Kit Sober

I have lost my job, and due to becoming deaf, don't know if I will be able to find another. I know we need to have medical insurance,and I don't know what to do: What is the cheapest way for a senior not working to purchase sufficient medical insurance to avoid the penalty tax of Obamacare. Any suggestions? Help?

Thanks. Just wondered if there was a hearty story behind this one. A boyfriend long ago called himself Falcon (of beatnik days of San Francisco's North Beach and New York New York). He thought of himself as the bird, not the car. Nice remembrane from before twi, when hope was burning strong. Thanks, again, for your kindness Ron.

This was at one time for many of us a time when we thought the head of the year day in 3 BC was so important becuase it was the day Jesus Christ was born (amid the trumpet soundings etc.).

All that was so many years ago for me.

Then there was 9/11/01, such a terrible day.

However, I thought it would be nice to pause and wish a blessing upon those who recognize the preciousness of Rosh Hashanah and the beginning of the High Holy Days, Jewish Bible speaking. Rosh Hashana is for them, The anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, a day of judgment and coronation, the sounding of the shofar .

How long ago would that car been on the ground if the tree just grew up around it? (Is it possible that could have happened, or did someone put the car up there as a prank?) There is a picture of a bicycle that a young man left when he went to war. And because he did not come back, his folks left it there, and the tree grew up around it. From what I found out, that picture is not a prank. I was wondering about this picture though.

Another example of forgiveness applied from Open Doors

REAL LIFE FORGIVENESS

Alexander Puerta has seen more than his share of tragedy. Raised on a small farm in Urabá region of northern Colombia, he was 17 when his father was murdered by an angry neighbor.

At 19, Alex nearly died of malaria. He called on a Christian evangelist to pray for him and experienced a miraculous recovery. That convinced him to accept Christ. He soon became a fervent evangelist himself and took a job at the Rancho Amelia banana plantation in Urabá.

A guerrilla army operating in the area mistakenly believed Rancho Amelia harbored a paramilitary squad. One morning in September 1995, they ambushed a bus carrying plantation employees, tied them up and threw them face down into a gully. The guerrillas then opened fire with machine guns on the helpless workers.

In the midst of the shooting, a bullet struck Alex Puerta at the base of his left eye, fractured his skull from the inside and exited, destroying his right eye and cheekbone. Amazingly, Alex did not lose consciousness, despite the excruciating pain and nearly suffocating in his own blood.

"The guerrillas came down the rows to find those who were still moving, finishing them off with a machete blow to the neck," he recalls. "They reached me and I told them that Christ loved them. 'This one's alive!' they said, and hit me twice very hard. They broke two teeth and cut off an ear lobe, but the machete did not penetrate my neck. Then they left.

"At that moment I heard a voice say, 'Fight for your life.' I felt such a strength and vitality that I succeeded in breaking my bonds. It hurt, but God gave me strength. When help arrived, they found me sitting up." Alex was the only victim to survive the massacre. Twenty-five of his Rancho Amelia co-workers, including several women, lay dead in the gully.

Survival has been difficult. Alex underwent five surgeries to rebuild his shattered face. Doctors told him that he would never see again. He remembers the long months of convalescence with nothing to do but sit at home with only the family dog.

Today Alex serves as a voluntary chaplain of Prison Fellowship, preaching in chapel services at the Bellavista National Penitentiary and counseling inmates. Some of the prisoners with whom he has shared the gospel are former guerrillas. At least one, he has learned, was involved in the massacre at Rancho Amelia.

Alex let it be known that he has forgiven each of the assailants who blinded him and killed his friends. "If one decides to follow Jesus, the foundation is forgiveness," he says. "Without it, there is no real Christian life."

Alex accepted an invitation from Open Doors to become a regular trainer for Standing Strong Through the Storm seminars offered throughout Colombia. Feedback from seminar participants indicates that Alex is particularly effective in teaching about forgiveness.

I received on a prayer list (not twi related)a prayer request for the family of Pat Stiles who passed away. Does anyone know if this is Pat Stiles many of us know and love? Thanks for any help here.

I confidently believe in the tithe, as I have said previously here and in a similar discussion in the Doctrinal section. In my opinion the tithe and special offerings provide for me a way to become part of such wonderful works that to me are providing God's hand of kindness into the world,

Today I received this wonderful explanation of the tithe (at least I think it's a wonderful explanation), and I thought someone would enjoy it, and additionally I trusted that this would provide an alternative viewpoint to that of the majority opinion. So very thankful I can still have an opinion. :)

This is from a Messianic Rabbi (Jewish Rabbi who believes that Jesus is the true Messiah spoken about in the Old Testament -- at least I think that's a reasonable interpretation). He sends out a daily email with Jewish perspective of Biblical concepts.

