Christ who died for the sins of all sinners.

That was the pillar of faith on which Paul brought his message of redemption to all the Gentiles on all his missionary journeys. And he was not shy about challenging this idea of the Jewish leadership that Jewish law had to be imposed onto the Gentiles.

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

I'm baaaaaack.

Wasn't that sweet of Quint, the master of brevity, to pop a note into the blog and let you know that I hadn't run away -- just disappeared under the covers while I nursed a flu bug. Kind of an upper respiratory thing. But now it's gone.

Thank you for your e-mails chocked full of good wishes for a speedy recovery. Must have worked because now I'm up and at 'em again. Even made strawberry jam for breakfast. It's oh so easy. And the difference in flavor is incredible! All you have to do is get 3 bags of frozen unsweetened strawberries -- 1 package of Sure Jell (I get the kind that's made especially for non-sugar sweetener, but the other works fine too.) Then you smoosh up the strawberries with a potato masher -- after the strawberries are thawed out really good. And follow the package directions for the Sure Jell (instructions are inside the box). It makes about 6 half pints of oh so yummy strawberry jam. Took all of fifteen minutes to make.

Welcome to readers from the Russian Federation, Germany and Canada.

Even Queen Elizabeth has gotten into blogging. Isn't that great?!

We pray that all of you will have a joyous Christmas and celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus in the true meaning of hope that the season brings to each. And we pray that you will feel the warmth of God's loving embrace wrapped tight around you as you go through your days.

The house is filled with the beauty of Christmas music this morning and the bright sunlight is shining through the window. We pray that joy and peace and hope will be yours. Merry Christmas from Quint and me.

##

OH YES -- RELIGION AND POLITICS DO MIX!

That's because all politicians are people. And except for a very small minority of people who live in the United States who say they are atheists (1,272,986 out of 300 million), almost all of us profess to hold onto some form of faith in God.

It's no wonder, then, that political candidates pick venues that so happen to be churches. The Democrats tend to head on over to Operation Push and use that pulpit for political messages.

And just recently, Mike Huckabee spoke to a humongous crowd at the mega-church in San Antonio, the Cornerstone Church. As we get closer and closer to primary election days, we're going to see more and more candidates talking from church pulpits.

That's no infringement on our freedom of religion guaranteed by the first amendment of our constitution. What we are guaranteed, under the freedom of religion, is that we are free to worship the way we want to -- that is, there will not be a state ordered religion that we are required to belong to. We can be Catholic, Methodist, Lutheran, Baptist, Hindi, Islamic, or Jewish, if we want to.

But nowhere does it say that a political candidate is not supposed to speak from a church pulpit. A religious group can get in trouble, though, if it endorses a specific candidate. That's getting too close to tying congregational members to political candidates. IRS can then deny tax-free status to a church group.

Religious freedom has to do with being able to choose any faith we want -- or even no faith. 

I found an interesting web site that breaks down all the religions in the United States (http://www.adherents.com/rel_USA.html#religions). The one chart I found interesting gave these data:

224,437,959 Christians
   3,995,371 Judaism
   1,558,068 Islam
   1,527,019 Buddhism
   1,081,051 Hinduism

I didn't include people who identified themselves as nonreligious, agnostics, or atheists.

The data are derived from 2004 statistics.

##

BIBLE STUDY: Galatians 1:1-24

Galatia is a landlocked highlands in what would be modern day Turkey. The Gauls had come here in the third century B.C. and took the land for their own. Three different tribes of Celts settled here after. These groups of fighting men numbered 10,000 each and about the same number of women and children. 

The Celts were plenty big warriors with lots of mojo. They hired themselves out as mercenaries when they wanted to. It goes without saying that the Greeks and Romans had lots of respect for these mighty men of sword and sticks. 

The Celts tried to get themselves organized as a kind of city-state and one guy was trying to convince the other two tribal chiefs that he'd be a good tetrarch. That didn't work so hot so then they tried the king route. Eventually they became part of the Roman empire under the rule of Octavian Augustus. 

Paul came through this area on his second missionary journey. He preached and converted many Galatians. Some even tried to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods. They healed many people and even raised one guy from the dead. Paul got sick in Galatia and he ended up staying longer than he'd plan. But not all Galatians were converted. Some decided they were going to stone Paul, which they did. They left him for dead. But as we'll see, Paul did not die. He lived to go on yet another missionary journey.

This letter to the churches of Galatia. These are the churches that Paul had organized when he went through the area on a previous missionary journey. It's a letter that was mean to be delivered and read and then taken to another church and read. It wasn't meant to be left with any one particular church.

Something has happened to the churches in Galatia that deeply disturbs Paul. He doesn't mince words as he lays into them in verses 6-7: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel -- which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

Paul tells the Galatians that whoever is trying to distort this gospel message that he brought to them and taught them ought to be condemned.

Then Paul reminds them of the authorship of the gospel that he had brought to them in verses 11-12: I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up. I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

Wow!

Perhaps there is a reference here from Paul in his clarification that his gospel message came from Jesus Christ, not from any man. I believe that Paul is making sure that people would not mistake his preaching as being a part of the learning he had received from Gamaliel, the grand theologian of his day. Paul had been a serious student of Gamaliel's and, in fact, had risen to the rank of Pharisee. So Paul, himself, was considered a theologian in his own right.

Then, in verses 13 and 14, Paul writes about his own zealot life when he persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. Instead, Paul brings the Galatians this thought in verses 15-17: But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.

What was Paul doing out in the desert? Was this where his faith was tempered and deepened in a closer communion with God?

It would appear to be so. After he came back, then he went up to Jerusalem and met with Peter, and James the brother of Jesus. Paul says that the word was getting out that he, once the persecutor, was now preaching the faith and that they "praised God because of me." (verse 24)

##

Hi!

Its Quint again.

Jane is still fighting the flu today. It is an upper respiratory type, I guess. She is better today than yesterday. So we hope she'll be all better tomorrow.

So. just hang in there. She will return!!

We're finishing up the Christmas cards today, five at time. I write brief notes, Jane's notes are not quite as brief, as you might imagine. But this is a good day for staying in. The temp is about 46 F., (8.8 C) and foggy. So now you know.

Quint R.

Jane is in bed with a cold today. She hopes to post a blog later when she can drag her poor fevered body to her laptop.

Quint R.

MY LIFE IN INK --

It was hard to tear us away from Fox News this morning. The Executive Office Building is on fire in Washington, D.C. It's right across the "street" from the White House. Not really a street, but rather, a one-lane ally kind of street. The fire seems to be contained now but the smoke was really billowing out of a second story terrace window just a short time ago. The building has been evacuated at this point.

I have been remiss in mentioning our foreign readers recently. This morning, we welcome people in Germany, the Czech Republic and the Russian Federation who join us. Welcome and I pray that your Bible Study will be blessed.

Today is Christmas card day. We are going to get as many as we can out of here. That is, in between meeting with clients. I now have at least one client for each day, and two on some days. I think I want to limit the number to no more than three clients a day, if that. After all, I tell myself, I'm retired. Somewhat.

I know Christmas isn't here yet, but I'm already thinking about the post-holiday season that pushes so many people into a pit of gloom. As you're standing in line waiting for your purchases to be rung up, think about what you're going to do -- for yourself -- right after the holidays. Make it a cheerful project. Maybe you can pick up a book you want to read right after Christmas. Or pick up a craft project that you can save for a time when you want something special to do.

When I was a kid, right after Christmas, mom would set up the card table in the living room and get out a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle. It would just sit there and whoever wanted to work on it could just pull up a chair. Sometimes there would be my sister Cookie and I enjoying our time at the puzzle; other times, there would be our brothers. And in the evenings the grownups would join in -- though this wasn't often, what with grownup things to do, etc., with four little rugrats running around the house.

It's no wonder that people plan to go south where it's warm at this time of year. I see the cruise wear in the store windows when we're walking at the mall. Oh those bright sunny blouses and bermuda shorts, and bright aqua colors! It makes me want to squeeze myself into a bathing suit and go sit on a beach somewhere. For about twenty minutes. Then I'd be done.

I think I must be a bit hyperactive. Can't sit still for very long periods of time. Unless I'm working on something that has me absorbed. I think I've always been a fidgeter. So said my mom. She did not like fidgeting. Especially in church. Must sit there and be perfectly still or I'd get "that look". It was a look that made me quiver.

On another subject, I'm happy to report that we went over 80,000 hits last night. I am surprised -- truly surprised that the web site would ever get that many hits. Thank you one and all for spending your time with me.

##

BIBLE STUDY: 2 Thessalonians 3:1-18

The Apostle Paul was a busy man who worked tirelessly to build God's kingdom.

It does not come as a surprise that he issued a second warning about being idle in this letter. (Remember that he had brought this subject up in 1 Thessalonians 2:9 -- Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of god to you.)

It would seem, then, that the problem of idling about had not been rectified to Paul's liking. In verses 9-10 of this chapter, we read: For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: 'If a man will not work, he shall not eat.'

That's pretty plain, to me.

Oh, it doesn't mean that Paul would not accept hospitality from someone for a meal. No. What it says to me is that Paul didn't go around to his fellow worshipers with the expectation that they would sit him down for supper.

In other words, Paul wanted the Thessalonians to know that he expected to earn his keep and he expected them to do the same.

But something else surfaces in this chapter.

Shunning.

Paul says in verses 14-15: If anyone does not obey our instructions in this letter, take special note of him.Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed. Yet do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

And lest there be any fear that this letter might be from anyone else, Paul closes this letter with an assurance that this greeting is really from him, in his own hand, which is a distinguishing mark in all his letters. "This is how I write," he says in verse 17.

It's interesting to note because Paul generally dictated his letters. But he always added a closing comment in his own hand. Sometimes it was a sentence or two, or a prayer. It's much like we add a handwritten signature to a typed letter nowadays. And so many times, I even add a handwritten postscript to my letters.

Apparently Paul did the same thing.

##

PSYCHOLOGY: HOW'S YOUR MENTAL HEALTH? HERE'S SIX AREAS TO THINK ABOUT

After all, mental health gives us some protection factors that allow us to build resilience into our lives.

