Good Sunday morning, Everyfriend.  There's assorted mini muffins to go with your coffee or tea.  I wish ALL a blessed day.





Softball Team

As the manager of our hospital's softball team, I was responsible for returning equipment to the proper owners at the end of the season.

When I walked into the surgery department carrying a bat that belonged to one of the surgeons, I passed several patients and their families in a waiting area.

"Look, honey," one man said to his wife. "Here comes your anesthesiologist."

What is Truth?
(by Chris Long)

Truth. An interesting word. People throughout history have been claiming that A is true, B is not true, etc. Often times it is in the context of religion and morality. So how can we know what is true and what is not true? And just who is telling the truth? Is there even such a thing as truth?

I have found that many times when someone reads or hears something that is claimed to be Biblical truth, or God's truth, they will respond back something along the lines of the following:

"That may be your truth, but how dare you say it is God's truth."
"You have your truth, I have my truth."
"How dare you judge? You should look at what Jesus said about that and about loving people."
"Truth is whatever you want it to be."

Yes, even the word "truth" conjures up some pretty strong opinions among many people. For many, it is a word that implies intolerance and hatred.

And so, today let us look at "truth".

But first a question for you:

Do you believe the first verse of the Bible?

It is Genesis 1:1, which says:

"In the beginning God created the Heavens and the earth."

Do you believe this?

You may wonder why I ask this...it seems kind of odd in a discussion about "truth" doesn't it?

It has been said that if one believes Genesis 1:1, they ought not to have a problem with the rest of the Bible. This is indeed to be so. If you REALLY believe Genesis 1:1, then logic dictates that you ought to believe the rest of the Bible as well, correct? If not, there is a problem somewhere, right?

If you believe Genesis 1:1, then what are you basing that belief on?
If you don't believe Genesis 1:1, then what are you basing that belief on?

"The moment you begin to ponder the essence of truth, you are brought face-to-face with the requirement of a universal absolute - the eternal reality of God." - John MacArthur

See, either you and I believe that there is a God who made this world, made us, and has given us His word, or we don't.

That is step 1.

If we believe it, then that means we are acknowleding that there is such a thing as "truth". We are acknowledging that there is a Being, greater than us, who made everything and has say over everything. If we really believe that, then that means that this Being, who made the world and humanity, is the perfect standard of what is right and what is wrong. If we are willing to acknowledge and really believe in what Genesis 1:1 says, then we, by extension, agree that there is One bigger than us...outside of time, greater than humanity since He made the world....in this case, we acknowledge that whatever He says must be true. That there is such a thing as "truth" and God is the standard of it.

What often times happens is people will say they believe Genesis 1:1, but then they say they don't believe (or agree with) certain things that are taught in the rest of the Bible. There are many people in this land who do say they believe Genesis 1:1, and often they also believe certain other things such as Jesus' teaching on love and not being "judgemental". But these same people don't believe or agree with what the Bible says about lots of other things, especially when it comes to teachings related to right and wrong, sin, judgement, hell, Godly conduct, the nature of life, and more.

Bring up what the Bible says about homosexuality, for instance, and all of a sudden you are being "judgemental", not being "loving", etc.

Can we not all agree that if someone says they believe in Genesis 1:1 that by logical extension they ought to believe the rest of what the Bible says as well? It is completely illogical for someone to say "I believe and agree with Genesis 1:1, and book A, book B, but not verses 3-20, not book C." There is a great contradiction with someone that says that, right? Because whatever it is that causes you to trust Genesis 1:1 as TRUTH (there's that word again) also should cause you to trust the rest of it as truth as well, right? If you're persuaded that Genesis 1:1 is true, then you should be persuaded the rest of it is true as well, with no conditions or excuses (i.e. "well, I don't agree with the rest of it because it wasn't translated right", "I don't agree with what it says because people take it out of context.", etc.) Either the Bible is God's book to man and teaches us truth according to God's standard, or not. It has been said that "One truth from the Bible is worth more than all the wisdom of man."