Anyway, here goes:

The Lord's Shovel

August 1, 2013

"Be sure to set aside a tenth of all that your fields produce each year." — Deuteronomy 14:22

The Torah portion for this week is Re'eh, from Deuteronomy 11:26–16:17, and the Haftorah from Isaiah 54:11–55:5.

There is a story about an ambitious young man who tells his pastor that he has promised to tithe his income. Together, the pastor and the man pray for God to bless his career. At that time, the man was making $40 a week and contributed $4 to the church. As time went by, the young man became increasingly successful to the point where he was tithing $500 a week. At that point, the man called up the pastor to see if he could be released from his tithing promise as it was too costly now. The pastor replied, "I don't see how you can be released from your promise, but we can ask God to reduce your income back to $40 a week – then you'd have no problem tithing $4."

God judges what we give by what we keep.

In this week's reading we are commanded to give away at least 10 percent of what we earn. Jewish tradition teaches that we should give away more than that – up to 20 percent of our earnings (but no more). While that may seem difficult and counter-productive to someone trying to make ends meet, the Sages offer this encouragement. Those who want to become wealthy should tithe their money. The Sages add that it's impossible to become poor from giving to charity. On the contrary, they say, the more you give your money away, the more you receive.

How can that be true?

A prestigious man was once asked how he could give away so much money to charity and yet still be so wealthy, and this is what he replied: "Oh, as I shovel it out, He shovels it in, and the Lord has a much bigger shovel!"

When God sees that we use our money as it is meant to be used, He blesses us with more. Our contributions are essentially our best investments. Perhaps this is what the verse in Proverbs 22 means when it says, "A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor" (v.9). So in actuality, even more than the rich man is helping the poor man, the poor man is helping the rich man – because he gives him an opportunity to help himself and earn great rewards.

Friends, we are so grateful for all of the contributions that so many good people from around the world have contributed to the many purposes of The Fellowship. We pray that as you bless Israel, God will bless you. We trust that whatever you give to help others will be returned to you with the Lord's much bigger shovel.

With prayers for shalom, peace,

Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein

Founder and President

Thanks for all the good information. (I even gave a link to this forum to some non-twi people who had questions about ecigs.) I am going to order some for my friend. (from the place in Florida.) Thanks, again.

I receive emails from Open Doors (Remember Brother Andrew who wanted to take Bibles into communist Russia and prayed, "God You have made blind eyes to see. We ask you to make seeing eyes blind..." so they could smuggle them in, and He did so.) Brother Andrew is still cooking with gas, and his bunch, "Open Doors" is still serving persecuted Christians worldwide. And today I received this in the Open Doors devotional regarding forgivenss, which I thought was most compelling, and hope you will consider the urgency of forgiveness to one's own soul. Persecuted Christians (ones who know their lives, their families, their homes, their jobs, their friends, everything actually is on the line when they confess Jesus is Lord. However, they count the cost and count it but a small thing to pay for their relationship with Jesus.) I hope I will always be able to be found in like manner.

EXAMPLE OF JESUS

On January 23, 1999, 58-year-old Australian Baptist missionary Graham Staines and his two sons were burned to death when the vehicle they were sleeping in was doused with gasoline and set on fire, allegedly by members of a Hindu fundamentalist group, in the Indian state of Orissa. Graham Staines had been working with leprosy patients for thirty-four years.

Hundreds of millions witnessed Gladys Staines, Graham Staines' widow, forgive her family's murderers in the name of the gospel on Indian television—a scene which moved many to tears "and may have achieved more for the gospel in India than many years of missionary work," according to an Indian evangelist.

Describing her prompt forgiveness of the killers as a "spontaneous act," Gladys Staines says, "it took away the bitterness" that otherwise would have remained in her heart. Since the incident she has people coming to her door asking how they can become Christians.

The imagery she used was also powerful. "Let us burn hatred…and spread the flame of Christ's love."

Forgiveness is to be given even when it is not asked for. On the cross, forgiveness was one of the first words of Jesus. The soldiers doing the crucifying had not asked for forgiveness but Jesus realized their need of it.

