A Net in Time

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Watch and Pray

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I was orginally going to entitle this post, the wicked shall not inherit, but then I read the chapter again.   While it is true that that wicked shall not inherit the earth, it is more true that our job is to watch AND pray.   Let us then consider WHY we should watch and pray.

Watch and Pray

In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul is talking with a church that he has spent a lot of time with.  He’s seeing things in them he doesn’t like to see and so offers a series of six questions.   Questions that begin with Do you not know?

  1. Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases? 
  2. Do you not know that we are to judge angels? How much more, then, matters pertaining to this life!
  3. Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
  4. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute?
  5. Do you not know that he who is joined to a prostitute becomes one body with her?
  6. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Watch and Pray

We are Not Immune

You would think that all believers would know these truths, particularly ones that have been taught by solidly biblical pastors.    But that might not true.   People don’t always know what we expect them too.   Sometimes the world influences us in ways that we don’t expect.

Take the age that we live in now.  Sensuality and money influences about everything you can think of.  Think you aren’t influenced by that?   Please… think again.  We cannot for one moment take for granted that we are immune to certain sins, even some of the grosser sins in Paul's catalogue! The Faith Shaped Life by Ian Hamilton Click To Tweet

Watch and Pray

Watch and Pray

So we need to watch and pray.   We need to pray that we are kept from the evil one, that our churches not succumb to the pressures of the age in which we live.  We need to be alert to influences of the world creeping in in ways that we might not expect. 1 Peter 5:8 tells us that we need to “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

We need to pray that we don’t deceive ourselves, that we not be compromised by the prevailing wickedness of the world around us.   Watch and Pray.  The earth belongs to the Lord but the devil fights him hard.  Let’s not help him.   Bring glory to God. 

If you’d like to follow along in The Faith-shaped life, amazon link is below.

Before I leave today, I’ve just realized I only have 6 more chapters to go before I am done this amazing book. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying going through this book. I’m getting rather curious about what book I should go through next. These are the books that I am considering. What are your thoughts?

Gifts Kids Can Make

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Today I have a book I dragged out from my art shelves.  I keep thinking that I want to do some of these crafts just for me.  But for me or not, there are some rather neat crafts in this book for you and yours.   

Check out these terry bunnies…. I look at them and think, I know some 4H kids who would love to have these handy bunnies hopping around. 

The easy to follow instructions would make them a breeze to make.  The steps are lined up easily, and any pattern that needs a template has one provided for them. 

The Kitty Doormouse

I thought about sharing this kitty doormouse with my lad.  He loves to create things that might intrigue our cats.  What do you think?  Would it work?  The only problem I see is just where would we put it in our house?  We already have dangling shoelaces and cat dancers hanging off door knobs… so a big mouse?   Um… I dunno….

There are all sorts of fun ideas to peak your interest in gifts kids can make.  Some are ever so easy I could make them myself, and others would probably have me saying, hey son…. lend me your fingers for a moment.  🙂   He would then look at the clearly written (visual as well as textual) and help me problem solve my way through it.

Projects that intrigue

Some of the projects intrigue me for the doll making class I want to do like cotton babies and panty hose babies.  Other just look fun like the birdies and hobby horse.  The decorator basket seems a bit more complicated, but if I could make it I’d feel rather accomplished.  🙂  If I did them well enough, maybe I could even sell them or give them away as cute gifts!  Now wouldn’t that be cool!  🙂

Anyways, it’s a neat book, perhaps it’s one that would inspire you as well!

/Another kid friendly gift book is 50 Toys to Make.

Learning Electronics from a Clock Radio

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Do you remember we took apart a couple of telephones a bit back?  Well, last week we started to dismantle a clock radio. Wow.. it was just so very interesting do to this, a great hands on way to learning electronics. 

We only had the one clock radio, so we shared our discoveries with each other.  Join us in learning electronics from a clock radio, won’t you?

Learning electronics from a clock radio

Okay, so this is what we did.  We took this clock radio and figured out how to take off the outside of it (basically just needed to undo some screws).

Once we got the cover off we took a really good look at the internal parts.   

We took what we learned from the telephone and found the resistors, diodes and capacitors.   We also found some… wire coil things we needed to look up.  Learned they were inductors.  And we found a transformer too!  OH!  and I mustn’t forget the really thin copper wire wrap!  We couldn’t figure out how to detach it so are saving that for another day. 

