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58156  Fellowship / You name it!! / Re:ELECTRICITY----HELP on: November 09, 2005, 11:23:57 PM
I didn't think about the UPS. You are right though in it's cost. It would be cost prohibitive for most households. In fact most buisnesses cannot afford them for full service uses.

A generator sufficient to run an entire home on for anything other than emergencies would also be very expensive.

58157  Fellowship / You name it!! / Re:ELECTRICITY----HELP on: November 09, 2005, 11:12:48 PM
There is no device available to keep your electricity stable outside of the utility company. There are surge protectors that can be placed in the line just prior to the service box. Usually those are so expensive that most people can't afford to get them. All those do is to protect against the sudden high voltage spikes. They do nothing to stablize power or to boost low power.

If it drops low like that and slowly climbs back up then it is definitely the utility companys fault that your appliances are going out. Does the problem seem to happen more at certain times of the day/night?

58158  Fellowship / You name it!! / Re:ELECTRICITY----HELP on: November 09, 2005, 10:49:46 PM
I worked as a licensed electrician for 15 yrs. I think I can help. Your low voltage system can run as high as 125 to 130 Volts without causing much trouble. The high voltage is using two poles of your electric box thereby the voltage will be approximately double the low voltage (150 to 160 Volts).

What causes your appliances the biggest problem is inconsistant voltage, especially big spikes (a sudden but sometimes brief, large increase). It will especially affect computers that are not surge protected. Another problem is in what is called Hertz. Household electricity runs on approx. 60 Hertz. If this is not fairly constant it cause appliances to run cold or extra hot wearing the parts out prematurely. You can tell if this is the problem by looking at incandesant bulbs. If the bulb looks weak, low in light, and flickers a lot the Hertz are too slow. If they are extra bright and steady the Hertz are to high.


If the utility company has a known problem and that problem is causing your appliances to go bad then they are responsible for repairing or replacing them. Depending on the utility company that may be a big fight to get it done.

58159  Fellowship / Parenting / ACLU slams Barrington schools over banned film on: November 09, 2005, 10:29:27 PM
I decided to post this here instead of in the Political area because it concerns parents with children in the public schools. This movie that the ACLU wants shown in schools has no educational value except to educate our children in things that should not be seen by adults let alone 8th grade children. There is explicit sexual scenes, homosexuality and other such degenerate displays.

I can't, won't give the full article because of the content not being fitting for this forum. Following though is a snip of it so you can get the idea of the situation.

__________________________


BARRINGTON - The Rhode Island Affiliate, American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the Barrington School Department on Friday denouncing its recent decision to ban the film "Dirty Deeds" from ever being shown in local schools.

The letter, written by Rhode Island ACLU Executive Director Steven Brown, stated that "this decision sets a dangerous precedent that does damage to the mission of the public schools in Barrington and seriously erodes the principles underlying the district's instructional material selection policy."

The issue grabbed headlines last month when a pair of Barrington parents, Richard Gamache and Pamela Lowell, filed complaints over the middle school screening of the film, which was co-written by accomplished author and middle school volunteer Jon Land and Barrington High School graduate Jon Thies. The district followed policy and created a review panel, which examined the material involved and issued a finding on Thursday, Nov. 3 — banning the film forever from local schools.

That didn't sit well with the co-writers or the ACLU.

"I was very surprised to see what they had decided," Mr. Brown said. "This type of broad-based censorship doesn't seem to happen much anymore, especially not in a town like Barrington. It's clearly an over-reaction."

The letter from Mr. Brown opened with the following statement: "I am writing to express our organization's extreme disappointment with the school district's decision ... to completely ban the film 'Dirty Deeds' from being shown at any time in any classroom in Barrington."

In the letter, Mr. Brown questions the policy used to decide the banning.

"The ban, we submit, appears to fly in the face of this carefully crafted criterion," he wrote, referring to the review policy. "A decision to completely ban any classroom — whether in sixth grade or twelfth grade — from screening a PG-13 movie clearly fails to undertake the more nuanced consideration that this policy envisions."

The letter also challenges the rationale underlying the judgment because of "the complete secrecy surrounding the decision-making."

In fact, the very little is known about the review process, a point that disturbed Mr. Brown.

