The Serpent and the Dove

There are so many false "gospels" out there. And they so often look true, lovely, and good. That's what makes them so deceptive!

Jesus tells us to be wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.(Matthew 10:16) Please read the article linked to this blog, with an open mind -- open to the Truth of Scripture. We need to pray and ask God for the wisdom and discernment to scrutinize man's wisdom in the light of God's Truth.

A Christian author who was saved out of the new age movement says media icon Oprah Winfrey has become a false prophet for a false Jesus. Please click on the link below:

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Culture/Default.aspx?id=73537

Celebrating "Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day"

taken from Holidays on the Net...

Today, March 27, we celebrate....

Quirky Country Music Song Titles Day
Now who can forget those great country music ditties like

“Flushed From The Bathroom Of Your Heart” by Johnny Cash?

Or “Everytime I Itch I Wind Up Scratching You”

by the one and only Glen Campbell?

Is there a spring in your step when you hear

“Did I Shave My Legs For This?” from Deana Carter

or Cledus T Judd’s “Did I Shave My Back For This!”

And of course my personal favorite

“Too Much Month (At The End of The Money)” from Marty Stuart.

Ahh the memories! 

-From Holidays on the Net-

http://blog.holidays.net

Have a blessed Resurrection Day!

 

The Easter Lily

Easter morn with lilies fair
Fills the church with perfumes rare,
As their clouds of incense rise,
Sweetest offerings to the skies.
Stately lilies pure and white
Flooding darkness with their light,
Bloom and sorrow drifts away,
On this holy hallow'd day.
Easter Lilies bending low
in the golden afterglow,
Bear a message from the sod
To the heavenly towers of God.
-Louise Lewin Matthews

                                                                              

 Today, nearly all of the 15 million Easter Lily bulbs grown in America are produced by just ten farms along the California-Oregon border. The bulbs are harvested in the fall, and then shipped to commercial greenhouses in Michigan, California, Pennsylvania and Ohio, where they are planted in time to bloom for Easter.

Easter Lilies are the fourth largest selling potted plant in America, upstaged by the popular Christmas-time poinsettias, mums and azaleas.

The Easter Connection

According to Biblical scholars, the Easter Lily was found growing in the Garden of Gethsemane where Judas is said to have betrayed Jesus. Legend tells that white lilies miraculously sprung up from the ground where drops of Jesus' sweat and tears fell during his last hours.

The Easter Lily also has close associations with Jesus' mother, Mary. In early religious paintings, the Archangel Gabriel is pictured extending a branch of white lilies to Mary, symbolizing that she had become the virgin mother to the Savior.

Today, many churches use large bouquets of lilies to adorn their alters and crosses during the Easter season.

Taking Care of Your Easter Lily

To keep your Easter Lilies fresh and fragrant for as long as possible, purchase potted plants with flowers at various stages of opening and with abundant, dark green foliage. As the flowers open and mature, pinch off the yellow anthers before the pollen sheds. The yellow pollen will stain the other white flowers. Once a mature flower has started to wither, you may cut it off at the base to better showcase the new buds.

Easter lilies thrive in moderately cool temperatures (no higher than 65 degrees Fahrenheit) and enjoy bright, but indirect natural sunlight. Keep soil moist and well-drained. Avoid over-watering. Remove any decorative wrappings or coverings, which can trap standing water in the pot.

You can expect your potted Easter Lily to bloom for 1-3 weeks around the Easter holiday. Despite its name, the natural bloom for the Easter Lily is actually during the summer. Under controlled greenhouse conditions, the lily is brought to an early bloom in time for Easter. If you want to continue to enjoy your lily for years to come, try planting the bulb and remaining greenery in your garden after the flowering is finished. Subsequent blooms will occur naturally in the summer.

From Easter on the Net

 

GodTube.com

http://www.godtube.com
Post a prayer request on the prayer wall, or share with other believers. This site is worth a visit.

Druids, Shamrocks and the Gospel

 Did you know that Saint Patrick was a Scottish missionary? I didn't! -- Found this on a site called St Patrick's Day on the Net. Interesting bit of history -- Read on...

Who Was Saint Patrick?

March 17th marks the celebration of Saint Patrick's Day, a traditional feast holiday of praise and thanksgiving for missionaries in Ireland. And a perfect excuse for a ruckus party everywhere else in the world. The holiday and its worldwide festivities have become a celebration of everything Irish.

But beyond the green beer, shamrocks and parades is an historic figure - a saint whose life inspired this two thousand year holiday of national pride and revelry. Who was Saint Patrick? And why was he such an inspiration to the Irish?

Saint Patrick, nee Maewyn, was born to Scottish parents in Roman Britain in approximately 385 CE. As a teenager, he was captured by Druid raiders and sold into slavery in Ireland - then a pagan land ruled by the Druids. Legend tells that after six years of captivity, Patrick had a dream in which God told him to flee by the water. He followed the prophecy and was returned to his parents by Roman sailors.

Soon after, Patrick had another dream, in which the Irish people called to him, begging him to return. Patrick began studying for the priesthood, all the while planning to fulfill his second prophecy. In 433, Patrick is said to have returned to Ireland, this time sent by Pope Celestine, to teach gospel to the Irish people.

Saint Patrick's return to Ireland commenced an incredible forty-year, one-man mission across the Irish island, ordaining priests, baptizing former pagans and converting entire kingdoms to Christianity with the power of his rhetoric. Legend tells that Patrick used the shamrock to explain the concept of the Holy Trinity, with each leaf representing one of the triad. To this day, the shamrock is an image associated with Saint Patrick and has become the unofficial symbol of St. Patty's Day.

Patrick died on March 17th, the anniversary of which has been marked for nearly 2000 years as the holiday of St. Patrick's Day.

Michael's Home!

Michael arrived safely home today from his deployment in Iraq. It didn't take long for the kids to remember how to have fun playing with Daddy! (Mommy looks pretty happy too!)
Thank you for your prayers over these months.

Celebrate National Workplace Napping Day

I just love a  holiday -- and this sounds like a good idea to me! Today, March 10, we celebrate..... National Workplace Napping Day While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping, As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.

Diendusa

Yeah. Its probably the bossman slapping you upside the head!

Actually today’s the day to “lie down and be counted” in support of workplace napping.

(disclaimer - not responsible for boss' responses)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hot Chocolate

I received this in my inbox and thought it was worthy to share on a cold and snowy day on the first day of March....may it encourage you wherever you are and whatever path you are walking today.....  Be salt and light! 

          HOT CHOCOLATE
A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives. Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortment of cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice looking; expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you are drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases, it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups... And then you began eyeing each others cups...
...Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate.