Twinky

I never knew anything about "spotted dick". We called it "spotted dog" in our household. Could have had something to do with my father's name being "Dick". Never worked out if the name of the pudding was a local or a family adaptation. Anyway, whatever you call it - it's nice to eat. And George: at least the English COOK which is more than can be said for some American dishes which are just a raid on the supermarket for a prepack, turn on the microwave or cooker, and that's your meal. Explicitly excluded from above comment: Dooj and the Texans. (Just having fun here, no offence)

It is better to receive than to give.

Happy Christmas all. Might not see you over the holiday period. Have a great time whatever you do. The two-drink limit does not apply. Ho ho ho.

Drive a taxi! Well, you can add a bit of Christmas cheer to the taxi with a bit of tinsel round the seats or mirror (nothing that can be used to cause harm!). How about a big box or tin of chocs and you offer a chocolate or two to each of your customers that evening and the day after (if you're working)? (With a "God bless you!" if you're feeling like it, after all, it's Christmas.) Just for fun! You'd get a range of responses from the highly suspicious to the truly blessed.

Cards on the mantel piece, hanging from every shelf, blu-tacked to the wall, the doors, anything they will stick on. Little tree with a string of little lights (bought for $2 each)and a few cheap spherical baubles also cheap. Give simple gifts - home made chocolates, cookies, other little things. Spend time with people less fortunate (homeless shelter) or the animal rescue shelter as suggested above. Enquire about going on the soup run with the Salvation Army. Perhaps take yourself off to a church for the midnight mass (not necessarily anyhing to eat, not an RC thing) - you don't have to be a "Christian" as you put it. In any event, try to get to a carol service at some local church. Sing and make a joyful noise. Invite your neighbours to drop in for a Christmas drink and cookie or mince pie. Have a nice dinner middle of the day to simply enjoy, and go out for a long walk afterwards with thankfulness in your heart. Drown Bing Crosby (?) and his dream of a "White Christmas".

Have been spending a little time in Judges lately. Was struck last night by Jud.13. Remember the OT is for us to learn from, even if our cultural values are not the same. Manoah and his unnamed wife are childless (v.2). An angel appears to the wife and gives her a message (vv 3-6), which she faithfully repeats word for word to Manoah (vv6-7). He rightly or wrongly prays for the angel to come again “to teach us how to bring up the boy who is to be born.” The angel appears again – to the wife. She rushes off and gets Manoah (vv 9-10). The angel repeats the instruction already given to the wife previously (trusting guy, this Manoah). There’s a sacrifice, the angel disappears, Manoah gets all panicky, and the wife again speaks sensible words (v.24). The angel doesn’t appear again (v.21). Next things we read about are Samson’s exploits as a young man. What’s not there? How Manoah and Mrs Manoah brought up the young Samson: what to feed him; when to bathe/clean him; what training for life he should do; all the thousands of small and large decisions parents make for their children. So who helped them? Must have had a multitude of counsellors – family, friends, associates, people at the synagogue or wherever they went. All these had input into the upbringing of the young and very special Samson. Now think of the life of the young Jesus. The angel appears to Mary to give her the good news of the unexpected pregnancy. The angel also appears to Joseph at various times during the pregnancy and during the life of the young Jesus, to get the family to flee to Egypt and then to return to Israel (Nazareth). No record after they have been told to get back to Nazareth. Again, the child Jesus would have been raised in the nurture and admonition of the Lord by the extended family (and they must have been a great forgiving family, to overcome the serious disgrace of an unmarried daughter being pregnant), friends, and people in the synagogue/temple (perhaps especially Anna and Simeon, if they were still alive and accessible). What don’t we see? The angel appearing to either Joseph or Mary to give specific instruction or daily direction. Doesn’t mean it didn’t happen and maybe it did. I’d tend to think that they had been given the responsibility and it was their job to raise the child and God’s job to see that others helped them, advising and guiding as appropriate, and to warn if something was about to go significantly wrong (as in Herod’s band of murderers about to kill all the toddlers). Also that it was available (oops for that expression) for them to pray and ask for specific guidance if they felt it was needed: but the guidance didn’t mean a special voice or angelic appearance, might just be a wise word from someone they knew anyway, or a recollection of a verse of the Scriptures they already knew. If specific instruction (the voice of God) wasn’t given to the parents of these two very special babes and young men as to every detail of the special babes' lives – do we have a right to expect it to help us in our “normal” decisions (“what clothes should I wear today?” “How many loaves of bread/bags of apples should I buy?”) (Just as an aside – I was also struck by the careful recitation of the angel’s instruction by Mrs Manoah to her husband. CP the TWI emphasis on Eve adding a bit, omitting a bit and changing a bit (therefore all women are to be “blamed” and are untrustworthy). But instead I “blame” Adam, as the instruction is given to him before she was formed, not to her so perhaps he relayed it not quite accurately or fully. But that’s another thread…) Now back to the regularly-scheduled discussion about decision-making and the voice of God.

Clearly all the rest of you don't eat or don't eat anything memorable. Dooj? Surely you eat?