"As we understand it, the complaint prompting the review of the film is private, the deliberations of the review committee were done in secret, and the rationale for the decision and documents explaining the decision are not subject to public scrutiny either."

Mr. Brown said he would have thought a film — despite its questionable material — would be used as a shining example of the success of the high school's senior project program, rather than being banned for eternity.

____________________________

Again I strongly urge all parents to insure that you know what your children are being exposed to in the public schools and to take action to let them know (including the ACLU) that you don't want your children being exposed to such.

If the ACLU gets their way then I am more inclined than ever to go along with the S.Baptist convention of incouraging people to take their children out of public schools.


58160  Fellowship / You name it!! / Re:Look out, everyone for airIam2worship...... on: November 09, 2005, 07:44:07 PM
HOW does this topic have 49 pages?


uhhh .....  because it was silly fun ....  

 Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy Cheesy

58161  Entertainment / Politics and Political Issues / Re: ACLU In The News on: November 09, 2005, 04:02:34 PM
'BIBLE LITERACY PROJECT' MAKES A MOCKERY OF BIBLIAL LITERACY
  by MONTANA NEWS ASSOCIATION

/MNA PRESS/ NOV 9, 2005-- The Bible faces a rising onslaught of ridicule, and legal assaults. Its most vocal antagonists include People for the American Way and the ACLU. Why would such opponents applaud a textbook titled, The Bible and Its Influence? Why such support for a revolutionary curriculum published by the Bible Literacy Project?

The answer may lie in the word revolutionary. This new curriculum fits into a set of social and political changes that would try to affect every
American. Joseph Farah, founder of WorldNetDaily, summarized it well in his exposure, of a "political movement" called Communitarianism, "which places the importance of society ahead of the unfettered rights of the individual."

"I still believe in old fashioned freedom" Farah concluded, "In the inalienable rights of the individual and the limited powers of the state, these are concepts at odds with Communitarianism."

General Ben Partin shares that concern. In a recent conversation (11-2-05), he recalled that, "The 1928 Program of Third International calls for disarming the citizenry as a final step in the 'preparatory phase' of a Communist 'War of National Liberation.'" Not surprisingly, the 1991 Communitarian Platform calls for domestic disarmament. What is the difference between "disarming the citizenry" and "domestic disarmament?"

Amitai Etzioni, founder of the Communitarian Network, is a member of Mikhail Gorbachev's World Political Forum. The Forum website introduces Etzioni as "Director of the Institute for Communitarian Policy Studies." Etzioni's agenda fits Gorbachev's modernized Communism well. Dialogue (Marx's dialectic process) is essential to both.

The Bible Literacy Project's textbook illustrates the process. Inviting speculation and new interpretations, it instills new meanings in student's minds:

1. Prompts students to question God's character: "Do you think Adam and Eve received a fair deal as described in Genesis?"

2. Undermines Christianity: "Jesus was also seen as an example of self sacrifice that can be imitated." ... "...find examples of such Christ figures in literature, film or even music."

3. Ridicules Biblical warnings: "You've probably seen cartoon or movie depictions of the prophet of doom, a shaggy bearded individual in ragged robes, ranting from a soapbox..." "Try your hand at doing some apocalyptic writing."

Many people closely involved with the Bible Literacy Project are members of the Communitarian Network and share it's mission. They serve on the Bible Literacy Project Board of Directors and Advisory Board. Some of these are:

Charles Haynes, a contributor to the BLP textbook, speaks both for the Bible Literacy Project and for the Freedom Forum, formerly the Gannett Foundation (the liberal Gannett media). Not only involved with the Communitarian Network, he also serves on the Advisory Board of The Pluralism Project', which includes Margot Adler, a Wiccan priestess. As senior scholar at the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center, Haynes works closely with its lawyer Oliver Thomas, who co-authored "The Right to Religious Liberty," the "basic ACLU Guide."

Os Guinness has worked with Charles Haynes for over 15 years. Quoted by Amitai Etzioni, he is signatory to two Communitarian papers. David Blankenhorn (Board of Directors of BLP), Mary Ann Glendon and Jean Bethke Elstain (Advisory Board of BLP) are also signatories to the Communitarian Platform.

Communitarian ideals sound noble to those who don't remember the terrors of last century's experiments with collectivism. The Bible Literacy Project will spread those ideals and make a mockery of true Biblical literacy.

