Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Abandoned Post??!!

I saw a guy wearing this t-shirt:

I almost stopped and told him to get back ON-DUTY! But I didn't, but now I am going to do it. Brace yourself, here comes a rant! There are just too many dads who do exactly this, they are off-duty all or most of the time. What we need instead are more men with the kind of hands that are described in the song "Daddy's Hands".

I remember Daddy´s hands, folded silently in prayer.
And reaching out to hold me, when I had a nightmare.
You could read quite a story, in the callouses and lines.
Years of work and worry had left their mark behind. 
I remember Daddy´s hands, how they held my Mama tight,
And patted my back, for something done right.
There are things that I´ve forgotten, that I loved about the man,
But I´ll always remember the love in Daddy´s hands.

Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin´.
Daddy´s hands, were hard as steel when I´d done wrong.
Daddy´s hands, weren´t always gentle 
But I´ve come to understand.
There was always love in Daddy´s hands.

I remember Daddy´s hands, working 'til they bled.
Sacrificed unselfishly, just to keep us all fed.
If I could do things over, I´d live my life again.
And never take for granted the love in Daddy´s hands.

Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin´.
Daddy´s hands, were hard as steel when I´d done wrong.
Daddy´s hands, weren´t always gentle 
But I´ve come to understand.
There was always love in Daddy´s hands.

Daddy's hands were soft and kind when I was cryin´.
Daddy´s hands, were hard as steel when I´d done wrong.
Daddy´s hands, weren´t always gentle 
But I´ve come to understand.
There was always love .....
In Daddy´s hands.

~Holly Dunn

Dad, take a moment and look at your hands...is there love?






Friday, August 8, 2014

Just reading the news

I was reading the news today...

Revelations 6 
Now I watched when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice like thunder, “Come!” 2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse! And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer.
3 When he opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”4 And out came another horse, bright red. Its rider was permitted to take peace from the earth, so that people should slay one another, and he was given a great sword.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Bridge to Nowhere

Some pictures of the Kinzua Bridge

This past weekend my sister and her family paid us a visit. To entertain everyone we braved the rain and went to the Kinzua Bridge...well it's not exactly a bridge anymore. By the time we got there the rain stopped and we had a nice evening.



See. Bridge to nowhere.
In July of 2003 a tornado destroyed part of the bridge. A few years ago they built a lookout at the end of the remaining structure.

Very Scenic


Find any loose boards?

We discovered that the windows are slippery when wet. :)

Smile.

These 2 cousins don't get to spend a lot of time together.

At almost 300' you get quite a view especially when the leaves are nice.

Do you see what I see?

Kind of accidentally got a good shot.



We hiked down to the creek that flows through the valley and Oh what a tiring time we had hiking back up.




I think it's neat how the structure was preserved despite nature's destruction.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Step Right Up for the Carnival

Our 3rd annual carnival

Guest blog by Autumn (10)

(Editor's note: The neighborhood children created a carnival out of their own ingenuity. This year was their 3rd try at it and despite the weather it went quite well.)

2 years ago we children decided we wanted to do a carnival of our own. It has gotten bigger and bigger. Last year we had 15 this year we had over 20. Anyway, I thought I would share some stuff that we did.


Here is a very small part of us rushing around before the carnival.
We had a lot of stuff and not enough staff, so we were really rushing.

Party in full swing!

This is one of the booths: The Animal Balloon Stand

Here is the goldfish game. You got to flip over a card for every ticket. If you flipped over a card with a bug sticker on it you got a small prize, and if you got one with a goldfish sticker, you got a real goldfish. We ended up giving them all away.
                                                           Not sure what she's doing.

                                           Here is the food booth. We got an endless line and I had to bend over the                                                                                 whole time:(

                                       
Here is the sign for the booth. You guessed it. We ran out of popcorn. We had a little problem. The snow cones were not the fastest things to make so they had to wait for their order a while especially if they ordered corn dogs. We had to microwave them.

Here was one of our biggest hits: The Claw Machine

Thursday, July 24, 2014

So...What was so important again?

