ON-LINE ORDERING Maybe you have had the pleasure of online ordering, where you submit an order for an item, after confirming it is, in fact, what you want, and once the financial transfer takes place, and the confirmation number is given, that the supplier has received your money, you are really excited, and can't wait to physically hold the item. You may even go back online, and search the item out again, amazed at what a good deal you've received, and may even talk to your

FAITH Faith was exploring through an area of the castle grounds that she had never been before. She came across the stable area, and heard the soft neighing of horses. Turning one of the corners, she saw Charity, grooming and rubbing down a beautiful small pony. FAITH & CHARITY "Who does that belong to?", Faith blurted out. "I call her Blessing", said Charity, "she belongs to me" "Belongs to you?", exclaimed Faith "Yes, absolutely", Charity responded matter-of-factly,"Dad sai

1 PETER 1:22 says: "Seeing (that) you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, (see that you) love one another with a pure heart fervently..." (KJV) "Now that, by your obedience to the Truth, you have purified your lives so that there is growing up among you a genuine brotherly affection, love one another earnestly with all your hearts" (TCNT) "Having purified your souls by means of your obedience to the truth, resu

RESTAURANTS I rarely use this venue for anything other than Bible Word Studies to help and bless others with what has blessed me, but this recent experience has left me with an urgency in my spirit, that has compelled me to render a few observational thoughts, so please bear with me. My family travelled to another city on a brief holiday, and went to a couple different restaurants; both highly rated on the internet, and yet the experiences proved to be less than favorable in

JUDGES 2:7 "...and the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders that outlived Joshua, who had SEEN all the great works of the LORD, that He did for Israel" (KJV) "...and the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders, as many as prolonged their days with Joshua, as many as KNEW every great work of the LORD, which He did to Israel" (Apostolic Bible, LXX) "...and they served the Lord all his days, and the d

TALENTS I can remember hearing the parable of the talents (Matt.25:14-30) and feeling sorry for the guy who only got the one talent, and didn't use what he had, and then what he did have, was taken and given to the guy who had doubled the 5 talents into 10. YOU'VE GOT WHAT IT TAKES The parable clearly states that the master gave what belonged to him, to his servants, "to every one according to his ability" (25:15), so the 1 talent servant had the capability to cause increase,

IMPOSSIBLE MADE POSSIBLE The 4 Minute Mile: The Impossible made Possible Many athletes and non-athletes alike, would know the story of how Roger Bannister, on May 6, 1954, did what was previously deemed to be impossible, and ran a mile in less than 4 minutes. Running a mile in under 4 minutes was not only a psychological barrier, but it was touted to be "scientifically" impossible, since it was considered to be physically impossible for the body to be capable of such consiste

ARCHIE COMICS Years ago I saw an Archie comic strip, where Reggie came across Jughead shooting arrows at a fence, with targets painted on them. Every single target, though they were at different heights, all had an arrow right in the bullseye. Reggie was amazed, and went away dumbfounded that Jughead was such an expert marksman with a bow and arrow. As soon as Reggie was gone, Jughead shot another arrow at the fence, and wherever the arrow struck, he walked over and painted a

DEUTERONOMY 8:18 says, "...you shall remember the LORD your God; for He gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers..." The LXX says, "...He gives you strength to produce power..." WEALTH Wealth is seen as an intrinsic power; something that an individual or group possesses internally, that creates the tangible results of money; finance; buildings; goods and services; etc. JOSEPH Joseph was sold into Egypt as a slave, and he

ROAD MAP I can remember, as a small child, going on holidays with my family, and every now and then, we would get lost, in a city, or on our way to some location, and we would have to take out the road map, and try to find out where we got off course. Now, we have "Google Maps", and you can type or speak into your phone, the address of where you want to go, and the google maps "voice", will track where you are at, to where you want to go, and talk you through your destination

SECRET FORMULA If there were a secret formula that a person could consume, and everything that they did became successful, you would not be able to keep it on the shelves of stores. It would be marketed on the internet, and literally dozens of "copy cat" knock off brands would be trying to cash in on it's success. People would be constantly writing reviews; giving testimonials, and the popularity would continue to grow, until government and law makers would try to regulate an

FRANCHISE BRANDS You can go around the globe, and in every developing nation, you will see franchised brands that are easily recognizable by their trademark logos, and their success. McDonalds, and the "golden arches" can be seen around the world, and whether you are in the United States; Canada; or South East Asia, the color scheme; organization of the eating areas; basic menu; marketing system; food preparation; and every other aspect of the franchise, that earmarks success

Jesus was asked, "...which is the great commandment in the law?' (Matt.22:36). MOST IMPORTANT The Pharisees; Sadducees; and Rabbis debated this question, having identified 613 individual statutes, consisting of 248 commands and 365 prohibitions, that they supposedly lived by. The import of the question was, which is "...the most important commandment" (E.V.Rieu) RANKING SYSTEM The religious leaders had a ranking system as to which scriptural laws or commands were of more or

GIGO Years ago, when the computer industry was in it's fledgling stages, someone coined the expression "GIGO", which was meant to mean, in negative fashion, "Garbage in, Garbage out". This, of course, was to say, that the computer can only do what you program it to do, and output was what was imputed. You can, however, reprogram the computer, with new soft wear, to change what it is able to produce. Looking at the term from a positive perspective, "GIGO" can mean, "Good stuff

DEUTERONOMY 6:5 says, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might" This is a very foundational verse in both the old and new testaments. It is repeated 3 times, under varying circumstances, in the Synoptic Gospels [Matthew; Mark; and Luke]. IN Jesus is asked, which is the greatest, or most important commandment, to which He replies: "You shall love the Lord your God IN your entire heart, and IN your entire soul, and I

T.L. & DAISY OSBORN For over 50 years, the dynamic duo of Dr. T.L. Osborn and Dr. Daisy Osborn, traversed the globe, going where the need was the greatest, and seeing the spectacular supernatural, in mega mass open air meetings, from tens of thousands, to hundreds of thousands of people at one time, witnessing the miraculous manifestation of God's healing and saving power. Countless participants received blinded eyes opened; deaf ears unstopped; leprosy cleansed; demons cast

TOTAL COMMITTMENT The humorous anecdote is told of the farm animals, out of devotion to the farmer, wanting to give back something to show their appreciation. They decided to provide him breakfast. The cow said she would give him fresh milk; the chicken offered fresh eggs; and they wanted the pig to provide him with fresh sizzling bacon, to which the pig replied, "Wait a minute. I am the only one of the 3 of us that's making a total commitment!" DEUTERONOMY 6:5 says "...you s

DESCRIPTIVE WRITING Most descriptive writing, in novels or short stories, by those that are skilled at drawing the reader into a narrative, contains detail and commentary, to the point of being verbose; painting a visual picture that graphically captures the attention of the audience. Famous novelist have the ability to systematically project the imagery they are trying to portray, into the mind of the reader, so that previous memories are triggered; sights and smells are bro

ANCHORING STABILITY The familiar saying is that a person can survive for 40 days without food; 3 days without water; and about 30 seconds without hope. Hope is the sustaining ingredient in life, that no matter how bad circumstances or situations look, we have confidence in a brighter future. There are a myriad of expressions that convey this idea: 'things will get better'; 'every cloud has a silver lining'; 'there is light at the end of the tunnel'; 'it is always darkest befo

MATTHEW 12:34-35 says, "...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things" LUKE 6:45 says, "A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is good; and an evil man, out of the evil treasure of his heart, brings forth that which is evil; for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks" ORIGIN The origin