Friday Funnies – Polar Vortex

Posted on January 10, 2014 by Lynn

For people who experienced the Polar Vortex all across Canada and especially along the Eastern seaboard, I’m sure they saw nothing particularly funny about the wind, snow, ice and power failures.  That said, Canadians are a hearty bunch and we actually do get the meaning of “hunkering down” and don’t even take it as an insult!  In fact, people are ordering their “hunker down” certificates by the dozens!  So for those who can say they experienced the polar vortex (polar cyclone, polar low, or circumpolar whirl  as Wikipedia defines it) and can still smile at Canada’s unpredictable weather, here are some funnies just for you!  Oh, and for those who are still under the delusion that there is Global Warming…well, it ain’t happenin’ here in Canada!

Polar Vortex

meanwhile-in-canada 2

cold-oprah

Colder than Mars

1601284_614910459156_1405090718_n

canadian-winter-occupation

snowman-2012

Meanwhile in Canada Garbage

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25 Encouraging Scripture Verses for Every Day

Posted on January 8, 2014 by Lynn

Do you need some encouragement TODAY?  These are some of the most encouraging promises of God – daily spiritual food, for daily spiritual nourishment!  I challenge you to commit them to memory, to read them in context and impress them on your hearts.  Talk about them with your family, with your children and grandchildren and let the Word of God impact your life!

John 3:16-17  “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

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.”

1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.”

Romans 5:8  “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 14:27  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” 

Philippians 4:6-7  “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

John 6:47  “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.”

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.”

Psalm 23:5-6  “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Romans 8:37-39  “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 4:13-14  “Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 

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

Galatians 2:20  “ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  “Rejoice always,  pray continually,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 8:28  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

Matthew 7:7  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” 

Psalms 30:5  “For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”

Matthew 11:28-29 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

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.”

Matthew 6:24-25  “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.  Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”

1 John 4:7  “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

John 15:9-17  “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.  If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.  My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.  This is my command: Love each other.”

Mark 12:28-30  “ One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”   “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 

Philippians 4:8  “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

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.™

 

 

 

 

 

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A New Year’s Rant

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Lynn

imagesHLE81U44I thought I would get it out of my system…start the New Year off by ranting about a few things that have actually bugged me for years.  Now before you immediately berate me for being a Christian and feeling the need to rant at all, I like the way that John Piper stated it:

“The fact that Christians are exiles on the earth (1 Peter 2:11), does not mean that they don’t care what becomes of culture. But it does mean that they exert their influence as very happy, brokenhearted outsiders. We are exiles. “Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20). “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Hebrews 13:14)….”But Christian exiles are not passive. We do not smirk at the misery or the merrymaking of immoral culture. We weep. Or we should. This is my main point: being exiles does not mean being cynical. It does not mean being indifferent or uninvolved. The salt of the earth does not mock rotting meat. Where it can, it saves and seasons. And where it can’t, it weeps. And the light of the world does not withdraw, saying “good riddance” to godless darkness. It labors to illuminate. But not dominate….”The greatness of Christian exiles is not success but service. Whether we win or lose, we witness to the way of truth and beauty and joy. We don’t own culture, and we don’t rule it. We serve it with brokenhearted joy and longsuffering mercy, for the good of man and the glory of Jesus Christ.” By John Piper. ©2013 Desiring God Foundation. Website: desiringGod.org

A friend said to me the other day remember to speak with Truth and Grace.  You cannot do one without the other.  So here goes, just a few pet peeves of mine that I feel the need to rant about.

To all those who will sing the National Anthem at a sporting event this year: LEARN THE LYRICS first!  Nothing is more embarrassing for the home team or for the fans to have some individual belt out the wrong rendition of O’Canada or the Star Spangled Banner…and whatever you do don’t try to combine them…it doesn’t work!!

To those fans and players at sporting events who think it’s perfectly okay to scream obscenities at officials or players…think again.  There are children in the crowd or watching on T.V.  They learn sportsmanship from adults and they mimic what they see adults do.  Monkey see, monkey do applies here.  If you want your children to not turn out to be little monkeys, stop acting like boorish orangutans in the stands or on the playing fields or ice arenas.

I am sick and tired of hearing young people swear.  Actually I am sick and tired of hearing profanities spewed by anyone constantly in public, on buses, in the mall, and on the large and small screen.  There is no need for obscenities.  I’m tired of having my ears assaulted with swear words when I’m watching a movie or watching T.V.  I’m upset when I hear a great song on the radio and then when I download a song for my listening pleasure, the lyrics are filled with expletives.  Radio stations are luring people to buy albums by cleaning up the content first before taking to the airwaves.  If it has to be censored before being played on the radio, don’t play it.

I am absolutely fed up with weaving around cigarette butts thrown onto the ground.  It is disgusting.  If you smoke, please avail yourselves of the ashtrays and receptacles meant for disposing of cigarette butts.  Also, those of you who feel the need to throw cigarettes and cigars out windows of cars:  FOR SHAME!  Having witnessed first-hand a devastating grassfire caused by one carelessly tossed cigarette, smokers need to be held more accountable for damage caused and for fire-fighting costs.  A fire tax perhaps?

If you ski, or snowboard, stay within the boundaries.  To those daredevils who want to stray outside the ski hill boundaries and set off an avalanche, or get lost or injured, all costs of rescue should be incurred by the individual or the family of the individual.  Same holds true for those who decide it’s a good idea to drink and drive.  Not only should there be mandatory jail time, loss of license and probation but there should be hefty financial compensation awarded to victims and families of victims that the drunk driver must pay.  There must be stiffer penalties so people will think twice about drinking and driving.  Prevention is best but if a tragedy occurs there should also be systems in place to counsel families who are grieving on BOTH sides.

Politicians…you’re supposed to represent the people.  If you break the laws of the land…like smoking crack, or exposing yourself online, or spending money that was never yours to spend…resign.  Don’t run again for public office.  You would think that would be a given but apparently Rob Ford in Toronto doesn’t seem to get it.  I am already cringing at the jokes that will be leveled at him and at the good city he is supposed to represent and at our country for allowing such silliness.  What a sham!

Lastly, this is directed to those Christians who may say “Amen” to everything I’ve ranted about so far, but may balk at what I will say next…”remove that plank from your eye”…

Jesus called for us (His Church) to conduct ourselves in manners radically different inside and outside of the church walls.  Don’t look for what your church can do for you but what you can do for your church! (to paraphrase a famous Kennedy speech 🙂 )  Are you complaining about the preaching, the teaching, the music, the mission, the youth program?  Are you looking for a church that will meet YOUR needs rather than serve the church in helping others meet theirs?  You’ve got the concept of church wrong people!  We’re to give ourselves away, in love, in ministry, in service.  Want to change the church?  Change yourselves first.

I’m done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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