November 44th

There are no cool number days this week, but yesterday was extraordinary (and as you can see from the picture below, it was cold)!

Just after I wrote a post about the mileage on our silver Honda Pilot reaching 111,111 miles (see 9/13/13, Cool Numbers), I drove to Missouri to attend the memorial service for my Best Man Glenn.  The time with his family was great, I got to stay one night with Linnea in Chicago and another night with my sister Cindy in St Louis, and then saw brother Scott and sister Elaine for lunch in Indianapolis. But adding an extra thousand miles made it impossible to match a true November date (e.g. 112813) on the Pilot’s odometer.

On the way home it did occur to me that December 1 is really the same as November 31. Given that bit of illogic, I was able to watch and wait for the odometer and calendar to match.  Yesterday, November 44, 2013 = 114413 = December 14, 2013. I thought about driving another hundred miles today to match up 114513, but realized that would create a lot of pressure for 114613, etc.  Maybe I need to go to St Louis again in a week or so…

Nov44

Bar Jokes

A jumper cable walks into a bar. The bartender says, “I’ll serve you, but don’t start anything.”

Two peanuts walk into a bar, and one was a salted.

A dyslexic man walks into a bra.

A man walks into a bar with a slab of asphalt under his arm and says: “A beer please, and one for the road.”

The past, the present, and the future walked into a bar.  It was TENSE.

Paul’s Prayer

We used this passage and prayer last night at the beginning on a committee meeting.   

Ephesians 1.15-21 is one of Paul’s wonderful prayers that he lifts up to the LORD concerning his friends:

For this reason (to the praise of his glory, sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, given as the guarantee of our inheritance), because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.

  1. Read the passage.
  2. Take a few minutes to meditate on the greatness of our God, how he brings to us faith, love, wisdom, revelation, knowledge, enlightenment, hope, riches, sainthood, power, might….
  3. Use the passage to pray for
  • The specific meeting you are holding
  • For the leaders of you congregation
  • For the congregation of your church

To the praise of His glory.

 

Find Jesus?

One day down by a river, a preacher had just baptized a young lady. A few minutes later, a drunk, non-religious man walked by the river.

The preacher said to him, “Are you ready to find Jesus?” The drunk said yes.

The preacher got him in the water, dipped him in and then raised him back up. He said, “Have you found Jesus?” The drunk said no.

The preacher again dipped him in and raised him back up. The preacher said, “Have you found Jesus?” The drunk again said no.

The preacher dipped him and raised him up for a third time. He said, “Have you found Jesus?” The drunk said, “Are you sure he fell in here?”

YYMMDD

You may have a need today to assign a file name that includes the year, the month, and the day.  To have the computer keep things in time-sequence, that is the order you use – YYMMDD.

So, enjoy today’s assignments:

13 12 11

Christmas – Waiting For Messiah

For four hundred years the Israelites had been looking for the Messiah.  The four Gospels describe many people whose hearts and minds were touched to let them know the Messiah has come, even when the Savior was just an infant.

 Mary, the mother of Jesus received a startling angelic announcement, and she sang a great song. She was the virgin predicted in Isaiah 7.14.  Her betrothed, Joseph, had a dream (and another dream later, to help keep the baby safe) letting him know that Mary was chosen by God; she was faithful; she would be a good mom; and he should marry her.   Mary’s cousin Elizabeth knew about Jesus because her own special in-utero baby, who would become John the Baptist, was jumping up and down.  The Magi from the East started their journey well before the birth, following a star that led them to Jerusalem, and then learning about Bethlehem because the Jewish scholars knew Micah 5.2.  Shepherds out in the field received a double angel treat – the announcer angel scared them wide awake and told them where to look for the baby, and then the whole chorus shows up to sing God’s praises.  And two mostly-retired people were in the temple when the infant Jesus was brought in for circumcision.  Simeon was waiting for the Lord’s Christ, and the prophetess Anna recognized that the redeemer had come. 

 The Holy Spirit worked in a multitude of marvelous ways – angel announcements, plus a back up choir; dreams; stars; prophecies from scripture and prophets listening; and a bouncing baby boy.  All these people told their stories, remembered what happened, and treasured the events in their hearts. But the general populace did not catch on or make a big deal (except maybe Herod, who tried to have the baby killed, thus fulfilling Jeremiah 31.15) because the time for that had not yet come.   The Messiah had been announced and everyone still had to wait a bit.

Dad-dy!

One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her son into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?” The mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. “I can’t dear,” she said. “I have to sleep in Daddy’s room.” A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: “The big sissy.”

Things You Shall Do

Things You Shall Do

God speaks to his people through the prophet Zechariah, telling them the good HE is going to bring to Judah and Jerusalem.  In chapter 14, verses 16-17, He also reminds them of the attitudes and actions He expects of them, by saying ‘These are the things that you shall do:

–          Speak the truth to one another

–          Render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace

–          Do not devise evil in your hearts against one another

–          Love no false oath

God makes it clear that He hates lying, injustice, wickedness, and cheating.

More History Test Answers

See 11/16/13 for prior Hystor-ical answers

Julius Caesar extinguished himself on the battlefields of Gaul. The Ides of March murdered him because they thought he was going to be made king. Dying, he gasped out: “Tee hee, Brutus.”

Joan of Arc was burnt to a steak and was canonized by Bernard Shaw.

Queen Elizabeth was the “Virgin Queen.” As a queen she was a success. When she exposed herself before her troops they all shouted “hurrah.”

It was an age of great inventions and discoveries. Gutenberg invented removable type and the Bible. Another important invention was the circulation of blood.

SirWalter Raleigh is a historical figure because he invented cigarettes and started smoking. Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper.

Shakespeare was born in the year 1564, supposedly on his birthday. He never made much money and is famous only because of his plays. He wrote tragedies, comedies, and hysterectomies and  Islamic pentameter. Romeo and Juliet are an example of a heroic couple.  Romeo’s last wish was to be laid by Juliet.

Writing at the same time as Shakespeare was Miguel Cervantes. He wrote Donkey Hote. The next great author was John Milton. Milton wrote Paradise Lost. Then his wife died and he wrote Paradise Regained.