OH, that thing with the ON-tech on it?  I looked up that number and learned it was a transformer.  The lad figured how to get it out of its’ housing.  It’s gone into our keep pile.

Digital Display

He was very intrigued by the digital display and managed to get it out of the clock radio.   Unfortunately he was unable to get it to work.  He wants to see if Dad can help him get it working as he has plans for it it he can!

Even though he couldn’t get the digital readout to work, he did check out what capacitors, diodes and resistors do.  It was actually quite fascinating.    Here is the capacitor one that he did.  It’s not the best, but I tried.

Oh I should tell you what he used to test the components out.  He has a battery pack with a black and red wire.  He also has some resistors (I think) and he would simply connect the component he was testing to the wires and see what happened.   No chance to electrocute himself or his mother.  🙂  The idea made him laugh though, and then he explained his reasoning really well and all was good. 

In our Remaining Time:

What else did we have time for…. OH, it was a tough job but I managed to get the speaker unattached from the plastic housing.  WOW.. it was stuck on with some rather tough glue.   To get it off it took the two of use to pry a screwdriver underneath and break a clip.  Then it was just a matter of brawn over glue. 🙂

See!   We did get the motherboard (I think that’s what you call it) out of the plastic housing.   The lad and I clipped out a d1 and d2, three resistors, and two capacitors.   We hoped to get to the diodes but ran out of time.   

The lower the resistor the brighter it made the led bulb.  The capacitors made it gradually brighter and the d1 and d2 only worked in one direction. 

That’s all we managed this past Friday, check out our resources eh?  Maybe you’ll learn a bit more like we did!  🙂

Resources

We used these sites: 

Role of a capacitor.

List of electronic components.

As well as our book: 

I’m going to check if my library has these books, or at least books like them.

Jesus’ Crucifixion

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I know it’s been a while since I’ve shared my devotions, sorry about that, I’ve been in a bit of a slump since Christmas.  Anyways, last time we met we talked about how Pilate tried to release Jesus but the Jewish leadership would have none of it.   Today we will look at John 19:16-27.

So they took Jesus, 17 and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. 18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. 19 Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” 20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, for the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and it was written in Aramaic, in Latin, and in Greek. 21 So the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but rather, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’” 22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”
23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his garments and divided them into four parts, one part for each soldier; also his tunic. But the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom, 24 so they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.” This was to fulfill the Scripture which says,
“They divided my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.”
So the soldiers did these things, 25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus Was Taken

So they took Jesus,

Four simple words eh?   And tonight I read them and my heart sank.  Jesus, the only human who did no wrong, he was taken.   We know what is going to happen, because … they took him. 

The Crucifixion

They made Jesus carry his own cross.  This wasn’t a special to Jesus thing, it was the normal practice for prisoners.   Carry your cross to where you will die.   So Jesus carried his cross to The Pace of a Skull (also known as Golgotha).   Jesus was crucified along with two others. 

Pilate had an inscription written saying  “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”  It was written in Aramaic, Latin and Greek so anyone passing by could read it.  The Jewish leadership wanted Pilate to change it, lots of Jews were able to read it, but he said  “What I have written I have written.”

Scripture Fulfilled

Jesus is on the cross, which means he has no use for his clothes.  Soldiers do what they do eh?  Who needs what?  Four soldiers, four articles of clothing, so each took their bit.  One small problem… the tunic was seamless and they didn’t want to wreck it.  They did what soldiers often do… they gambled for it. 

“Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see whose it shall be.”

What is significant about this is that it was just another detail that God had covered. He knew this would happen: They divided my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

Mom

So the soldiers did was soldiers do, but juxtapositioned against them were Jesus’ relatives.  The three Mary’s… his mom, his aunt (Mary the wife of Clopas) and Mary Magdalene. 

Jesus saw them standing there with the disciple that he loved (most likely John) and said “Woman, behold, your son!” And to that disciples “Behold, your mother!” From that point onward, Jesus’ mom had a home. 

Do you see how John was unselfish?   The soldiers well, let’s just say they weren’t.  Casting lots for items of a dead man.

Pondering

I don’t know what to say about this passage and how it reflects on me in my life.

I know that I am so pleased with Pilate for not changing what he wrote, not bowing to that pressure from the leadership. 

Delight fills me when I see how God orchestrated even the details of Jesus’ clothing.  That attention to detail shows his love for his boy.  And makes me consider all the more the attention to detail he gives to my life.  

The care that “the disciple Jesus loved” took in providing for Jesus’ mom.   Under the pain of losing Jesus, the disciple followed through on Jesus’ last request to him. 