Overcoming adversities give us advantages. These advantages make us robust persons. We can then go through our days feeling less vulnerable to what life throws at us.

In the latest issue (December 2007) of the journal I get from the American Mental Health Counselors Association, there was an article that spells out research recently published by Carol Ryff, PhD. Dr. Ryff is Director of the Institute on Aging and is also the Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Here's her list of the key ingredients to mental health:

1. I like most aspects of my personality.
2. People would describe me as a giving person, willing to share my time with others.
3. I have confidence in my opinions, even if there are contrary to the general consensus.
4. In general, I feel I am in charge of the situation in which I live.
5. Some people wander aimlessly through life, but I am not one of them.
6. I think it is important to have new experiences that challenge how you think about yourself and the world.

Okay. that's it. This is the year that Quint and I are going to take our promised trip to Gettysburg. Maybe we'll see how many other Civil War battle sites we can get into the trip, and while we are in Indiana, maybe go through the Haltom Cemetery to see if I have any ancestors buried there. And Quint's grandmother had a cousin (she was a Llewelyn) who disappeared in the Johnstown flood in Pennsylvania. So it will be a big snooping trip to see what we can turn up, fact wise. That ought to give us some new experiences.

But then, that sounds like we would be wandering around aimlessly, doesn't it? Unless I make an itinerary with maps and lists and things. Then it wouldn't be so aimless.

In general, I have come into my old age with positive check marks on each of the six items that Dr. Ryff mentions.

And I can even sit for relatively long periods of time without fidgeting. My mom would be so proud. I think.

##
12/20/2007
Jane is down with a cold right now. She will post her blog as soon as she can drag her poor, fever-racked body to her laptop. So, just hang in there please.
Quint

MY LIFE IN INK --

I saw a headline this morning that says we're spending more on cell phones than on land lines. I'm not surprised by that.

We have a land line somewhere in this house. I think it's in the dining room where Quint put the phone behind something or under something. In the almost-year that it's been connected, I think I've heard it twice. By the time I found the phone, a message went to voice mail. We had to wait for the business office to open the next day before we could get the number to dial into the voice mail down here. It was from a lumber yard. Wanted to sell us some siding. So we unplugged the phone. The phone was a must-get on one of those cable-phone-DSL deals.

Today is our "stick a fork in us" done day. We are going to the shipping store before lunch -- or maybe after lunch -- and ship off all the batches of fudge that are done and a couple of birthday presents. Our daughter, Sharon, has a birthday on December 27, and she managed to actually marry someone, Ron, who has a birthday on December 25th.

And our daughter, Teri, married someone, Rick, whose birthday is on December 31st. His package won't be mailed today, though. I'm very busy on a project for him, even though there's always a possibility that he won't like it. Can't say what it is because I think he reads this blog from time to time. I'll probably have to FedEx it overnight for him to get it in time -- and I have to go back to the store for more supplies because I'm about to run out of what I need to finish his project. I think it's something he'll especially like since they moved from southern California to northern Idaho about 60 miles from the Canadian border. Besides, this is not going to be a sweater, like he usually gets from us.

I reminded Quint that the shipping store is across the street from one of our favorite restaurants. We figured that was an omen, so we're going there for lunch today. They have a great buffet.

Then we'll got for a walk around the mall. Quint's blood sugar is coming down nicely. We enjoy our walks -- except for this one guy who has taken it upon himself to monitor whether we cut corners or not. Like he should talk. He has one of those sideshow type table businesses that malls love to put right out in the middle of the traffic flow at this time of year. He's trying to sell neon baby Jesuses, big hunting knives and camouflage baseball caps. Anyway, he told us yesterday that we were cheating when we go around the corner at his end of the mall. He weighs about 380 pounds -- and that's just the part that fits onto the scale, so I don't know where he gets his nerve to tell us that we're cheating.

But I have to remind myself that the world is full of nuisances and he's one of the biggest, in sheer poundage, that I've met in recent times. It wouldn't hurt him to drag his body around the mall a few times, believe me! That is, instead of sitting in his big mall chair eating potato chips. Another Mr. Grumpy. He must be related to our next door neighbor.

Enough of him. I'm certainly not going to let him mess up my Christmas spirit!

##

BIBLE STUDY: 2 Thessalonians: 1-17

Paul continues to talk about the second coming of Jesus Christ. He wants to make sure that the Thessalonians don't get alarmed if someone comes to them with a report or a letter that says Jesus Christ has already come back. Especially if someone says this letter is from Paul or Silas or Timothy.

In verses 3-4, Paul gives a stern warning: Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness if revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.

In my view, this is a very interesting intersection of scriptural truths. In fact, there's a correlation here to St. John's message about the antichrists. John said there would be many antichrists (or lawless ones) -- not just one.

Let's read what John has to say in 1 John 2:18: Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

Hmmm. Is this the rebellion that Paul says has to occur before Christ comes back to earth? It seems so, to me.

Paul assures the Thessalonians that Christ will come when the time is right. And they ought to beware for there was a secret lawlessness that was beginning to grow.

In verses 8-12, we have what seems like a riddle: And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming.

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of Satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles, signs and wonders, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

For this reason God sends them a powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.

This is not the first time that we have a reference to God handing over sinners to their sins. Go back to Romans 1:28-32 -- Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.

Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

Okay. So there you have it.

Paul would warn the Romans when he penned that letter in 57 A.D., but that's five or six years away from this letter to the Thessalonians. Right now, Paul is warning the Thessalonians to guard their faith because Satan may be putting a script into play that includes this lawless person who will come into the middle of their worshipers and perform miracles and do great things.

You know, Satan and his evil little minnions have miraculous powers too. Satan, or Lucifer, after all, was and is, an archangel on par with Michael and Gabriel, created by God with abilities to do great things of wonder.

We should keep our thoughts focused on truth so that we do not fall away from God. If we have difficulty doing this, then we need to pray that God, our Heavenly Father, will send the Holy Spirit to minister to us and to counsel us and keep us in our faith. Always.

Paul admonishes the Thessalonians to do just that in verses 13-14: But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Then Paul closes with the thought that the Thessalonians ought to hold onto all the teachings that he has passed on to them. Since Paul was unable to go to Thessalonica personally, he wanted this letter to be held in the strongest view as if Paul were standing in the midst of them delivering his message in person.

Wouldn't you just love to have been able to hear, in person, the messages of the disciples!? It's no wonder that these deliverers of faith messages could hold the attention of the worshipers for such long periods of time, at one sitting.

I can see how this new faith in Jesus Christ caught fire and spread so rapidly in that first century after Christ's death and resurrection. I truly can. And that same fire still burns brightly today.

We celebrate anew that fire every year during this season of Christ's holy birth. Let the wonder of Bethlehem reach deep inside you and bring you to new heights of joy this Christmas.

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

I must say it's mighty tempting in the kitchen these days. Quint has finished three batches of fudge and they're out on the counter "setting up" as he calls it. They look pretty set up to me. And edible too. But he has a plan. And a list and I wouldn't want to mess it up.

He's off on errands this morning. First to the cleaners, then to the post office to get more stamps for Christmas cards.

I do wish the post office would publish a Christmas stamp for us non-Catholic Christians. Madonna and Child just doesn't do it for me. Oh well, our friends -- the Kanns -- in Anchorage sent a card with the northern lights on the stamp. Well, actually it was the southern lights, but close enough.

Then he's off to Walgreens to pick up my prescription, and then to IGA to get more chocolate chips and marshmallow cream to make the remaining batches of fudge. Then I guess he'll retire from his fudge-making until next Christmas.

I will say that the kiddos look forward to his fudge every year. It's a job he kind of "inherited" from his dad who used to make fudge every Saturday night, and popcorn. The salty popcorn and the super sweet fudge just kind of go together. And I've heard -- at least from our daughters -- that they're anxiously waiting for the fudge to arrive.

Quint can't eat the fudge since he's diabetic -- so it's a true labor of love. And in all honesty, I don't eat all that much either. Maybe a piece or two out of all the batches -- not out of each batch. It goes straight to my waist and I definitely don't need that.

And then we're off to shop for one more present. Tonight will be present wrapping time and tomorrow morning will be off to the shipping store.

##

BIBLE STUDY: 2 Thessalonians 1:12

This book is generally thought to have been written about six months after the first letter to the believers at Thessalonica. Silas and Timothy have returned to Paul after having delivered Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians.

This second letter clears up some questions that the Thessalonians have about the second coming of Christ and Paul makes some other points about faith and salvation that we'll discover as we read more.

First of all, as was customary for letter writers in that day, Paul first introduces himself, Silas and Timothy as the senders of the letter to the Thessalonians -- unlike our letters of today where we close our letters with such information.

Paul again mentions the persecutions and trials that the Thessalonians are enduring (verse 4). Since the murderous persecutions of Christians had not begun yet, perhaps Paul is talking about the Christians being taunted for their new faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And keep in mind that there were many Jews scattered throughout the area. I doubt that the Jews who had not become believers were all that thrilled to go into a synagogue and hear Paul preaching about how the Jews had unjustly executed Jesus Christ. Even if it were true.

So it could have been some Jews who were taunting the early Christians. And then there were the Romans. They still didn't like the idea of Jesus being thought of as a king, or king of kings. Especially when the believers were talking about this Jesus coming back from heaven to reign over all the earth.

Keep in mind that the Romans already had their god -- Caesar! And they didn't like it one little bit that the Christians would not worship this little god.

The Christians would pay with their blood in a just a few short years when the massacres started. Hundreds of thousands of Christians would pay for their believe in Jesus Christ with their lives. I remember reading one source (somewhere) that claims about 300,000 Christians were killed during the persecution.

Claudius is still emperor, although he will be poisoned by his wife Agrippina in 54 A.D., and will be succeeded by that all-time party boy, Nero (Agrippina's son). Nero later had his mother killed in 59 A.D., then he had his wife Octavia killed so he could marry someone else.

No wonder Paul was especially proud of the Thessalonians for remaining true to their new faith. Treachery seemed to be lurking in shadows everywhere.

I especially find comfort in verses 6-7a in this first chapter: God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well.

I literally stumbled upon this verse years ago and it has been my anchor for all the times when I have been troubled by others.

