December

Every month I am later and later with the first-of-the month blog. I need to get back into writing a little again!

Today I decided not to go to Sunday School since we were having freezing rain. It was a good thing I made that decision. About fifteen minutes after I would have left, I got a phone call telling me all the morning services had been cancelled.

I have our Christmas tree up and decorated. I may post a pic later, if I can find my camera.

Birthdays for December:
December 14 – My oldest sister Leora
December 27 – Me
December 27 – My nephew Philip
December 30 – My nephew Richard (Philip’s brother).

And of course, on December 25, we celebrate Jesus' birthday.

And the last Magnacalendar image:
Magnacalendar images:December

There won’t be any new Magnacalendar images next year, as Mike didn’t make any. Hopefully he will have a new one for the following year.

November Features

OK, lazy me, finally getting to post the “regular” features for November.

For the birthdays:
November 6 – My nephew Paul
November 16 – My niece Amy’s husband René
November 16 – My granddaughter’s husband Carl
November 21 – My nephew Gene
November 23 – My great-granddaughter Briana
November 25 – My great-great-niece Annelise
November 28 – My half-sister Lois

My father was born on November 23, 1877, and passed away September of 1967
My half-brother LeRoy was born November 25, 1921, and passed away in 2000 (August, I think, or September).

Magnacalendar!
Magnacalendar images:November

Baby Svana was scheduled for surgery, I think it was Monday November 9. I’ve heard nothing further. She had growths where the previous surgery on her esophagus had taken place, making swallowing difficult and painful. She had to go full-time to the feeding tube. Prayer that the surgery will be successful & permanent.

I’ve got a great deal of clean-up done in my yard this summer! I can now haul stuff in the wagon right behind the house where the ground is flat. There is still a lot to go, and I want to get some more work done in the garden before winter really sets in.

We got almost a bucket full of apples from our two trees. A very late frost destroyed most of the developing apples; others were affected in such a way that they had a rough scab-like surface on the skin, and it kept them from growing to full size. However, they got very ripe, and even if they afford just a few bites, they are delicious!

I ordered a bunch of books for Mike & me. One of mine was lost in the mail, and I was reimbursed for it. I’ll probably reorder it later.

Good news for my niece Suzanne! She & her husband Bob have the date set for going to the location of their missions assignment. Keep them in your prayers.

October Already!

I am getting lazy about my blog. I have had things I could have written about, but just don’t think about it when the opportunity is at its best.

The news about baby Svana is still good. She is going to need back surgery some time in the future, but as far as I know, she is doing fine otherwise.

Monthly features:
Birthdays:
October 10 – My son Mike
October 27 – My brother-in-law Tony
My great-great-niece Emmah also has an October birthday, but I don’t know the day.

The October “Magnacalendar” :
Magnacalendar images:October

I started this several days ago, intending to post it on Saturday. I’ve been kinda sick, and not up to doing much thinking.

I went to a dinner at the Richardsville Social Center on Saturday before Labor Day. Saw a lot of the new friends I had made at the Richardsville Road get-together last year.

Last Sunday we had a carry-in dinner for pastor appreciation Sunday. I got to the church, and realized I didn’t have my purse. I wound up having to borrow $5 to put a little gas in my car.

I changed my car insurance, and I’m saving nearly $400 a year, and have better coverage. I was putting my new insurance cards in my car, and I found a bank envelope in the glove compartment with $2 in it. I know I never put that there. It has the last name of the previous owner of the car on it – and I’ve had this car for 6 years now!

This week is our high school reunion – #55. We will be meeting informally at one of the homes on Friday night. The reunion dinner is Saturday night at the Country Club. One of our members will be serving a lunch to any interested on Saturday at noon. I won’t likely go. In any case, more than anything, it’s for the convenience of those who come from out-of-town. They also have a brunch on Sunday morning, which I never attend, since I’m in church at that time.

My brother’s high school reunion was in the local paper last week, and they had his name wrong.

On top of all this, I get to go to work Saturday morning! Hooray! (NOT!) We were supposed to go in every quarter to see that the secretary was keeping stuff in order so the audit would go more smoothly next year. But she couldn't “find stuff”, and this is the first time we’re getting to check it out – should have been in June. This will go toward next year’s audit. I think they need to start looking for a new secretary for the township.

Edit to update birthdays: Emmah's is the 23rd - and the same date is also my great-nephew Alex's; he's Emmah's uncle.

September features and other things

Last weekend was a good time. My brother Tommy, his wife Pat, and my half-sister Lois were down from Michigan. Tommy was here for his high school reunion. They stayed at Middy’s. I was down there most of Friday and Sunday afternoon. We don’t see them often. Tommy brought us a bunch of apples. On Sunday, I guided them to the cemetery where our mother is buried. Her parents are also buried there, and her brother and two of her sisters. Lois’s father and his parents and one uncle are also buried there, as well as two of her full siblings – Lucille, who died as a toddler, and LeRoy who died just a few years ago.

For those of you interested in the story of baby Svana, she is now home, and almost up to normal for a child her age. She still has some problems with feeding – she has to have supplements via artificial means because she is not yet able to eat enough to sustain her.

And now, for the monthly “features”:
Birthdays:
September 4, my great-niece Kathryn
September 26, my grandson Christopher
September 27, my sister-in-law Pat

I hope to keep building up my list of family birthdays; there is still a large number of them that I don’t have any birthday info on, and some that I do not have all. I’m not making a practice of posting the birth year, but I do want to get all that information in my own records. I have just recently added several more, which will show up when their “month” comes up.

And now the “Magnacalendar” for September:
Magnacalendar images:September

Blogger's note - once again, I have to edit my blog to correct the relationship of one of my grandchildren.

First post of August, and other stuff

Well, I always have something to blog about the first of each month, even if it’s just family birthdays and Magnaclams.

I missed posting in time to catch Lucile’s birthday – in fact, I kinda forgot it until Kathryn brought it up on her blog.