Shortly before Jesus was allowed to be put to death, the following exchange took place as recorded for us in John 19:37b-38a:

"Jesus answered, 'You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'

'What is truth? Pilate asked."

And right after asking this, the Bible says Pontious Pilate went out and allowed Jesus to be handed over to be put to death (even though he said he couldn't find Jesus worthy of such a thing). But, see, Pilate didn't know what was truth or not. Jesus tried to tell him. Jesus tried to tell him that He testified to the truth and that Pilate should listen to Him. Jesus, God's son, the One that the Bible tells us pre-existed before time in the Heavenly realm, that the Bible says holds all things together and in Him all things consist (Colossians 1:16-17). He tried to tell Pilate to listen to Him because He knew a thing or two about truth.

But Pilate didn't. Pilate wouldn't. Instead, he rejected what Jesus said because he didn't want to believe. He refused to believe. Instead, he threw up his hands in unbelief and couldn't see how Jesus' truth could be more or less real than what anyone else says is true or not.

And you know what? Some things don't change.

Many today ask the very same question:

"What is truth?"

They hear the truth of God proclaimed to them and instead of believing it and accepting it as true, they - in one way or another - say: "What is truth?" And usually with a bit of sarcasm to it. That certainly is how I hear Pilate saying it. Because then we see that because he wouldn't accept God's truth proclaimed to him, that he rejected Jesus (and thus God) by allowing Him to be brutally flogged, mocked, and finally crucified.

Because Pilate wouldn't take a stand on what was true, He ended up allowing Jesus Christ to be put to death, without any valid cause at all.

Many read this story and like to criticize Pilate. But may I suggest, that there are many - even many in churches throughout this land - that if they were in the exact same position as Pilate, would have done the exact same thing? Some things do not change. Pilate didn't allow Jesus to die because Pilate was a mean and "bad guy". Pilate handed Jesus over to be killed because He would not believe the truth of God that Jesus presented to Him.

It was the result of Pilate's unwillingness to stand for God's truth - in his unbelief. It was a result of Pilate attempting to be "tolerant" to all points of view (I can just hear him thinking something like "How can I believe Jesus when this person and that person says differently.").

Pilate had no basis upon which to know what was truth or what was not truth because He did not believe in the standard of truth - Who happened to be standing right before him!

Before appearing before Pilate, Jesus told His disciples:

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

Man loves to complicate things. We've been doing it since day 1. The reality is that much of what we like to complicate is actually very simple.

Jesus says that he IS TRUTH!

We are to simply believe God for what He says. It is that simple. And yet, simple belief is the hardest thing for humanity to do.

Why?

Because we are full of pride and want to do things our way. We want to be "in control" - in control of our bodies; in control of what we do or do not do. We don't like someone telling us that we can't do something. It offends us. We want to be the "master's of our fate"; the determiners of right and wrong. We take offense when someone suggests that we really aren't in control - that there is a standard of right and wrong that is NOT determined by us, but rather by the One that made us. This offends people!

It naturally offends us when we read Jesus saying that He is the way, the truth, the life and that nobody comes to the Father unless they go through Him.

Who is this man that he would dare say such a thing??

Well, if He is the Son of God that God the Father sent into the world to save humanity - and that by Him all who believe should be saved - then we can understand why He would say such a thing. We must choose for ourselves: Will we believe this?

C.S. Lewis once said, "I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him, 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the kind of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else He would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that option open to us. He did not intend to."

If we believe Genesis 1:1, then we should likewise believe the rest of the Bible, including John 1:1. In fact, as a fun exercise - read Genesis chapter 1 and then John chapter 1. You might just be amazed at the similarity between the beginning of Genesis and the beginning of John. Jesus is actually called the "Word of God."

Besides men and women wanting to do things their own way, we want to come to God on our terms. We want to believe what we want to believe and then try to force God to accept what we believe as right. We want to do things the way we want and then try to force God to accept it.

