Independence Day Thoughts

First a Bible Quiz:

Both the Old and New Testaments speak of God’s people as seeking and achieving freedom. The freedom we Americans have to worship without government restriction has deep roots in our Judeo-Christian heritage.

Which Bible verse about freedom is inscribed on the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia?

A. “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof” (Leviticus 25:10, KJV).

B. “And ye … had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour” (Jeremiah 34:15, KJV).

C. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free” (Galatians 5:1, KJV).

D. “As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16, KJV).

She Left

submitted by Arnold Rude

To any man who has lost a wife, may this be her memorial:

She is gone.
For how many days,
How many hours,
How many minutes?

She left.
With no warning,
No goodbye,
Just that look in her eyes.

But she left.
The memory of words spoken,
And those without voice,
Equally’ coming from her heart.

She left.
Her song in the twilight,
Her music in the wind,
Singing the tunes she loved.

She left.
Her smile in her children’s eyes,
Her gentleness in their hearts,
Her love carved in my heart.

But if she left.
Why is she not gone?

May 1997

May Crossword

This crossword puzzle appears in the May Newsletter

Lessons Learned from Helena

The following words by Pastor John were read at his granddaughter Helena’s funeral yesterday:

Lessons I Learned From My Granddaughter, Helena

It has been my privilege as a youth to have attended good public school systems, where I learned the basic 3-R’s. Beyond that I attended a fine college of the church where I learned lessons in religion, sociology, psychology, history and science. From there I was led to seminary where I studied the prophets, the Pastoral Epistles and the mystery of the book of Revelation under the guidance of many fine teachers. But I can honestly say that nothing is more precious than the lessons taught to me by my beautiful granddaughter, Helena.

Here are some of those most memorable lessons that she taught:

1. Make friends with a patient cat. They make wonderful pillows.
2. Don’t be so self conscious and uptight about life. Sometimes you just have to run through the living room naked or na-nak as Helena would say.
3. Always remain true to your friends, especially those named Ba Ba, Elmo,Dora, Boots, Back Pack and Cookie.

Photo Challenge

Aren‘t they cute? Can you tell which photo below belongs to which staff member? The staff recently tried this challenge themselves, and it‘s a tough one! There’s also a full size poster in the main hallway at Zion.

Isn’t Easter Early this Year!

As you’ve probably noticed, Easter Sunday falls very early this year. Some of you might wonder why this is. Here’s how it is determined: Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which falls on March 20 this year). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that the Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

So, based on the above, the next time Easter will be this early (March 23 will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you were the only ones around for that!) The next time it will be a day earlier (March 22—the earliest it can ever be) will be in the year 2295(277 years from now). The last time Easter was on March 22 was 1818.

Cell Phone vs Bible

I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?

What if we flipped through it several times a day?

What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?

What if we used it to receive messages from the text?

What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?

What if we gave it to kids as gifts?

What if we used it when we traveled?

What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go….hmm…where is my Bible?

So remember this…
You’ll never have dropped calls and unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about
our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

But most important of all…you’ll never have to ask Him ‘Can you hear me now?’

Makes you stop and think, ‘Where are my priorities?’

Thanks Holly

Books of the Bible Puzzle

Find thirty books of the Bible in this paragraph.

You’ve got to find which thirty books yourself. After having this on my desk for a few weeks, I have found 27 . . . How many can you find?

There are thirty books of the Bible in this paragraph. Can you find them? This is a most remarkable puzzle. It was found by a gentleman in an airplane seat pocket, on a flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu, keeping him occupied for hours. He enjoyed it so much, he passed it on to some friends. One friend from Illinois worked on this while fishing from his john boat. Another friend studied it while playing his banjo. Elaine Taylor, a columnist friend, was so intrigued by it she mentioned it in her weekly newspaper column. Another friend judges the job of solving this puzzle so involving, she brews a cup of tea to help her nerves. There will be some names that are really easy to spot. That’s a fact. Some people, however, will soon find themselves in a jam, especially since the book names are not necessarily capitalized. Truthfully, from answers we get, we are forced to admit it usually takes a minister or scholar to see some of them at the worst. Research has shown that something in our genes is responsible for the difficulty we have in seeing the books in this paragraph. During a recent fund raising event, which featured this puzzle, the Alpha Delta Phi lemonade booth set a new sales record. The local paper, The Chronicle, surveyed over 200 patrons who reported that this puzzle was one of the most difficult they had ever seen. As Daniel Humana humbly puts it, “the books are all right here in plain view hidden from sight.” Those able to find all of them will hear great lamentations from those who have to be shown. One revelation that may help is that books like Timothy and Samuel may occur without their numbers. Also, keep in mind, that punctuation and spaces in the middle are normal. A chipper attitude will help you compete really well against those who claim to know the answers. Remember, there is no need for a mad exodus. There really are 30 books of the Bible lurking somewhere in this paragraph waiting to be found. Good Luck!

(Source unknown)

Happy Valentines’ Day

I received this one in an email last week (thanks Deb) . . .

(click to enlarge)

Epiphany Word Search

Word Search Puzzle

words run left to right or top to bottom

M S T A R X E J O O W T L
Y M A R Y G N O P F D H F
R G I F T S T Y E F C E R
R Q D O W N E S N E H I A
H O U S E I R T I R E R N
T H E Y O T I O N E S G K
R T H E N H N P G D T O I
E E W E R E G P H I S L N
A O V E R W H E L M E D C
S P T C H I L D W H E N E
U A H S H I M O T H E R N
R I A A K N E L T A N D S
E D T W C W I T H D Q E E
H O M A G E M A T T H E W

Word List

FRANKINCENSE OVERWHELMED TREASURE ENTERING STOPPED OPENING OFFERED MATTHEW MOTHER HOMAGE CHESTS THEIR MYRRH KNELT HOUSE GIFTS CHILD WITH WHEN WERE THEY THEN THAT STAR PAID MARY GOLD DOWN SAW JOY HIS HIM HAD AND ON

(Matthew 2:10-11) When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. {11} On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

from www.geocities.com/lectionarypuzzles/
free to distribute for free with this notice

Blessings of Advent - The Bell

From the website of a Catholic church in Delaware:
The Bell

The Promise of God

“The promise of God was never longevity; the promise of God is eternity.”

Pastor David Hoffman, of St. Philip the Deacon Lutheran Church, at the funeral of Owen Grant Christianson this morning.