Most of us a familiar with the statistics showing that holiday time has one of the highest suicide and depression rates of the whole year. Even if you are not feeling overtly depressed or even suicidal it is quite possible that you may be one the millions of people who have feelings of loneliness and sadness this time of year. So what is it about the holidays that causes us to feel so sad?

The problem is not with the holidays themselves but with the many stories and beliefs we hold about them. It’s important for us to understand that we never have an emotional reaction unless we have perceived something and judged it in some way – good or bad. Once we see the truth or “what is” about the holidays we no longer will be affected by any story that our minds put forth.

Some things we may believe are:

You should never be alone this time of year, everyone should be with someone.

You should connect with your family this time of year.

You should not go on a vacation holiday time without your family.

If you are not with people at the holidays you are not loved. If I were in a relationship I would not be alone now.

I have no friends where I live now and the holidays are making it worse.

I have nothing to do and no parties to attend, no one wants me.

These are just a few things you may be thinking as there are many sad stories of holiday woe, so do make note of what lies your mind has been proposing to you so you can move past them. This is how I approach these thought-forms so I can enjoy the holidays with an open heart, gratitude and joy.

First, I recognize that my family also has many beliefs about the holidays that they feel compelled to hold me to. While I respect my family and do my best to be with them (since it brings them so much joy) – there have been times when I’ve been exhausted and personal time took precedence over being with my family. If this is the case for you – don’t defend yourself to your family as you are not a victim. Simply let them know what is going on, what you are doing and do your best to find a way to connect with them again as soon as you can. That is being respectful to both dreams. Know that there is no absolute rule that you must be with family at this time of year – but also look at the reasons why you might not want to be with them. If you have any fear on your side born of judgment of any of your family members then you are not acting from love but from your fear-based thought-forms.

Second, if you’re alone at the holidays it’s because you’ve created your life that way, not because the world is against you or that you’re unlovable. If you’ve just moved to a new city and you don’t know anyone – join a club and go to their holiday activities, take a class in holiday cooking or wine tasting, or even commit to volunteering at your local hospital. Notice how your mind will create the exact conditions you need in your life to prove to you what you already believe about yourself (that you are not loveable).

Third, neediness is the expression of a victimized mind that has no self love. If you think your holidays would be better if you were in relationship this is simply not truth. The most important relationship you have is with yourself. And if that is fulfilling you will not need anyone else. Yes, of course it’s lovely to have a companion in life as we are social animals – but neediness is not love.

Last of all, the bottom line is that the holidays are just another set of days in your life – no better or worse than any other days. It’s only because you assign great importance to these days do they become painful. I encourage you to purposely spend your holiday with yourself doing fun things like ice-skating, holiday window shopping, catching up with movies, listening to beautiful music in the tub, having a massage, and just relaxing. Learn to take actions that prove to you that you love yourself rather than using the holidays to prove that you are not loved.

With all my love & blessings. Sheri Rosenthal

It’s not uncommon for singles to ask, “What’s your sign?” when meeting someone new. Depending on the extent of their belief in astrology, knowing someone’s astrological sign can aid in making assumptions or conclusions about someone’s personality, character, and consequently, their potential compatibility.

But there are other signs that singles pay attention to while dating, ones that are not so obvious. These are the signs singles wear on their shirts that communicate valuable information about their personalities, their attitudes about themselves and others and, especially, announces their willingness to be approached and to connect with.

Cindy was encouraged by a married friend to go to a weekly religious service where she heard many singles attended. The married friend offered to accompany her to ease the way, intending to introduce Cindy to people to get her started. It was customary for the singles to socialize over refreshments after services, and while Cindy and her married friend moved about the room, Cindy walked with her head down, took little steps, and hardly broke a smile. When she encountered or was introduced to someone new, she spoke softly and hesitatingly. Soon after getting something to eat, Cindy asked to leave.

If Cindy could see it, she would recognize the sign she was wearing on her shirt said, “I’m scared. Don’t come near me.”