It's my "Let go and let God" verse of the Bible. This verse is a reminder that I just really don't need to worry about much of anything except how I lead my life.

God is watching all the other people in the world -- and the people in my world too -- the people who do stupid stuff, the people who lie, the people who are insulting, the people who squander their faith, the people who trouble me.

I just don't need to be concerned about them.

And Paul is telling the Thessalonians that they don't need to concern themselves either because God will bring his own brand of troubles to those who trouble the faithful.

Paul says that the Lord Jesus is going to come back from heaven in blazing faith with his powerful angels (verse 7b). There is a footnote in my Concordia Study Bible that says this might be a class of angels who are given special power to do God's will.

Paul goes on to say that He will punish those who do not know God.

It would not make sense to have a statement in verse 6a that God is just, then have a statement in verse 8a that people who do not know God will be punished. Wouldn't you think, instead, that when Paul uses the word "know" that he is referring to people who have been introduced to the Word and have turned away from it, rather than people who have never heard the message of Jesus Christ?

Those people who reject Christ will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorifed in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed (verses 9-10a).

In closing this chapter, Paul states a most powerful promise to the Thessalonians in verse 11: With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith.

Wow!

There you have it. God has a purpose for us all. Not a plan. He gives us free will to develop our own plan to fulfill his purpose in our lives.

Don't know what God's purpose for you is? Did deeper into your thinking. The truth of your purpose is residing in there somewhere. Listen to your soul -- to that still, small voice that speaks to you. It will tell you what God's purpose is for you.

Clue: it has to do with building God's kingdom somewhere on earth.

True, you may not be a missionary or a preacher or a church worker.

But we definitely need Christians who are politicians and bankers and police officers and mothers and fathers and sons and daughters, and store clerks and garbage collectors.

Can you be "Jesus walking" so that others will want to be a faithful follower too?

I pray that you do.

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

Well, I have to tell you that Naomi and I won big at Pinochle last night. The first game was, I think, by only ten points. The guys are definitely catching up. They did win one game. The cards just weren't falling for them. Although three of us got runs -- Norman kept hoping the cards would fall for him, but they just didn't. We'll have to give them a rematch. Again.

The weather here is going to go downhill, but nothing like you folks in the northeast are bracing for. A nor'easter is headed your way, according to all the weather gurus. But maybe not. These are the same weather experts who have been predicting big fat hurricanes for the last two years. To no avail. Not only did we not have lots of extra hurricanes, we didn't even have one make landfall on the United States.

So take heart. Steering currents could just well as not push those storms on up into Canada. Would serve them right to get a taste of their own Alberta Clipper medicine. We could call it the Minnesota Mindboggler! Or the Maine Minibuster.

I can only hope. Obviously I am not a meteorologist.

As for us, we're going to get a gallon of milk and hunker down for the great 1" snowfall that's predicted for central Illinois.

##

BIBLE STUDY: 1 Thessalonians 5:1-28

Paul continues his instructions about the timing of the Lord's coming back to earth as he closes his letter in this chapter. In verses 1-3, we get the familiar warning: Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, "Peace and safety," destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.

The key word, I think, in the above passage is the word "suddenly."

Jesus will come back without warning. The admonition, then, is that we ought to live our lives as if Jesus were coming back right now, maybe this afternoon, maybe tonight when we are asleep. We should be ready for him because he's going to have some questions for us insofar as how we've lived our lives.

Have we lived our lives graciously and compassionately, or have we immaturely blamed everybody else for everything that's gone wrong with us.

Mature people don't blame everybody else. They find solutions and fix their problems. Christians with immature faith search the Word faithfully and earnestly as they hunt for answers about how they should live their lives.

This is what Paul wanted the Thessalonians to concentrate on.

And his words of admonition are just as powerful a warning for us today. Live your life as if you knew for certain that the next wind gust you feel will be bringing the Savior of Mankind back to earth. So quit fooling around with this notion that you have bushel baskets of time left to squander.

You aren't going to get any warning. The time could be in your next breath.

Paul goes on to remind the Thessalonians that they are "day people." That is, they are children of the light. They don't live in the shadows of night. They are believers who live in the light.

In verses 7-11, Paul reminds them that their faith will give evidence to others that they live in the light: For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hopes of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

"Encourage one another and build each other up ..." If we'd all just spend more time doing this, wouldn't the world be a better place? And all the marriage counselors would need to find new careers because husbands and wives would be building their relationship instead of tearing each other apart with constant reminders of old wounds, some of which were there before the two people even met each other.

If we were focused on building each other up, as we walk through our daily lives, we would have this millstone of anger hanging around our necks. We all know people who wear their anger like a boat anchor in their soul. They were so busy blaming everybody else that they never learned how to even build themselves up, much less the important people in their lives.

His strong message wraps this thought up into a tight package in verses 14b-15: ...encourage the timid, help the weak, be patient with everyone. Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

I especially like verse 16: Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

The part I like about this verse is the reminder that we ought to "pray continually." When I ask people if they pray, the answer that they pray when they go to bed at night amazes me. I say amazes because there are so many times during the day when something happens and it's so easy to say, "Thank you, God."

Or "Please help me."

Prayers don't have to be long unending paragraphs that sound like Elizabethan English with all the "thees" and "thous" and intricate little clauses that go off on tangents. Prayers can be a seamless thought of recognition throughout the day that we live in Him and it's because of Him that we even are able to draw a breath.

Prayers are conversations. They don't need to be complicated. And most of us, just say thank you.

The counsel in verses 19-22 is interesting: Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.

How in the world do you suppose that Paul thought people could "put out the Spirit's fire?" I suppose this could mean what you want it to mean, and since Paul gives us no footnotes that would explain what his thought processing means, we are left to draw our conclusions.

Some have said that this could mean a warning about mechanical means of worship. I disagree with this thought because I believe there is a poetic beauty in liturgy that brings comfort, even an invitation for the Holy Spirit to indwell among worshipers, as they read and recite the psalms of old. Certainly, this would never "put out the Spirit's fire," but rather, would be a musical and poetic invitation for the Spirit to come into the hearts of the worshipers anew.

Paul finishes this letter with the request for prayers and also a request that this letter be read to all the brothers (verse 27), and he bestows a pastoral blessing onto the Thessalonians in his close.

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

Well, you could have knocked me over with a feather!

Finally, Congress did something that made sense. Thanks to Steve King (R-Iowa), a resolution recognizes Christmas and the Christian faith. King's resolution was brought to the floor in the House of Representatives. It passed with 372 yes votes and nine "nay" votes. (Ten members of the House voted "present." All the nays and nine of the present votes were Democrats.)

There are 225 million Christians in the United States and King says it was important to get the resolution passed before Congress adjourns for the Christmas recess because they won't be back until the middle of January.

Good! 'Bout time, I say.

I am really running late today. We walked five times around the mall -- 50 minutes -- and yes, Quint's blood sugar decreased by 56 points. Then we ran to the IGA and picked up some stuff to put back in the cupboards. 

After breakfast, which was really more of a brunch, I got fresh rye bread rising for its first poof, and the corned beef is in the crock pot for sandwich/snacks for our friends (and us) who are going to play Pinochle tonight. All I have left to do now is make some oatmeal cookies. And wait.

I'll knit some while I wait. That's relaxing.

##

BIBLE STUDY -- 1 Thessalonians 4:1-18

I have always found this particular chapter so powerful! There's just so much in Paul's message that shakes me back to reality every time that I get the idea that I'm doing enough to lead a Christian life.

Taking it from verse 1 and continuing through verse 8: Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God, as in fact you are living. Now we ask you and urge you in the Lord Jesus to do this more and more. For you know what instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus.

It is God's will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality; that each of you should learn to control his own body in a way that is holy and honorable, not in passionate lust like the heathen, who do not know God; and that in this matter no one should wrong his brother or take advantage of him. The Lord will punish men for all such sins, as we have already told you and warned you. For God did not call us to impure, but to live a holy life. Therefore, he who rejects this instruction does not reject man but God , who gives you his Holy Spirit.

Wow!

So, says Paul, if you think you're doing enough, you're not. Do more! And don't yearn for things that will make your body impure. And get control over your body. In a modern day life, this could well be an admonition to quit burning up your lungs with the red-hot heat from cigarettes, pipes, or cigars! Quit fattening up your liver by washing too much alcohol down your throats.

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it! Get control of yourself and your life, Paul says. That's how you honor your body as the temple of God. Don't lust after all this stuff that will make you unholy! And don't lust after people, places or things. They become your idols when you just have to have them.

And then, in verse 8, Paul says that the people who reject these instructions don't reject man, but rather, they reject God. It's God, after all, who sends you the Holy Spirit.

Wouldn't you rather have the Holy Spirit than all these earthly things that you lust for -- yearn for?

In verses 11-12, Paul brings a strong admonition to the Thessalonians: Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

In my Concordia Study Bible, I find an interesting footnote to the above verses (p. 1837): "Some Thessalonians, probably because of idleness, were taking undue interest in other people's affairs. The Greeks in general thought manual labor degrading and fit only for slaves. Christians took seriously the need for earning their own living, but some of the Thessalonians, perhaps as a result of their believe in the imminent return of Christ, were neglecting work and relying on others to support them."

So Paul is telling them, in essence, to step up the plate and keep themselves busy. And not be dependent on other people. You know -- earn their keep.

In the rest of this chapter, Paul talks to the Thessalonians about what will happen when Jesus Christ comes back to earth to take his believers back to heaven with him.

In verses 14-17a we get Paul's counsel as to the order of how people will be resurrected, once Jesus does come back to earth: We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

Paul uses the reference of "those who have fallen asleep in him" to mean believers who have died with their trust in Jesus.

Another point that Paul makes is in verse 15, "According to the Lord's own word..." This doctrine is not recorded in the Gospel messages. I'll repeat it here for you, "According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet cal of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever."

Since this is not a message found in the Gospel messages, don't you believe that Paul must have been given this inspired thought from the Holy Spirit?

Think about it. Here are these Thessalonians, so vibrantly alive in this newfound faith of theirs. Then they start to wonder what's going to happen to them after they die?