Rather than believing in God and what He says, we love to come up with excuses such as:

"I can't believe in a God who would send people to hell."
"I believe in God, but He is only loving and would never judge anyone."
"I believe in God, but I don't believe that [fill in the blank] is wrong."
"I don't believe [fill in the blank] is wrong because people are taking Scripture out of context."

and on and on this goes.

It sometimes amazes me just how vehemently someone will defend their unbelief because they want to come to God on their terms. They want God to be who THEY want Him to be, rather than what He clearly has revealed Himself to be.

"Much of our difficulty...stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image." - A.W. Tozer

I may be bursting some bubbles, but you must understand, you can be "open minded" and "tolerant" in your unbelief all day long - and even convince yourself that you are the enlightened one - and that all who believe what God says are "haters", "bigoted", "closed-minded", "intolerant", and the like. You can do this if you want. You can reject God and His truth in unbelief.

But if Genesis 1:1 is right and there is a God and He made this world, then you will find out - if not in time, then certainly in eternity, the seriousness of your choice to reject Him and His truth here. If he is the standard of truth and you reject that standard because you want to make your own standard of truth and what is right or wrong, you can foolishly do so. He loves you so much that He gives you the choice to choose Him and His truth or not. And if you don't want Him, He, in sadness, will honor that choice when you breathe your last here on this planet.

God is inclusive. He is inclusive in that He wants ALL to come to Him. But He also claims to be exclusive in that believing in Jesus Christ as the means of salvation is the only way in which we can come to Him and be with Him for all eternity. You can read Jesus' words as plainly as I can. We either believe or we don't.

John 3:16 is a popular verse of the Bible:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

But many people don't know the important verses that follow it where Jesus continues speaking:

"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:17-21)

It is so ironic that it is SO EASY for humanity to be saved for all eternity and be in a right standing with God, and yet, it seems to be the hardest thing for men and women to do: to just believe what God has said and stop trying to justify themselves and their behavior before God!

"What is truth?"

The answer is remarkedly simple. It turns out you don't need to spend a million hours in some philosophy class to attempt to figure this out, going down a false trail that will never end. The answer is simple:

God is truth.

He is the personification of truth. It is His very nature. It is according to this that we can see what is right and what is wrong, what is false and what is not. His standards of right and wrong as revealed to us by His Book showcase His truth. I again bring you the statement from Jesus himself (who is part of the 3-part nature of who God is):

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

And now, we come to the next relevant question that all of humanity must answer - the very same question that Puntious Pilate had to answer:

Do you believe?

Hopefully, unlike Pilate, we will be wise enough to let go of our foolish pride, humble ourselves, and with all the faith we can muster, say: "Yes, Jesus. I Believe."


"God caused the Bible to be written for the express purpose of revealing to man God's plan for redemption. God caused this Book to be written that He might make His everlasting laws clear to His children, and that they might have His great wisdom to guide them and His great love to comfort them as they make their way through life. For without the Bible, this world would indeed be a dark and frightening place, without signpost or beacon."

- Billy Graham

JOAN....
...good morning....been up a few hours already.....I like today's slogan by Phylis.....how true...only forwards, there is NO going back...

...ha ha " Softball Team..." you wouldn't catch me in that hospital...

Greetings from Netanya Israel. It's a sunny day, 14c (approx 60f)

good morning everyone. I am feeling much better,but still have a nasty cough.
Up for a nature call an checked in back to bed now c u all later,

Lloyd

Good morning everyone.

Very mild here and I hope it stays that way or get milder..temp is 31°F

Laundry was done yesterday but the baking didn't get done.one vehicle wouldn't start  so a call to CAA was made,he boosted it and we ran it in to the garage for the mechanic to see if it is a battery problem.

Baking, I hope will get done at some point today. Will put some in the hidy hole.VON is also coming to do hubby's PICC line.

Lloyd, glad your feeling better ,now take it easy...

Phyllis, love your graphic!!!

Joan, thank you for breakfast.

Enjoy your day everyone.

Good morning Vanilla-Jackie.  Glad you like the "stiff".

Good morning Radioman.  I am sure you are enjoying your visit.