Jack met Julie on an online dating website, noting they had attended from the same ivy league school. After a few emails, they graduated to talking on the phone. Since Jack was soon to leave on a business trip, he asked Julie to meet in person the next day, even though Julie preferred to talk more on the phone beforehand. Jack dismissed Julie’s hesitation, and she reluctantly agreed to meet Jack for a drink. They instantly recognized each other from their pictures and Jack ordered a bottle of wine for the two of them to share. He then began a monologue about his knowledge of the wine they were drinking, the physical therapy he was receiving for his recent shoulder injury from playing softball, and his bad experiences meeting women from the website.

If Jack could see it, he would recognize the sign he was wearing on his shirt said, “I’m more interested in myself than in you. You don’t matter.”Unfortunately, neither Cindy nor Jack could read the signs they were wearing. They were oblivious to the first impressions they were creating, communicating their inability to connect to others. All Cindy could do was feel self-conscious and rejectable and project her fear that she’d never meet a man who could see how much she really wants to get married. Jack will continue to complain about the women he meets and blame them for not getting closer to him because the first impression he creates communicates how he’s too focused on himself and meeting his own needs.

Even if singles were to ignore the signs they read in the beginning of their relationships, first impressions can endure.

Eric met Belinda when she came into the store where Eric worked. Eric was attracted to Belinda and quickly moved to strike up a conversation with her about her purchase. As Belinda was leaving, Eric asked Belinda if he could call her, and she responded by saying “Oh, you don’t want to go out with me. I’m not very much fun.” Eric was surprised to hear this comment, but he persisted. Belinda gave her phone number to Eric, and they went out on a number of dates. As they spent more time together, Belinda would frequently express her disbelief that Eric would like her. Eric would get irritated hearing these disparaging remarks and kept telling Belinda how pretty, how smart, and how kind and thoughtful she was. But Belinda was not so easily convinced that Eric’s view of her was more accurate, and her inability to believe him was a constant source of stress in their relationship.

If Belinda could see it, she would recognize the sign she was wearing on her shirt said, “I’m unworthy and undeserving of your attention and love.”

These examples demonstrate how first impressions have the potential to provide an accurate clue into someone’s personality and style. First impressions can be powerful forces to attract or repel others. For singles looking to find and create a life partner relationship, it supports the importance of knowing yourself, liking yourself, and knowing what you have to give in a relationship. Without that self-knowledge, one would be hard pressed to control the first impressions they convey.

Consequently, the dating problems experienced by Cindy, Jack and Belinda began with their beliefs about themselves – Cindy’s fear of getting close, Jack’s arrogance, and Belinda’s poor self-esteem – and the obstacles they encountered to reaching their relationship goals were due to being oblivious that they were communicating these beliefs…. and on their shirts, no less.

Contrast the previous scenarios with this one:

Emily was invited to a Thanksgiving dinner party by her married friend Annette. Annette’s husband Kirk invited other single men, hoping that some of their friends might meet someone special. Emily was not feeling very happy that day, as she was unable to fly home to be with her own family for Thanksgiving. However, she decided to be grateful for Annette’s invitation, and made the effort to be friendly to the other guests during the dinner party.

What sign is Emily wearing? Because she understood herself well enough to know she might feel homesick, she made the conscious effort to wear a sign that said, “I’m happy to be here. Come meet me!”

Tim was invited to Annette and Kirk’s as well, but had plans to join a friend to watch the football games after the meal. Arriving at the party around the same time, Emily noticed Tim was attractive and outgoing, but he seemed to be distracted by his Blackberry’s beeping of football scores. When they all sat down to eat, the conversation eventually turned to football, and Tim found himself interested in Emily’s stories of her childhood experiences going to professional football games with her father, and the football games she went to in college. Tim eventually noticed that he was only talking about football, so he initiated conversations about other topics during the meal, focusing most of his attention however, on Emily. After the meal, Tim decided not to meet his friend, and instead he and Emily went into Annette & Kirk’s family room to continue talking and to watch the football games together.

What sign might Tim have been wearing? Because he noticed he was distracted by his interest in football that day, his sign might have said, “I love football, but I’m happy to talk about other things. Just ask me!”