This message, then, appears to be a message sent directly to Paul from the Lord himself, in his own words.

And you can bet that Paul is excited to share this good news with the Thessalonians.

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

Oh, the beauty of walking! At the mall, that is.

We have discovered that a local mall generously opens its doors to walkers at 6:30 am. It's all of five minutes away from our front door. We could actually walk there very comfortably -- if it were not rainy -- and if there were sidewalks all the way on either one side of the street or the other.

So we drive over to the mall and walk around. And around. And around some more.

We didn't really need to during the spring and summer. Somehow, mowing the grass and blowing leaves around and digging in the dirt was enough physical activity to help Quint keep his blood sugar down.

But, boy it didn't take long for his diabetes to start acting up once all our yard toys got put away for the season. So we started walked day last week.

Yes, walking does make a difference even if we don't set land speed records. There was even one lady who was walking with her walker. She gets high marks for effort in my book! Lots of guys out there walking the circuit too.

For instance, when he tested his blood sugar this morning, it was soaring at 190. After walking around the inside of the mall only four times (which took forty minutes), a re-test after we got home showed that the blood sugar came down to 145!

That's just a little bit over 10 points per mall circuit. Tomorrow we're going to make five circuits around the mall. And we may get some strength training in this afternoon. I have a couple of 2# bar bells and some rubber bands to do isometric stuff with. And I have the workout that I think I got from last month's AARP newsletter. I'm surprised that only 17% of seniors do any kind of strength training at all. We were avid fitness center visitors when we lived up north, but kind of let the habit go bye bye these past few months. Time to get back at it.

##

BIBLE STUDY: 1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

This is a wonderful chapter! Paul is absolutely overjoyed when Timothy returns from Thessalonica with the news that the church is holding strong and that the people have not reverted to any backsliding.

In verse 3, Paul reminds the Thessalonians that Christians ought to expect troubles. It's kind of the way it was in those days. Paul says that Timothy is strengthening and encouraging them so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them, Paul tells the Thessalonians (verses 3-4).

Fourteen years later when the horrible persecutions and massacres of the Christians started, Paul's words must have seemed prophetic in retrospect.

Paul continues in verses 4-5: In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out abut your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.

But now Paul tells them that Timothy has brought back nothing but wonderful news from his trip to Thessalonica (verses 6-7): But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us and that you long to see us, just as we also long to see you.

So whatever distress Paul may have felt, and all those anxious moments he hints that he had -- these are all washed away by the soothing report from Timothy.

Yes, Paul's work held true.

Yes, the Thessalonians remained faithful to their new belief and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, the word of the persecutions most certainly would have been bothersome, but it did not make the Thessalonians want to go back to the "days of old" before they became followers of The Way.

Paul tells them in verses 9-10: How can we thank God enough for you in return for all the joy we have in the presence of our God because of you? Night and day we pray most earnestly that we may see you again and supply what is lacking in your faith.

My Concordia Study Bible says that one of the things Paul was concerned about with the new followers of The Way was the interpretation of his message about the return of Jesus Christ. (p. 1836)

Other matters of concern to Paul were practical in nature, such as immorality and disciplinary issues. Immorality becomes a subject of Chapter 4 and discipline is raised in Chapter 5.

Paul closes this chapter with the hopeful thought that God the Father as well as Jesus Christ would clear the way for Paul to come back to the Thessalonians.

And then Paul breaks into prayer in verses 12-13: May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

##

REMEMBER OUR TROOPS -- from Dean Reinheimer

You stay up for 16 hours -- he stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up. He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a "headache" and call in sick. He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your antiwar/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends. He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocked. He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you. He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls. He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is. He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong. He doesn't get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes. He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone. He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over. He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight. He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday. He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries. He gets a letter with pictures of his new child and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything. He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him. He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media want you to see. He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't. He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.

Yous tay at home and watch TV. He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable. He tries to sleep but gets awakened by mortars and helicopters all night long.

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

The white banister railings are all decked out with green garland and bright red ribbons at the upright posts where those little decorative balls are. The wooden decorations for the railings really came in handy because I just wrapped the garland around them once and continued on with the swagging of the garland. Then I came back and tied red ribbons at the top of the swags. Looks pretty festive!

My really big project today is to find my Christmas Card List. It's in this house somewhere. There are also some very festive Poinsettias underneath the stairs in the basement where all sorts of flower arrangements are stored. Each arrangement has it's own protective drop cloth on it to keep it from getting too dusty. It's dark under there. That's where I put those gooey little mouse traps. We dont' have a problem with mice (so far) but the gooey stuff in the tray really stops spiders in their tracks. I just replaced one tray that must have had a couple of dozen deceased spiders in it.

I talked with my sister Cookie this morning. She's going to start radiation this Friday at Little Company of Mary Hospital. After that, she's not sure. She is back home and I'm guessing that she's glad to be back with her two wonderful little kitty cats -- Tiger and Eight Ball. Her daughter Robin (from Dallas) is staying with her.

##

SIX YEAR OLD PROVERBS -- from Antoinette Oberheu

A 1st grade school teacher had twenty-six students in her class. She presented each child the first half of a well-known proverb and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you.

1. Don't change horses
   until they stop running.

2. Strike while the
    bug is close.

3. It's always darkest before
    Daylight Saving Time.

4. Never underestimate the power of
    termites.

5. You can lead a horse to water but
    How?

6. Don't bite the hand that
    looks dirty.

7. No news is
    impossible.

8. A miss is as good as a
    Mr.

9. You can't teach an old dog new
    Math

10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll
    stink in the morning.

11. Love all, trust
    Me

12. The pen is mightier than the
    pigs.

13. An idle mind is
    the best way to relax.

14. Where there's smoke there's
    pollution.

15. Happy the bride whho
    gets all the presents.

16. A penny saved is
    not much.

17. Two's company, three's
    the Musketeers.

18. Don't put off till tomorrow what
    you can on to go to bed.

19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and
    You have to blow your nose.

20. There are none so blind as
    Stevie Wonder.

21. Children should be seen and not
    spanked or grounded.

22. If at first you don't succeed
    get new batteries.

23. You get out of something only what you
    See in the picture on the box.

24. When the blind lead the blind
    get out of the way.

25. A bird in the hand
    is going to poop on you.

And, finally, this gem!

26. Better late than
    pregnant.

##

BIBLE STUDY: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-16

In terms of history, at 50 A.D., Roman armies have defeated Britain (43 A.D.) -- the City of London is 7 years old (43 A.D.) -- the Romans learn to use soap from the Gauls (people who ended up in France) (50 A.D.) -- and the church of Corinth had been meeting for ten years.

And it would be a good fourteen years before Nero started the systematic persecution of Christians. Mainly because he blamed the burning of Rome on the Christians. And any other problem that needed scapegoating had an easy, familiar target onto the Christians who were growing in number throughout the Roman empire.

So when Paul is making a reference to Christians suffering and being persecuted, he is not talking about Nero's systematic killing of Christians.

Paul takes an opportunity in this second chapter to remind the Thessalonians that the message he, along with Silas and Timothy, brought to them was a gospel message that God alone had entrusted them with (verses 4a-6a): ...we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed -- God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else.

Paul then goes on to remind the Thessalonians that he and his entourage worked hard while they were among the townspeople. What they did to support themselves, we do not know. We do know, though, that Greeks considered manual labor as work belonging to slaves, but Paul is reminding the Thessalonians that he did not consider himself above such work if that was what he needed to do so that he wouldn't be a burden to them when he came into their midst.

And so, in verses 10-12, Paul reiterates his relationship with them: You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.

Part of Paul's gospel message is a re-telling of the story of how the Jews had killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and times of old -- and also drove Paul and his entourage out. In verses 15b-16, Paul tells it like it is: They displease God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.

In many ways, I hear Paul's message to the Thessalonians coming to me across the ages. Especially here in America, which was founded as a Christian nation. And yet, there are atheists among us who cannot abide any references to our Christian faith. At this time of year, especially, when we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, these very noisy few who are truly the minority, have somehow managed to take Christ out of Christmas wherever they can.

And how do they do that? Who lets them? Some 90% of the people who live in the United States are Christian, yet these small-minded, noisy 10% are trying to set the climate for what they call the truth, instead of the gospel message which is the real truth.

How many times I watch the news and wonder just when will God respond to them! And like Paul, I believe they are heaping their sins up the limit. But the good news is that those of us who are in the 90 percenters ought not to tolerate the persecution of the mealy mouths. Definitely ought not to do that!

Remember that Paul is in Corinth while he is writing this letter to the Thessalonians. He is about to send Timothy to them and in verses 17-20, we hear Paul's anguish and longing to be with the Thessalonians come forth: But, brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time (in person, not in thought), out of our intense longing we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you -- certainly I, Paul, did, again and again -- but Satan stopped up. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when he comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy.

And so against the backdrop of vastly changing times as the Christian faith grew and spread throughout the region like wildfire, there were separations as Paul went from one place to another in his missionary journeys. And there were times when separations were necessary just to keep from being killed. There was treachery afoot, that's for sure.

The Jews weren't happy with Paul -- not in the least. The Jews probably thought they'd solved the problem of Jesus Christ with the crucifixion. Didn't turn out that way, though.

And the Romans weren't happy with the new followers of The Way -- for they weren't called Christians just yet. But Christ's followers absolutely refused to believe in all those little gods that the Romans kept parading before them. Instead, the Christians believed in the one true God, and they believed that Jesus Christ was calling all believers to this faith.

So the Christians managed, through no fault of their own, to have both the Jews (who had not converted to The Way) and the Romans mad at them. At the same time.

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

The weather watch word today is ice -- and be careful -- and condolences to all who have suffered loved ones and losses during the ice storm that has the girdle of the United States gripped in a deep freeze!

Icy roads are for looking at -- not driving on. Warm, cozy rooms are for staying in while Mother Nature decides to play nice again.

I took advantage of the horrible weather and finished up my window treatment project. The living room and dining room windows are finished to my liking. Now I can relax and plan my next project. Not sure what that will be but I'm guessing that it will be decorating the guest bedroom upstairs. That may take all winter. Since we're not expecting any guests, there's no hurry.