Well, anyway, here are the August birthdays, as far as I know. Once again, any of my family members, if you can help me out, I’d like to get a list of all of them – both day & year, although I won’t be posting ages – except occasionally, perhaps, for the very young.

August 1 – my sister-in-law, Lucile
August 16 – my half-brother Paul (Lucile’s husband)
August 18 – my niece Melody
August 25 - my great-grandson Gavin
August 31 – my great-niece Kitiara (Melody’s daughter)

And here is the link to the August Magnacalendar:
Magnacalendar images: August

Our church was robbed a couple of weeks ago. Whoever did it broke into the window of the pastor’s study, but they knew where to find the keys to the church office. They took the safe. Everyone who frequents the church office – or even goes in there at all – was asked to go to the police station to be finger printed, so they would be able to eliminate as many as possible of the many finger prints they had collected from the site. I went down last Thursday and was fingerprinted. The really funny thing (I thought) about the fingerprinting was that one gentleman who was fingerprinted is retired FBI.

The following two Sundays, they have taken the offering at the beginning of the service, had it counted immediately, so it could be dropped in the night depository at the bank immediately after the service, and would not stay overnight in the building.

Svana

Svana is nearly 2 months old now, I think. She “should” be dead. She had many things wrong with her. Her esophagus went nowhere. Fluid leaking into the cavity around her lungs caused them to collapse. Other issues led to her being on a machine to “replace” her heart as well as her lungs. She had no rectum.

When she was about 2 or 3 days old, some men from the church her grandfather pastors gathered around and prayed for her. That evening, she had a bowel movement. Her grandfather said, “I don’t care if I am a Christian and a pastor – the first doctor who suggests that the original diagnosis (no rectum) was a mistake gets my fist in his face.” The issue with her lungs was up and down. She had surgery to connect her esophagus where it belonged. She has had other surgeries; I don’t know the details of all of them.

But while she was on the breathing machine & heart machine, there came a point where the doctors said, “She’s used up all her reserve. She has nothing left to fight with.” Her grandfather said, “She may not have any reserve, but we have – in God.”

The next thing we knew, Svana started improving. The lung machine was removed and she was put on a ventilator. Soon that was removed, as well as the heart machine. Her parents were able to hold her for the first time. The last I heard, they were even able to dress her. Interesting, isn’t it, that she has been improving steadily ever since the doctors said she had no more reserve?

Her grandfather is the pastor of the Brookville, PA, Assemblies of God Church; her great-grandparents are retired Nazarene missionaries.

The Thin Line

The last couple of weeks have been rather hectic – again. I’ve done a lot of lawn mowing, of which there is always a lot to do. And I’ve finally gone over 1000 miles in my car without the “check engine” light coming on. There was another little problem arose – whenever I went to pump gas, the pump would kick off ‘way too soon. Hopefully, that is fixed now; Wally found where one of the new hoses he installed was kinking a bit and causing the back pressure. I took the car in for inspection today, and he has to order parts – struts and ball joints. This is going to be an expensive proposition!

Last week was the exciting time, though. A very short time, but could have had very long term – possibly permanent – implications. We have a rather steep bank next to our driveway. At one point in that bank, there is a set of make-shift stone steps. I use those steps to go into the upper part of my yard, where my clothesline is. I was up there hanging clothes Monday morning, and my dog was wondering around. Then the people who were staying in the cabin next door took their dogs outside. They were restrained, but I was afraid my dog might run over there. Time to take her down to the porch and put her on the chain. I was hurrying a bit, although the dog was behaving herself so far.

I started down the steps. On the second step, the sole of my shoe “stuck,” causing me to lose my balance. There were stones from the partially tumbled-down stone wall near the bottom of the steps. One of them had a pointed corner aimed upright. Had I fallen immediately, I would probably have struck my head on that point, and it would likely have been the end. As it was, I caught my balance just enough to take one more step before I fell, and missed the rock – well, not completely, I wound up with a cut near my temple. I also scraped my left shin, and stoved my left ankle, wrist and shoulder.

I started calling for Mike. I wondered why I had to call so loud; he’d just been at his computer and in a place where he should be able to easily hear me. Then I remembered that he had gone into the bathroom just before I came out, and that’s upstairs, and about as far away in the house as you could get from where I was. I was close enough to the fallen rocks that I was able to shift around a bit and pull myself up getting hold of them. I went into the house, and started up the stairs just as Mike started down. He hadn’t heard a thing. He wound up having to put a bandaid on my temple. The way it was torn, he thought maybe I should have stitches, but it wasn’t deep, so I didn’t think so.

The line is very thin between life and death.

In spite all this, the next day I was still up to going to Clarion for groceries. Then on Wednesday I mowed. On Thursday I mowed. On Friday I mowed. Saturday it rained. On Monday, I did laundry – and mowed. Today I took the car into the shop, ran a few errands – and mowed.

I’m going back out in a few minutes and do a little more mowing.

Welcome to the Rat Race!

Things have been rather hectic the last week or so. It actually dates back to my last doctor’s appointment in early May. Nothing I did gave me relief from the pain in my back that I get whenever I spend more than 5 or 10 minutes doing a task that requires standing or walking. He prescribed a very strong pain medication, and faxed the perscription to my perscription company.

It was that same week that my hot water heater went out – well, it started leaking. It was still working, but a leaking hot water heater is not to be tolerated. A neighbor, who does most of my plumbing work, got a new hot water heater and installed it. This was on Thursday. He lit the pilot light, and fired up the heater. It lit up for a few seconds, then went out. After trying for some time to make it work, he found out that it was a factory fault – in a sealed compartment. GE was to call me and make an appointement – they would come out with a new hot water heater and install it. When they finally called me, they said they didn’t have a rep in the area, so I should have my plumber do the work, and they would reimburse him. Well, he doesn’t do much plumbing work any more (I’m one of his few plumbing customers), and he runs a tourist trap, where he and his wife were running a seminar that weekend, so it was out of the question for him to get back to me until Monday. So no hot water before Monday. Ray came Monday morning and took out the tank, to get the replacement. He had to go to Oil City, and cut a lot of red tape, and did double duty by doing some personal shopping while there. By evening I had hot water again.

But to continue with the story about the medications – Monday morning, my perscription came in the mail. It was one of those “take one or two tablets every 6 hours as needed for pain.” Well, in the doctor’s office, he said take two, etc. So I took two. This was about 11:00 am. Around noon I ate lunch. Shortly after, I started feeling weak and a little dizzy. Then my stomach started acting up. I grabbed the sheet that came with the medication, and read the side effects. It included all of the above. I called the doctor. He said, “Cut the medication to 1 tablet, and take every 4 hours.” Just shortly after that, I experienced another of the side-effects – vomiting. Loss of appetite was another. As I told several people, I not only lost my appetite, I lost my lunch. I slept all afternoon. After Ray came back & reinstalled the hot water heater, I went back to bed, and slept out most of the evening.

I ended up just taking the medication twice a day. Oddly enough, it still affected my appetite, to the point that I lost about 12 pounds in 6 weeks. I’ll take that side-effect any day of the week. Unfortunately, it seems to have worn off, and I’m gaining a little back.

OK, now fast forward to a week ago Monday. I did my laundry as usual, and was able to hang the clothes out. However, I was having just a little more pain than usual in my hips.

On Tuesday, our “hen party” was scheduled. That’s a bunch of us ladies who went to high school together. That was also my grocery day. I went to Brookville early, cashed a couple of checks, then went to the BiLo to get my vitamin D perscription filled. There was still a little time before the dinner, so I went up to my sister’s in Roseville and shot the breeze with her for a while. Then over to the Country Club for lunch. I was sure I couldn’t eat the whole meal that I ordered, because of the effects of the medication. I didn’t eat all of it (I’m usually a clean-plate person) but most of it, with no apparent ill affects. Then, by the time I got out of there, my stomach was started to get a little queasy. I drove over to Clarion to the Walmart for my regular grocery shopping. On the whole trip, my stomach was in pain. I started pushing the cart around, and in a very short time, the pain dissipated. The weather outside was rather warm, but they had the air conditioning going in the Walmart. So, now, I am pushing my cart around the nice, cool Walmart – and sweating like crazy!

By the time I headed for home, all my symptoms were pretty well gone. But I still had some pain in my hips.

Now we’re to Wednesday morning. I turned on my computer, and did some other things while waiting for it to boot up. I came back to a blue screen with a few messages on it, the most significant being “No Boot Device.” I restarted it several times, with no luck. I went to setup, and it appeared that one of the disk devices didn’t exist. I called Dell. After the tech had me try several things, it was concluded that the system didn’t recognize my hard drive. It could be either a cable, or the drive itself. The computer was still in warranty (and in-home warranty, at that!), so Dell made arrangements to have a tech come out and do whatever needed to be done. That took a while to get all straightened out since I’m out in the boonies, and I didn’t get the problem fixed until late Friday. Unfortunately, it was the disk, not the cable – and I lost everything, except what I had backed up, which was precious little. I lost absolutely all my documents. I had pictures backed up to September 2007; most of the pictures I lost were scanned in (so I still have the originals) or, if digital, the ones that were any good were posted on the internet and I can retrieve them from there. I still have some software I have to download.

One thing I lost – I had an ancient piece of software with which to record recipes. I had copied everything from an old diskette, and downloaded some software to convert them to a usable format. I’m pretty sure I have since thrown away all my old diskettes. I was usually able to read them, but I couldn’t reformat them, because of their age. Some of the recipes I still have somewhere from another source. Some I never tried – they were that type of “I’d like to try that some day.”

Now, while all the rest of this is going on, the pain in my hips is getting worse, and I can barely hobble around. I had ordered some plastic clogs from a mailorder house to wear outside in the mornings, because the grass is always quite wet. They arrived in the mail this past Monday. They don’t fit quite right. They are a little large in the back, but they put pressure on my big toes. What was amazing was that as I walked around in them, the pain in my hips eased. I suspect it something to do with the composition of the soles – thick, spongy plastic. They didn’t completely eliminate the pain, though. The next day, I was thinking, now the doc said that I could still use my OC pain medication (naproxen sodium) in addition to the prescription meds. I decided that I’d try taking one of them in the middle of the day, and maybe it would help a little. I have done so for the last three days, and it has virtually eliminated the hip pain. Now, if I could only get rid of the back pain . . .

Now, for the “monthly features” – first of all, the Magnaclam calendar:
Magnacalendar Images - July

And birthdays:
July 15 – my great-niece Qavah
July 21 – my daughter Karen
July 25 - my brother-in-law Phil
July 30 – my granddaughter Annie

Just fixed that last entry - Annie is definitely not my daughter!

Hey, family, I lost my birthdays list when my computer crashed, so I’d appreciate any of you helping me out with getting them back. I have at least the month & day for all those that I have posted here throughout the past year, but if possible, I’d like to have the year, too. I’d like to have a comprehensive list of all the birthdates in our family, and there are some whose birthdays I have never had – or at least, never had recorded.

June's Beginnings

It’s a new month. June. It’s supposed to be almost summer, but when I woke up yesterday, the temperature was 32º. Brrr!

Monthly features:
Magnaclam Calendar:
Magnacalendar Images: June

I love those little "Magnajets" in the background!

June birthdays:
My nephew’s wife, Dawn – June 20
Great-great nephew Nehemiah (Dawn’s grandson) – June 21
Brother Tommy – June 25
Niece Suzanne (Tommy’s daughter) – June 25
Nephew Larry (now deceased) was born on June 15, 1949

Once again, it looks like my “check engine” light problem has been solved. This is the longest I’ve gone without its coming on since late January.