Emily and Tim had the self-knowledge and the motivation to make themselves available to others, even though they may have been distracted by other feelings (homesickness) or interests (football). They did not want to convey first impressions that communicated an inability to relate and connect to others. Instead, they each made a conscious attempt to wear a sign designed to maximize the opportunity to meet and attract other singles.

One of the truths about the signs people wear is that they can be easily changed. All it requires is self-knowledge, honesty and the motivation to connect with others in meaningful ways. So since you never have a second chance to make a first impression, make sure the sign you wear truly represents who you really are, when you’re at your best.

Being in a relationship, most of the time, is the best thing in the world. It is inevitable, however, that you will come across relationship problems that need to be addressed. What you have to be careful about is neglecting another human being in some way as to distance yourself from them. Before your issues become serious deal breakers, here are some tips to learn how to deal with relationship problems more effectively.

Are you just plain tired? Are both of you working? Long work hours are notorious for ruining perfectly good relationships. If you have kids, all the more reason to acknowledge your exhaustion. What to Do – Slow down. Cut down on non-essential work. Make more time for sleep and regular breaks away. And think seriously about shortening your hours. That may mean less income, but the reward could be a stronger relationship and less stress which will kill more than your relationship. Too much stress will kill you.

Speaking of stress, if you demand a lot of yourself or if family, friends and boss demand a lot of you, then sheer stress may make you irritable and depressed. Feeling affectionate or passionate will be the last thing on your mind in the evening. What to Do – You need to relax. Half an hour spent listening to music, or better still a relaxation CD, can cool you down enough to give and receive love. Longer term, take steps to investigate alternative approaches – like aromatherapy – to help keep you more relaxed on a day-to-day basis.

Want to take a drink? Think again. It can be very tempting. Come in, get a bottle of wine out of the refrigerator. Before you know it, you’re a few glasses down and in the mood for a fight. Alcohol removes your normal safeguards, so you end up saying things just to get at your partner, and saying them aggressively. What to Do – If you regularly drink in the evening, water it down or choose low alcohol drinks. Or cut out drinking during the week and just drink on the weekends, when you’re not so likely to have had a hard day.

If your lifestyle dictates that you spend a lot of time with each other, then you can get on each other’s nerves through over-exposure. Need some space? Yes, we all need time alone. It is very important to remain independent within your relationship or risk losing each other. What to Do – If you don’t have much room at home, then go for a walk or have an early night. Down time on the computer helps too – so long as you don’t spend all your time online and no time with your love.

There are a lot more relationship problems and ways to deal with them. The examples above only scratch the surface. For more about how to deal with relationship problems, start by visiting the website mentioned below.

People love it when preachers get in trouble. Newspapers and TV newscasters always like to play it up when some well-known preacher runs off with his secretary or the church offering.

Well — I haven’t done either one of those things, but I still need to repent anyway. What I have done is worse.

After 25 years and more of pastoring up here in the Klamath–Trinity region of northern California, I got caught not doing something, and now I have to own up to it.

A couple of weeks ago I read something for the first time in the Bible. Oh — I “read” it before, but never really “observed” it. It’s in the Letter to the Church at Corinth (chapter 4) and the Apostle Paul is rebuking some religious teachers in that city.

Paul had actually helped start the Church in Corinth. He’d been their first teacher. Then he left to start churches in other cities. After Paul left Corinth, different people started pretending like they were “bigger and better” than Paul. They began to put him down, claiming that their teaching was better than Paul’s teaching or even that some other teacher (like “Apollos”) was a “better” teacher or apostle than Paul.

Once in awhile, someone would say, “You better watch out! One of these days, Paul’s gonna come back here, and then you’ll see who’s the real teacher around here!” The proud and boastful “spiritual teachers” would say, “Oh — Paul’ll never bother to come back here to Corinth!”

Here — let’s read it from the Bible in 1 Corinthians 4.18–20:

“Some of you have become arrogant, thinking I won’t be coming back to you. But I am coming to you very soon, if the Lord is willing. Then I’ll find out not only how these arrogant people are teaching, but I’ll see what power they have. For the Kingdom of God is not simply cheap talk, but Power.”