Forgiveness can only be truly accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. But when given, it communicates most powerfully the love of God. And we are called to be like God, to bear God's family resemblance.

Forgiveness is a personal transaction that releases the one offended from the offense. The forgiveness required by the scriptures is more than detached or limited forgiveness, it is full and complete forgiveness in which there is a total cessation of negative feelings toward the offender and the relationship being restored has the possibility to grow.

RESPONSE

Today I will show Christ's love by forgiving

those who do not even ask for forgiveness.

PRAYER

Lord, may I be like You and through the power of

Your Holy Spirit forgive completely those who

bring offenses against me.

Here is the link to the video I found on the article.

Yesterday morning I was so awed thinking about what Nik Walenda did in his walk: He shows that God is still alive and still able to bring us to mighty works. Certainly then, I can go to work one more day. I can keep praying a little longer, because God is still on the throne and still able to deliver us when we call on Him. How precious is that.

Nik Wallenda walked across the Grand Canyon.

You can read about it here

In the story there is also a link to the video you can watch him do it.

I was too afraid for him to watch while he did it.

I did all I could do to serve the Lord by serving His people. I did all I knew to do to be a good wife and mother and Christian all together. I did all I could figure out to do.

I think I got what I paid for: The relationship with the Lord and with the folks that really were my friends.

Fred passed away, and I know for sure he is with the Lord reaping the just rewards of his life, and I hope the same for me and my family and friends and other loved ones.

I been having a precious internet communication with someone who still refers to "beloved xxxx," but he and his (truly) lovely wife also listen to other ministries and of course they read the Bible primarily.

I figure heaven, when we all will be perfect, will look a lot different than we imagine it now. (I had a vision of someone being in the presence of the Lord after he died, and I know treated his family terribly.)

I am so glad that God has been able to free me from the cult mentality. I really don't worry about or am concerned with what that cult leader is doing now because one way or another he has had his life reconciled by the Lord.

Here is a tender remark from WhiteDove I found here. (I am sure they are having a great time together now.):

June 17th......

It's been four years since my Sister Dove ,Dovey (Sandi) passed away. I have to admit I have been struggling with what to write here in this blank space for a number of days. In the end I thought of nothing better than what's been said already.

She was too young to leave us! She should be here, rocking her grandchildren and telling them dove stories. She should be killing threads, and sending Smiles', and playing with her little dogs that she loved so much, and breaking her computer yet again for the hundredth time…….

But she is not….. And the only thing breaking today is my heart…..

Today as I read through her Memorial thread the one thing that I again saw was, for those that came to know her, the difference that she made in each of their lives. Even at times when perhaps she was terribly sick herself, she always had time, and a kind word, and an ear to lend to those around her.

Dovey often loved to send out little stories that she would come across, and here is one she sent to me. Today I return it to her....

To Someone Who Made a Difference:

Two people met on the beach:

Good evening friend,

What are you doing? The one asked

I'm throwing these starfish back in the ocean.

If I don't they'll die up here. The other replied.

Why there must be thousands of starfish on this beach, you can't possibly get to them all. You can't possibly make a difference.

She smiled and picked up yet another starfish and threw it into the sea.

Made a difference to That One!!........ She said........

I can picture Sandi making her way down the beach tossing starfish into the ocean…… "Made a difference to that one too"….and laughing!

And so today as we celebrate her life maybe that is the message Sandi left to us:

Make a Difference in Someone's Life Today! You may not get another chance……..

I miss you so much my Sister Dove.

See Ya Forever ……….

Love Your Brother Dove…….

LOVE FROM THE DOVE....

Without Coffee I Would Have No Personality At All.

I was so reminded of that "pot luck" thread. Everyone had a nice time it seemed, and certainly everyone ate their fill. corned beef and cabbage, potato soup. Interesting salads and dips (everything predominantly). Lots of veggies and dips and pies and cupcakes and cookies.

I took the vacuum cleaner and tried to vacuum the stuff off the carpet. . . and blew the breaker that had the computer of my boss and her boss. But they didn't fire me. I still got a job it seems.

And a dear friend sent me this recipe for Irish Soda Bread. I think that's what I'll make for the pot luck next St Patrick's Day.

Irish Soda Bread with Dried Cranberries, Apricots, and Ginger...tacking some tasty additions onto tradition.

I love celebrating St. Patrick's Day. I made this bread in honor of my friend Tess one year (she loved St. Patty's Day so much because her late husband was Irish), and everyone fell in love with it.