I'm thrilled that it looks like we're going to go over 79,000 hits before the end of today. I say thrilled because I was expecting to be at about 50,000 by this time. I thank you all, and notice from my "supervisory report" that many of you have made this site one of your favorites!

Welcome, also, to readers from Germany, Belgium, Norway, Hong Kong and Great Britain. I have missed you and noticed that in the last few weeks, international readers were missing. Glad you're back. Were you out Christmas shopping? You have a lot of reading to catch up on -- the entire Book of Acts Bible Study, for instance.

##

BIBLE STUDY: 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10
We start a new Bible Study today. At first I planned to move into the Book of Romans since it follows the Book of Acts.

However, I think it may be more interesting to study the works of Paul in the order that he wrote his letters. For that reason, we're going to continue the Bible studies with his letters to the church at Thessalonica, since he wrote the 1st and 2nd letters to the Thessalonians in 50, 51 A.D. while he was still in Corinth.

The chronological order for Paul's writing his letters are:

1. 1 and 2 Thess. -- 50, 51 A.D.
2. 1 and 2 Cor., Galatians, Romans -- 55, 57 A.D.
3. Philip., Col., Ephesians, Philem., Hebrews -- 60, 62 A.D.
4. Titus, 1 and 2 Timoty -- 64, 65 A.D.

http://scriptures.lds.org/bd/p/15

A note from my Concordia Study Bible (p. 1833) says that the date of this writing is generally accepted as 51 A.D. An inscription discovered at Delphi, Greece, that dates Gallio's proconsulship to 51-52, places Paul there at the same time (See Acts 18:12-17).

Thessalonica was the largest city in Macedonia. By any standards of the day, it was a huge, bustling metropolis with a population of 200,000. It was a seaport at the head of the Thermaic Gulf (named for the thermal springs), and was located at the junction of the great Egnatian Way and the road leading north to the Danube. Thessalonica was also the capital city of the province.

The fleet of King Xerxes was sheltered here. Therma passed to the kings of Macedonia after the death of Alexander. Cassander, the son of Antipater, enlarged the village and brought people in from neighboring villages. The name of the village was then changed to Thessalonia, in honor of his wife.

Now called Thessaloniki or Saloniki, it is a city that has survived and grown through the ages -- now with a population of 368,000 -- and a metropolitan area population of its environs to over a million people. It is now Greece's second largest city and still is the capital of Macedonia.

Paul opens his letter to the Thessalonian church with a wonderful salutation. In verses 2-3, he says: We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul peppers this triad of faith, hope and love throughout his writings to the churches. We see it here in this letter and we'll see it again and again as we read and study Paul's writings.

Paul continues this letter with words of thanksgiving for the way the early Christians are living. Although they are not called Christians just yet, they are followers of this new faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul tells them, in verse 4, that God has chosen them. And he tells them that his gospel message came to them both through words and through the power of teh Holy Spirit. And these both came with deep conviction.

Then Paul reminds the Thessalonians of how he had lived among them and how they had become imitators of Paul, Silas and Timothy, since these three had come to Thessalonica and founded the church there, and ministered there.

Let's listen to what Paul tells them in verses 6-7: You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.

Paul's note seems to be a congratulations to the Thessalonians for their faith has become known everywhere. So he tells them that he doesn't need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception the Thessalonians gave to Paul, Silas and Timothy (verse 9a).

Paul then notes that the Christians had turned away from the idols they used to worship and are now serving the living and true God, not some plastored mockery of faith.

Then Paul tells them to wait for Jesus to return from heaven. This is the same Jesus who was raised from the dead and who rescues us all from the coming wrath -- a reference to the final judgment.

Paul gets into this definition of the final judgment in more of his writings, as we'll see. But keep in mind that the early followers of Christ really expected to see Jesus come back to earth from heaven in their lifetimes.

Paul's messages contain references to this second coming, and to be live our lives as if Christ were expected any moment. And Paul definitely continually assures the early Christians that there must be no doubt that Jesus will return.

##

WELL, CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!!

The voice of freedom rings loud and clear.

And this time, it's in Tehran, where Captain Marmalade is trying to hold a tight rein on students. And protesters.

Problem is, the protesters are shouting to their heart's content that Iran will not become a Venasuela. They're making a reference to their president's buddyship with recently ousted, voted-out president/king/general/wonderman of Venasuela, Hugo Chavez.

And ooooh, get this: the students burned a copy of Kayhan, the newspaper that is the mouthpiece of the clerical establishment that is not happy with the reformist movement in Iran.

Sounds like things are heating up over there.

##

CHRISTMAS PRAYER -- by Robert Louis Stevenson

-- from Bill Switzer, and Antoinette Oberheu

Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of the shepherds, and worship of the wise men. Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting. Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children, and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

##

HUCKABEE SAYS IT'S TIME TO ANSWER THE ALARM CLOCK AND TAKE THIS NATION BACK TO CHRIST!

Check this article out: http://www.ardemgaz.com/prev/jonesboro/afhuckabee08.asp

Huckabee says that government doesn't have the answers, but it's arrogant and acts like it does.

Those are fighting words, Mr. Huckabee. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are not going to be happy with you. In fact, if you aren't careful and you get yourself elected to president, they'll spawn campaigns of hate just like they have with our current president -- a man they despise because they can't manipulate him.

They try to pass him off as dumb, but the man has an MBA. He's not a two-sided logical. You know the type: on the one hand, we could do this -- but on the other hand, this might work too. Nope. George Bush ponders and prays. Then he decides which course of action he favors.

Nope. The Speakerette of the House and Senate Majority Leader would much prefer someone who bends with the wind. Those are trees they could climb. But they can't climb a tree that stands straight and tall.

They wouldn't be able to climb you, either, Mr. Huckabee. Even though you say that government doesn't have the answer, you also say that churches do have the answer but will cowardly deny that it does and wonder when the world will be changed.

And so you say that you got into politics because you didn't think government had the real answers, but rather that the real answer lies in accepting Jesus Christ into our lives.

He told the gathering of Baptist pastors in Salt Lake City that this nation has descended gradually into crisis and repairing the damage needs to be gradual, too. He said the solution is simple: faith in Christ.

He says he hopes we answer the alarm clock and take this nation back for Christ.

Is anyone surprised that his campaign is surging past the front-runners?

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

We had a nice enough snowfall to coat our world with a white coat of fluffy stuff. It sure looks pretty from this side of the windows! But I guess we're going outside later this afternoon. Have to return some library books and then we're going to walk around our little mall over here on this side of town -- just for the exercise. We won't be mowing or blowing leaves around for some time now so we have to get enough exercise to keep Quint's blood sugar under control. Boosting metabolism seems to be the best way to do that. I don't have diabetes but I like to keep him company just the same.

Payroll figures are out this morning -- the payrolls grew in the United States by $94,000 in November. And oil is trading at $88.10. Still, consumer confidence is down. According to a Reuter's survey, the November confidence level went to 74.5, down from 76.1. There wasn't an explanation in the numbers so I'm going to speculate -- in the absence of information -- that the general public is reading the headlines that are being broadcast about how horrible the economy is.

That's just not so, folks. The U.S. economy is strong. But the headlines that are getting published are primarily reflective of political rhetoric. Unemployment figures are down, payrolls are up, we are not in a recession, inflation is under control. But if you pick up a newspaper, chances are you're going to see headlines about how horrible the economy is.

I'm just curious about what part of the economy the newsies are talking about.

Here's another example of how the newspapers get it wrong. Big banner headline in the Effingham Daily News about a group commemorating December 7, 1945, otherwise known as Pearl Harbor Day. The celebration is great. We should honor all our soldiers and sailors and marines who put themselves in harm's way so that we can all continue to enjoy our freedoms. The problem is, whoever wrote that headline and whoever the editor is who let it pass through, were off by four years. Pearl Harbor Day was December 7, 1941.

So what's the big deal? Well, it is a big deal. If we're going to honor someone, we can at least get it right. If we have to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand why it's important.

And by the way, thank you all for your military service, whenever you served. All our vets are to be honored and cherished. 

##

BIBLE STUDY: The Apostle Paul

http://www.thefishersofmenministries.com/PAUL%20OF%20TARSUS1.htm

Now that we've finished the Book of Acts and before going on to the next book of the Bible for study -- Paul's Letter to the Romans, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the Apostle Paul, especially since he wrote the bulk of the New Testament through the authorship of the Holy Spirit.

Paul was born in Tarsus, the son of a tent-builder. Some biographers place his birth around 5 A.D.; others say he was born in the year 10 A.D. Since he wasn't of royal blood where his birth would have been important enough to write down and since there haven't been any census records discovered that we know of, we have to take the word of Bible scholars who know a lot more about such things than I do.

As Paul grew up, he picked up this family business of tent making. The tents were made out of the hides of black goats which still run around in herds in the area to this day. These hides were waterproof and very much prized as a shelter from the sun and rain alike.

Tarsus was also a university town. We can kind of figure that Paul, being an inquisitive sort, would have been drawn to teachings. Perhaps he even attended the university as he grew up.

It probably didn't take his parents long to figure out that they had a studious type kiddo running about, and they made sure he got the education he craved. They sent him to Jerusalem, even, to study under the great rabbi of the time -- Gameliel. It was here that Paul became a Pharisee.

Titus described Paul physically: a man small in size, bald-headed, bandy-legged, well-built, with eyebrows meeting, rather long-nosed, full of grace. For sometimes he seemed like a man, and sometimes he had the countenance of an angel.

(from "Acts of Paul and Thecla," Ante-Nicene Fathers VIII, p. 1001)

http://www.goarch.org/en/ourfaith/articles/article8074.asp

Paul's three missionary journeys are detailed in the Book of Acts. Some scholars say that Paul made a fourth, possibly a fifth, missionary journey from which he had the apartment in Rome. Such an account of these missionary journeys have yet to be discovered, although there are writings that claim to make an account of Paul's activities during this two-year period when he was waiting for his trial before Caesar to begin.