There it is. That’s my sin. Still, you might ask, what exactly is this sin?

My sin is — posing as an “instructor” in the things of God, but doing it with lots of “words” instead of lots of “power”.

Let’s put it this way. Ever hear people say, “He’s all talk and no walk”? It means a person has a great line of gab, but doesn’t back up what he says by his actions. I’ve hired people who’ve told me what wonderful workers they are, only to have them cost me a lot of money and do really weird and worthless things.

Reading this verse about preachers with “cheap talk” without demonstrating “power”, makes me wonder, “What’s the ‘power’ I’m supposed to be demonstrating?” We can get an idea of it by looking elsewhere in the New Testament for some examples of this thing called “power”. I want to know if I have “power” or just a gift of gab!

One possibility is found in Luke 10.17-19. It tells a story about Jesus and His followers: “And His disciples returned to Him rejoicing, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons obey us through Your Name.’ And Jesus answered them, ‘When you cast out the demons, I saw Satan fall like a bolt of lightning from heaven! Open your eyes! I’m giving you power to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you!’”

Hmmm… Jesus has given me “power” — just like Paul says I should have — and He calls it the power to crush demonic powers under my feet.

Am I “crushing demonic powers” under my feet here in northern California where I live? Or am I just gabbing about “spiritual things”?

Another possibility about what is “power” comes from the apostle Paul himself. Near the end of his letter to the Church at Rome, Paul writes that he has “fully proclaimed” the gospel of Jesus Christ “by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit.”

The New Testament book of Acts gives examples of the “signs and miracles” that accompanied Paul’s preaching tours. Once, he commanded the devil to leave a girl alone who had a fortune-telling demon (called a “python-spirit”) and the demon immediately left; another time, Paul hurried downstairs to the street when a young man named Eutychus had fallen from a third story window and died, prayed for him and raised him from the dead; another time when a poisonous viper bit his hand, he shook it off into the fire, unharmed; and shortly after when a sorcerer named Elymas tried to prevent him from preaching to a king, Paul cursed him with blindness and they had to “lead [Elymas] by his hand for he could no longer see.”

I’m sorry, but however I read the Scriptures, I’m guilty. Paul says that there are all these “spiritual instructors” talking about God, but that he coming back to Corinth soon to examine these “talkers” — not by the words they speak but by the power they demonstrate — because “the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” I’d hate to be in that group being examined by Paul!

The four Gospels show us how God filled Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how He went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. Then Jesus says to all His followers “I tell you the truth! Anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” [John 14.12] And there are other biblical ways to “show the mighty power of God” — such as in supernaturally transformed lives, bondages broken, broken hearts healed, etc.

Still, I’m guilty. No — I haven’t run off with the church secretary or the church offerings. Yet as I “weigh myself” in this matter, it seems to me that there have been more “words” in my life than “demonstrations of power”.

Jesus said that “these signs will follow” everyone who believes in Him: “In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

I suppose the real issue here is not whether I can do miracles. It’s whether I believe Jesus — and therefore quit talking so much and instead focus on demonstrating the powerful Life and Love of Jesus in this community!

© 2008 by Emil B. Swift

Like fizz in a glass of champagne, you must enjoy happiness now or it goes flat.

However, a relatively new field called positive psychology suggests that we can find happiness by cultivating skill sets that produce chemical shifts in your brain.

Set aside 10 minutes a day to experiment with these exercises and you may be surprised to discover that finding happiness is easier than losing 5 pounds.

1. Laugh! The immune system loves it when you laugh it up. In Anatomy of an Illness, Norman Cousins describes how he healed himself from what doctors called an incurable disease by watching old comedies every day. You can also exercise your sense of humor by listening to comedians and swapping jokes.

2. Become your own best friend. As nurturers, many women find it easier to help someone else than to care for themselves. After Denise Hankins’ son was killed in a motorcycle accident, “People kept calling to find out how I was doing and inviting me to events where they would be solicitous,” she said. Hankins felt guilty not responding to their concern. “I was expending energy I did not have until I pretended to be my own best friend.” How? Ask: “What would I tell my friend to do in this situation?”