58162  Entertainment / Politics and Political Issues / Re:ADF, ACLJ, TMLC on: November 09, 2005, 03:53:46 PM

ADF protecting religious liberty internationally, assisting defense of pastor in Sweden
ADF chief counsel at today's Swedish Supreme Court hearing of pastor on trial for speaking his views on homosexual behavior in sermon
Wednesday, November 09, 2005, 12:01 PM (MST)
ADF Media Relations | 480-444-0020

Comments
 


STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Alliance Defense Fund sent its chief counsel to Sweden this week to provide legal expertise for the defense of a Swedish pastor who stood before Sweden's Supreme Court today on "hate crime" charges.  The charges against the pastor, Ake Green, stem from a sermon he preached on the biblical view of homosexual behavior.

"The prosecutor general and the Swedish government are out to make an example of Pastor Green," said ADF Chief Counsel Benjamin Bull following the hearing.  "Pastor Green is the first individual charged and prosecuted under the law passed in 2003.  It's drawn national attention.  Homosexual activists in Sweden and throughout Europe are set on making an example of him."

Bull founded and then served for a number of years as director of a Europe-wide religious liberties legal organization based in Strasburg, France.  In Sweden this week, he met with Green's trial counsel to discuss the hearing and also met with several international Christian human rights groups, such as CARE Trust and Christian Lawyers Fellowship in Great Britain, to generate additional support for Green.

In April, Bull met with Green in Geneva, Switzerland, and counseled him with regard to his rights and international law.  A link to a transcript of Ake Green's sermon can be found at www.akegreen.org.

"This case is perhaps the most striking example yet that the pretense of 'tolerance' is over.  'Tolerance' of the homosexual agenda means the silencing and punishment of those who disagree," Bull said.

"This case and ones like it are critical for freedom of religious expression in America, too," Bull explained.  "If the ACLU and its radical activist allies have their way, the laws of Europe will soon be the laws of America.  The U.S. Supreme Court has already taken note of international law in some of its decisions.  ADF will continue to oppose attacks upon religious liberty here as well as overseas."

ADF coordinated and funded the filing of friend-of-the-court briefs for the case as well as the translation of trial transcripts into English.  Numerous international groups have used these ADF transcripts to prepare their friend-of-the-court briefs on Green's behalf.

ADF is also involved in funding the defense of Stephen Boissoin, a Canadian pastor brought up on charges before the Alberta Human Rights Commission for a newspaper editorial he wrote that contained his views on homosexual behavior.  ADF attorneys have coordinated his defense with Calgary-based ADF-allied attorney Gerald Chipeur.

58163  Theology / Prophecy - Current Events / Re:News, happening today on: November 09, 2005, 03:43:10 PM
The Vichy Solution
By George Neumayr
Published 11/9/2005 12:11:06 AM

   
Even as the French authorities downplay the role of Islam in the riots, they tacitly acknowledge it by calling on Imams to issue fatwas against the rioters. But the rioters -- recognizing that these government-approved Imams are secularized stooges in hock to French pols -- aren't very concerned. "Fatwa! Don't make me laugh," a rioter said to the press after the Union of Islamic Organizations ordered them to stop. "We don't feel represented by those people. We didn't vote for them. They're just filling their pockets."

The reliance of the French authorities on a stable of feckless Muslim mediators is an acknowledgment of the Other France -- a population of seething Muslims who now refer to themselves as living in "occupied territory." Jacques Chirac speaks grandly of "the Republic," but it is fast eroding if it exists at all, as evident in the fact that he has to address members of his own population through Muslim negotiators.

France's self-congratulatory campaign to reconcile differences between Islam and the West, undertaken in recent years to avoid "a clash of civilizations," has accelerated one. An obtuse and vain assumption had launched the campaign, namely, that the only possible clash of civilizations would be Christianity versus Islam. It didn't occur to the French secularists that another clash of civilizations was possible: their own secularism versus Islam.

The French secularists patted themselves on the back for avoiding the first one by discarding their historic Christianity. Jacques Chirac, for example, wouldn't permit a single mention of Europe's Christian roots in the European Union's Constitution. Will it now dawn on them that to avoid the second one requires surrendering their cherished secularism? French politicians are making all the right PC noises about the riots being the result of "discrimination." But they are very vague about the source of the discrimination, and for good reason: the source is French secularism itself. French Muslims say that they can't rise in a state in which secularists alone hold the privileged positions.

