Taking a Break
Dear Friends of the Blog (FOTB),
I’m going to be taking an extended break from blogging. I’m not sure when I’ll be back or which direction this blog will take. Thank you very much for all your time spent here.
The Meaning of the 12 Days of Christmas
I summarized this from the book 25 Days, 26 Ways to Make this your Best Christmas Ever by Ace Collins. Historically, the first day of Christmas was December 25. This placed the twelfth and final day on January 6.
Day 1: A partridge in a pear tree – Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge because that was the only English bird that would die to protect its young. – John 15:13, Luke 13:34
Day 2: Two Turtle Doves – These twin birds represent the Old and New Testaments.
Day 3: Three French Hens – Represent the three gifts God gives us on a daily basis: faith, hope and love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13
Day 4: Four Calling Birds – These refer to the four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Day 5: Five Golden Rings - Gold was a valuable commodity in ancient times and the first five books of the Old Testament were also considered valuable.
Day 6: Six Geese-a-Laying – Each egg represents a day in creation when the world the world was “hatched” by God. – Genesis 1:1-31
Day 7: Seven Swimming Swans – Represent the seven gifts of the Spirit – prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leading and compassion. – Romans 12:6-8, 1 Corinthians 12:8-11
Day 8: Eight Maids-a-Milking – At the time this song was written, a woman who milked cows had the lowest and worst job in England. The maids represent those, who according to Jesus are blessed: the poor in Spirit, those who mourn, the meek, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, and those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. – Matthew 5:3-10
Day 9: Nine Ladies Dancing – Gifts known as the fruit of the Holy Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. – Galatians 5:22
Day 10: Ten Lords-a-Leaping – The lords were judges and the focus is on the Ten Commandments. – Exodus 20:1-17
Day 11: Eleven Pipers Piping – Eleven faithful apostles who lived out the Gospel message and fearlessly shared it with the world. – Luke 6:14-16
Day 12: Twelve Drummers Drumming – Those who believe that the one who came at Christmas is God’s son. Your faith puts you in this band. Members are singing a song of salvation to the world. – Revelation 7:10-12
My True Love - James 1:17
Email forwards that are actually good
Here are two of the best email forwards I’ve received lately (I guess forwards are still in circulation?) I promise that nothing bad will happen to you on account of not passing these on.
Good news is that I truly outdid myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down:
First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost got wrecked when they drove by.
Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder, almost killed herself putting it against my house, and didn’t realize he was fake until she climbed to the top. She was not happy! By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn’t take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up into my yard.
(ht: Chad H.)
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I am thankful:
For the wife
Who says it’s hot dogs tonight,
Because she is home with me,
And not out with someone else.
For the husband
Who is on the sofa
Being a couch potato,
Because he is home with me
And not out at the bars.
For the teenager
Who is complaining about doing dishes
Because it means she is at home,
Not on the streets.
For the taxes I pay
Because it means I am employed.
For the mess to clean after a party
Because it means I have been surrounded by friends.
For the clothes that fit a little too snug
Because it means I have enough to eat.
For my shadow that watches me work
Because it means I am out in the sunshine
For a lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning, and gutters that need fixing
Because it means I have a home
For all the complaining
I hear about the government
Because it means we have freedom of speech.
For the parking spot I find at the far end of the parking lot
Because it means I am capable of walking and I have been blessed with transportation.
For my huge heating bill
Because it means I am warm.
For the lady behind me in church who sings off key
Because it means I can hear.
For the pile of laundry and ironing
Because it means I have clothes to wear.
For weariness and aching muscles
At the end of the day
Because it means I have been capable of working hard
For the alarm that goes off
In the early morning hours
Because it means I am alive.
And I am thankful:
For the crazy people I hang with
Because they make it fun and interesting to be alive.
And finally, for too much e-mail
Because it means I have friends who are thinking of me.
(ht: Brian M.)
Our Greatest Need
If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior.
- Max Lucado
It was not a silent night
There was blood on the ground
You could hear a woman cry
In the alleyways that night
On the streets of David’s town
And the stable was not clean
And the cobblestones were cold
And little Mary full of grace
With the tears upon her face
Had no mother’s hand to hold
It was a labor of pain
It was a cold sky above
But for the girl on the ground in the dark
With every beat of her beautiful heart
It was a labor of love – Andrew Peterson
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Isaiah 9:6
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. – Luke 1:68
My soul glorifies the Lord and my Spirit rejoices in God my Savior. – Luke 1:46-47
Come Go With Me
Dear Feedreader,
I’ve made a number of changes to my site, which are undetectable in a feed. Most notable of the changes are a favorites section which includes some of my favorite books, movies, quotes, videos, TV Shows, music and links to some of the other blogs I follow. Please let me know if you have a blog or website and I will add a link on my page.
I’ve also added weather patterns, random quotes, poems and videos and cleaned up a great many things in general. Finally, I’ve added Amazon picture/price links to the book reviews. An unfortunate casualty of these updates is that the book pictures will no longer show up in your feed (unless there is a fix). If you’re afraid of judging the books by their covers, you might welcome this change.
That is all for now. Please know that I greatly appreciate whatever time you spend at this blog and am wide open to whatever feedback you might have in terms of improvement. You are an object of great affection, warmth and care. It is my sincere hope that whatever time you spend here is worthwhile.
Take care,
Mark
PPM – The Sacrifices Acceptable to God
I’ve decided to change it up a bit this Monday and include the below video along with this series of posts about an affair.
“Return to me,” declares the LORD Almighty, “and I will return to you.” - Zechariah 1:3
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.- Psalm 51:17
PPM – Planting Seeds
Another story about death bringing life: The Sunflower Boy’s Smile
I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. – John 12:24
A Million Miles and a Thousand Directions
Dear Friends, Loved Ones and Everybody Else:
I wanted to keep you all informed about some exciting developments at marklamberti.com. First of all, I totally overhauled my blog/website and fully integrated the whole thing to make it an official blebsite. It is, by far, the best my blebsite has ever looked and it is possible that I am a little over-the-top excited about this. To give you some history, though, the site was made in the summer of 1997 from the most humble of origins. I never thought it would get to this point and look so nice! Now, you may wonder why I am telling you all this stuff about my website if you are already at my website. I tell you this, dear reader, because you may be a dear subscriber. Google reader is terrific, but even more terrific is the new design*.
If you are, indeed, reading this in a reader, let me allow for some great links to check out some of the new/redesigned content.
Here is what put marklamberti.com** on the map: Ramblings
Here is the most unique and underrated portion of the website: Conversations
Here is a special goodbye: Farewell
Oh! Be sure to check out the sidebar for many features as well! It looks so nice! I never knew what widgets were or what affect they could have on my life. If they were women, I would, indeed, marry them. Either way, they’ve changed my life.
In non-blebsite related news, Donald Miller posted a link to the first three chapters of his new book and asked for comments. Now, even though he has no idea who I am, I consider us to be great friends. As a matter of fact, he even (mistakenly?) accepted my friend request on facebook for about a day and a half. Irrespective of all this (notice I didn’t say “irregardless”), Donny (I can call him that because we are make-believe friends) has one of the sharpest minds and is one of the most interesting writers out there. His books are a real treat for the mind (and heart).
Anyway, Donny wanted feedback and I gave it to him. Now, Donny has been responding to some of his commentators. I am so curious to see if Donny will respond to anything I wrote. If he does, it will be a dream (our friendship) come true (our friendship). Check out all the action at this page: Thoughts on the First Three Chapters and be sure to check out comment #42!
*I didn’t actually design the new design. A guy named “Chris Wallace” did. There is a link to his site at the bottom of the site.
**Formerly AOL Homepage. I think they died when I moved my site to Angelfire.
Head Over Heels
I came across this interesting story from 1 Samuel 5:1-5 today:
“After the Philistines had captured the ark of God, they took it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then they carried the ark into Dagon’s temple and set it beside Dagon. When the people of Ashdod rose early the next day, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! They took Dagon and put him back in his place. But the following morning when they rose, there was Dagon, fallen on his face on the ground before the ark of the LORD! His head and hands had been broken off and were lying on the threshold; only his body remained. That is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor any others who enter Dagon’s temple at Ashdod step on the threshold.”
Here is an idol crashing and on its face before the ark of God. Worship does not belong to idols, worship belongs to God. Even an idol falls down in a position of worship. To whom can God be compared?
When Pharisees were trying to keep the worship of God from being proclaimed, Jesus remarked “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out”.
There is a want, desire, and need to worship. Many things are the object of worship, but only God is worthy. If we don’t do it, even the stones will cry out.
And I will give you all my worship, I will give you all my praise. You alone I long to worship, You alone are worthy of my praise…
Freedom
If you’re tired and thirsty… there is freedom.
Lift your eyes to heaven… there is freedom.
- Jason Upton
“…and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17).