3. Keep a “good news” journal. After a series of bad investments, Patricia Weiss got depressed. “What helped me the most was writing down one good thing that happened every day. It helped me stay optimistic during the dark times,” she said. After several months of keeping her “good news” journal, Weiss, 62, landed a job as a receptionist. “I kept up with my journal and guess what? My boss praised me for being upbeat and soon promoted me to office manager.”

4. See the big picture. Though our constitution grants us the right to pursue happiness, the United States is not a Land of Gross National Happiness. That title goes to the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan. On a map of 107 nations profiled in a global study of happiness, we are #23. The five happiest countries: Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Iceland, and the Bahamas. Bhutan ranks eighth. Latin American nations are higher up on the world happiness map due to such cultural values as close family ties and friendships.

5. Feel what’s real. The ancients believed that life contains 10,000 sorrows and 10,000 joys. That doesn’t mean sadness rocks. “Life isn’t good or bad. It’s both. It is what it is,” said Hankins. “Happiness is not about achieving a constant high. Sometimes it is appropriate to be upset. The ability to experience all emotions is one of the keys to happiness, ” said Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar, author of Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment and a Harvard professor of positive psychology. Another benefit to feeling what’s real: “You become more beautiful to yourself and others, said Dr. Keith Ablow, host of TV’s Dr. Keith Show.

6. Fake it ’till you make it. When you can’t stop replaying an event that makes you feel bad, remember that your subconscious mind works like a television. Nothing says that you must watch the reruns. It is within your power to create a Happiness Channel that plays pleasant and inspiring scenes from your own life. Instead of ruminating over a catty coworker’s remarks, imagine you are holding a remote control. Click on the Happiness Channel and your brain will do the rest.

7. Imagine your future self, living a compelling life. Many of us lead such spin-cycle lives that we hit the ground running and don’t stop until bedtime. Too much busy-ness robs us of a sense of purpose. “The search for meaning is a megatrend of the 21st century” said Alex Pattakos, Ph.D., author of Prisoners of our Thoughts. “We need to spend time creating a blueprint for a meaningful future in order to find happiness.”

8. Have a “Think Week.” In their book Repotting, Ginger Pape and Diana Halman outline 10 steps for women to create an action plan for a meaningful life. First step: “Think Week” in which you reflect on what brings happiness to you and what’s missing. “Life is a kaleidoscope. You have different needs at different times in your life,” said Pape who left consulting to become an author.

9. Cherish a “tiny window of time.” Waiting while the oil is changed? Computer not booting up? Stuck on hold with the phone company? In my seminars, I show women how to find “tiny windows of time” when they can close their eyes and think of just one thing that gives them pleasure. Okay, raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens are so over. Try one of these: one yellow rose with a drop of water on its petal; an artful crystal glass shining with your favorite wine; the scent of your sexiest perfume; the first taste of a freshly baked cookie. A couple of seconds can make a world of difference to your emotional state.

10. Give away what you love. An unhappy woman went to see her doctor. “I have nothing to live for and I plan to kill myself tonight,” she told him. The doctor listened carefully, then asked what activity she loved the most. “I love growing my violets,” she said. He asked her to promise not to harm herself for one month. During that time, she was to give violets that she had grown to anyone who needed cheering up. If she still wanted to end her life after one month, she was to come back to see him. The doctor never heard from her again. Twenty years later, he read an obituary about “the violet lady” who brought happiness to grieving families, patients in hospitals, and those in need by giving them her home-grown violets. Thousands came to her memorial service to pay tribute to the joy she had brought them by giving away what she loved the most.

The quarterback drops back to pass and he fakes handing off to the fullback. While the onrushing tacklers go for the fullback the quarterback sneaks to the outside and hits the left uncovered tight end with the game winning Hail Mary pass to win the championship football game. In a move worthy of David Copperfield the Grand Old Party has come up with the sleight of hand move of the century.

The Republican Party is in power because Karl Rove is calling the plays better than any Democrat. His quarterback George Bush was a deserter. The opposition quarterback John Kerry was a decorated war hero. No problem. Hire a few actors to go on television in a swift boat and say that John Kerry was actually a Viet Cong colonel who tortured John McCain.

