Month: October 2008

Abundant Life

Teaching: Why I Believe the Bible – Part One

Karen

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

If you would like to read my views on religion and how we got started with the ministry, you can read this.

Let’s get started:

Should we question the Bible?

Questioning is a normal and healthy part of learning. Every teacher I know loves students who ask questions, because it shows they are interested and learning. God certainly does not mind when we ask Him questions. Furthermore, God has answers to our questions. The Bible is full of answers on all kinds of subjects. God gave us a command to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30). Some people act as if an intellectual pursuit of God is either unnecessary or ungodly. However, God created our minds so we can think using reason and logic, and He is the One who said we should love Him with “all” our mind. We cannot do that if we are not fully convinced that the Bible is true.

Asking questions is a vital part of learning, and God tells us to ask Him if we need wisdom:

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

It is very important, however, that we understand the difference between questioning and doubting. I believe that many people who say they “question” the Bible actually mean they “doubt” it. I say that because, in my years of teaching the Bible, most people who have told me they “question” the Bible are not really looking for answers. They do not trust God, and are comfortable living with doubt and unbelief about Him and His Word.

Read the rest of the article here.

Vodpod videos no longer available.


(If this video will not play for you, you can find the original file on this page).

If you have any questions, or would like to learn more about God’s wonderful message, please visit the Truth or Tradition website. You can also keep track of the ministry through their Facebook page.

Stay tuned for part two next week. Thank you for visiting and God bless.

Life-condensed

Seriously Disturbed and Just a Bit Flabbergasted

Karen

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I’m disturbed and confused over this statement that Biden made last week:

“Mark my words. It will not be six months before the world tests Barack Obama like they did John Kennedy. The world is looking,” Biden said.

“Remember I said it standing here. if you don’t remember anything else I said. Watch, we’re gonna have an international crisis, a generated crisis, to test the mettle of this guy. And he’s gonna have to make some really tough — I don’t know what the decision’s gonna be, but I promise you it will occur. As a student of history and having served with seven presidents, I guarantee you it’s gonna happen,” Biden continued.

Have you heard about this? I’m betting no. Why hasn’t the news media picked up on this? You can bet your bottom dollar it would have been ALL we heard about if a Republican candidate had said something similar. Why aren’t we hounding Senator Biden to explain this statement? Do we really need further proof that our liberal media is seriously biased?

Why do I get the feeling that Biden knows something and is trying to warn us? And what exactly does he mean by “generated crisis?” Have we already been threatened?

And the bigger question is, IF Obama makes it to the White House, how will he react IF we’re attacked again? Will he be decisive and strong, thereby discouraging future attacks? Or will he be too concerned about hurting someone’s feelings to react at all?

I’m telling you folks, this seriously worries me.

Work Stuff

I Do it to Myself

Karen

I’m taken advantage of a lot. However, before you feel sorry for me, know this, it’s my own fault. I like helping people out. It makes me feel good. And I’m humbled that they put so much faith and trust in me. And though it embarrasses the socks off of me when the people I help gush their gratitude, it SATISFIES some deep-seated need in me to have helped them out of a jam.

I don’t have many talents, but what talents I do possess, I freely give away.

My husband gets very annoyed with me. My time is worth something, he says. And he’s absolutely right. But I always feel guilty putting a dollar amount on my time because, well, helping people out isn’t about money for me – it never has been, nor ever will be.

But when I do charge someone for something, I’m cheap. I’m dirt cheap, if you want the truth. And again, it’s not that I don’t WANT to charge more, I just feel GUILTY doing so. What I do is so easy for me and I enjoy it so much, I just feel terrible charging people for it. So, to appease the husband and to satisfy the client, I charge a pittance.

I’ve been doing websites for about four years now. Again, I LOVE what I do. I get a high out of designing something from nothing, or taking someone’s idea and turning it into something concrete. And it’s only been recently that I started a “business” of sorts. I still don’t think of it as a business because I love it so much – it’s still classified as a hobby in my mind. But I’m slowly changing that way of thinking because people?

Really are taking advantage of me.

I see this but I’m loathe to do anything about it.

However, I’m starting to learn to put my foot down and say no … occasionally.

When I offer to help someone, I do so because I have an honest desire to see them settled – to help them get back on their feet and produce a website they can be proud of. A lot of times, I make an offer to help before I really stop to think about how much of my time it’s really going to take. And once I realize it, I end up kicking myself because I never once quoted a price to help them, though I really should have.

By the time all of this goes through my head, it’s too late. I can’t offer to help and then say, “Oh, and by the way, this is going to cost x-number of dollars because it’s going to take x-number of hours to complete.”

I just can’t do it. I have a super active guilty conscience and I would rather do something for free and be guilt-free than get stuck in an awkward business transaction and feel like a meanie the entire time.

But this last email correspondence …. is really the last straw.

I don’t advertise. I haven’t had to because word gets out and I get a lot of referrals. I love this. Mainly because people have seen my work, they like what they see and they would like me to do something similar for them.