I dumped a bunch of shredded paper inside my fenced-in garden area. I covered most of it with newspaper weighted down with stone. It seemed to be staying in place pretty good, even where not covered. The grass and other plants are growing up through it. But I suddenly started noticing a bunch of it on the ground under the nearby hemlock tree. It didn’t make sense, because there wasn’t any evidence of it being blown about by the wind. And periodically the amount under the tree seemed to increase. I wondered if perhaps the birds were carrying it about. I looked up in the tree and saw a big gob of it hanging from a branch. I guess I need to cover the rest.

I have several bags of shredded paper that I want to spread out in the garden area. I put some out there once before, long ago, and it improved the soil in those areas considerably when it deteriorated. I’m also putting out big pieces of card board, hoping to kill out most of the weeds – especially the quack grass! And the peppermint which is virtually taking over the garden, and not being worth much because it always gets leaf miners very early. There is better peppermint growing down by the road, but I have to get it before the deer eat it off.

I’ve got my "burning place" rebuilt where I want it, and without any concrete blocks or pieces. I will probably build it higher, bit by bit, by bringing rocks from a pile in the southwest corner of my property. Someone was dumping them there before I bought the place and I have continued the practice.

This 'n' That

I just sent off a birthday card to my great-granddaughter Keely. She will be 2 tomorrow.

My grandson Christopher is getting married Saturday. I haven’t sent them anything yet. I notified my daughter, and told her I would be sending something, so they won’t be disappointed not to have heard from me. I wanted Mike to make an image of a Magnaclam bride and groom for a card for them, but I don’t think he’s gonna do it. I wanted a baby Magnaclam for Keely’s birthday card, and didn’t get that either.

My brother-in-law & my nephew Rich installed a signal-booster on our TV antenna so that we can get digital TV. So far, we still can’t get it. The only option left to us is to buy a new antenna, and I hesitate to do that, because, what if, after spending all that money, it still doesn’t work?

Rich hauled some rocks in my yard down to where I want to set up a place for burning stuff, and at the same time, getting the rocks out of a place where I want to mow. He missed a few. He set up the rocks in a circle, but (shhh, don’t tell him) I’m doing it over. He set it up just a little too close to my garden fence. Also, there are some concrete blocks in it, and they don’t hold up very good with fire. Today I hauled down the rest of the rocks he’d missed, and started rebuilding the circle. I wanted to be able to burn stuff without going half-way up the hill, where I’ve been burning stuff for some time.

I may finally have got the “check engine” light on my car fixed. The tech caught it just at the right time with an intermittent problem, and replaced a part. So far, it’s gone over 160 miles without the light coming on. Those intermittent problems are really the bear to find.

I had to replace my hot-water heater a couple of weeks ago. I may have to replace my clothes dryer, too, before the year is out.

Life is never dull!

Not yet

My "check engine" light is on - again - after about 90 miles.

May Musings

I suppose, while posting the Articles of Faith with the graphics, I should have gone into some detail on at least some of the graphics as to why they represent the specific article. Some, of course, are self-explanatory.

Earlier this year I got a little kitchen gadget I thought might be useful. It’s one of those little things you find in novelty catalogs that may or may not work correctly. It’s a little plastic slicer with a nice sharp blade. It gives you warnings about proper use to avoid cutting yourself. The problem was, it didn’t tell you how to wash it. I was washing it preparatory to use, and managed to “slice” a bit of my index finger. Ouch! However, I will say, as for the use, it works very nicely. I sliced up a couple of potatoes to fry, and they sliced up fast and uniform.

Yesterday was one busy day. I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning – just routine stuff. I went from there to the hospital for X-rays to try to find out why I have so much back pain. All the X-rays showed was a little arthritis.

From the hospital, I went to Middy’s, expecting to stay there until my car appointment in the afternoon. I had intended to skip lunch. Middy wasn’t home; my nephew Rich probably was, but he would be leaving very soon to go to work, so I just drove off. I went to Plyer’s and had salad bar for lunch. Then I went to the grocery store & picked up a few things. On to the garage. I was early, so I sat in the car about 20 minutes reading. Maybe, just maybe, I’ve got the check engine light fixed . . . I went back into town & the grocery store, and picked up some frozen stuff. Then gassed up the car. I should have done it when I first got into town before my Dr.’s appointment. In the mean time, the price of gasoline had increased by 5¢.

I got home at about 3:00 pm (after leaving home about 9:00 am).

Now for the monthly features:
Magnaclam image for May
Magnacalendar images: May

May birthdays:
My nephew Ben – May 5
My niece Elizabeth – May 7
My nephew Steve – May 8
My brother-in-law Erling – May 25
My great-granddaughter Keely – May 29

If any of you know any family birthdays I’ve missed, let me know. There are a lot that I don’t have a record of.

Articles of Faith - Continued - 15 & 16

This is the final installment of the Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene. These last two articles each has its own graphic.



XV. Second Coming of Christ

19. We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again; that we who are alive at His coming shall not precede them that are asleep in Christ Jesus; but that, if we are abiding in Him, we shall be caught up with the risen saints to meet the Lord in the air, so that we shall ever be with the Lord.

(Matthew 25:31-46; John 14:1-3; Acts 1:9-11; Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 9:26-28; 2 Peter 3:3-15; Revelation 1:7-8; 22:7-20)



XVI. Resurrection, Judgment, and Destiny

20. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, that the bodies of both the just and of the unjust shall be raised to life and united with their spirits—“they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”

21. We believe in future judgment in which every person shall appear before God to be judged according to his or her deeds in this life.

22. We believe that glorious and everlasting life is assured to all who savingly believe in, and obediently follow, Jesus Christ our Lord; and that the finally impenitent shall suffer eternally in hell.