The following chronological table is taken from F. F. Bruce, Dictionary of Paul and his Letters (IVP, 1993), p. 687.

www.theopedia.com/Paul 

33 A.D. -- Call to apostleship; mission in Arabia (Galatians 1:15-17)
35 -- Short visit to Jerusalem (Gal. 1:18-20)
35-45 -- in Cilicia, Syria, Antioch
46 -- Conference with "pillars" in Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1-10); famine relief delivered from Antioch (Acts 11:27-30)
47-48 -- Paul and Barnabas in Cyprus and Anatolia (Acts 13:4 - 14:28)
48/49 -- Council of Jerusalem; apostolic decree (Acts 15:6-29)
49-51/52 -- Paul and Silas/Silvanus in Macedonia and Achaia; churches of Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea and Corinth planted (Acts 16:9 - 18:18)
51/52 -- Paul's hasty visit to Jerusalem, Antioch and Anatolia
52-55 -- Paul in Ephesus (Acts 19:1 - 20:1)
55-57 -- Paul in Macedonia, Illyricum and Corinty (Rom. 15:19; 16:23)
57 -- Last visit to Jerusalem; arrest and loss of liberty (Acts 21:17 - 23:35)
57-59 -- Imprisonment in Caesarea (Acts 23:35 - 26:32)
59-60 -- Journey to Italy (Acts 27:1 -- 28:15)
?62 -- Paul's hearing before Caesar
64 -- Great fire of Rome
?65 -- Death of Paul

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

Hurray! The ten panels of sheers that were special ordered came in yesterday. We went to pick them up last evening. I'll be working on ironing the packing wrinkles out of the sheers and putting them up this afternoon after I finish my column entries this morning.

Oh happy day!

Then the living room and dining room will look very festive. The tree is already up. Quint put the wreath on the front door yesterday and there are a couple of surprises under the tree already. I'm hoping to get what I'm hoping for! But I can never be too sure. Just because the box is the right size doesn't mean anything. After all these years of being married to Quint, he really goes out of his way to surprise me and it could just be that he packed a little present in a big box. He's sneaky that way.

Otherwise, you'll be happy to know that the new claims for unemployment benefits decreased last week by 15,000! That's just to remind you that when the politicians continue their griping about the jobs being "farmed out" overseas, you'll know that the real truth -- that is, the facts -- is that unemployment is decreasing in the United States.

You just can't believe everything that the politicians are saying when they're out there on the campaign trail. Maybe if they'd get back to Washington and start putting in a full work week -- that is, 5 days, we'd be better off. As it is, they only work 3 days a week -- gave themselves a raise -- as if they were working a full five-day week.

In the corporate world, that would be called theft of service and theft of time.

And they wonder why the approval rating is hanging in there at about 20%. That means that 80% of the voters disapprove of the way they're handling things. And I'm one of those who disapprove.

The other big lie you'll be hearing is that oil prices keep going up and up and up. And pretty soon, crude is going to be selling at over $100 a barrel.

The fact is that the price of crude has gone down to $86.73 a barrel. Oh sure, there's lots of fluctuations in the futures price of crude. Every time there's a storm out int he Gulf of Mexico which might possibly put a pumping station at risk, the futures price will go up.

Then there's that other rumor that the only reason Bush sent troops into Iraq was to get the oil. That's not true either. We get a combined 33% of our crude from Canada and Mexico, with only 12% from Saudi Arabia and another 12% from Nigeria and 2% from the United Kingdom. That totals 59% and does not include Iraq or Iran as crude suppliers. Nope. We buy a lot of crude from a lot of other places. And we even pump some of our own, right here in this country.

Here's an interesting web site if you want real information (facts): http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html#imports

##

BIBLE STUDY: Acts 28:1-31

Once everybody was rounded up and safely accounted for on shore, the sailors discovered that they were on the island of Malta. When everybody made it to shore, they were really surprised because the islanders were most hospitable toward them.

Keep in mind that this ship belched out a whole bunch of people -- 276 in all. That's probably as many as some of the villages had for population. So it was not a small effort to take in that amount of people to feed and supply clean, dry clothes for.

It is interesting, though, that once they got on dry land, the islanders started making a fire. It sounds like the people from the ship, including Paul, were gathering wood for the fire (verse 3).

But then, when Paul went to put a piece of wood onto the fire, a viper wiggled out to get away from the heat. The snake kind of fastened itself to Paul's hand.

The islanders took this as a sign that Paul must be a ne'er do well, probably a murderer. After all, this was a ship that was transporting a bunch of prisoners to Rome for trial. So they thought that even if Paul somehow escaped the perils of the sea, the gods weren't going to let him get away with anything completely. So the snake was viewed as an omen.

It didn't work. Paul's hand didn't even swell up from the snakebite. Everything was fine.

The islanders immediately switched their story one hundred eighty degrees and then figured that Paul must be a god.

See how that works!!?

Well, it just so happens that there was a governator type living on the island. His name was Publius and it sounds like he had a pretty spacious home. Luke says Publius welcome them to his home and threw some pretty lavish parties in their behalf.

Publius' father was sick in his bed. Something about having a fever complicated by dysentery. Paul went in to see him and prayed with him. When Paul placed his hands onto him, the older man was healed.

The islanders heard about this, I can tell you for sure. Pretty soon the islanders were bringing everybody and his cousin who was sick to see Paul. They were all cured.

Eventually the seas calmed down. They always do. It's a cycle thing, you know.

When it came time for the ship to head on out to sea again -- about three months later -- the islanders outfitted the ship with all kinds of supplies -- everything they needed for the trip to Rome. They put out to sea on another Alexandrian ship that had wintered over on the island (verse 11)

They finally arrived in Rome by the grace of God. And Paul was allowed to actually live by himself with a soldier to guard him, while he was waiting for his trial (verse 16).

Paul wasn't in his new digs for a full week before he called the leader of the Jews together so that he could talk to them. He explained how it was that he had ended up in Rome and his appeal to Caesar for a trial.

The Jews had this to say to Paul (verses 21-22): We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of the brothers who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.

The Jewish leaders then set a day to meet with Paul. And even bigger group of people came over to hear what Paul had to say. In verse 23b, it says that Paul had them with him from morning until evening talking about the kingdom of God and he tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

They were an interested group all right. Some came to believe. Others didn't. Some of the Jews started to leave when Paul made this statement (verses 25b-29): The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:

"Go to this people and say, 'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.'

For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them."

Therefore, I want you to know that God's salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!

Paul continued his ministry in Rome for two more years before he came to trial. In verse 30, we learn that he had a rented house and that he welcomed all who came to see him.

Luke closes both this chapter of Acts and the book of Acts itself with this closing verse 31: Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.

Just a note, or thought, here about Luke's choice of words in this last verse: "Boldly and without hindrance..."

There is a traditional belief that Paul went on a fourth missionary journey -- all the way to Spain. He certainly could have done that if we take "without hindrance" to mean that the guard was no longer assigned to keep Paul in a kind of house arrest.

And Paul, being the extraordinary orator that he was, could probably have convinced the Roman courts that since it was his idea to appeal to Caesar, he most certainly would have welcomed the opportunity to have his case heard and not be skipping out on his trial.

Truth is, we don't know for sure if Paul ever went to Spain. You can be sure, though, that if Luke had accompanied him, it would have been articulated most eloquently.

We can look to other writings for historical content, though. In 1 Clement 5, there is a suggestion that Paul was martyred in Rom after having been to the "extreme limit of the west." Perhaps that was Spain?

Tradition also has it that Paul died during Nero's reign. Nero's reign ended in 68 A.D. Many Biblical scholars put Paul's martyrdom at 64 A.D.

http://www.thirdmill.org/answers/answer.asp/file/99822.qna/category/ch/page/questions/site/iiim

All but John the beloved disciple and author of the Revelations -- his own Gospel -- and his letters, were martyred. John died a natural death at the age of 87. He was banished to the Isle of Patmos.

Philip, a disciple from Bethsaida, was scourged, thrown into prison and later crucified.

Matthew, the tax collector, was preaching in Ethiopia when he was killed with a sword.

James, the brother of Jesus, was beaten and stoned to death and finally had his brains bashed out with a club. He was 94 when he died.

Matthias was the apostle who filled the spot left by Judas. He was stoned at Jerusalem, then beheaded.

Andrew, the brother of Peter, was crucified.

Mark was dragged to pieces by the people of Alexandria.

Peter was crucified in Rome. At his own request, Peter was crucified upside down because he did not think he was worthy to be crucified the same way that Christ was.

In a note in this website, Paul's faith was so dramatic that the authorities removed him to a private place for execution by the sword.

Jude was crucified.

Bartholomew was cruelly beaten and then crucified.

Thomas, called Didymus, was thrust through with a spear.

Luke supposedly was hanged on an olive tree in Greece

Simon was crucified in 74 A.D.

http://www.allaboutfollowingjesus.org/christian-persecution.htm

##

MY LIFE IN INK --

It's just a bleak December day. Looks like winter out there. Guess our neighbors to the north -- like in the Chicago area -- are really feeling the presence of the arctic express. At least we haven't had any snow, save but a slight dusting last week. Nothing like the show stoppers up north. We like central Illinois. Oh sure, winter weather is coming -- but it won't be this week.

It's nice to curl up in the cozy warmth and just knit. I'm knitting dish cloths. I use a whole skein of 100% cotton, cast on 45 stitches to No. 7 needles and bind off when it looks like I'm about out of yarn. I can just about make one cloth in an evening, although that's not the point. I'm not in a hurry. It's just something to do while I keep Quint company when he watches TV. Last night we watched programs about the universe -- how black holes, worm holes and white holes are formed. I think that was on the History channel, his favorite.

And I made some peanut butter cookies. But I use Splenda instead of brown sugar. Just plain old white Splenda. And they taste just fine. Someday maybe Splenda will make a brown sugar that I can use, not that half-and-half mixture. In the meantime, Quint keeps his diabetes under control by staying away from sugar entirely.

He's off on errands right now. We ran out of coffee. Imagine that? And he's dropping off some glitzy sweaters to the cleaners. I know I could rinse them out in cold water with Woolite, but I prefer to have them dry cleaned. Have to get ready for the Christmas season when sparkly clothes are allowed.

