The Blank Pages In Our Bibles

Sue Bohlin has a nice post on her blog about this very topic. You can find it here The Blank Pages in Our Bibles

I have been doing this for 25+ years. My Bible is running out of room, very fast, for me to add my thoughts or notes. Any white space I can find I am using up quickly. I wish Bible makers would add more blank pages. I will miss carrying it when I have to get a new Bible as I have so much reference material and thoughts in it. If you know of a good NIV Bible (or King James Version) that has plenty of space to write in, could you please leave a message of what type and who makes it? The reason that I like the NIV Bible is that it is easier to understand than the King James version.

Quick Decision On Halloween

All Halloween Pages are now in the “Appalachian Autumn” tab.

Halloween is one of those things that can be good or evil depending on the how you participate in it.I have been wrestling with this question for the past week. Here are some of my reasons why I like Halloween.

• This holiday falls on the eve of All Saints Day, which is a festival day celebrated by some Christian churches. However, the modern celebration of Halloween is not generally thought of as a Christian time of worship.
• You could celebrate Reformation Day (as we did in my christian academy). This is the day Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door.
• Some Halloween activities could be considered anti-Christian and those activities should be avoided.
• Doc Halloween and crew does not participate in demon or devil worshiping, evil or criminal acts, superstitious acts, or chant and rites spells nor do we encourage any evolvement.
• Trick-or-treating, decorating, or visiting haunted-houses is not thinking about or participating in any religious festivities. To me they are just fun activities.
• Whether to participate in Halloween is a question only for parents to answer.
• How you decide to teach your small children about participating responsibly during Halloween is your responsibility.

You will have to pray about it and ask for guidance from God and Jesus above.

Learn to think for yourself, be open minded, be a critical thinker and decide these simple questions:

• Do I know myself realistically?
• Do I know my morals, my beliefs, my limitations, my weaknesses, and my values?
• How does this make me feel?
• Is this hurting myself or someone else (physically, spiritually, emotionally, and/or financially)?
• Is this illegal?
• Do I have all the information I need to make the decision that is right for me?

If you do not like Halloween or its representation of it then do not participate.

More Computer Problems

Image via Wikipedia

I am getting a new iMac (the one with the 21.5″ 500GB Hard Drive). My sister has harped on me for 9 years that Macs are super-computers and that they do not get viruses. She tells me I will have fewer problems with a Mac. Oh, yeah? The thing costs $1299 plus the $60 for 8 GB of RAM upgrade plus $50 for a memory stick (to back it up) plus $169 for Best Buy Black Tie warranty plus $? for a new printer (seeing as my old two printers will not print on a iMac). It seems my problems have only just begun.

I am thinking that since Halloween is over and I am having a hard time finding things to post about, I may only post once or possibly twice a week for now on. Maybe it would be best that I just make web-pages instead. It is something to think about.

So until I get that new iMac there will be no more posts this week. I really do hope you all are enjoying your fall and have a safe and happy Halloween.

Related articles

• What is so special about the imac (wiki.answers.com)

Internet Technical Difficulties

After 15 years we are finally getting high-speed internet. What a treat it will be to have all the house’s computers online, talk on the phone without asking “is anyone online”, and soon be able to play Xbox 360 online.

The high-speed was suppose to be installed Monday. I uninstalled the dial-up but then they said it would be Wednesday for the turn on date. The phone company cut it on Wednesday afternoon and we had it for a few hours. We called to make sure the agreed price was what was said which it was not. I think the phone company are pushers. They show you this wonderful super-speed for a few hours and then take it away for a higher price.
So we had to get that fixed and they cut our high-speed off while it was in negotiation yesterday and today.

It was turned back on a bit ago, hopefully for good. So far I love being able to watch movie and game trailers and jump to my email instead of waiting 5 minutes for it to pull up.

I will be a little late on posting Halloween events, my random thought, and my Biblical view this week. Please be patient.

Peculiar People

Possibly, you do not drink alcohol, smoke, do drugs, or use foul language. Mayhap you do not get involved in gossip. Perhaps you do not look at porn or dirty movies. You are not money-hungry or materialistic. Maybe you pray at meals in public. You may shout and praise God and Christ when the Holy Spirit washes over you. Perchance you quote Bible verses and give your interpretation of them. It could be that you speak about how you are saved by Jesus Christ and you would like others to know Him also. Maybe you walk away from trouble when you can. You are waiting until marriage to have sex.

Most people, not all, will walk away or avoid you. They give you strange looks and laugh. Probably they are talking behind your back about how strange you talk and act. You are excluded from their activities.

My Webster Dictionary defines peculiar as “private property”, “belonging exclusively to one person or group”, and “idiosyncratic, eccentric, singular, strange, weird”. In today’s society, it means something strange, odd, or queer. The word “peculiar” has a negative connotation. However, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a (peculiar) people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9) (My New International Version leaves out the word “peculiar” for some reason.) In Latin, “peculium” means “private property” so that peculiar property means “pertaining to the individual.” Us Christians belong to God.

“who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a (peculiar) people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” (Titus 2:14) (My New International Version leaves out the word “peculiar” for some reason.) This verse means “set apart“, “special”, “unique”, and “different from the rest.”

Are you far from the norm? You do not desire to blend in or conform to the popular crowd. You love your enemies and pray for them. You would rather give than receive. God is first in everything you do, say, or feel. You want to please God. You want to “do good works.” You strive to become more Christ-like every day. Then perhaps you are one of God’s peculiar people. We are called to obey the commands of Jesus and be different from those around us. Live in such a way that those outside the faith see your good deeds and manners and know that there is something “different” about you.

 “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing, and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2) Standout and do not fit in with the crowd. Do not engage in the sinful activities the world promotes, nor retain the insipid, corrupt mind that the world creates. “I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” (John 17:14-15) Believers in Jesus Christ are simply in the world, “physically present“, but not of it, not part of its values. To most people that makes us freaks or weirdoes. They dislike us because we, as Christians, refuse to behave and sin like them.

Pray to God in Jesus’ name and ask for strength and courage to be different. Be a light to those who are in spiritual darkness.

Related articles

• Just How Biblically Peculiar Are You? It Does Not Mean What You Think! (barebonesgospel.wordpress.com)
• Eccentricity, Mathematics, and Peculiar People (siremethmimetes.wordpress.com)
• You Are God’s Peculiar Treasure, Please Know Your Worth, Value in Christ Jesus (bummyla.wordpress.com)