(Genesis 18:25; 1 Samuel 2:10; Psalm 50:6; Isaiah 26:19; Daniel 12:2-3; Matthew 25:31-46; Mark 9:43-48; Luke 16:19-31; 20:27-38; John 3:16-18; 5:25-29; 11:21-27; Acts 17:30-31; Romans 2:1-16; 14:7-12; 1 Corinthians 15:12-28; 2 Corinthians 5:10; 2 Thessalonians 1:5-10; Revelation 20:11-15; 22:1-15)

Articles of Faith – Continued – 11-14

The part of this graphic representing the church is made of bricks representing people. It's not clear enough to see at this size, but the artist put a person's image on each brick. The missing brick on the upper left hand wall indicates that there are still more bricks to be added.



XI. The Church

15. We believe in the Church, the community that confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, the convenant people of God made new in Christ, the Body of Christ called together by the Holy Spirit through the Word.

God calls the Church to express its life in the unity and fellowship of the Spirit; in worship through the preaching of the Word, observance of the sacraments, and ministry in His name; by obedience to Christ and mutual accountability.

The mission of the Church in the world is to continue the redemptive work of Christ in the power of the Spirit through holy living, evangelism, discipleship, and service.

The Church is a historical reality, which organizes itself in culturally conditioned forms; exists both as local congregations and as a universal body; sets apart persons called of God for specific ministries. God calls the Church to live under His rule in anticipation of the consummation at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Exodus 19:3; Jeremiah 31:33; Matthew 8:11; 10:7; 16:13-19, 24; 18:15-20; 28:19-20; John 17:14-26; 20:21-23; Acts 1:7-8; 2:32-47; 6:1-2; 13:1; 14:23; Romans 2:28-29; 4:16; 10:9-15; 11:13-32; 12:1-8; 15:1-3; 1 Corinthians 3:5-9; 7:17; 11:1, 17-33; 12:3, 12-31; 14:26-40; 2 Corinthians 5:11—6:1; Galatians 5:6, 13-14; 6:1-5,15; Ephesians 4:1-17; 5:25-27; Philippians 2:1-16; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:13; Hebrews 10:19-25; 1 Peter 1:1-2, 13; 2:4-12, 21; 4:1-2, 10-11; 1 John 4:17; Jude 24; Revelation 5:9-10)

XII. Baptism

16. We believe that Christian baptism, commanded by our Lord, is a sacrament signifying acceptances of the benefits of the atonement of Jesus Christ, to be administered to believers and declarative of their faith in Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and full purpose of obedience in holiness and righteousness.

Baptism being a symbol of the new covenant, young children may be baptized, upon request of parents or guardians who shall give assurance for them of necessary Christian training.

Baptism may be administered by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion, according to the choice of the applicant.

(Matthew 3:1-7; 28:16-20; Acts 2:37-41; 8:35-39; 10:44-48; 16:29-34; 19:1-6; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-28; Colossians 2:12; 1Peter 3:18-22)

XIII. The Lord’s Supper

17. We believe that the Memorial and Communion Supper instituted by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is essentially a New Testament sacrament, declarative of His sacrificial death, through the merits of which believers have life and salvation and promise of all spiritual blessings in Christ. It is distinctively for those who are prepared for reverent appreciation of its significance, and by it they show forth the Lord’s death till He come again. It being the Communion feast, only those who have faith in Christ and love for the saints should be called to participate therein.

(Exodus 12:1-14; Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-20; John 6:28-58; 1 Corinthians 10:14-21; 11:23-32)

XIV. Divine Healing

18. We believe in the Bible doctrine of divine healing and urge our people to seek to offer the prayer of faith for the healing of the sick. We also believe God heals through means of medical science.

(2 Kings 5:1-19; Psalm 103:1-5; Matthew 4:23-24; 9:18-35; John 4:46-54; Acts 5:12-16; 9:32-42; 14:8-15; 1 Corinthians 12:4-11; 2 Corinthians 12:7-10; James 5:13-16)

Articles of Faith - Continued - 10

Since the graphic for this article was part of the graphic in the previous post, I will repost the graphic for clarity.



X. Entire Sanctification

13. We believe that entire sanctification is that act of God, subsequent to regeneration, by which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and brought into a state of entire devotement to God, and the holy obedience of love made perfect.

It is wrought by the baptism with the Holy Spirit, and comprehends in one experience the cleansing of the heart from sin and the abiding, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit bears witness.

This experience is also known by various terms representing its different phases, such as “Christian perfection,” “perfect love,” “heart purity,” “the baptism with the Holy Spirit,” “the fullness of the blessing,” and “Christian holiness.”

14. We believe that there is a marked distinction between a pure heart and a mature character. The former is obtained in an instant, the result of sanctification; the latter is the result of growth in grace.

We believe that the grace of entire sanctification includes the impulse to grow in grace. However, this impulse must be consciously nurtured, and careful attention given to the requisites and processes of spiritual development and improvement in Christlikeness of character and personality. Without such purposeful endeavor, one’s witness may be impaired and the grace itself frustrated and ultimately lost.

(Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17; John 7:37-39; 14:15-23; 17:6-20; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 15:8-9; Romans 6:11-13, 19; 8:1-4; 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 6:14—7:1; Galations 2:20; 5:16-25; Ephesians 3:14-21; 5:17-18, 25-27; Philippians 3:10-15; Colossians 3:1-17; 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; Hebrews 4:9-11; 10:10-17; 12:1-2; 13:12; 1 John 1:7,9)

(“Christian perfection,” “perfect love”: Deuteronomy 30:6; Matthew 5:43-48; 22:37-40; Romans 12:9-21; 13:8-10; 1Corinthians 13; Philippians 3:10-15; Hebrews 6:1; 1 John 4:17-18

“Heart purity”: Matthew 5:8; Acts 15:8-9; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:3

“Baptism with the Holy Spirit”: Jeremiah 31:31-34; Ezekiel 36:25-27; Malachi 3:2-3; Matthew 3:11-12; Luke 3:16-17; Acts 1:5; 2:1-4; 15:8-9;