Lloyd--Good morning.  GREAT that you are feeling so much better.

Good morning, Amy.  Sorry one of your vehicles wouldn't start.  I'll check the "hidey hole" later.

Good Morning Everyfriend!  It's also "mild" here today...even milder than where Amy is.  Right now the temp is 41º heading for a high of 48 today.  This is my kind of winter day.  We're not going to get the sunshine, though.  It's going to be cloudy all day.  Right now it's foggy!

I hope you all have a lovely day full of whatever you love best!  Make it a good one.  I'm going to!

Good morning, Janie.  It was 75° when I got up and is going down--now 70° and very windy.  Forecast is for rain--and we sure need it.

Cloudy with more rain to come today and the possibility of severe storms.  Hope that doesn't happen.  Joan, are your kids in Alabama OK?  Read in the news about the storms that hit parts of the Deep South yesterday.

Glad you early birds liked the graphic.  In my mature years it is something I have to tell myself often.

No plans for today except reading and a little tv and whatever else mischief I can think up.  I may bake something to take to a neighbor who lost her mother this past week. 

Good morning everyone, another gray one here. Rain is supposed to start tomorrow-late morning or early afternoon but looks like it could start now.  This ole Nor'easter could bring 2 or more inches of rain. It will be windy, too. At least I do not have to go anywhere so am happy I will stay inside.

HAL  with the storm due here we are in for winds of 40+MPH at times and might lose power. At least it will not be snow where we would have big drifts. The same places will get flooded and those who live there will be after the state to but their homes so they can move.  Those places flooded before they built their houses----

JOAN  we are all thankful you did not break bones when you fell. You sure do not need more health problems than you already have.

JANE  Molly and Sun both seem to have disappeared.

CALLIE  seems like those programs film for months ahead. There was a contestant and winner on Jeopardy that had died before the segment with her had aired.

CAROL  my daughter sent me a picture yesterday of the snow on the mountains that she sees from her home near Kingman. Easy to see the snowline, they got rain.

MARY ANN  local weather guesser said yesterday that this is the time of year we get the coldest temperatures. Yesterday was over  50°. So much for normal weather.

PHYLLIS  love your graphic for this week So true.

JOAN  mini muffins are great, no guilt having more than 1 and different ones. Better than 1 huge one. Love Chuckles, can picture that happening. Food for thought has a lot to think about. I know I DO believe. Thank you for all today's goodies.

DON  good morning. Hope today finds Bubble feeling much better.

LLOYD  glad you are feeling much better. Now take care of yourself.

AMY  darn vehicles, always something going wrong.

PHYLLIS  seems we both have cloudy gray sky this morning.

Hi everyone.  We have had a very rainy yesterday and all night but it has now stopped and only a 15% chance we will get more before later this afternoon.  Yesterday was pretty much a lost day as I really accomplished nothing.  I seem to be feeling better today and am ready too head to Sunday School and then will come home to pick up Pat for lunch and out to lunch.  Later this afternoon I plan on watching the two Pro football games that start around 4 pm. 

Gloria, it sounds like you have school administrators who use some sense.  I didn't hear anything about a problem in this area either. 

Hal, I know what you mean about the parade and the commentators.  I had that same comments several times to Pat about how tired people must have gotten and I especially felt for the First Lady in those high heel shoes and all of those steps at the Capitol as well as standing throughout most of the parade. 

JaneS, I have Molly's email address and have made myself a note to send her a brief email letting her know we haven't forgotten her and inquiring about her health. 

June, you really had a busy day yesterday.  Perhaps today can be one of rest for you.  My granddaughter is in her early 30's.  I think my son will draw the line when needed although he has a very soft and kind heart.  Relationships in a family can become very complex as I expect most of us realize or have experienced over our lifetime.  Certainly no offense taken at your comments. 

Carol, glad Don can enjoy classical music.  I enjoy many types of music but must say what they call most music of today leaves me scratching my head as there is usually no melody and it is played so loud. 

Jackie, sure glad you have had no more falls recently. 