I researched the origins of this wonderful quick bread and found out that the Irish actually adopted it from here in the U.S., where "soft" wheat, which doesn't use yeast and allows for faster bread making, was exported to Ireland. The original soda breads contained nothing more than flour, buttermilk, baking soda and salt. To finish it, a cross was cut on the top with a knife, to ward off the devil and protect the household.

The usual Irish Soda Bread is a cozy concoction made with raisins. What could be more homey and delicious on a cold day? Can't you just imagine sitting in your fuzzy slippers eating a warm slice with a bit of butter and cup of tea? Yum!

The typical recipe, nowadays, is made with raisins, but I've also seen it with some orange zest and cranberries. I love any bread with some extra ingredients that make the texture interesting. That's why I really like this recipe—it goes one step further with some candied ginger, which permeates the whole loaf and gives it that extra burst of flavor. I even like it with cream cheese or drizzled with honey or all of the above! Green tea or green beer...it's all good.

Yield: 1 large or 2 small loaves of bread (10 servings)

Ingredients; 4 cups all-purpose flour

4 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking soda

1 ½ tsp kosher salt

4 Tbsp (½ stick) cold butter, cut into ½-inch dice

1 ¾ cups cold buttermilk

1 egg, lightly beaten

½ cup dried cranberries

½ cup julienned apricots

½ cup crystallized ginger

1 egg (optional)

1 tsp milk (optional)

Instructions;1. Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and the flour mixture on low speed until the butter is mixed into the flour.

3. With a fork, lightly beat the buttermilk and the egg in a measuring cup. With the mixer on low, slowly add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture. Now add the cranberries, apricots, and crystallized ginger. Mix to combine.

4. The mixture may seem a bit wet, but dump the dough onto a well-floured board and knead it a few times into a round loaf. You may want to make 2 smaller loaves out of your dough. Place the loaf or loaves on the prepared sheet pan with parchment paper. If using the egg wash, beat the egg and add the milk, then brush the top and sides of the bread. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a knife comes out clean.

Makes 1 large or 2 smaller loaves of bread, good for about 10 people.

Pray and hope you are enjoying truly good fun, good food, good fellowship.

Thanks so much. It was my first birthday in 43 years without Fred. I was kinda lost. Haven't even been over here. I got a new job that is pretty wonderful, but it's especially tiring because it involves a daily 82 mile round trip. But it pays more than the auto expenses (so far), and it's a blessing for this old girl who became totally deaf to find a job. God is so kind because working keeps me communicating with people, which keeps me looking to God most sincerely.

Thanks, again, for your kindness and care and concern. I don't know where I'd be without it.

Watchman Nee devotional for today had a note about forgiveness, and it impacted me that because I know my whole life, to the essence of me is only because of the Lord Jesus, forgiving others is no problem. I truly think that "forgive them father for they know not what they do" applies to everyone. Many people are spiritually deaf. My physical ears have quit working. I just don't hear a thing anymore. And I think people who can't hear the Lord are like that spiritually. They just don't get what He is saying at all. And therefore their words are not relatable to what the Lord is saying in the world because they don't hear. They really don't know what they are doing at all. I have touched the hem of His garment and know His forgiveness which put a softness inside me.

Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner. Luke 7.39.

This sinful woman had continually incurred the mockery and disdain of men, plunging her into self-shame. Yet here was Jesus who—so holy yet so approachable—permitted her to stand behind Him and weep at His feet. She wept as a means of pouring forth her agony due to sinning; she wept to discharge the hidden things in her heart; she wept to complain that there was no deliverer; and she wept to express her hope of a Saviour. However, her weeping did not gain Simon’s sympathy; it instead precipitated his silent criticism. Indeed, the tears of sorrow for sin was something a self-righteous Simon could never understand. But this Jesus understood! He first corrected Simon and then testified for the weeping woman, saying, "Her sins which are many are forgiven." This forgiveness has become a gospel to many great sinners ever since.

Pot lucks at church are nicer now, too. more kindness and encouraging others . So very nice.

Same type of thing with birthday cards, welcome cards, get well cards . . . . At work now sent around with kindness, the admin assist hunts them up and keeps track of them, but not filled with shallow exhortations to "do the Word" or "hold the Word high" that no one really understands what the words mean. At work now only happiness and fellowship of friends wished and encouraged.