“Fullness of the blessing”: Romans 15:29

“Christian holiness”: Matthew 5:1—7:29; John 15:1-11; Romans 12:1—15:3; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Ephesians 4:17—5:20; Philippians 1:9-11; 3:12-15; Colossians 2:20—3:17; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 4:7-8; 5:23; 2 Timothy 2:19-22; Hebrews 10:19-25; 12:14; 13:20-21; 1 Peter 1:15-16; 2 Peter 1:1-11; 3:18; Jude 20-21)

Articles of Faith - Continued - 8 & 9

Although Article 10 is included in this graphic, it is rather long, so I will put it in a separate post. As mentioned in the previous post, this graphic was originally connected to the previous one. The returning arrow, representing Repentance, originated at the bottom of the gift box, representing Prevenient Grace.



VIII. Repentance

8. We believe that repentance, which is a sincere and thorough change of the mind in regard to sin, involving a sense of personal guilt and a voluntary turning away from sin, is demanded of all who have by act or purpose become sinners against God. The Spirit of God gives to all who will repent the gracious help of penitence of heart and hope of mercy, that they may believe unto pardon and spiritual life.

(2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalms 32:5-6; 51:1-17; Isaiah 55:6-7; Jeremiah 3:12-14; Ezekiel 18:30-32; 33:14-16; Mark 1:14-15; Luke 3:1-14; 13:1-5; 18:9-14; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 5:31; 17:30-31; 26:16-18; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 7:8-11; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Peter 3:9)

IX. Justification, Regeneration, and Adoption

9. We believe that justification is the gracious and judicial act of God by which He grants full pardon of all guilt and complete release from the penalty of sins committed, and acceptance as righteous to all who believe on Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Saviour.

10. We believe that regeneration, or the new birth, is that gracious work of God whereby the moral nature of the repentant believer is spiritually quickened and given a distinctively spiritual life, capable of faith, love, and obedience.

11. We believe that adoption is that gracious act of God by which the justified and regenerated believe is constituted a son of God.

12. We belive that justification, regeneration, and adoption are simultaneous in the experience of seekers after God and are obtained upon the condition of faith, preceded by repentance; and that to this work and state of grace the Holy Spirit bears witness.

(Luke 18:14; John 1:12-13; 3:3-8; 5:24; Acts 13:39; Romans 1:17; 3:21-26, 28; 4:5-9, 17-25; 5:1, 16-19; 6:4; 7:6; 8:1, 15-17; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 6:11; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Galatians 2:16-21; 3:1-14, 26; 4:4-7; Ephesians 1:6-7; 2:1, 4-5; Philippians 3:3-9; Colossians 2:13; Titus 3:4-7; 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 1:9; 3:1-2, 9; 5:1, 9-13, 18)

Articles of Faith - Continued - 5-7

Continuing with Articles of Faith of the Church of the Nazarene. The picture below was supposed to inclued articles 8-10, but I had to separate them, because the portion of the image I was working with was too large to separate from the rest of the page.



V. Sin, Original and Personal

5. We believe that sin came into the world through the disaobedience of our first parents, and death by sin. We believe that sin is of two kinds: original sin or depravity, and actual or personal sin.

5.1. We believe that original sin, or depravity, is that corruption of the nature of all the offspring of Adam by reason of which everyone is very far gone from original righteousness or the pure state of our first parents at the time of their creation, is averse to God, and that continually. We further believe that original sin continues to exist with the new life of the regenerate, until the heart is fully cleansed by the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

5.2. We believe that original sin differs from actrual sin in that it constitutes an inherited propensity to actual sin for which no one is accountable until its divinely provided remedy is neglected or rejected.

5.3. We believe that actual or personal sin is a voluntary violation of a known law of God by a morally responsible person. It is therefore not to be confused with involuntary and inescapable shortcomings, infirmities, faults, mistakes, failures or other deviations from a standard of perfect conduct that are the residual effects of the Fall. However, such innocent effects do not include attitudes or responses contrary to the spirit of Christ, which may properly be called sins of the spirit. We believe that personal sin is primarily and essentially a violation of the law of love; and that in relation to Christ sin may be defined as unbelief.

(Original sin: Genesis 3; 6:5; Job 15:14; Psalm 51:5; Jeremiah 17:9-10; Mark 7:21-23; Romans 1:18-25; 5:12-14; 7:1—8:9; 1 Corinthians 3:1-4; Galations 5:16-25; 1 John1:7-8

Personal Sin: Matthew 22:36-40 (with 1 John 3:4); John 8:34-36; 16:8-9; Romans 3:23; 6:15-23; 8:18-24; 14:23; 1 John 1:9—2:4; 3:7-10)


VI. Atonement

6. We believe that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings, by the shedding of His own blood, and by His death on the Cross, made a full atonement for all human sin, and that this Atonement is the only ground of salvation, and that it is sufficient for every individual of Adam’s race. The Atonement is graciously efficacious for the salvation of the irresponsible and for the children in innocency but is efficacious for the salvation of those who reach the age of responsibility only when they repent and believe.

(Isaiah 53:5-6, 11; Mark 10:45; Luke 24:46-48; John 1;29; 3:14-17; Acts 4:10-12; Romans 3:21-26; 4:17-25; 5:6-21; 1 Corinthians 6:20; 2 Corinthians 5:14-21; Galatians 1:3-4; 3:13-14; Colossians 1:19-23; 1 Timothy 2:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:9; 9:11-14; 13:12; 1 Peter 1:18-21; 2:19-25; 1 John 2:1-2)


VII. Prevenient Grace

7. We believe that the human race’s creation in Godlikeness included ability to choose between right and wrong, and that thus human beings were made morally responsible; that through the fall of Adam they became depraved so that they cannot now turn and prepare themselves by their own natural strength and works to faith and calling upon God. But we also believe that the grace of God through Jesus Christ is freely bestowed upon all people, enabling all who will to turn from sin to righteousness, believe on Jesus Christ for pardon and cleansing from sin, and follow good works pleasing and acceptable in His sight.