As I was going to sleep the other night I got to thinking about what was really important in life. For one reason or another my life could be completely turned upside-down in a moment. Airplanes crash (or get shot down), cars crash, terminal illnesses happen, and all manner of freak accidents can happen at the most inopportune times. So if something were to happen to me tomorrow, which of my agenda items should not be left undone and which ones have so little value that there's no need to fret about them? Here is what I came up with:

  • The bugs that need to be fixed for Customer A...someone else could possibly figure it out so, no.
  • The project for Customer B that they have been waiting for over 2 months to receive...hey, what's another month or 2.
  • Cutting, hauling, splitting, and stacking the firewood pile for the winter? Not really, we do have gas heat too.
  • The dent in the back of the van? Um, no.
  • Mowing the grass? Someone else could do it.
  • Teaching my daughter how to ride her bike? ... Probably--and we all know it has little to do with riding a bike.
  • Playing catch with my son? ...quite possibly
  • Finishing the remodeling project in my house? ...well, that might depend on who you ask.
  • Helping someone remove viruses from their computer during dinner time? Hey, you can always do a factory restore :) What pictures?
  • Tell my wife, "I love you"? ...I believe this would certainly count as important.
  • Telling my children that I love them? ...ditto
  • Spending time with the neighbor children who think my backyard is a park? ...this should probably go on the list.
  • Knowing where I will spend eternity after I die? ...The "rich man" in Luke 16:19-31 seemed to think it was pretty important after experiencing the reality of it.
What's on your list?

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Well, we went...


...to the Creation Museum

We Drove...

You know what? Big vans are nice for long trips even though we don't have it packed out.

Of course if you put some business in the trip you can deduct a few miles :) so we stopped by Premier Metals to say "hi" to Lamar and John.
Premier Metals in Sugarcreek OH.

Cool Office...wonder if they rent any space.
You would have no problem giving directions, just look for the big basket.

We saw!

Wow! Wonder if he ever brushes?
Can we take this home for a pet?

AHHHHHHH! IT'S ALIVE!

I couldn't get anyone to stand next to this display with their mouth open...

Their newest display!

Children in Africa tie strings to the legs of Goliath beetles similar to these and let them fly around like remote control helicopters.

We had lunch too..

We Stayed.

I really liked this shot. They are watching the colt getting breakfast.


We had fun...

Brent got the cheaper ride.



My, it was a tiring day.

Refreshed and ready to roll!

Wait, who brought him?

So what is the Creation Museum?

The Creation Museum is a museum dedicated to the research on how the Biblical account of creation, found in Genesis chapters 1-3, is scientifically viable. Often times the Biblical account is ridiculed for lacking evidence to back it up. I don't want to spoil your potential trip so I won't attempt to recount all the arguments here suffice to say that there are plenty of facts illustrated in the museum to place significant doubt in the *theory* of evolution and good backing of creation. I would definitely recommend planning a trip or watching the "Unlocking the Mysteries of Genesis" from Institute for Creation Research.

Thoughts on our trip

I found this trip to be considerably pricey for a family of 7, even though the children were free (through the end of 2014) my total ticket bill was still over $100 especially since we purchased tickets to the planetarium. I regretted not taking in Ken Ham's speech, it sounded like a good one but it was really bad timing. The speech was scheduled to last 60 minutes and the children had just been sitting for over 2 hours on our ride to the museum. We didn't get to spend time in the petting zoo because it started to rain. We discussed going on the zip lines (which looked like a lot of fun) however at $29 for the cheapest run, and so I decided that we had spent enough already.

If you can afford to spend 2 days on site that would be perfect. The tickets are good for 2 consecutive days so if you have the time and money, that's the best way to go. I want to go back when the ark encounter is finished.

Were you there? What was your favorite part?

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Community Evangelism


I decided to post my (abbreviated) notes from today's Sunday School lesson. The lesson text is taken from 1 Thessalonians chapter 2.

Introduction
Paul and Silas visited Thessalonica on their first missionary journey and they got run out before they were ready to leave and in this letter they are checking up on the good folks of Thessalonica. In the last lesson (chapter 1), Paul greets and blesses the Thessalonians. In this chapter, Paul explains his attitude and that of his team which appears to have consisted of several people. At the very least Silas and Timothy and possibly Luke were traveling with Paul at this time.