##

BIBLE STUDY: Acts 27:1-44

Well, so it was finally decided that Paul would go to Rome. Luke says he was handed over to the Imperial Regiment, specifically to a centurion named Julius. There were other prisoners along with Paul who were heading for Rome.

They put out to sea from a port on the west bank of Asia. My Concordia Study Bible says this was from a harbor known as Adramyttium, south of Troas and east of Assos.  

They landed at Sidon the next day (verse 3) and Julius, out of kindness, allowed Paul to go to his friends so that they could tend to his needs.

Then they out to sea again. The winds picked up and it was slow going into the raging winds. These were not sea breezes! But the pilot of the ship made it to Myra, on the coast of Lycia.

It was in Myra that the pilot found an Alexandrian ship with ports of call in Italy. So all the prisoners were transferred to this ship. This was a very big ship -- there were 276 passengers on board!

It was slow going again. Straight into the headwinds. The ship couldn't hold its course. They lost a lot of time, not to mention that the sailing had become very dangerous.

Paul warned his shipmates, and most likely the pilot of the ship as well, in verses 10-12: "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

A gentle breeze started blowing from the south. Then the wind speeds picked up. Next thing they knew, they had a big roaring northeaster on their hands. Luke describes just how bad things got in verses 15-20: The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure.

When the men hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together.

Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.

On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands.

When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

Now comes Paul from the midst of them. It's time for both a sermon and a revelation from him (verses 21-26): After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.

Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, "Do not be afraid, Paul You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you." So keep your courage, me, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground in some island.

Okay -- so that's good news and bad news. They'll all live. But the ship is going to smash into smithereens in the Mediterranean sea.

Just about the time when it didn't look like things would ever get any better, the ship now is out in the Adriatic Sea -- that wide expanse of water between the island of Crete and Malta, Siciliy and Italy. It's now the fourteenth night (verse 27). About midnight, Luke says that the sailors sensed that they were approaching land (probably by their sense of hearing the water against the breakers).

The sailors took some soundings and found that they were in water that was 120 feet deep. Then a little while later, they took sounds again and the water was only 90 feet deep.

Hmmmm. They figured they must be heading in toward rocks. Didn't want that. So they dropped anchors. Four of them from the stern. And they prayed for daylight.

But some sailors got the brainchild of an idea that they would escape off this ship in the lifeboat. They only pretended they were dropping some anchors from the bow, but they were actually dropping the lifeboat.

Paul got wind of this little scheme. Now the soldiers were listening to him, all right. He told them, in verses 31-32: Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved. So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.

So it's been fourteen days since the men had eaten anything. Paul told them they should eat to stay alive. In fact, he took some bread and lifted it up toward heaven and thanked God for the food, then started eating. Everyone followed Paul's example and they ate until they were filled up.

Then they threw all the grain overboard.

Daylight came. They saw a little island. It had a sandy beach on it all around a bay. They figured they could run the ship aground if they cut the anchors. Then they untied the ropes that had held the rudders. It looked like a good plan that just might work.

Except that they hit a sandbar. The bow of the ship was okay but the back of the ship -- the stern -- got pounded to pieces by the violent surf.

Then the soldiers got the idea that they ought to kill all the prisoners so that they couldn't swim to safety. Fortunately for Paul, the centurion wanted to spare his life and he kept the soldiers from carrying out their deadly plan.

So the centurion told everyone to swim for land if they could swim. Otherwise, the non-swimmers would just have to get there the best way they could -- on planks or pieces of the ships -- anything that they could use to float across the water.

Luke says in verse 44 that everyone made it to safety.

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NEWS FLASH

The economy has grown some 189,000 new jobs during the month of November!

Just a point to keep in mind because you're going to hear politicians on the campaign trail bemoaning the fact that the economy is going to H--- in a handbasket and things are getting worse and worse and worse.

No they are not.

The Dow is sailing along. It looks like the feds may lower interest rates again on December 11 when they meet again. That will be a big boost for those of you who have refinance loans that are tied to the prime.

And the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) rose again this last quarter to 4.9%. Remember, in order for a recession to be called, the GDP has to fall for two quarters in a row. We are not in a recession.

All that talk of recession and tailspinning inflation and lost jobs in the economy is just political rhetoric. It does give you an idea of why the approval rating for congress continues to fall. They've lost their credibility. They speak with forked tongues. Believing them requires that you suspend the truths that are based on facts. And congress, it appears, speaks politics not facts.

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MY LIFE IN INK --

As anyone who knows me can tell you, I am not a computer geek. Don't even come close. But what I liked about this particular web site is that there was a promise that it would be very easy.

Wel, it's turning out to be less and less easy. Don't know why. I've had this web site since June 2006 so why -- all of a sudden -- I started having troubles getting e-mails sent out because of a "processing problem" -- I do not know and I do not like it.

Then there's this other matter of losing my blogs. Just composing "My Life In Ink" and the Bible Study usually take about 2 hours or so. Then they just started vanishing into thin air. So now I have to save them in little bitty pieces, pull them back up, then add to them. Finally, when they're completed, I can publish them to the web. 

If there's anybody out there who can tell me how to detect a virus or a worm -- and, more importantly, step-by-step instructions of how to get at them if they have taken up residence in my computer, I'd really appreciate it. And more important, how to get rid of them.

That's the end of my major upset of the morning.

I am happy to report that I actually talked with my sister Cookie this morning. She has an appointment on Friday with the oncologist. Resumption of her radiation is high on the list of priorities for discussion. As well as the surgery for removing the upper right lobe of her lung. That's where the tumor is that's doing bad things in her body.

She thanks you all for your prayers.

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BIBLE STUDY: Acts 26:1-32

Paul has now come before King Agrippa and he tells the king that he is glad to be able to speak before Agrippa's court. He says this because he knows that Agrippa is particularly knowledgeable about Jewish customs. And Paul begs Agrippa to be patient with him as he reiterates his story.

Paul tells King Agrippa how he, Paul, has been one of the primary persecutors of the Christians, although followers of Christ weren't called Christians at that point. However, in verse 11, Paul says: Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

And then, on one of these excursions, Paul says Jesus asked him why he was persecuting Jesus. Paul shared with Agrippa what Jesus said to him, in verses 16-18: Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you s a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

Paul tells Agrippa that he thinks the Jews seized him because he preached that they should turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. Paul accuses the Jews of trying to kill him for this.

In verses 22-23, we hear him go into more details about his ministry: But I have had God's help to this very day , and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen -- that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles.

At that point Festus jumped up and said, "Are you out of your mind? Your great learning is driving you insane."

Well, that's certainly colorful language.

Paul rebutted very quickly, I am not insane, most excellent Festus.

And then he turned to Agrippa and asked, King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.

Just in case there should be any mistaking of intent, Agrippa asks Paul, in verse 28: Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?

Paul was not one to be intimidated by Festus or Agrippa and he responded to this comment by Agrippa in verse 29: Short time or long -- I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.

Maybe because Agrippa felt like he was starting to lose ground arguing with Paul who apparently could out-debate the king or anyone else. Agrippa got up. Everybody else in the room got on their feet too.

They left the room. Then they had a little meeting and reached this conclusion in verse 31b: This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment.

Oh, if that had only been the end of it.

But Paul had appealed to Caesar which forced Agrippa to say to Festus in verse 32: This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

So now Paul has to go to Rome.

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PSYCHOLOGY: REDUCE STRESS FOR THE HOLIDAYS

Stressed out people get stressed out at this time of year.

No, that's not a redundancy. Resilient, robust personality types just take things in stride. If you're stressed out, try to be like your resilient, robust cousins.

I used to be super stressed at the holidays. But then, I just plain old got tired of needing to be this big heroine who climbed a Mt. Everest of holiday chores. Then got the Christmas Eve buffet pulled today -- sometimes by 5 pm when the first guests were scheduled to arrive at 6 pm.

Then I got the idea that really favorite foods included hot wings from Hooters, pizza, baby back ribs from Chilis, Ely's cheesecake, cold cuts and cheeses which I cut get from the deli and, of course, Quint's famous fudge. All I had to do was drive around and pick stuff up and get back home in time to take a nice soaking bubble bath and greet my company fully refreshed.

Was it the same thing as slaving away all day with the cooking and other preparations? Absolutely not. Was it better? You'd better believe it. And guess what? With coupons, it turned out not to be that much more expensive.

Next trick is to make lists. Make lots of lists. Give yourself a rough idea of what gift you'd like to give -- in a perfect world -- and how much you're willing to spend. Then total it all up. Wow! $2,500? That's way more than the average family is going to spend this year. Are you sure you can afford to spend that much? Even if you double the minimum payment on the credit cards you're going to use, it will be October by the time you get Christmas paid off.

The cost of gifts for kiddos is getting outrageous. Consider this: instead of buying those game boxes for your kids, buy one for the family. Then buy something to play on the box for a kid. Okay, so the kiddos have to learn to share. That's not such a bad thing, is it?

Besides, 23% of parents in this country plan to spend between $51 and $100, while 38% of parents plan to spend from $101 to $250 per child. So, 61% of the parents in this country plan to limit the cost per child to no more than $250. That still seems awfully high to me, but then, as a grandma, our kids weren't competing with their buddies for all that high-tech stuff.

I still think it's a great idea for Best Buy and other electronic super stores to allow kids to come in and register for stuff they want. That way, grandparents and aunts and uncles can buy presents and get exactly what the kids are hoping for. I think department stores will still let kids do that, don't they?

In the final analysis, to de-stress yourself at the holidays, take care of yourself. If you're not in the habit of taking care of yourself -- like getting exercise, putting more protein into your diet and less processed foods -- it's probably going to be stressful to try to become less stressed.

I say that because of the high expectations you'll be tempted to place on yourself. You know the drill: get the family dinner organized, reduce stress, get the shopping done, pick up little "extra" presents in case someone shows up unexpectedly, reduce stress, get packages to faraway places shipped off, lose weight, reduce stress, etc.

My suggestion: make a list of everything you intend to buy. Put a dollar amount by each item. Then add up the list.

How much is it? Be honest. Now look at the list. Pretend you're a financial analyst. Become less passionate about being Santa Claus for everybody!