So will the pols chastising France's Interior Secretary Nicolas Sarkozy for calling the rioters "scum" -- Chirac said that's no way to speak to a "dialogue" partner -- promise to scrap their own secularism in the name of reducing tensions? Will they say, "Fine, wear your Muslim headscarves"? Are they ready for Burka-wearing broadcasters on their government channels? How about a Muslim president? Or a new Constitution reflecting that the de facto majority religion in France is Islam? (Ironically, France's proudly modern and secularized Constitution looks anachronistic, a relic of an expired era.)

French habits of appeasement and its commitment to secularism now cut against each other: the Vichy-style, power-sharing solution to which French pols are drawn will cost them their secularist state but could perhaps give them just enough peace to pursue their secularist pleasures. French politicians had arrogantly assumed they could delay this choice by secularizing Islam. Hence their desperate project to form and spread "French Islam." But the hopelessness of the project is obvious; instead of soothing tensions, it inflamed them, clear in the contempt Muslim rioters feel for the Imams Chirac has been trotting out as peacekeepers.

French secularism is not substantial enough to win the clash of civilizations it couldn't even recognize. And were it to try and win the clash, it would have to suspend the very tolerance that led them into it. The misapprehensions of reality built into French liberalism make it an ideology that devours itself, unleashing chaos that necessitates departing from it. This explains why dictatorships have followed its liberal revolutions. Reality-defying assertions about "liberty, fraternity, and equality" produce enough irrationality to justify a Napoleon to stop it.

France has been rewarding those who ignored the inevitable collision of Islam and its culture while punishing dissenters who merely noticed it. It fined for "hate crimes" French authors who warned that the assimilation of Muslims would prove impossible and elected preening liberals who waved the problem away. The former were "heartless" and the latter "humane," yet whose position now tempts France to draconian measures? Whose position has placed France in an insoluble crisis?

Earlier this year a French minister asked if Europe's riverbed could accommodate the "river of Islam." The question was a generation too late. French secularists made a great show of opening the floodgate, and the river of Islam gushed through the country, gradually washing away the secularism that had released it.


58164  Theology / Prophecy - Current Events / Re:Recent Archaeological Finds on: November 09, 2005, 03:39:20 PM
Archaeologists decry Wakf 'renovation'
Etgar Lefkovits, THE JERUSALEM POST    Nov. 9, 2005

In a renewed dispute, a group of Israeli archaeologists has condemned the Wakf's planned renovation work of an ancient tower adjacent to the Temple Mount, warning that such a move is part of a long-running plan by the Islamic Trust to expand a recently-created mosque at the Jerusalem holy site.

The non-partisan 'Committee Against the Destruction of Antiquities on the Temple Mount,' which has been leading the public campaign against Wakf construction at the site has sent a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the Director of the Antiquities Authority Shuka Dorfman lambasting the proposed renovation work on the historic structure.

The site in question, known as Hatuniyah, lies adjacent to the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount just outside the ancient compound, and has served in the past as a tower approach to the Temple Mount by way of the Double Gate.

"As part of our follow-up on Wakf activities over the last years, it has become clear that these projects are part of an overall Wakf plan to turn the whole compound into one exclusive Muslim site...and we have firm basis to suppose that the Wakf's aim this time as well is to take over this structure as well and incorporate it into the mosque at the site," the November 7 letter read.

According to decades-old regulations in place at the Jerusalem holy site, Israel is in charge of overall security at the compound, while the Islamic Trust or Wakf are charged with day-to-day maintenance at the site.

The archaeologists' letter, which was made public on Wednesday, states that the prime minister's office and or the Antiquities Authority has approved or is planning to approve the Wakf's renovation plan.

The Prime Minister's Office had no immediate comment Wednesday.

Antiquities Authority spokeswoman Osnat Guez said Wednesday that she was not aware of any work at the site, noting that in any case the authority does not issue permits for repair work or construction at the site.

Wakf director gotcha98 Husseini said Wednesday that the work was part of "ongoing renovations" on the southern wall, including scaffolding.

But Israeli archaeologists charged that the renovation work was being used a guise by the Wakf to expand a mosque just inside the compound.