The Presidents’ father, the former President, told his son the President, “Look, I lost the Presidency because I said ‘Read my lips, no new taxes. Then I raised the taxes and I lost the Presidency. If you want to win the Presidency and become President, all you have to do is to cut taxes. Who cares if the deficit goes to a trillion dollars, and the trade deficit goes to a trillion dollars, and we bankrupt the country? You will be President, I will sit on the board of directors of the Saudi Royal Family, they will funnel billions of oil dollars into our Swiss bank accounts, and let the next President worry about it while we live on yachts in the French Riviera drinking fine French port wine.” The President answered, “O.K. Dad.”

Here is the Port Trick, otherwise known in Karl Rove’s playbook as 53 Red. The congressional elections are coming up in November. Every Republican congressman and congresswoman is doing everything possible to distance him/herself from the President’s glaring lies, mismanagement of the war in Iraq, the imminent bankruptcy of the country and the Superdome fiasco. The President, the Senate and the House are all Republican and they are all going down the drain like American jobs fleeing to China, whose new car the Geeli is about to hit the U.S. market for $9,000 and get 225 miles per gallon. This all makes Ross Perot sound like the Prophet Isaiah.

So how do the Republicans stay in power in November? The Islamic Barbarianism over a stupid cartoon has every American even more fearful and hateful of the Muslims than after 911. So Karl Rove decides to pretend to sell all of the American Shipping Ports, New York, Miami, etc. to the Muslim countries responsible for funding and planning and harboring the 911 crews. The President says to him, “Karl, we can’t do that; they’ll lynch me on the lawn of the White House.” Karl says to George, “Don’t worry about it George. Have I failed you yet?”

While the country now goes wild over the prospect of Osama bin Laden and Aymen Al Zwahiri shipping nuclear weapons to Al Qaeda cells in Manhattan, the Republican congress is now going to come to the rescue like John Wayne leading the cavalry and block the sale. Then, the Republican congress people are going to say to the American people during the upcoming political campaign, “Look, we didn’t follow George Bush. We saved you from him. We stopped Osama Bin Laden from owning your ports.” Initially the bogus plan called for selling all of the American airports to Iran, but while Karl Rove and the Bushwhackers were rolling around laughing on the floor of the Oval Office at the thought of it, Karl said in a drunken stupor, “The American people may be gullible, but they aren’t that gullible.”

As the political races heat up, we’re going to hear a lot. Some will be true, some false. All will be costly, for TV, billboards and direct (full-color) mail, cost a bundle. Why would politicians spend all that money on claims that may not be factual? I get a date wrong in the bulletin and someone quickly corrects me!

Politicians believe appearance is reality. If someone looks bad, they must be bad. You may have heard it put his way, “Perception is reality.”
If only that were true. If only we could tell each other that we’re good, we’re whole, we’ve earned our way into God’s grace and favor and have a lock on heaven tighter than the lock the Yankees have on their divisional title. But that’s not what the Bible says, is it? Today’s text tells us of
Hollow Men Made Whole

1.Man’s appearance may be fake.

2.God’s worship makes us real.

While the Northern Kingdom, Israel, had been going to damnation in a hand basket led by their calf-worshipping king, Jeroboam, things had not been going well in the Southern Kingdom, Judah, either. Instead of hearing God’s Word and worshipping the Lord in the Temple, “the people set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. There were even male shrine prostitutes in the land; the people engaged in all the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites (23-24).”
They refused to worship in the Temple. They did their own thing. Set up their own “churches” in parks to worship the filthy nature gods of the Canaanites, the very people the Lord had driven out for their filthy religion.

The Lord soon acted. “In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom (25-28).”

What’s going on here? Appearance seems to indicate that everything is good. The people are busy with their religious life. Oh, they aren’t worshiping the Lord in truth and purity in the way the Lord said he should be worshiped, but at least their worshiping God–that’s what really matters. Well, to be honest, they aren’t even worshiping God, they are worshiping false gods that will lead them into heartache and heartbreak here on earth and eternal damnation in the world to come, but at least their worshiping, and that’s the important thing, isn’t it?

