Let it Snow , Let it Snow!

I am sitting here watching the forcast for tomorrow and it looks like snow is a sure thing. I start work at 7 and only have about a 20 mile drive to work. The weather man is forcasting 6 to 10 inches starting at midnight and lasting until 2 in the afternoon. So what time will I need to leave in the morning to get to work on time? I think I will get up an hour earlier and try to leave by 5:15. Hopefully it will not take me very long to clean off my car and dig myself out of the driveway. It is times like this I wish we had a garage and a four wheel drive vehicle.Thought I would post a picture of Benita filling her bird feeder during our last snow storm.

How Big is Our Earth?

I am teaching tonight on the Triune God. I am hoping to use this as an illustration to show how big God's creation is. If I can not show it I will have to ask the class to view my blog to see it.

The Size of our World???

Anagrams with my Own Definitions

An anagram is two or more words formed from the same set of letters. Like GOD and DOG both are made from the letters D - G - O . A while back I was studying some anagrams for my scrabble addiction and came up with my own definitions by defining the two words together. Here are a few of my favorites.

GIMPY PIGMY (short limp)

SPIKING PIGSKIN (What football players do after scoring a touchdown)

SLIPCASE SPECIALS (two for a dollar)

MACRO CAROM (huge rebound)

CHIEF FICHE (head of microfilm department)

LAMED MEDAL (hebrew award)

COMBO COOMB (jazz band playing in a narrow valley )

OUTSLEEP EELPOUTS (fish don’t sleep do they?)

BACKCAST SCATBACK (a fishing football player)

BACKWARD DRAWBACK (e c n a r d n i h )

HALFBACKS FLASHBACK (a football player remembers)

Ask the Geese

I received this slide show in an email from a friend of mine at work. It is about the lessons we can learn fron geese. Of course Benita has already forwarded it to several people because of the bird content.I have included the link to this slide show for you to enjoy.
http://www.slideshare.net/guest784303/ask-the-geese

Fool Prove Way to Lose Weight

A Drop in the Bucket

I was recently talking to someone about the many sayings we use or hear in the English language that have their origen in the King James Bible. This discussion took place after my friend used the phrase "a drop in the bucket". I had been reading Isaiah chapter 40 that morning and I came across that very phrase. That prompted me to see how many other sayings trace their beginnings from the Bible. I did a google search and came up with an interesting web site called "The Phrase Finders". I decided to cut and paste a page of the site into this post. I will also post the link to this web site at the end of my post.

The King James Version of the Bible has been enormously influential in the development of the English language. It ranks with the complete works of Shakespeare and the Oxford English Dictionary as one of the cornerstones of the recorded language. After Shakespeare, the King James, or Authorized, Version of the Bible is the most common source of phrases in English. The King James in question was James I of England and James VI of Scotland. He didn't write the text of course, he merely authorized it, hence the name that the book is best known in the UK (King James Version , or KJV, being more commonly used in the USA).

The King James Version was translated by 47 biblical scholars, working in six committees. It was first printed in 1611 and was by no means the earliest English translation of the Bible. It was pre-dated by several other partial or complete translations, notably John Wyclif's translation in 1382 and William Tyndale's in 1528 - the latter forming the basis of a large proportion of the KJV.

What raises that version above other versions of the Bible in terms of its linguistic impact is the fact that the language used has persisted into the present-day. Many of the phrases used are still commonplace. Here are some of the many phrases that originated in the Bible (most, but not all from the King James Version):

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A drop in the bucket
A man after his own heart
A multitude of sins
A thorn in the flesh
All things must pass
All things to all men
Am I my brother's keeper?
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
As old as Methuselah
As old as the hills
As you sow so shall you reap
Ashes to ashes dust to dust
At his wits end
Beat swords into ploughshares
Bite the dust
Blessed are the peacemakers
Born again
By the skin of your teeth
Can a leopard change its spots?
Coat of many colours
Eat drink and be merry
Faith will move mountains
Fall from grace
Fight the good fight
Flesh and blood
For everything there is a season
Forbidden fruit
Forgive them for they know not what they do
From strength to strength
Get thee behind me Satan
Give up the ghost
Good Samaritan
How are the mighty fallen
In the beginning was the word
It's better to give than to receive
Lamb to the slaughter
Let not the sun go down on your wrath
Let there be light
Living off the fat of the land
Love of money is the root of all evil -The
Love thy neighbour as thyself
Man does not live by bread alone
Many are called but few are chosen
My cup runneth over
No rest for the wicked
O ye, of little faith
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
Physician heal thyself
Sour grapes
Spare the rod and spoil the child
The apple of his eye
The blind leading the blind
The bread of life
The fly in the ointment
The fruits of your loins
The powers that be
The root of the matter
The salt of the earth
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
The wages of sin is death
The writing is on the wall
Thou shalt not kill
Three score and ten
To cast the first stone
What God has joined together let no man put asunder
Woe is me