So glad to have gotten my life back. So glad God was kind enough to give us our lives back.

Pot lucks at church are nicer now, too. more kindness and encouraging others . So very nice.

Same type of thing with birthday cards, welcome cards, get well cards . . . . At work now sent around with kindness, the admin assist hunts them up and keeps track of them, but not filled with shallow exhortations to "do the Word" or "hold the Word high" that no one really understands what the words mean. At work now only happiness and fellowship of friends wished and encouraged.

So glad to have gotten my life back. So glad God was kind enough to give us our lives back.

From the Song of Soloman 6:11: "¹¹I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley. .."

Being from the Bay Area of California and a San Francisco Beatnik, I thought it nothing strange that God cared about the fruits and nuts of the world (such as myself). It was easy to believe (and I still do believe) that "love conquers all," which I thought (and still think) that the Lord sends us forth to do.

twi, of course, when vp traded his life for a mess of pottage, relinquished the Holy Spirit, the power of the Name of Jesus and His precious Blood, without which no one can ever be the promised "more than conquerors" or even lift a sword in the spiritual battle which rages.

I'm excited for the Super Bowl, which will combine a favorite home city (San Francisco) and current home city (Reno, UNR, Kaepernick)

In honor of which: Her is a time-honored recipe

Buffalo Wings

For residents of Buffalo, New York, true Buffalo wings come only from Frank and Teressa's Anchor Bar, where owner Teressa Bellissimo invented the dish in 1964. There, wings are fried, then tossed in a combination of melted margarine and hot sauce. Today, the Anchor Bar serves 2,000 pounds of wings each day.

INGREDIENTS;

Peanut oil, for frying

4 lb. chicken wings (about 40), separated into 2 pieces, wing tips removed, rinsed

12 tbsp. margarine

1 cup hot sauce, preferably Frank's Red Hot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce

1 ⅓ cups chunky blue cheese dressing

4 ribs celery, halved lengthwise, then cut crosswise into 3″ sticks

INSTRUCTIONS;

1. Heat oven to 200°. Pour oil to a depth of 2″ in a 6-qt. Dutch oven, and heat over medium heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°. Dry wings thoroughly with paper towels, and working in batches, fry wings until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer wings to a wire rack set over a baking sheet, and place in oven to keep warm until all wings are fried.

2. Heat margarine in a 12″ deep-sided skillet over medium heat; stir in hot sauce until smooth. Add wings, and toss until completely coated. Serve wings in a large bowl with dressing and celery on the side.

SERVES 4...maybe 2 if I'm there...love chicken wings!!!

From "The Wire":

Aaron Swartz was one of the earliest members of the Reddit team, helped build the first RSS program, and was by all accounts a genius at a very young age. Swartz committed suicide on January 11. He was 26 years old. MIT's The Tech's Anne Cai and Boing Boing's Cory Doctorow first reported the news of Swartz's death. Cai confirmed it with his uncle and attorney. Swartz is probably best known for his contributions building the first RSS model when he was only a 14-year-old, and then a few years later for helping build what would become the social networking site Reddit. Swartz also founded the advocacy group Demand Progress. Swartz suffered from some personal problems and had blogged about his depression before, which you can find on his personal blog if you're so inclined to go looking. (We weren't.)

Swartz will also possibly be remembered for breaking into MIT and downloading nearly five million documents from online archive JSTOR in order to distribute them more freely. He was charged by prosecutors in Massachusetts even after MIT and JSTOR elected not to continue with the case.

Doctorow addresses speculation that some of Swartz's legal troubles may have led him to take the action he did, but there's also this touching passage about the helplessness of those close to people suffering from depression:

I don't know if it's productive to speculate about that, but here's a thing that I do wonder about this morning, and that I hope you'll think about, too. I don't know for sure whether Aaron understood that any of us, any of his friends, would have taken a call from him at any hour of the day or night. I don't know if he understood that wherever he was, there were people who cared about him, who admired him, who would get on a plane or a bus or on a video-call and talk to him.

We challenge you to read the whole thing and finish dry-eyed.

It's clear from the outpouring of emotion on Twitter and across other networks that Swartz touched a lot of people during his short time. Quinn Norton, a close friend and lover, posted this personal essay Swartz wrote (that she pressured him to take down) about her on Saturday morning. MetaFilter founder Matt Haughey wrote a beautiful goodbye to his friend on the MetaFilter thread about Swartz's passing. The whole conversation is worth reading. John Gruber called Swartz "an enormous intellect — again, a brilliant mind," who also had "an enormous capacity for empathy."