Paul gives a number of tips on how to be an effective missionary in a new town.
  • It may require suffering. Verse 2 and see Matthew 5:10-12 
  • Bold in declaring truth despite contention. Verse 2 and see Matthew 28:18-20 
  • Preach Gospel not out of deceit, uncleanness, or guile (sly or cunning intelligence). Paul didn't come and try to trick the people into believing. Instead (verse 4) they spoke the Gospel in an attempt to please God. 
  • Speaking (did not live as the silent in the land) the Gospel in a way pleasing to God. Verse 4 and see Romans 10:14-15. 
  • Not flattering. Verse 5 and see Romans 16:17-18 
  • Not out of covetousness (other missionaries perhaps) Verse 5. 
  • Not seeking glory for being a missionary. Verse 6. 
  • Not burdening the people we are trying to reach by making them support us. Verse 6. This goes along with verse 9. 
  • Gentle as a nurse to her children...what kind of gentleness is that? Verse 7. 
  • Loving the people. Verse 8. How can you explain the Gospel to people you are prejudiced against? 
  • Gave of their lives to the people, not just the Gospel. 
  • Made no profit of the Gospel (money) verse 9. Paul and his team did not live like leeches on the church they were trying to plant. It has been said that our pastors should be fully supported and our missionaries should have to work to provide for themselves. 
  • Lived righteously among the people. Verse 10. Nothing turns people away quicker than a hypocrite. 
  • Paul treated the people as a father should treat his children. Verse 11. 
Success
Because of all these things the people in Thessalonica received the message of the Gospel as the Word of God. Verses 13-14. They also have a bit in common with the churches of Judea because they are suffering at the hands of their countrymen just like the Jewish Christians. With success came opposition.

Paul's final glory and prize comes when Christ returns verse 19.

Conclusion
When I worked in a local factory I was very nervous about how the foreman and bosses saw me working or not working. What if I broke something? One day the Holy Spirit laid something on my heart. If I work to please God, I don't need to worry about what the foreman or boss thinks of my labors because ultimately it is God to whom I will need to answer for my motives and actions ("[He] trieth our hearts" I Thess 2:4). Now you would think that such a calling would place more stress on me, actually it worked just the opposite. I was less stressed about what the foreman thought or saw in me. I was more relaxed and productive. So take into consideration I Thess. 2:4, am I speaking the Gospel as pleasing God or men?

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Oh NO! My Computer has ay-der and wanings reports!

Scammers R Us called me

WARNING!: Please do not let these folks connect to your computer! If you receive a call like this DO NOT let them connect to your computer!

Now enough of the warnings. I got a call from the "Windows Technical Department from Microsoft" (sounds better if you read this with a thick accent) this evening and instead of witnessing to them I was feeling mischievous and decided to record the call. It was UN-believable, my computer had ay-ders on it... say what? I was informed that the ay-ders were some sort of virus and the warnings were corruptions. (I was rolling my eyes) Any computer will have at least a few errors and probably quite a few warnings because, well software is not perfect. Most errors are meaningless and most warnings are benign although us techie types go looking through the error log when there are problems. It's kind of like your Service Engine light in your car...if it's running fine, what's the point. :) There's a motorhead somewhere that is going to send me an informative e-mail about Service Engine lights.




Anyway, there were some good lines in the conversation, for example, click on "OK, or continue or other positive command at the bottom of the screen." Really? For some reason they switched callers part way through, not sure if the Event Viewer was too technical for the first one.

I quit when it was time to connect to my computer. I was not familiar with "Show My PC" and so I was quickly Googling it to see what it is. From what I gathered is that "ShowMyPc" is just another wrapped up VNC service although interestingly enough it is a paid for service. They did not seem to offer a "For Free" version. My guess is that if you could figure out the user if you had all the right info. Also from some quick research I figured out they want to charge you to continue protection on your computer...yeah right!

What really needed to happen would have been for me to relate the good news of the Gospel to these fellows...who knows where they were really calling from perhaps from a country that is closed to the Gospel. But I didn't. How many opportunities do I miss?

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Freedom from Addictions Seminar

Sometimes I find things that I think others should know about (why keep great things a secret?). This time it is a seminar from one of my high school teachers, Frank Reed. He is a wonderful teacher, even as a high school student I always left his class having learned something. A fellow from Shenandoah, PA recorded this seminar and has made it available here.

Brief description from live2serv.com
Are you struggling with an addiction?  Maybe you know someone that is.  In this seminar, we answer the questions: what is an addiction, what are the different types of addiction, and what causes a person to be addictive?  There are many struggling people.  We hosted this seminar to supply answers for the people that are struggling.  God wants you to be free!  It is my desire that you experience God’s freedom!  This Seminar will give you the Biblical answers you need to experience the freedom God wants you to have!   But if you choose to follow these principles, you can have freedom from addictions!
Spencer is using this project to raise money to fund his tuition to Faith Builders Educational Programs. So if you can benefit from this project, make a donation here.