Where do you stand on the "Halloween question"?
I was looking up 'hallow' in the Shorter Oxford, here's what it says: Make holy; sanctify, purify. Consecrate or set apart to be sacred. Dedicate to a sacred or religious purpose; bless. Of shrines and relics of saints. Halloween: the eve of All Saints.
Just from that it seems that Satan has hi-jacked the whole holiday! So it will benefit us to keep in mind what it is and what it means these days and who celebrates it and with what...
"Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, As to be hated need but to be seen; Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We first endure, then pity, then embrace." Alexander Pope
This quote always reminds me to BE CAREFUL where I go - remembering I am taking Christ with me - and what I have in and around my home - Is it honoring to my Lord? This should be a day (or season) that is easy to be seen as set apart to God, but sometimes it's easy not to be, you know? "Keep on the alert!"
For more information there are a couple of informative websites:
http://www.christiananswers.net/q-eden/halloween.html
http://www.eliyah.com/hallween.html
October 27, 2009
October 15, 2009
Stranger Danger
A Stranger In Our House
A few months before I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger? He was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies. If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.
Sometimes Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to her room and read her books. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home ... not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our long-time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.
My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in the home, not even for cooking. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked ... and NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.
Still, if you were to walk into my parents' den today you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?
We just call him TV.
(I'd love to be able to attribute this to the author..but I don't know who it is... not me.)
A few months before I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Tennessee town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around to welcome me into the world a few months later.
As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me the word of God, and Dad taught me to obey it. But the stranger? He was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies. If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.
Sometimes Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to her room and read her books. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)
Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home ... not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our long-time visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.
My Dad was a teetotaler who didn't permit alcohol in the home, not even for cooking. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing. I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked ... and NEVER asked to leave.
More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.
Still, if you were to walk into my parents' den today you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.
His name?
We just call him TV.
(I'd love to be able to attribute this to the author..but I don't know who it is... not me.)
October 12, 2009
Nothing Like a Good Tirade!
These are Barnes' comments on Matthew 5:28 and I have to love the high mindedness of these ideals:
3. We see the evil of indelicacy of feeling and sentiment, and the extreme strictness and severity of the law respecting the intercourse of the sexes, (Matthew 5:28.) And yet what law is more frequently violated? By obscene anecdotes and tales; by songs and jibes; by double meanings and innuendoes; by looks and gestures; by conversation, and obscene books and pictures, this law of our Saviour is perpetually violated. If there is any one sentiment of most value for the comfort, the character, the virtuous sociability of the young--one that will shed the greatest charm over society, and make it the most pure--it is that which inculcates perfect delicacy and purity in the intercourse of the sexes. Virtue of any kind never blooms when this is not cherished. Modesty and purity once gone, every flower that would diffuse its fragrance over life, withers and dies with it. There is no one sin that so withers and blights every virtue; none that so enfeebles and prostrates every ennobling feeling of the soul, as to indulge in a life of impurity. How should purity dwell in the heart; breathe from the lips; kindle in the eye; live in the imagination; and dwell in the intercourse of all the young! An eternal, avenging God is near to every wanton thought; marks every eye that kindles with impure desire; rolls the thunder of justice over every polluted soul; and is preparing woe for every violator of the laws of purity and chastity, Proverbs 7:22,23; 5:5; 2:18.
3. We see the evil of indelicacy of feeling and sentiment, and the extreme strictness and severity of the law respecting the intercourse of the sexes, (Matthew 5:28.) And yet what law is more frequently violated? By obscene anecdotes and tales; by songs and jibes; by double meanings and innuendoes; by looks and gestures; by conversation, and obscene books and pictures, this law of our Saviour is perpetually violated. If there is any one sentiment of most value for the comfort, the character, the virtuous sociability of the young--one that will shed the greatest charm over society, and make it the most pure--it is that which inculcates perfect delicacy and purity in the intercourse of the sexes. Virtue of any kind never blooms when this is not cherished. Modesty and purity once gone, every flower that would diffuse its fragrance over life, withers and dies with it. There is no one sin that so withers and blights every virtue; none that so enfeebles and prostrates every ennobling feeling of the soul, as to indulge in a life of impurity. How should purity dwell in the heart; breathe from the lips; kindle in the eye; live in the imagination; and dwell in the intercourse of all the young! An eternal, avenging God is near to every wanton thought; marks every eye that kindles with impure desire; rolls the thunder of justice over every polluted soul; and is preparing woe for every violator of the laws of purity and chastity, Proverbs 7:22,23; 5:5; 2:18.
October 11, 2009
If the Salt loses it's Saltiness...
Matthew 5:13 - (Jesus speaking)
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteles, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."
In her study guide to Matthew, Kaye Arthur implies that this verse is an example of irony, because it is impossible for salt to lose it's saltiness . . . or is it?
Upon investigating this salt issue, I ran across an interesting web site you might enjoy:
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2710
this link is the salt article... ... ... interesting! :)
Also this link: http://deneenwhite.com/2007/01/06/how-does-salt-lose-its-saltiness/ which is really just a blog post has some interesting things to say.
Enjoy!
"You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteles, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men."
In her study guide to Matthew, Kaye Arthur implies that this verse is an example of irony, because it is impossible for salt to lose it's saltiness . . . or is it?
Upon investigating this salt issue, I ran across an interesting web site you might enjoy:
http://www.bridgesforpeace.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2710
this link is the salt article... ... ... interesting! :)
Also this link: http://deneenwhite.com/2007/01/06/how-does-salt-lose-its-saltiness/ which is really just a blog post has some interesting things to say.
Enjoy!
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