We believe that all persons, though in the possession of the experience of regeneration and entire sanctification, may fall from grace and apostatize and, unless they repent of their sins, be hopelessly and eternally lost.

(Godlikeness and moral responsibility: Genesis 1:26-27; 1:16-17; Deuteronomy 28:1-2; 30:19; Joshua 24:15; Psalm 8:3-5; Isaiah 1:8-10; Jeremiah 31:29-30; Ezekiel 18:1-4; Micah 6:8; Romans 1:19-20; 2:1-16; 14:7-12; Galations 6:7-8

Natural inability: Job 14:4; 15:14; Psalms 14:1-4; 51:5; John 3:6a; Romans 3:10-12; 5:12-14, 20a; 7:14-25

Free grace and works of faith: Ezekiel 18:25-26; John 1:12-13; 3:6b; Acts 5:31; Romans 5:6-8, 18; 6:15-16, 23; 10:6-8; 11:22; 1 Corinthians 2:9-14; 10:1-12; 2 Corinthians 5:18-19; Galatians 5:6; Ephesians 2:8-10; Philippians 2:12-13; Colossians 1:21-23; 2 Timothy 4:10a; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 2:1-3); 3:12-15; 6:4-6; 10;26-31; James 2:18-22; 2 Peter 1:10-11; 2:20-22)

Continued: Articles of Faith - 4

Articles of Faith #4



IV. The Holy Scripture

4. We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration, inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all things necessary to our salvation, so that whatever is not contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of faith.

(Luke 24:44-47; John 10:35; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:15-17; 1 Peter 1:10-12; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

Articles of Faith - 1, 2 and 3

Articles of Faith – 1, 2, and 3

Here is the representation of the first 3 articles of faith of the Church of the Nazarene as mentioned in my previous post, using the pictures produced by an African pastor to help describe them (scripture references at the end of each article are not part of the text of the article, but are there to support it):



I. The Triune God
1. We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign of the universe; that He only is God, creative and administrative, holy in nature, attributes, and purpose; that He, as God, is Triune in essential being, revealed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

(Genesis 1; Leviticus 19:2; Deuteronomy 6:4-5; Isaiah 5:16; 6:1-7; 40:18, 31; Matthew3:16-17, 28:19-20; John 14:6-27; 1 Corinthians 8:6; 2
Corinthians 13:14; Galations 4:4-6; Ephesians 2:13-18)

II. Jesus Christ
2. We believe in Jesus Christ, the Second Person of the Triune Godhead; that He was eternally one with the Father; that He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary, so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say the Godhead and manhood, are thus united in one Person very God, and very man, the God-man.

We believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and that He truly arose from the dead and took again His body, together with all things appertaining to the perfection of man's nature, wherewith He ascended into heaven and is there engaged in intercession for us.

(Matthew 1:20-25; 16:15-16; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:1-18; Acts 2:22-36; Romans 8:3; 32-34; Galatians4:4-5; Philippians 2:5-11; Colossians 1:12-22; 1 Timothy 6:14-16; Hebrews 1:1-5; 7:22-28; 9:24-28; 1John 1:1-3; 4:2-3, 15)

III. The Holy Spirit

3. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Triune Godhead, that He is ever present and efficiently active in and with the Church of Christ, convincing the world of sin, regenerating those who repent and believe, sanctifying believers, and guiding into all truth as it is in Jesus.

(John 7:39, 14:15-16; 16:7-15; Acts 2:33; 15:8-9; Romans 8:1-27; Galations 3:1-14; 4:6; Ephesians 3:14-21; 1Thessalonians 4:7-8; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 3:24; 4:13)

Busy Time

This seems to be quite a busy time of year. I’ve been working in the yard when I get a chance. I haven’t done a lot of that in the past several years, but I seem to have gained quite a bit of strength since I quit taking cholesterol medicine. Seems like the cure was worse than the disease.

A number of activities have been taking place. Of course, earlier this month was Easter.

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Then Monday evening, we had a missionary speaker at our church. She is stationed in South Africa. I’d like to go into some detail about some of the things she told us about. She was talking about how in the Africa Region (she works in the regional office), she sees much evidence of the African Church being much like the church of the Book of Acts. One thing she mentioned specifically was the amount of time they spend in prayer. She told of one pastor who will often walk four miles to get to his “special” place of prayer up on a mountain. Sometimes he will spend the night in prayer. Once, after one of those nights spent in prayer, he felt the urging of the Lord to go to an area that was very unfriendly to Christians. There was a factory there, and he was led to go to that factory. At the gate of the factory, the guard challenged him. I can’t remember the exact words the pastor spoke when responding with his reason for being there, but essentially that he was there to bring the message of Christ to the people. The guard asked him what the book was that he was carrying, and he told him it was the Bible.

There was, right next to the gate, a sort of furnace/oven type thing that was used in the manufacturing process (I don’t remember what that was), and the guard told him to throw his Bible in there. The pastor hugged the Bible to himself and said, “Oh, no, I can’t do that! This is the words of my God!” The guard said, “OK, then, put your arm in there.” The pastor agreed, and put his arm in the furnace. When he pulled it back out, it appeared not to have any effect at all from the fire – not even a hair was singed – like the Hebrew children in the book of Daniel. The guard said, “You didn’t keep it in long enough! Put it back in, and keep it in longer!” The pastor did so, with the same results. The guard said again, that it wasn’t long enough; that he should put it back in and keep it there until he (the guard) told him it was long enough. This time, it was longer, but the pastor’s arm was still intact when he withdrew it.