"In the name of so-called renovations, the Wakf will expand the recently-constructed mosque at the Temple Mount," said committee spokeswoman and Hebrew University archaeologist Dr. Eilat Mazar, one of the signatories of the letter.

The latest controversy surrounding unsupervised Wakf work near Judaism's holiest site comes in the backdrop of the massive Wakf construction project carried out in the late 1990's at an underground architectural support of the Temple Mount known as the Solomon's Stables, which was illicitly converted into what is now the largest mosque in Israel.

Following the construction work, Wakf officials dumped more than 12,000 tons of earth, with history-rich artifacts, at a garbage dump outside the Old City, an action that the Antiquities Authority later called "an unprecedented archaeological crime."

The renewed dispute also brought back to the fore the lack of Israeli archaeological supervision at the site, nominally the job of the Antiquities Authority.

With violence flaring in the region, neither the government nor the antiquities authority have ever pressed for renewed archaeological inspection at the holy site, as required by law, and instead rely on police for reports of any unauthorized building at the bitterly contested site.


58165  Theology / Prophecy - Current Events / Re:News, happening today on: November 09, 2005, 03:32:14 PM
GLOBAL JIHAD
Belgium plays down
3rd night of violence
Immigrant teens nabbed for arson but officials say acts not 'systemic'
Posted: November 9, 2005
2:37 p.m. Eastern


© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com

With law-enforcement officials claiming the torching of cars, trucks and cellars in Belgium is not "systemic violence," the nation endured its third straight night of arson attacks yesterday with two immigrant teenagers being arrested.

According to Expatica News, the violence occurred in the cities on Antwerp, Brussels and Ghent.

A 17-year-old and 19-year-old described as "Belgian citizens of immigrant background" were arrested for arson and treated for burn injuries, suspected of being injured by their own firebomb.

Belgian law-enforcement officials say the arson attacks are simply copycat acts in response to the last two weeks of Muslim rioting that has occurred in France during which thousands of vehicles have been torched in hundreds of cities, resulting in one death.

"This does not make a Paris of Ghent," police warned in downplaying the Belgium incidents.

Police commissioner Steven de Smet said while officials are taking the attacks seriously, "we must not panic, either. For now, we cannot say there are indications of systemic violence."

Expatica reported that in Brussels alone, up to 15 vehicles and two cellars were torched last night before order was restored to the city at about 11 p.m.

According to Reuters, a number of cars were set on fire in the German cities of Berlin and Cologne yesterday, and there have been similar reports of violence in Sweden.

As WorldNetDaily reported, the riots in France have been perpetrated in Muslim neighborhoods and are seen by many analysts as a way for Islam to gain a foothold in Europe in the wake of unprecedented immigration from Muslim countries.

"The great majority of Muslims in Europe see themselves as bearers of a superior civilization and see themselves growing prodigiously," Islam expert Daniel Pipes told WND. "Through a cultural, religious and demographic confidence they feel scorn toward European ways and conspire to take it over."

The website JihadWatch.com posted news of the Belgium violence, eliciting several responses from readers.

"If I was a tactician for the Muslims, I would describe these flare-ups as test cases," posted "Rafael." They are testing the resolve of the West.

"What would I have learned from this? That the West still sees Islam as a valid religion instead of expansionist Arab nationalism. That any insurrection or rioting will be met with more money, programs, understanding, etc. That the West is afraid and knows that Islam can turn absolutely ruthless when necessary, threatened, or even if it perceives a threat.

"If I was a Muslim, I'd be overjoyed at the reaction of Western governments. They are going to lie down and surrender; gradually at first, but the victory over the infidel will be much simpler and much less bloody than it was in the time of the 'Prophet.'"


58166  Theology / Prophecy - Current Events / Re:News, happening today on: November 09, 2005, 03:21:31 PM
Europe worried as French riots spread
08.11.2005 - 17:46 CET | By Elitsa Vucheva

EUOBSERVER / LYON – As urban riots are spreading all over France and gaining momentum, Europen leaders are becoming increasingly concerned that France's woes may spread, particularly to neighbouring countries with large immigrant populations.

Cars were torched in Germany (Berlin and Bremen) and Belgium (Brussels and Liege) on Sunday and Monday, but the events were qualified by Belgian police as "local" and "isolated" ones and no open confrontations took place. Belgian authorities, however, said they would follow the situation closely.