If you just absolutely insist on getting some presents for people who may show up as unexpected guests, go to a resale shop. Now I don't want to sound cheap but it's been my experience -- mainly because I've taken carloads of stuff to resale shops that I really didn't want to give up but had to because my house just isn't that big -- you can find some really neat things to buy that are very seasonal for this time of year. And when you get your "finds" home and get out the sudsy ammonia and spruce up the shine, you're going to be really really surprised! By the time it's all wrapped up in tissue paper, only you will know where it came from.

Now, just to make sure we understand each other here -- I'm talking about high end resale shops that exist for specific charities. Go into one and just browse. See if you aren't surprised. You may find a present that's perfectly acceptable for someone on your list that costs $15, not $75.

These kinds of gifts won't work for those people on your list who want to take everything back the day after Christmas and shop for stuff they really want. For those people, give them a gift card and save yourself the bother of picking something out for them at their favorite high end store. There's probably nothing you can get them that they'll keep anyway.

Besides, we have to get back to this notion that God is the really great gift-giver, not Santa Claus or you. So don't spend yourself into the poorhouse buying presents that will take you until October to pay off.

The real gift of the Christmas season is the birth of the Son of God who came to earth to bring salvation to us.

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MY LIFE IN INK --

Well, the gift boxes for the college students and shut-ins are done. Our committee met at church at 9 a.m. and made pretty quick work out of what would have been an enormous project for just a few women. Instead, we got a nice little assembly line going with each lady picking up a cookie or a piece of candy and going down a line of goodies to add to each plate. Oh, and the shut-ins also got a plate of fresh fruit and a poinsettia. I hope it will cheer them up and let them know that they are thought of and prayed for.

I have heard from my sister's daughter, Robin. She usually calls when we are in church so our phones are turned off. But she said that Cookie is out of Schwab Rehabilitation and is doing okay. Cookie is staying with Robin at Robin's daughter's house while Cookie's house is getting a fresh coat of paint in the downstairs rooms, as well as some needed renovation.

Quint is off to the post office to get stamps for Christmas cards. It's hard because the post office doesn't have Christian stamps. The Catholic stamps are okay -- for Catholics. But since we're Lutheran, we don't use pictures of Mary, the mother of Christ, with a halo around her head. And I'm not going to send a Santa out on my cards, or a reindeer. So if I can't get a Christian theme for my stamps, I'll use Old Glory.

After lunch, we'll get the tree put together and get the lights on the tree. Something I learned from Lee Landgrebe, our former pastor's wife. When we get the bottom layer put onto the tree, we then lay the lights onto the tree limbs. That way we can get them all the way back to the trunk. Then we put another layer on, and so forth. When we're finished, there are lots and lots of lights. In fact, Lee warned us that we'd use a lot more lights. We did. Double. But since Quint and I both like a lot of colored lights on the tree, it's just fine. Very very pretty.

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BIBLE STUDY: Acts 25:1-27

Felix got called back to Rome. He had some tall explaining to do for his bloody handling of an uprising with the Jewish people. Some might describe it as a massacre. In any event, it was a mess and Rome did not care for the way Felix administered his duties. Not one little bit.

So now we have this guy named Porcius Festus. He was Felix's replacement, and hopefully -- Rome thought -- would do a better job. He was procurator of Judaea from 59-62 A.D.

He had a reputation for being a just ruler. For instance, there was one dispute between the leaders of Jerusalem's Jewish community about a wall that the Jewish people had built.

It seems that King Agrippa had built a room so that he could spy on the Jews. Agrippa wanted to know what was going on in the Jewish temple. So the Jews built a wall to block the view.

Word got back to Festus about this wall-building incident and he was furious. "Tear down this wall!" he ordered. Festus wanted his troops to be able to see what was going on so that they could keep order in the city.

The Jewish leaders didn't like Festus' ruling, so they appealed to Nero for arbitration. And guess what? Nero sided with the Jews this time. Amazing!

So all this is going on in and around Paul as he's waiting for his trial.

The first thing that Festus does is trek on over from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Festus wanted to meet with the chief priests and Jewish leaders to see just what exactly, they were charging Paul with.

The Jewish leaders were adamant in their plea that Paul be transferred to Jerusalem so that the trial could be held there. (Remember that they were planning a secret ambush along the way and someone would kill Paul once and for all.)

Let's listen to what Festus has to say to the Jewish leadership (verse 4): Paul is being held at Caesarea, and I myself am going there soon. Let some of your leaders come with me and press charges against the man there, if he has done anything wrong.

After about eight or ten days passed, Festus went on to Caesarea with some of the Jews. When Festus arrived in Caesarea, he convened the court and had Paul brought before him. And the Jews were there too. They threw everything but the kitchen sink at Paul. In verse 7 we learn that they brought many serious charges against Paul which they couldn't prove.

Oh boy. Now what's Festus going to do. He recalled that the Jews wanted Paul tried in Jerusalem and so he asked Paul if he'd be willing to change the trial venue to Jerusalem.

Paul reminded Festus, in verse 10, that he was standing in Caesar's court, "where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!"

Well, that's a show stopper! Festus said to Paul (verse 12): You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!

As it turns out, King Agrippa and his wife Bernice made a state visit to Festus' court to show their respect. Since they were going to be with Festus for a while, Festus gave an overview of Paul's case to Agrippa.

Here's what Festus says in verses 18-22: "When his accusers got up to speak, they did not charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive. I was at a loss how to investigate such matters; so I asked if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these charges.

When Paul made his appeal to be held over for the Emperor's decision, I ordered him held until I could send him to Caesar."

Then Agrippa said to Festus, "I would like to hear this man myself."

He replied, "Tomorrow you will hear him."

Tomorrow arrived. And here comes King Agrippa and Bernice with lots of pomp and circumstance, as we say. They were the royal twosome and there were also Jewish leaders present from Caesarea.

It was the trial of the century!

Festus introduced the case to King Agrippa (verse 24-27): King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of the investigation I may have something to write. For I think it is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.

And so, in our reading for tomorrow, we'll listen in on the dialogue between Paul and Agrippa.

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MY LIFE IN INK --

Imagine my surprise when I got an overdue notice from our library! So we added the library to our running around stops for this Saturday afternoon. First to the Silk Purse, a resale shop that's owned by a Right-to-Life group that we support, then to the cleaners where the tailor pinned adjustments for a new suit that Quint bought and a sports coat that needs altered as well. Then on to the library where I found the book on the shelf that was the subject of the overdue notice. Took it to the front desk and got "credit" for the book not being missing after all.

All three stops were within a mile of one another.

Then to lunch at the IGA. Yes, it's actually a restaurant inside the supermarket. Is that neat or what!! They always say never do your food shopping when you're hungry so it's extra special nice that the supermarket has a pretty nice cafeteria style restaurant inside.

Then Quint finished a box type shelf for the kitchen. It's about two feet long and will go on the wall where all the pots and pans are hanging. It's for cookbooks. I have a wonderful collection of church ladies and junior league cookbooks from over the years. They're fantastic recipes. And I think I'm going to run off all the cookie recipes that Cody sent me and paste them into a little journal that will fit onto the shelf. Then I'll have all the cookie recipes I need for the rest of my life.

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BIBLE STUDY: Acts 24:1-27

This chapter is about Paul's trial before Felix.

But first, I want to introduce you to this character Felix. He occupied the position of procurator of Judea only because his brother Pallas had some influence in imperial service.

Well, Felix glommed onto the royal life all right. And he apparently didn't have to work too hard to cultivate a taste for the good life. He even took Antony and Cleopatra's granddaughter as the first of his three wives. Guess he thought some of her royalty would rub off on him.

Don't know who his second wife was but Wife #3 was none other than Drusilla, the daughter of Herod Agrippa I. She bore him a son, another Agrippa who died in the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Yep, Felix liked palaces and opulence galore. The more royal the better, as far as Felix was concerned.

But now he's got yet another uprising to deal with. He kind of had a run of bad luck with insurgents. He was pretty ruthless in putting these insurgencies down, to the point where the Jews really got to where they didn't care for him at all. Now they have to go to his palace and prepare a trial against this Paul character.

Well Ananias goes all the way down from Caesarea to Jerusalem with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and came back up to Felix's place. This was about a 60-mile trip and back again.

So Paul is brought in and the lawyer has this to say (verses 2b-4): We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.

Okay, so here come the charges (verses 5-6):

1. Paul is a troublemaker
2. Paul stirs up riots among Jews all over the world
3. Paul is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect
4. Paul tried to desecrate the temple. That's why we seized him.

Paul handled his own defense and his counter argument is found in verses 11-13: You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. My accusers did not fine me arguing with anyone at the temple, or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me.

Paul then explains to Felix that he was indeed a follower of the Way and that he most certainly worshiped God.

He explained to Felix that he had been away from Jerusalem for several years and that he came to the synagogue to bring gifts for the poor (verse 17).

In verse 22 we learn that Felix was well acquainted with the Way and he adjourned the proceedings. Then Felix told Paul that when Lysias the commander comes, he would decide the case.

In the meantime, he ordered that Paul be kept under guard, but he was to have some freedom and would be allowed to receive his friends who could come to take care of Paul's needs.

Felix would send for Paul to talk about Paul's faith in Christ Jesus (verse 24).

Then, in verse 25, we learn that Felix became afraid. He said: That's enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.

Felix was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe (verse 26), so he sent for Paul frequently. No bribes were offered.

Two years passed!

Read more:

http://www.bible.org/page.php?page_id=2157

Luke doesn't tell us why Felix is recalled. However, we can get some information from the historian, Josephus. Apparently there had been an outbreak of yet another fight in the marketplace between the Jews and the Gentiles. Felix sent his soldiers in to get things under control. His soldiers fixed things all right. When they got ahold of the mob, there was a lot of bloodshed. Many Jewish leaders were killed!

It was goodbye Felix, hello Rome! He would probably have been punished quite severely if it weren't not for his big brother Pallas again. Now, Pallas had retired in 55 A.D., but before he retired he somehow managed to get his hands on a mountain of cash. He was really really rich. However, Pallas' scope of influence ended abruptly in 62 A.D. when Nero had him executed.

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