All these things flood my brain and I don’t know what all to do with them.   I never thought I’d be pleased with Pilate for standing his ground.  I always thought of him as the bad, wishy-washy, let’s push you around guy.  But here, he stood his ground.   So perhaps there’s hope for me too eh?  Hope for me too. 

Living Hope

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We sang this song in church this morning, it reminded me that death has not claimed me. Jesus broke the chains. He is indeed our living hope, our reason for being.

Written by Brian Johnson and Phil Whikam.  You can read the full story of how it came to be here.  In a nut shell, it was a collaborative effort of God impressing upon them the work he has done in their lives. 

Lyrics

How great the chasm that lay between us
How high the mountain I could not climb
In desperation, I turned to heaven
And spoke Your name into the night
Then through the darkness, Your loving-kindness
Tore through the shadows of my soul
The work is finished, the end is written
Jesus Christ, my living hope
 
refrain
Hallelujah, praise the One who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in Your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope
 
Who could imagine so great a mercy?
What heart could fathom such boundless grace?
The God of ages stepped down from glory
To wear my sin and bear my shame
The cross has spoken, I am forgiven
The King of kings calls me His own
Beautiful Savior, I’m Yours forever
Jesus Christ, my living hope
 
refrain
 
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the Roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
And out of silence, the roaring Lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Oh Jesus, Yours is the victory, 
 
refrain x 2

Survivor Diaries Dust Storm

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Would you know what to do if you were caught up in a dust storm?  I’m guessing you are like me and thinking.. cover your mouth and shut your eyes and start praying!  Well in, Survivor Diaries Dust Storm, through the telling of a good story, you learn just how to survive a dust storm. 

From the Cover

Sixth-graders – and former best friends – Jen and Martin are geared up to attend on of the most exciting geocaching field trip ever in the New Mexico desert.  When their van gets a flat tire in the middle of nowhere, they decide to bike off on their own to get a head start.  Without warning, a blinding wall of dust and debris barrels toward them.  Separated from their field trip group and in the desert alone, they will have to use all their knowledge and grit to survive.  

What you Get

An easy read chapter book with a focus on survival.   This book is part of a series and comes complete with survival tips from the New Mexico Search and Rescue Council.

Throughout the book you will find grayscale images that serve well to advance the story.  AND it really is a story, not just a quick read with some dubious characters to help teach survival skills.   Situations popped up that were (in my eyes) funny.  It made the story real and the characters people that I would like to meet. 

My Thoughts

I think this is a great series to help youngsters prepare for survival situations.  Even if, they don’t meet the particular one in each book, hopefully the reader will pick up the basic facts.  Keep your head, think things through, use your abilities to help yourself and any companions you have with you, and survive. 

I think it’s neat that this book comes with a link to survivor diaries on-line so you can play a survival game. 

This particular book has a believable story line.  I could see a couple of kids getting it into their minds to get a head start, without thinking through the consequences.  The added benefit is that it gives the friends a chance to learn what went wrong in their friendship. 

An easy read that upper elementary youth should have no problem getting through.  A fast paced, interesting story that is enjoyable to read.

Survivor Diaries Dust Storm!
Terry Lynn Johnson
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
120 pages, softcover
Received: trade paperback
Survival, dust storm, upper elementary, middle school
Series: Survivor Diaries
Reviewed for Raincoast Books

Others in the series: Lost!   and Overboard!

disclosure

Where Are You?

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I asked my son this morning what the word where meant to him, that it was the word prompt from Miss Kate.   His response?   Where are you?

I figure it’s as good a place to start as anywhere right?

Where are You, a poem

Where are you?
This phrase runs through my mind
as I ponder the word Where.
My son bids me think
Where are you?

Where am I you might ask
I could simply say
Sitting in my comfy chair with
My laptop in front as SUITS
Plays on the TV making me laugh.

Where am I?
Could also show me checking my phone
wondering if my sweetheart is messaging me
Chatting as the mill runs. Staying in contact.
Sharing highlights of our day.
Today I told him of a clock radio
and shared a discovery we made.

Where am I?
My heart it frets as bit
as it always done when our youngest
is away. Wondering if he’ll be shivering
in a tent or as warm as he think he’ll be.
FTX with the Army Cadets.
Excitement folds his brain.
While I am happy to see him go,
my mama’s heart…well…You know. 🙂

Where am I?
Right here
Right now
But…. elsewhere.