About this time, a senior guard came by, and seeing the pastor with the Bible, he told the other guard to take the Bible & throw it in the furnace. The first guard refused, recounting what had happened with the pastor’s arm. The senior guard grabbed the Bible and threw it in.

Some time after, that senior guard took a stray bullet in the head, from some kind of a gang fight, I think. The people of that area, who, as I mentioned above, were quite unfriendly to Christians, did an about face, and welcomed the pastor to their area.

I think it was this same pastor who did a pictorial presentation of the 16 articles of faith of the Nazarene Church. When I get a copy of it, I will post it here.

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I am still trying to get the “check engine” light in my car to go out. The mechanic has tried numerous things; after replacing all the plumbing connecting with the charcoal cannister, a smoke test showed everything secure, but the light still came back on. He tried something else yesterday. He said that on more modern cars, the computer test is more specific, but on mine (a ’98) it’s almost as vague as “check engine”!

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The first Sunday in May, we will be having our Faith Promise for missions service. Our speakers are retired missionaries, whose son-in-law pastors a church of another denomination in our community. This couple – with their daughter – went to Chile (the field of their missonary work) in October, for the celebration of the denomination’s 100th anniversary. They will be showing slides of their trip.

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I had an indirect message from my great-niece Meghan about two April birthdays that I missed – hers, and her step-sister Taryn’s – both on April 1. Meghan, you should have just commented on the blog!

Another month, another blog

No matter what, I can’t seem to get into writing a blog more than once a month these days. Last month, with the nice weather, and the improvement in my health, I was able to get out and do a lot of yard work. There is still a lot to be done. Some of it, of course, is seasonal, and is here to be done every year, but I’m also doing some “one-time” stuff that will be finished for “time & eternity” when I get it done. I am thankful for the health to be able to do this work.

Last week, my brother’s mother-in-law passed away. I had read that she was in the hospital & not likely to live almost a week earlier. I had read about it on my niece’s (and her husband’s) blog. See “Bob and Suzanne” in my links. It was great to read that she had found the Lord a little over a week before her passing. God is good.

Did you participate in “Red Envelope” day? Three red envelopes went out from our home. Among the many free addresses labels I have received, I found the perfect return address label. It pictured a child sleeping with an angel guarding it.

For the “regular” features:
The “Magnaclam” calendar image:
Magnacalendar images: April

April birthdays:
April 11: My sister Mildred
April 19: My great-nephew Paul Burton (III)

I also have a very good friend whose birthday is April 8. I just sent her a birthday card using a Magnclam bearing a cake as the front. Mike posts this picture regularly on RO when wishing someone a happy birthday.

March!

The past month has been relatively hectic. I am a township auditor, and we finally got that completed. We were also able to persuade the commissioners to take some steps that will make for a cleaner and easier audit in the future. We still have a county-related audit to do, but that job will be passed to another township next year.

There have been a few small changes in my life that have had significant effects. 1 – Mike took down my old double bed that had a mattress that was about done for, and put up my twin bed that I had bought and been using when I was working in Ohio, spending weekdays there, coming home weekends. The mattress on that is relatively new, and more inducive to comfortable sleeping. 2 – the doctor agreed to let me stop using my cholesterol medicine. The result of this was that I was able to cut my arthritis medicine in half, and still feel a lot better. 3 – the doctor also noted on my blood work that I had an extremely low level of vitamin D. This was probably what was causing me to feel weaker and weaker as time went by. So now I’m on a very high dosage of vitamin D. I no longer feel quite so weak; I’m not nearly as strong as I would like to be, but the change has been significant.

Now for the regular monthly features. First, the March Magnaclam image:
Magnacalendar images: March

March birthdays:
March 16 – my ex-son-in-law, Marlin
March 23 – my nephew David
March 30 – My nephew Rick (David’s older brother)
March – exact date unknown – My niece Amy
My half-sister Mary was born to my father & his first wife in March of 1907. She died in October of that same year.


Here is an old hymn that you don’t often hear anymore – in fact, I only know it because about 47 years or so ago I was working with a children’s group in our church, and this song was supposed to be learned by the children, according to literature from denominational headquarters for the group. I had to learn it myself first, and then teach it to them. I don’t think I’ve ever heard in any other circumstances, before or since. It was written by Haldor Lillenas, who was also the writer of the great hymn “Wonderful Grace of Jesus.”

The Bible Stands

The Bible stands like a rock undaunted
‘Mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal,
And they glow with a light sublime.

Chorus:
The Bible stands tho’ the hills may tumble,
It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble;
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,
For the Bible stands.

The Bible stands like a mountain tow’ring
Far above the works of men;
Its truth by none ever was refuted,
And destroy it they never can.

(Chorus)

The Bible stands and it will forever,
When the world has passed away;
By inspiration it has been given,
All its precepts I will obey.

(Chorus)

The Bible stands ev’ry test we give it,
For its Author is divine,
By grace alone I expect to live it,
And to prove it and make it mine.

(Chorus)

February already!

Since it doesn't fit very well on the blog, I'll just put up a link for the Magnacalender:
Magnacalendar images: February

For February birthdays:
My li'l sister Lil - February 25
My "baby" brother Gale - February 28 (he'll be all of 67)
My niece Jenny (Gale's daughter) - also Februay 28

My mother was born February 1, 1898. She passed away in March of 1974.
My brother-in-law, George, was born February 20, 1925. He passed away in late 2005.

Did you hear about the global warming conference at Buffalo State College yesterday? They weren't prepared for a temperature of -6 Fahrenheit.

I forgot!

I forgot January Birthdays, and here the month is almost over!

January 12, my great-nephew Colin.
January 16, an unidentified niece.
January 22, my twin nieces, Judy and Jackie.
January 25, my niece Connie.

And here is the January image of the "Magnacalendar" (sorry - it got cut off a little - the far right of the pic shows the Daddy Magnaclam shovelling the snow off the driveway):



You can see the whole picture here:
Magnacalendar Images: January