Joan and Phyllis, what a cute graphic of the turtle and a good message on it as well. 

Good Morning Don. Sure hope the radio station doesn't find a way to "technical difficulty" your program today.  I was shocked when I tuned in last week to find the young people chattering.

Lloyd, nice to read you are feeling better.  Keep up the good work.

Phyllis, we were under a tornado and severe thunderstorm watch for several hours yesterday but only rain and little wind in our area.  It seems there is a lot of bad weather in different places across the country and more on the way. 

Good Morning Everyone!

Wind is blowing like crazy, and did so all night, when I went out to get paper out of front yard I checked tree and no leaves left to come down and someone up the hill got the those free of charge.....

Joanie hope you are feeling better, know it will take a couple of days for soreness to go away.  I remember Sun talking about her oxygen hose always getting under foot.  I wonder how she is doing.  Would be nice to hear from her and Molly.

Got to get with the program and get dressed for church.
Don't think wife is going.

Larry, if you get an answer from Molly please let us know.  And be sure to tell her she is missed!

Wonder if anyone has an email address for Sun?

 

  here today

Good morning, Phyllis.  As far as I know my kids in Alabama are OK.  Thanks for asking.

Gloria--Good morning.  They are saying it will very windy here later.  I stepped out on the back porch, and it already felt very breezy to me.  You're right--I don't need any broken bones.

Good morning, Larry.  I hope things work out well with Scott and Jennifer.

Halkel--Good morning.  So far we have the wind, but no rain.

Jane--I don't have an email address for Sun.

Good morning, Callie.  Don't get wet.

Jane,  http://www.seniorsandfriends.org/index.php?action=profile;u=101.

If anyone wants an email address for a Seniors and Friends member you only need to click on the list of Members near the top of this page.  Most member's email addresses are included in their S&F profile.

One e-mail now sent to Sun....

Good Morning Everyone from the overcast but relatively warm (for this time of the year), rocky coast of Maine.   

All is well here.  Tomorrow I go for my second denture fitting,  and I am looking forward to having my smile back again,  by next week.

It feels very good to see January slipping by us so quickly... 
with the shortest month to go before Spring.   

All is well here, 
Sandy
     

Thanks Phyllis and Vanilla-Jackie.

Sandy--How long will it be before you get your dentures?

Phyllis, Thank you for todays graphic. I love it ! And it is very encouraging for us that must go forward slowly…we really do get there, and safely, by slowing down.

Don, I hope your lady is healing quickly..

Lloyd, I had no idea your Grand daughter was that age..I was thinking of perhaps a teen ager. I'm glad you are feeling better today, and do enjoy your games later on.

Hal, we have no Church today at Rowntree, we are still in semi lock-down. If all goes well, they plan to get back to normal living tomorrow.

phyllis, thank you for the reminder of the list of members at the top of the page. I had read it once and then forgot it was there. Answers a lot of questions for us. Thanks again.

I woke today to a nice light rain, and more is expected tomorrow. Such a delightful treat for our parched So. Ca. My son in Santa Cruz, has had a lot more heavy rain that we, guess it veered to the East before it reached the South.

My Dori is due back from Colorado late today. Gary has had a cold since they got home from Idaho, so I am sure he will welcome her loving attentions. He did preach at his Church today though, so he is improving.

I am washed and fed a huge breakfast that was delivered to my door, so I will get my lazy body dressed in day time gear. No place to go, except walking the hallways, but I should be attired properly for that.  I will see you all later.

Good afternoon, sun is in and out.

Phyllis, thanks for graphic and saying so true.
Joan, Hope this post finds you feeling better. I will have a cranberry muffin. thanks

Gloria, we are expecting heavy rain and 60 mi. gust tomorrow. they are saying have everything tied down in your yards.

Don and Lloyd good to see your post.

Callie, I will be watching for Ellen, as I watch Rachel Ray nearly everyday.

Larry, take it easy, you seem to do so much. I know Pat appreciates all you do.  My husband spoiled me as he cooked breakfast every morning after we read the papers. Pancakes were every Sunday, from the day we got married.