In Italy, it is just "a matter of time" that the problems occur, as the country "has the worst suburbs in Europe", Italian opposition leader and former Commission president Romano Prodi said, according to Liberation.

The British along with the Russian, American, Japanese and Australian governments, have already warned their nationals to be careful and avoid the French suburbs, the French paper wrote on Monday.

All this is worsening France’s image abroad, the French press comments, adding that Paris usually attracts more than 35 million tourists every year.

How it all started
The riots started after a controversial incident on 27 October, when two teenagers died while fleeing an identity check by the police. The police, however, denied having chased them.

Resentment reached new heights after interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy said that the French suburbs needed deep and tough cleansing from all "the scum".

As a result, the media showed youngsters dubbing Mr Sarkozy "a fascist" and calling his comments purely provocative.

The riots, which have spread to cities such as Lyon, Strasbourg, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux and Nantes, appear to have much deeper roots however.

"Discrimination clearly exists"
"I am absolutely not surprised by all this, given the situation of the people living in the cités", a French psychologist working with young people from Lyon’s suburbs told the EUobserver.

"They are living in precarious conditions, unemployed, excluded. They can neither get a good job, nor leave the suburbs, because to leave, you have to have money, but most of all, you have to have a face corresponding to the norms and expectations. Discrimination clearly exists and people know it", she explained, calling the events "an expected rage against social injustice".

"It is not by insulting these people calling them 'scum' that things will be arranged. The social system of the suburbs is very complex, trying to extract a few delinquents is far from enough," she added.

This way of thinking seems to be confirmed by some of the young suburb inhabitants’ comments.

"I have had this card for 20 years now, and I’m fed up with being refused jobs just because of my name", a young man of Arab origin brandishing a French identity card was shown saying on national television.

"Firm and fair"
Meanwhile, both the interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy and prime minister Dominique de Villepin called for calm, while insisting the government would continue being "firm and fair".

More than 1,200 people have been arrested during the 12 days of rioting, and last night alone, more than 1,400 vehicles were torched all over the country.

Mr de Villepin on Monday announced that the number of police forces sent to the suburbs would be increased, reaching 9,500 men, while an extraordinary council of ministers this morning reactivated a 1955 emergency law giving curfew powers for regional authorities.

It also gave the police the right to carry out raids where they suspect weapons, or any dangerous substances, are stored.

58167  Theology / Bible Study / Re:Devotions for Teens on: November 09, 2005, 03:18:54 PM
  Piecing Me Back Together

By: Beth Hays


Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 51:18 (NLT)

A couple years ago I went to a friend when I was very broken and desperate. I told her I needed some encouragement to keep going. She showed me passages about the wall of Jerusalem and talked about it had to be broken before it could be built up again. This was great comfort to me…knowing that being rebuilt could make me more beautiful inside.

As I have gone on the past couple years I have forgotten about the comparison of the wall to my life. My life has had rocky moments but I have not yet been totally broken. At least, I have not been broken like I was a couple of years ago.

Tonight I was spending my quiet time with God and He spoke to me about being broken and that I needed to be broken to be useable because I so stubbornly refused him for so long. I was too busy fooling myself and others to acknowledge my inner issues. I really broke down tonight and told Him that I knew He was right...I needed to break down those masks.

After this intense time, He brought me to this verse: Look with favor on Zion and help her; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 51:18 (NLT) Wow. He will help to rebuild me. I remembered the analogy. Imagine that one conversation two years ago could have such an impact today. I have been broken…but for His purposes…and that is an amazing thing.

Now He is going to take those shattered pieces and put me back together. Maybe you are in the same boat. Are you shattered? Let Him gently piece you back together again. He loves you, my dear ones.

58168  Theology / Bible Study / Re:Devotions for Teens on: November 09, 2005, 03:18:01 PM
  Revelations in a Nutshell

By: Jeff Lappano

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:51 (NKJV)

To start off my time teaching the Sunday Special Request series, I figured why not start with a tricky question. The question has to do with the rapture.