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bible-phrases-sayings.html

Hulkamania

My son Jared has been a fan of the WWE (formerly WWF) since he was a kid. I would watch it with him then and enjoyed many of the colorful characters. I do not watch it much anymore for reasons I will not go into(Even though my brother, Tim and I attended Wrestlemania, I forget what number, at Ford Field year before last.) Jared was into Hulk-a-mania back when Hulk Hogan was the big draw of the WWF. Some of you may know that Hulk has his own reality T.V. show now and that he and his family live in Clearwater, Florida ,the same place Jared lives.
A couple of years ago Jared got a call from a friend who told him that she had spotted Hulk shopping at the Target right by his apartment. Jared jumped in his car and took off to see if he could catch a glimpse of his boyhood idol. When Jared arrived he found Hulk sitting at the check-out line waiting for his wife who had two shopping carts full of stuff to pay for. Jared pulled out his camera phone and asked Mr. Hogan if he could take his picture. Hulk said "Go ahead brother", and Jared snapped the picture. Jared sent the picture to me and now I am posting it at the bottom of the page for you to see. I chuckle everytime I look at this picture and think of the story behind it.

"Amazing Grace" Preview

I found this link to a preview to the movie "Amazing Grace". It will give you a good idea of what the film is like. This is available on DVD now.

http://www.amazinggracemovie.com/

Amazing Grace

Someone sent me a link to this video several months ago. I went to Youtube and looked it up and was surprised to see that it has been viewed over 2 million times on that site.
Benita and I recently watched the movie called "Amazing Grace". It is a movie about the life of William Wilberforce. He was one of the leading English abolitionists, heading the parliamentary campaign against the British slave trade, which he saw through to the eventual passage of the Slave Trade Act in 1807. Also in the film Wilberforce seeks advise from John Newton, the writer of the words to the song "Amazing Grace". I highly recommend the movie, but if you are like me you may have to listen to it closely. I had a hard time understanding the English accents.

Amazing Grace - Wintley Phipps

My Mom

It is hard to believe it has been over 31 years since my Mom died. She died of what was later discovered to be a brain tumor. I still miss her very much and look forward to the day I will be reunited with her in Heaven. I thought I would post a few pictures in her memory.The first one is a picture of her while still in her teens. The second one is a family picture taken less than a year before she died. Also in the picture beside the long haired guy, (yes that is me),is my sister Peggy and her first husband Terry, My sister Kim and Brother Tim, and my step dad, Eddie. I know it looks like a picture out of that "70's Show".

Turning 40

No not me! We attended a friend of ours 40th birthday party on Friday. It was a nice party with some great food. In honor of our friend, Janet, I decided to post a video clip of Mark Lowery and Bill Gaither on turning 40. Mark is a singer and comedian who graduated from Liberty University the same year I graduated. A few years later he was a guest of the church I pastored in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Hope this brings a smile to your face on this snowy, winter day here in Michigan.

Mark Lowery

Scrabble Time

As some of you know I play tournament scrabble. I have been competing for over six years now and have played 546 rated games. I only need 3 more wins to reach 300. I have enjoyed playing board games as far back as I can remember. I played scrabble off and on over the years but did not find out about the tournament part of scrabble until 1999. That year while working on a long boilermaker job my fellow-worker Danny Kidd asked me to play during our lunch breaks. He taught me much about the game during those times and prepared me for tournament scrabble. I learned the importance of knowing all the 2 and 3 letter words, tracking the tiles to help know what tiles are left toward the end of the game, playing with a clock, and most importantly the advantage of knowing as many 7 and 8 letters words as possible for bingoes. A bingo is when you use all seven of the letters on your rack and earn a 50 point bonus. Danny and I probably played 600 or more games during our time on that job. Today Danny is still one of my favorite people to play during tournaments. We have a great time and enjoy trash talking with each other as we play. Below,I have added a picture of the board of one of my favorite games with him.I needed a bingo on the last word to win and found the word NAVIGATE using the N already on the board. You may also want to look and see if you can find the two Phonies (a word played that is not in the scrabble dictionary but that was not challenged off by the opponent)on the board.