Want to add to this story? Let us know in comments or send an email to the author atconnorbsimpson@gmail.com. You can share ideas for stories on the Open Wire.

So very sorry for Aaron Swartz' passing. This came to me as so important to communicate our care and compassion for our family, friends, and other loved ones: "I don't know for sure whether Aaron understood that any of us, any of his friends, would have taken a call from him at any hour of the day or night. I don't know if he understood that wherever he was, there were people who cared about him, who admired him, who would get on a plane or a bus or on a video-call and talk to him."

In hope and prayers for his family and friends,

These instructions to post a video do not work any more. Current Instructions???

http://www.youtube.com

To Enbed The You Tube

Click on the link above for the You Tube website

1.) Select catagory at top of the page, then select music on the left hand side of the page

2.) Then on the bottom of the page, use the Search box to find the artist and or song of your choice

3.) Click on you choice it will bring the You Tube up with your selection

4.) On the right hank side you will find information about you selection and in that information box are the options of URL and Embed

5.) Highlight Embed right click and select Copy

6.) In your reply box for GSC right click on a clean space and select Paste

7.) Then after you link info appears go down to the bottom of your GSC reply box and click on Post Option then select the HTML On-Raw Linebreak Mode

8.) When you have included all script you want in your reply box Just click, Add Reply

9.) HAVE TONS OF FUN!!!!!!!!!

This post has been edited by RainbowsGirl: 12 April 2007 - 07:00 PM

a friend emailed me this story of Del:

Anyway, for some reason I was thinking about Del Duncan again tonight. I think I told you about the last time I saw him when he had his old Yacht that he and Nancy were living on and he was trying to keep afloat and pay the dock fee at some landing south of San Francisco. But I'd forgotten that I'd visited them some years prior when they were living in a trailer and I think one of their kids was still in high school. I don't even remember where that was except that it was in California somewhere..

But my favorite story about Del was from sometime in the early 70's when he did a PFAL class at Sandstone Federal Correctional Institution in Sandstone, MN. I don't know now how that class came to be other than hearing that Jimmy Hoffa had wanted to take it while he was there (if he ever was there!). I went up for the final day of the class with Del (or maybe met him up there) and it was quite an experience seeing all those inmates whistling, applauding and having a good time enjoying God's Word. After the class was over some of them had a meeting with Del and I in a smaller room than the chapel or auditorium where the class was held, and one of the guys there had evidently been a Special Forces guy and retired shortly after the Miaguez (sp?) incident. His family owned a number of banks in Chicago and so he became the head of one of them and proceeded to embezzle a bunch of money, which he then handed out to people who's homes had burned down. When he'd done so long enough to have a substantial enough amount to force embezzlement charges, he turned himself in. His family pleaded with him not to do so and said they'd cover the money. But he wouldn't hear of it. He had no knowledge of God at the time and so his total confidence was in America and it's government and when the government abandoned the troops on the Miaguez his confidence in the US was shattered and he carried a very big chip on his shoulders.

So he ended up at Sandstone and was one of the people in the class, and in the smaller group that met afterward. He was a young, squared away guy with dark black hair and he said that the night before the last session he'd prayed and said "God, I'll have gray hair before I ever speak in tongues." According to him, the next morning he looked in the mirror and low and behold he had gray hair! So he spoke in tongues that last session of the class and was sharing his experience with the others. Then one guy said that he didn't speak in tongues and went on to say that he didn't believe in Jesus Christ. One of the others said (not condescendingly but just factually), "Of course you wouldn't speak in tongues if you don't believe in Jesus Christ." Ah, what a meeting that was. And the real interesting thing is that within a short period of time after that, all those guys were released from the prison. Anyway, both Del and I were amazed when we heard that.

from a friend:

Old Year Out

Before you flip your calendar

To start a New Year bright,

Reflect for just a moment on

The year that ends tonight.

Each joy and every heartache

Has been etched into your heart,

But in a few short hours you

May make a brand new start.

As you review the days and weeks

That simply seemed to fly,

Would you say fortune smiled on you

Or did she pass you by?

Since it's not wise to dwell upon

Those days that made you cry,

The thing to do is set your sights

And aim right at the sky.

　

Forget those tears and sorrow

As you bid the old, "Adieu,"

And welcome in the New Year,

It's dawning ... just for you!