But this can backfire, too. Sometimes people expect me to give them the same deal I gave someone else and due to the nature of what I do and the people I deal with, this is a gray area. There are often times I do something for someone because I owe them a favor, or they have been a long-time client of mine so I offer a discount, etc. etc.

This email started out great. They had seen my work on another website of mine and wanted me to do something for their website. But they needed to leave their web host, transfer their domain name and get copies of their files because their previous web master was no where to be found. (Shame on you).

So, I offered to help them make the transfer … and neglected to quote a price because I felt sorry for them. It sounds like they got quite a run-around with their previous web master.

It didn’t dawn on me, until after I made the offer, what I had done and what I HADN’T done.

*sigh* I’m such an idiot.

But I couldn’t back out because I honor what I say and I figured, oh well, I’ll consider this an investment toward the price of obtaining another project, right?

Wrong.

Weeks went by and I didn’t hear anything from these people. I just figured they had found someone else to help them out and I stored the emails in the appropriate folder and moved on.

And then, out of the blue. I received an email. It listed their situation, what they needed from me and oh yeah, they had decided not to obtain my services after the transfer was complete – they were going to train someone to do the job.

*blink*

The way I see it, I have two options: 1). quote them a price to help them make the transfer, or 2). shuffle my current work schedule around, expend time and energy setting up accounts and making phone calls for them all for free.

And with no promise of future work from them.

I have to say, I’m pretty irritated with my choices here. I suppose I should be grateful that they were honest with me upfront as opposed to letting me go through all of the work and THEN say, “Oh by the way, thanks, but we don’t need you anymore. Have a nice day!”

Again, this is entirely my fault. I’m just not firm enough when I deal with people. I tend to read between the lines and feel sorry for people.

Now, I’m in an awkward situation and I have no one to blame but myself.

Friday Fun

Friday (edible) Craft – Halloween Goodies

Karen

Nothing says spooky like eating gross, creepy Halloween goodies. 😀

Here is one of my favorites this season from Family Fun:

Melon Brain

Made from nothing more than a small, round seedless watermelon, this spooky cerebral creation is bound to turn heads.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1 small seedless watermelon

1. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the entire green rind, exposing the inner white rind.

2. Slice off the bottom of the melon to create a flat base that will keep it from rolling. With a toothpick, outline squiggly furrows that resemble the folded surface of a brain.

3. Finally, carve narrow channels along the tracings with a sharp paring knife (a parent’s job) to expose the pink fruit beneath the rind.

Ghost Toast

Looking for a treat that truly embodies the spirit of Halloween? Try serving some of these flavorful phantoms.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
White Bread (1 slice per ghost)
Whipped cream cheese
Currants

1. For each, toast a slice of white bread and then cut a ghost shape from it. You can do this freehand using a knife, or you can use a gingerbread-girl cookie cutter.

2. When the cutouts have cooled, spread on a generous coating of whipped cream cheese.

3. For eyes and mouths, add currants.

Goblin Tongues

On a night when everyone will get more than their fill of sweets, these mini bagel sandwiches will add a little variety to the offerings.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Mini bagels
Cream cheese
Bologna slices

1. For each Goblin Tongue sandwich, spread cream cheese between the top and bottom of a mini bagel.

2. Use a butter knife or kitchen shears to cut a tongue shape from a half slice of bologna. Then gently press the base of the tongue into the bagel hole.

Monster Cupcakes

Surprise your little goblins with monster-headed cupcakes filled with a slimy surprise-green pudding.

Watch a step-by-step video demonstration of this recipe.

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
2 dozen cupcakes from your favorite recipe
3.4-ounce box of vanilla-flavored instant pudding
green food coloring
1 cup of green melting candy (we used Wilton Candy Melts)
24 large marshmallows
skewers
waxed-paper-lined baking sheet
M&M’s Minis
small serrated knife
chocolate frosting
black gel
2 green Tic Tac mints

1. Bake and cool 2 dozen cupcakes from your favorite recipe. Prepare a 3.4-ounce box of vanilla-flavored instant pudding. Stir in drops of green food coloring until you have a shade you like, then place it in the refrigerator to chill.

2. Next, microwave 1 cup of green melting candy (we used Wilton Candy Melts, available at party supply stores) for 1 minute at 50 percent power, then stir. If necessary, heat in 15-second intervals until completely melted. One at a time, spear 24 large marshmallows with a skewer and roll them in the melted candy, coating the sides. Set them on a waxed-paper-lined baking sheet, add M&M’s Minis for eyes, and place them in the refrigerator to chill.

3. With a small serrated knife, remove a 1-inch-wide chunk from the center of each cupcake. Fill each hole with a tablespoon or so of the pudding, then spread chocolate frosting around each pudding hole.

4. Cover each pool of pudding with a chilled marshmallow. Add black gel facial features and 2 green Tic Tac mints for bolts.

5. Finally, top each monster head with a bit of frosting and muss with your finger or a fork. Keep the cupcakes chilled until serving time.