Iwent to the cardiologist Friday, he said my heart was weaker, would like me to go to a hospital near the city, but I said no. So he said he would give me different med, and double the water pills that should help. After I finish writing here, I will go put my feet up.

June, I know you will be happy, when down stairs is open again.

Hi, to all my other cyber friends I did not mention

June--You say they delivered a huge breakfast.  And what is in a huge breakfast?  I am sure Gary will be glad to have Dori home.

Linedancer--Thanks.  I am feeling a but better each day.  And if you had agreed to go to the hospital, what did they intend to do there?

Gloria de..my prayers are with you girl. You have a marvelous attitude. God loves you very much, and so do I.

Bis, for breakfast I had bacon and eggs, which I never order on m own, orange juice, coffee, a huge cinnamon roll, and I ate it all and I am still stuffed. I am doing my best to gain some weight, and what I don't eat, they throw away, and in my days of poverty it was a shame to waste food. So I ate it all.


https://www.youtube.com/embed/ TnQDW-NMaRs?rel=0

June thank you for your good wishes. It's been a rough week for her; a couple of house calls from the doctor and a trip to the hospital last night. She's home and much improved. She has a tenacious but loving daughter who sees she gets the attention she deserves.  My role is mostly hand-holder and giver of comforting words.

I hope all who are ailing improve soon.  It's no fun being sick.

Someone said recently that I would find my keys one day - well, I did!  They were in a purse but between the plastic lining (cheap purse) and the outside.  I almost cried when I found them. 

Dot and I did our usual this morning, going to church, then OTB where we changed our menu by sharing a lemon meringue pie and a tuna melt.  Usually Dot gets an oliveburger and I get a regular hamburger.  And we solve the problems of the world.

I hope Kendrick's coat is no indication of our winter, but it seems thicker than usual.  Any lines in his fur seem to have disappeared and he's shades of orange. 

Mary Ann

Hello, again,

The sun came out and I've been to church and the Church Ladies went OTL at our favorite diner.....actually, that should be OTB because we almost always have eggs, sausage or bacon and a pancake or a biscuit.  Recently, I've found that if I don't ask for a biscuit "hot enough to melt the butter", it's so cold that I have to send it back.

June,  I would never have made it through a cinnamon roll on top of the big breakfast.  I could barely finish the biscuit.

Very small group at church - almost no one at the diner - and not much traffic going to or from.   Sounds as if a lot of people are having respiratory and/or flu problems.   

Mary Ann,  Hooray for the found keys! 

Don, hand-holding and comforting words are the best medicine of all. 

Lindancer,  I hope the new med "does the trick".     If you see or hear anything about an upcoming Rachael Ray show having ear-piercing,  please tell me.  I don't always hear about these things until the very last minute - and I'm afraid I won't know I should record the show because I'm not going to be home.

I had to put part of the paper on a drying rack.  Off to see what's going on in the comics and the tv schedule.

I don't think I ever knew about the members list at the top of the page.  Thank you so much for calling my attention to it.  I've also sent a not off to Sun.  It's so sad when our friends just kind of disappear and we don't know what happened.  I hope they both let us know.

My daughter was here for her regular "check up on Mom" visit.  We settled all the family business and covered some of the USA business.  I sure hope we made the right decisions!

Quote from: JoanFL on January 22, 2017, 12:16:17 PM

Sandy--How long will it be before you get your dentures?

I go tomorrow for a fitting,  then again on thurs for a final fitting,  and pick them up the following Monday.

So,  one week from tomorrow I should be grinning... 
 

June--That was a good breakfast.  Your link didn't work for me.

Radioman--Glad to hear Bubble is feeling better.

Mary Ann--I am so very glad you  found your keys.

Callie--When my paper is soaked, I call and ask for another.  When the weather is inclement, they are supposed to double bag them.

Janie--I hope you and your daughter made the right decisions, too.  Then I don't have to worry about them.

Sandy--that's not very long to wait.