Another Time Another Place

Thought I would post another of my old favorites . Two good friends of ours from a past church used to sing this song together. I always loved when Matt and Karen would sing this song at Woodhaven Bible Church. Now, Wayne Watson was never one of my favorite singers, but he does a good job singing this duet with Sandy Patty. Lord Bless

Another Time Another Place

Stuart Townend

I have talked about Keith Getty before and his part in writing the music for several modern hymns.I have not mentioned Stuart Townend. Stuart is responsible for the lyrics to several of the Getty songs. "In Christ Alone" and "The Power of the Cross" are two of these songs. Below is a Video of Stuart Townend leading the singing of the latter song in a church worship service. I personally like the Getty versions of these songs better, but thought I would give Mr. Townend the credit he deserves for writing such powerful lyrics. Which version of this song do you like best?

Power of the Cross Video

I Love some of the old songs

Today I ran across an old song that I had not heard in many years. I first heard this song at College in Lynchburg Virginia when Sandy Patty sang at one of our services. Our services were shown on T.V. back then and I was able to tape it with my first video recorder. It was a beta machine that cost me 600 dollars used. Benita and I played that song many times on our recorder and were blessed every time we watched it. Watching the video today it is hard to believe some 25 years have come and gone, but that song still tugs at my heart even today. I could not help but think of my friend Jim, whose Dad passed away last night after a long bout with cancer.Jim's Dad was a believer and I envy what he is experiencing right now. I long for the day when I will see Jesus face to face in all His Glory!! May this video be a blessing to each of you who watch it.

We Shall Behold Him

Some things don't make sense to me.

Well we are back in beautiful Michigan after our trip to Florida. This weekend here is supposed to bring lows down toward the zero mark. BRRRRR. Now as I am writing this Jared and Melisa are in a church van traveling 11 hours from Tampa to North Carolina for a youth group ski trip they are helping to lead. Now, why would anyone want to leave the warm climate of Florida to travel where it is cold enough to go snow sking? It makes more sense to me to find a nice lake in Florida and go water sking all weekend! Oh, well I guess I just don't understand young people anymore.

Cletus take the Reel

Youtube Parody

The last few months I have discovered Youtube. It is amazing what videos you can find there.Our friends the Castles recently told me about a guy who does parody songs. I looked him up on Youtube and found some pretty funny stuff he does.I thought I would put one of our favorites on the blog. The song is a parody of the country song "Jesus take the Wheel" by former American Idol winner Carrie Underwood. It is called "Cletus Take the Reel". Enjoy.

Time to go back home

Well our time with Jared and Melisa is coming to an end. We have had a nice time but we are looking forward to getting home and getting back to a normal schedule. Mike will probably start a new boilermaker job on Monday. It is one we have been praying for and will be 40 hours a week for a few months. We think it might be a little cooler when we get home tonight!ha

Saturday evening on the Gulf

Benita took this picture yesterday at Clearwater beach. It may be our last sunset as the weather has changed and it as been cooler and overcast all day. We can not complain though as we have had great weather every day we have been here.

Honey Moon Island

Well Benita found another favorite place down here today. We went to Honey Moon Island, about 10 miles from Jared and Melisa's. We saw lots of Osprey, several Falcons,an American Oyster Catcher, and various other birds. But above all of these Benita was most excited to see her first Armadillo! She got a close up picture of it as it was not bothered by our presence at all. This is a place we will go back to in the future. How did it get a name like Honey Moon Island? You will have to go to their web site to find out.

http://www.floridastateparks.org/honeymoonisland/

Beautiful Day in Clearwater

Left rainy Michigan this morning and arrived in Sunny Florida by 1 o'clock. For dinner went down to one of our favorite places to eat down on the beach. The Palm Pavilion is known for its grouper sandwiches. After our daily trip to Target we all came back home for a relaxing evening. (Except for Jared's playing drums in the video game called Rock Band.)I think he will stick with his day job as a teacher!

In Christ Alone - The Gettys

The Power of the Cross - The Gettys

Long Time no Writing! Tomorrow Benita and I leave balmy Michigan (62 degrees new record!) for balmier Florida (forcast in the 80's). We got a great deal on tickets (38 dollars round trip for each of us) and we will be staying a week. Looking forward to seeing Jared and Melisa as we will stay with them in their new home.Hope to post a few new pictures soon.