I’m No April Fool!

Posted on April 1, 2016 by Lynn

It is no secret that I am NOT a fan of April Fools’ Day.  In fact, I don’t really care for practical jokes at any time of the year.  I suppose it 1459274939738stems from the first time I was pranked, bullied was a more accurate description in high school, when older girls thought it funny to pick me up and throw me into a large garbage can on April Fools’ Day.  They may have thought it hilarious…I did not!  Then, my first year teaching in a public junior high school a boy, who for approximately 10 seconds lost all sense of rational thought about the consequences of his actions on April Fools’ Day, decided to drop a raw egg on my head when he walked by me.  Although he towered over me, he cowered as I “explained” the seriousness of what he had just done and the principal backed me up later.  Let’s just say no one was laughing then.

Today I received an email sent to me from someone claiming to be from the Apple iTunes Store.  It was a copy of a receipt for close to $150.00 claiming I had purchased movie rentals from Apple and they were confirming my purchase.  “Issues with this transaction?” it read,”Click the link below to get a full refund.”  Well, obviously I had all kinds of problems with that kind of purchase but I refused to click on the link and immediately called the good folks at Apple Support.  Sure enough this is considered a “phishing” scam.  Ne’er-do-wells who get people panicked about a large charge on a credit card and then when an unwary person reacts by clicking the link, they have ways to access your personal information.  Luckily, I’ve just taught an intensive course on online safety to my Grade Sixes over the past few months so I consider myself pretty savvy about this type of stuff.  Still, it got my heart racing.  I despise online hoaxes and people who nefariously look for “easy” targets online.  I may not have fallen for their trickery, but there are bound to be others who will fall for the ruse.

So on this April Fools’ Day, I just want to impart a bit of wisdom to those who spend time online but may be vulnerable when it comes to online safety.  Here are some online safety tips so you won’t be played the fool today or ANY day!

  1. Ensure you have the latest security software for your computer.
  2. Secure your accounts by having long passwords with a combination of capital and lowercase letters , numbers and symbols.  (I know it’s a pain to remember passwords, so if you’re like me and constantly forgetting passwords, write them down on a piece of paper and file it away from your computer.)
  3. Unique accounts need unique passwords.  (Don’t use the same password for every one of your online accounts!)  Change them all periodically as well.
  4. Ensure that your online presence is also secure especially on social networking.  Set your privacy settings so that you control who sees what about you on Facebook, Instagram etc.  Remember that everything you share online has the potential to be seen by anyone if you don’t control your privacy settings.
  5. Links in email, tweets, posts and online advertising are often the ways cybercriminals compromise your computer. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source, it’s best to delete it.  If in doubt, throw it out!
  6. When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security-enabled. Look for web addresses with “https://,” which means the site takes extra measures to help secure your information. “Http://” is not secure.
  7. Be a smart shopper online.  Be wary of communications that implores you to act immediately, offers something that sounds too good to be true or asks for personal information.  NEVER give out personal information or send money to a company or someone online without verifying the legitimacy of the source.  Remember: “the enemy prowls around like a hungry lion, waiting to devour.”  (1 Peter 5:8)
  8. Cyberbullying is a crime!  Do not post anything online about someone that you would not want posted online about you!  It’s the “Golden Rule” of the Internet!
  9. Back up your computer regularly and if your computer “dies”, as they all do within a few years of purchase, right :), remove your hard drive before recycling your old computer.  (We dismantle the hard drive ourselves after we’ve backed up any content we want to save and scrap the metal.)
  10. I can’t help but think of Matthew 10:16 whenever I am online: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”  Be wise, and stay safe!
Posted in Proverbs 16:9 - Journey Thoughts, Teach on, Teacher! | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

25 Encouraging Bible Verses to Give You Hope

Posted on March 31, 2016 by Lynn

InChristAloneWeb_1024x1024Does the world seem like it is spinning off its axis?  So many things seem so out of control.  People seem more and more stressed and depressed because they feel abandoned, alienated, misunderstood, uninspired, powerless, bleak about world events, and have a sense of hopelessness about everything around them.  Christians are not immune to feeling helpless about circumstances that seem to be spiraling wildly about them but we should never experience hopelessness.  Our “hope” is not found in the world, or in its people, our Hope is found in Jesus Christ!

2 Corinthians 4:16-18  “ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

Proverbs 24:14  “Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”

Psalm 27:4-5  “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.  For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.”

Job 11:18-19  “You will be secure, because there is hope; you will look about you and take your rest in safety.  You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid, and many will court your favor.”

Job 13:15   “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.”

Jeremiah 29:11  “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Titus 3:4-7   “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Romans 5:1-5   “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

Romans 8:24-25  “ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have?  But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Romans 12:12  “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 15:13  “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Hebrews 11:1  “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Psalm 3:2-6  “Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” But you, Lord, are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head high.  I call out to the Lord, and he answers me from his holy mountain.  I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.  I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.”

1 Corinthians 15:54-58  “When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory?  Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

1 Peter 1:3-6  “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.”

Psalm 147:11  “the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”

Proverbs 13:12  “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”

Deuteronomy 31:6  “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Isaiah 41:10  “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Psalm 39:7  “But now, Lord, what do I look for?  My hope is in you.”

Psalm 71:14  “As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.”

1 Peter 3:15  “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

Romans 15:4  “ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.”

Daniel 2:44  “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.”

Revelation 21:3-5  “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.  ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 

“My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.  I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus’ name!”  

 

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Posted in 25 Encouraging Bible Verses - Topical | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Have You Experienced Easter?

Posted on March 24, 2016 by Lynn

I am so very fortunate to work in a Christian School where we can proclaim the Good News of Jesus and have meaningful encounters with the living God within the boundaries of a school setting.  Most recently, we celebrated the true meaning of Easter in a solemn chapel that students from junior kindergarten to grade six attended.  Our students love going to chapels each week during the school year, but admittedly when 300 children get together in a gymnasium there are times when they are, shall we say, a little more spirited, squirmy, talkative, etc., etc., etc.  As a teacher, my job is to temper their spirited natures somehow so they will sit quietly and behave appropriately during that time.  It is not always an easy thing.  However, at this Easter Chapel, although I did prep my grade sixes a little beforehand about sitting still etc., I knew the moment I walked into that gym, that there was a peacefulness amongst the children I had not seen before.

Soft lighting and soft music permeated the room, giving off an atmosphere of peace as well.

A wooden cross was at the front of the auditorium with baskets at the foot of it.  Each student had been asked to write their “burdens”, prayers and anything they wanted to share or confess to the Lord on little pieces of paper.  Then at the end of chapel, they were to place their slips of paper in the baskets.

One of my colleagues read the biblical account of the Passion Week, the crucifixion and resurrection, and every student sat silently and respectfully listening.  Then another teacher read a story I had not heard before and I, along with everyone else in the room, was mesmerized by the immediate personal application this story had with the biblical account just read.  It was a story written by Joshua Harris, author of I Kissed Dating Goodbye.   Harris said he wrote it as the result of a dream he had while in Puerto Rico for the 1995 Billy Graham Crusade.

I looked around that auditorium full of youngsters and knew that each of them had just “experienced Easter”.

We have a tradition of participating in Good Friday and Easter Sunday services and we also gather as a family to watch several of the “classic” movies that are shown during the Easter season: Ben Hur, The Robe, The Passion of the Christ to name a few.  I will be adding this video to my Easter watching as well.  I hope you will too.

 

 

 

 

 

Posted in Proverbs 16:9 - Journey Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment