Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Feb 14, 2011
TOO LATE
On his birthday, my husband was stuck driving our six rambunctious children around. As usual, they were yelling, punching, and annoying one another. Joel finally had had enough.
"Kids," he said over the din, "if you would behave and be kind to each other, that would be a very nice
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jan 23, 2011
REUNITED
This week (1-11) an interesting story hit the presses:
A woman who was kidnapped as a newborn 23 years ago says finding her real mother "felt like a dream."
Carlina White was just 19 days old when she disappeared from Harlem Hospital in New York. She tells the New York Post that when
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Jan 2, 2011
SOCIAL NETWORKING AND THE BRAIN
By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter – Mon Dec 27, 5:03 pm ET
MONDAY, Dec. 27 (HealthDay News) -- The size of your amygdala, an almond-shaped portion of the brain involved in emotions, may be as strong a marker for having rich and varied social relationships as how
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 27, 2010
ARE YOU A CHIEF STUDENT?
David Friedman, in They Loved the Torah p. 61 comments about Peter (Shim'on):
I see Shim'on as Yeshua's Torah-observant....talmid hakham...a Hebrew technical term meaning the leading student (of a rabbi). Every famous rabbi who daily taught the same students had a talmid
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 19, 2010
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MARY, JOSEPH, AND KIDDUSHIN
David Stern comments, "The Hebrew/Aramaic word for betrothal is "kiddushin," which signifies "sanctification, separation," i.e., the setting aside and separating of a particular woman for a particular man. According to the Mishna, adultery during the betrothal period
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 19, 2010
SIN MARS US
During an all-night festival in Paris, five young people, apparently drunk, broke into the Orsay Museum and left a 4-inch gash in a priceless painting by Claude Monet. Culture Minister Christine Albanel said the painting could be restored, but she was deeply disturbed at the damage
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 13, 2010
LOSING JESUS
For about 14 years, I have been teaching AWANA. I teach each of our three division, beginning with a puppet skit and then a flannel graph lesson with felt figures. I taught the Christmas Story to the Sparks, K-2nd grade, then I moved everything into the auditorium to teach the Flames
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 13, 2010
Baptism was a pre-existing JEWISH ritual.
Jewish Encyclopedia, "In order to pronounce the name of God in prayer in perfect purity,
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Dec 5, 2010
WISE MEN CAME FROM AFAR
Most people know that Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, but they really do not understand as much as we think they do.
In a small Southern town there was a "Nativity Scene" that showed great skill and talent had gone into creating it. One small feature
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 29, 2010
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A SPECIAL VISITOR
This past Tuesday, it was difficult to drive in and out of our church parking lot because of a barrage of traffic down Webster Street. Where did this traffic come from? Downtown was blocked off because President Obama and Vice-President Biden were speaking at a closed meeting a
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 22, 2010
GRATITUDE ATTITUDE
A few years ago Dr. Nick Stinnett of the University of Nebraska conducted a group of studies called the "Family Strengths Research Project." Stinnett and his researchers identified six qualities that make for strong families. The first quality and one of the most important to be
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 8, 2010
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FAD OR FOLLOWER?
I was looking at a list of some fads from the 1990's. Among them were: spandex shorts, Pokemon, Grunge music and fashion, The Macarena, Bowl cut, What would Jesus do?, Pogs, Polly Pocket Toys, and Tickle Me Elmo.
In that list, only one fad had long-term bearing, "What Would Jesus
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Nov 8, 2010
WHAT MAKES JERUSALEM SO GREAT?
"Archaeologists and historians have long wondered why Jerusalem should have been established where it was, and why it should have become great. It enjoys none of the physical features which favored the advancement and prosperity of other important cities in the
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 25, 2010
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HESED
Proverbs 20:6 records: "Many a man claims to have hesed, but a faithful man, who can find?"
Not only is a person with hesed truthful, he is also faithful. The proverb indicates that many people may claim to have hesed for you, but only a very few will demonstrate it by actually remaining
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 11, 2010
A friend loans you a car at the last moment. As he rushes off, he says, "By the way, the gas gage is broke." You have no idea whether the tank is almost full or nearly empty.
This is our status in life. Some of us die young, others live to be
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Oct 11, 2010
A bored student at the University of Washington used an Internet auction site to sell his soul to the highest bidder. As it turned out, the top offer was only $400.
Since the soul is immaterial, it can’t be extracted from a body like a physical organ such as a heart. The student had to admit, “I
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 20, 2010
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PSALM 47 AND ROSH HASHANAH
When a brand new believer in 1974, my friend loaned his LP Album by Messianic Jewish group "Lamb." When I married Marylu in 1980, I married into Lamb albums.
One of the songs was titled, "Clap Your Hands, All Ye People," and was a paraphrase of Psalm 47. Preparing this
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Sep 6, 2010
This doesn't mean that we do not feel the brunt of bad news, trials, or miseries. It means he helps us gain our composure. Judy Ackerman Link wrote:
After my doctor announced that I had cancer, I tried to listen to what he said, but I couldn’t. I went home, pulled a blanket over my head, and fell
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 29, 2010
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Married for many years, Paul had been ignored by his wife, Liz, for some days, so eventually he confronted her with what he perceived as the problem.
'Come on Liz, admit it,' he ranted, 'You only married me because my granddad left me $6 million, didn't you?'
'You really are silly, Paul,' retorted
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Contributed by Ed Vasicek on Aug 10, 2010
In the Spring, Marylu and I spent a day at one of our State Parks, McCormick's Creek (my personal favorite). But we could not go into the cave there because of a deadly disease that is annihilating bats.
This week, an AP story broke:
"A mysterious illness is threatening the bat population in
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