The rapture is when all the saints, living and dead will be joined together and be brought to Heaven. Verse 52 of 1 Corinthians 15 says that a trumpet shall sound and we shall be changed. At this time, Jesus will appear in the sky, but will not set foot on the earth. If you have watched the Left Behind movies, particularly the first one, it shows those who weren’t taken in the rapture look for those who were. In Matthew 24, Jesus is teaching on the rapture. Paraphrasing verses 40 and 41 He says that two people will be together, all of a sudden one will be left. I believe Jesus gives us the picture here that those who aren’t going to be taken in the rapture won‘t even know what happened.

For the second time in history, an interesting phenomenon will occur. Matthew 27:52, 53, “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming out of the graves after His resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many." After the resurrection, many people saw dead people just rise up from their graves. When the rapture occurs, the same thing shall occur in the fact that graves will be opened, however this time those coming out of the graves shall just start ascending into the air rather than walking around on the earth.  

Going to back to 1 Corinthians 15, we find the dead in Christ shall rise first. This means those we just learned about should happen first and then those still alive shall be caught up in the air with them. This will go on for seven years that we will be in Heaven, and yes there shall be some major activity on the earth as well. It will be useless for me to teach on the rapture without ending this devotion by giving you an invitation to join those who will be apart of the rapture. Those who are Christians will be the elect group to be taken in the rapture. Being a Christian means confessing that you are a sinner in need of a Savior. Jesus Christ, the Son of God died on a cross 2,000 years ago to be your Savior, so that you may be called one of His own. Accept Him today into your heart, meaning it totally with all of your heart, and I promise you that you shall be a part of the rapture.
   
58169  Theology / Bible Study / Re: Sermons4Kids on: November 09, 2005, 03:15:46 PM
Don't Bury Your Talent

For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. Matthew 25:29 (NIV)

As you know, this is a Frisbee. In a few minutes, this Frisbee will help us to learn more about what God expects from you and me, but first, a word from God's Word.

This morning, our Bible story is a familiar story that Jesus told. It is called the Parable of the Talents. In the Parable of the Talents, a very wealthy man was going to go on a trip. He called his three servants together and told them that he would be gone for a long time and that he was leaving them in charge of all of his wealth. He divided up his wealth and gave it to the three servants.

To the first servant, he gave five talents. Now, that might not sound like much to you, but in Jesus' day, that was a lot of money. To the second servant, he gave two talents. Not as much as the first servant received, but still a large sum of money. To the third servant, he gave one talent. Even one talent was worth quite a lot!

The first servant took the five talents his master had given him and put it to work and earned five more talents. The second also invested his two talents wisely and earned two more talents. The third servant took his one talent and buried it in the ground for safe keeping.

When the master returned, he was very pleased when the first two servants told him that they had doubled his money. "Well done," he said. "Because you had been faithful with what I have given you, I will give you much more."

"How about you?" he asked the third servant. "What did you do with the money that I left with you?"

The third servant said to the master, "I knew that you were a hard man and I was afraid, so I went out and hid your treasure in the ground so that it would be safe. See, here it is."

The master was angry. "You are a wicked and lazy servant. You could have at least put my money in the bank where it would earn more." He then took the one talent from the lazy servant and gave it to the one who had ten talents.

In this Parable of the Talents, God is the Master and you and I are his servants. The talents that the master gave to his servants in this story was a form of money. But God has given us talents too, hasn't he? God created each of us with special gifts and he expects us to use those gifts for the purpose for which he gave them to us.

You all know what this is, it is a Frisbee, but pretend for a moment that you do not know what it is and that you have never seen one before. You might think it was a dinner plate... or a hat... or perhaps a tool for digging in the sand. It could be just about anything, but it isn't. It is a Frisbee and the person who created the Frisbee created it for a purpose. The purpose of a Frisbee is to fly!

The Frisbee isn't very impressive to look at, is it? In a world full of high-tech electronic toys, it is pretty low on the totem pole. But boy, can it fly!

Sometimes you and I may look at the talents that God has given to others and think that God hasn't given us very much talent. We might even be tempted to hide our talent. But when we use our God-given talent to be all that God intended for us to be... boy, can we fly!

Dear Father, help us to use the talents that you have given us to be what you intended for us to be. Amen.

58170  Welcome / About You! / Re:first time here on: November 09, 2005, 02:59:12 PM
Hi Marcianne,

Welcome to Christians Unite. There are som wonderful Christians here and we have a geat time in fellowship. I hope that you will enjoy yourself in fellowship with us also.

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