What a thought provoking thread, thanks for starting it T-Bone I like Roy's post near the beginning about the different parts of the body. Also, there are many references (esp in Proverbs etc) about multitude of counsellors. Note that that's *counsellors* (advisers, people to discuss with, sounding boards) not *dictators*. It is part of wisdom to discuss matters with others, especially those more spiritually mature whose judgment can be trusted. Perhaps we should not make significant decisions without reference to other parts of the Body: husbands and wives conferring; parents and children if the children are old enough to have an opinion; maybe work colleagues if a decision impacts on them; as well as ministers or other "church" members. Sometimes there really is that "you know that you know" moment but to expect that all the time and not to bother to use our (God-given) thinking capacity invites an erratic lifestyle and contradictory decisions, and can lead to much hurt. (Thinking processes...the early Christians made a decision to stay in their cities in the face of Saul's known persecution of them. He was on his way to capture, imprison and murder them when he got blinded by the light. Many others in other cities had already been imprisoned/murdered. Did God tell them to go but they didn't listen (unlikely); did they decide to stay; was it simply that they had nowhere to go? Their decision to stay where they were, regardless of the likely consequences, benefits us even now through their often overlooked but magnificent witness that so worked on Saul's/Paul's own thinking process. I don't think you could say it was God's will that they be murdered. Neither can you say that they did *not* do God's will by staying. I believe there must have been a collective decision to stay put, with no ill-will towards those Christian brethren who chose to leave the cities temporarily or permanently.)

Ex10, I am coming to your house for Chrissie dinner. (But don't spoil it with the peas.) George - another time maybe - a long way into the future. Tom -

I go to an Anglican church. This guy Mike Riches came along and taught for a weekend. It was really dynamic. A lot of the same sort of stuff that TWI in its better appearances might have taught, but deeper and VERY tenderly. Trinitarian, but not a big slant on that. Big into spiritual warfare but a different slant from TWI. The couple seem very modest and humble. http://www.jesusministryintl.org/

We just went out for our office Christmas Lunch yesterday. We have an Indiana lass working with us and she had never had Christmas pudding before. So she tried that - something new. So - what does everyone usually eat for a Christmas lunch/dinner? (That's if you "celebrate" Christmas, that is; if you boringly eat just a cheese sandwich, keep quiet!) How about: Turkey (but my family prefers a joint of beef or pork) Roast potatoes Assorted Fresh vegetables; including - Brussels sprouts (ideally picked from the garden that morning) Rich brown gravy To follow: Christmas pudding Brandy butter or hot custard

I used this recipe last year to make up gifts for people. Some had coffee essence and other flavorings (non-alcoholic). Rolled some in a mix of cocoa powder, some in cocoa powder and icing sugar, and others in chocolate sprinkles. I presented them in 1-doz egg boxes which I spray painted gold. They are so rich that smaller was better.

Outfield, Enjoy! Now if you want to go the whole hog, you get a delicate little porcelain (china) cup (not a pottery - clay) mug and sip your tea from that. Some would say you should make the tea in a porcelain teapot (because it's very thin and therefore does not leach the heat from the beverage). (That's the reason for the lid on the tea pot, not to mention avoiding scalding spillage.) There is the perennial argument about whether tea should be drunk with milk or lemon, or neither; and if milk, whether it should be put in before or after the tea. Now let me just go and put the kettle on... time for a brew. Twinky

So pleased for you, Nero! God is good. That is so far from having the life support system switched off that some members of your family should be very ashamed. Rejoicing with you, Twinky

Ten green bottles, hanging on the wall Ten green bottles, hanging on the wall And if one green bottle Should accidentally fall Ther'd be Tom Strange crying Underneath the wall

This is good fun! Had a few goes and I keep coming out with a TIQ of about 110 which looks good but I know a few of the obscure places in Oceania (huh???). As for Africa... Do we wonder why there are such problems in "helping" Africa when many of us hardly know one country from another (let alone one city from another). Some time ago a friend and I were thinking about how little we know - there are 53 countries in Africa (about the same as States in the US in an area perhaps a little larger) - try writing down the names of the 53 countries, much less placing them on a map. How close is the closest anybody got to a location? I got 22km for Boston. Just to make up for that, I put one location completely the other side of the world, you couldn't get further away.

I'll vote for that in the shops. So much better than "White Christmas" (gag me)

Hey Beautiful One Have an purr-fectly gorgeous day. May lots of good things happen to you. You're so special!! Love you, Twinkeeee

You can get jammers (illegal) for mobile phones. Cuts off the signal. Probably not a good idea on a plane though. Pilot might get upset. Might be good in trains/buses/public places. I like the "cult leader" idea. Amazing how people can woffle on about Mother Nature/whatever their own personal philosophy is, but think you're weird if you talk about JC. I like most of the people I've sat next to in planes. And buses. I met an out of work actor once on a Greyhound bus. He could quote huge chunks of Shakespearean plays. Kept a little group of us highly entertained.

Ha ha surprised the dentist didn't say, Go out and get drunk on Friday night. Get in a fight. I know some good divorce lawyers...

Maybe it was funny - clip says "No longer available". Obviously got "pulled".

SACRED WORKS???

And of course when those people "failed" either in rez or WoW, for whatever reason, it was another big stick to beat local leadership with, because they had failed to spot the person was unsuitable.

Wow, Lifted, he must have set a great example, if you wanted to sign up after only 2 months. But did you have any idea what you were getting into? I do know someone who was rejected right at the start because of not having the right level of education. There was a bare minimum requirement (basically, you could read and write, and have a cert to prove it) and if there was no cert to prove it, rejected until it was produced. There were others in my Corps who were also very recent after PFAL, less than 12 months, with little previous Christian experience, so newness in the Word wasn't a disqualification. (edited for spelling)