Yes, there was that minor set-back of the King of Egypt cleaning out the land of all its treasures, but things are back to normal now, aren’t they? See how richly King Rehoboam worships the Lord, attended by 200 shield bearers carrying those bronze ceremonial shields whenever he goes into the Temple. Everybody can be assured things are going great. But never mind that those bronze shields were the replacements for Solomon’s gold shields which he left simply hanging on the walls of his palace. The King of Egypt took those away and even now, the peace is so uncertain that Rehoboam is afraid some other king will attack, defeat and plunder him so he has even those cheap bronze shields safely stored away in the guardhouse. He only uses them for public show when he goes to church.

How are things with most Americans? From appearances, I’d say things are OK with them these days, they got a new job, got a new office, got a new wife, got a new life and the family’s fine! I’ve lost touch, long ago. They’ve lost weight, I did not know. Who’da thought that you’d look so nice after all this time!

Then why all the pessimism about the economy? Why the fear of terrorism’s shadow? Why all the pills? And the increasing levels of personal debt to fund consumption? And at least the kids are going to church, well, not our church, but a church that says you shouldn’t baptize babies because they can’t make a decision for Christ, or a church that says Jesus doesn’t give us his true body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. But they’ve got a good band and you know, they have so many new pastors and there’s so many people there that you can do whatever you want and nobody will even know how you are living and nobody will even miss you when you are gone, because nobody knows your name.

I see a lot of hollow people in Green Valley trying to fill themselves with appearances. I suppose that’s good only if you are a social worker, a shrink or a repo man. You will have a lot of customers. Are we going to be one of those customers? Hollow men made whole. Man’s appearance may be fake, but God’s worship makes us whole.

What had God desired from the people of Judah? He desired a worship of him that was a worship of truth and purity. He wanted them to have the best preachers, the best teachers, the best of everything, so he asked that there be a centralized worship in the Temple. That’s where they would gather for the worship of God according to the way God had prescribed worship to be. And, as God had wanted worship to be true, he wanted worship to be sincere, people coming not for the show or to show off, but people to come and humbly worship in a service geared around Law and Gospel, repentance and forgiveness for the sake of the Savior.

Does our worship here work that way? You bet it does. Is it important? You bet it is. I got a flyer in the mail this week trumpeting, “Remember that going to a good church is the key in your development as a Christian.”

Christians develop at Green Valley Evangelical Lutheran Church’s worship first of all at baptism. The Holy Spirit works through the water and the Word to create faith in the infants, strengthen faith in those older who have never experienced baptism’s blessings. Green Valley Evangelical Lutheran Church’s worship develops Christians through the sobering news that we are all hollow on the inside. Sin empties our lives of joy and purpose by turning us against God and against each other. It is so terrible a plague that only God can remove it and he has, through the life, death and resurrection of his Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. He freely gives us forgiveness of our sins through a hearing of that Gospel, and through a participation in the reception of Jesus’ true body and blood with the bread and the wine in the Lord’s Supper. What surer proof could we have that we are children of God, saved from sin and destined for heaven? Because we have God’s sure Word on that, we don’t need testimonials from tottering spokesmen, adrenaline rushes or dubious signs. Green Valley Evangelical Lutheran Church’s worship develops Christians by calling sin sin and virtue virtue. We can be so presumptuous to do so because we cling to that pure Word of God. We believe it came from God. We believe it is the very Word of God. Inspired. True. Always relevant. Always sufficient.

That’s why it is important to develop that habit of coming to worship. The veteran Christian knows that when they are going astray, hearing God’s Law is the last thing they want to hear. And it is hard to understand how the very things we are going through are what the preacher is preaching about that week. Nobody is going to get all excited about “going to get a beating.” But the veteran Christians knows that when they are going astray, keeping away from worship is not the way to go. They habitually go to church so that, even when they don’t want to, they hear the spiritual medicine that they need. If you can prove to me every child willingly takes his or her medicine when they are sick, then I will say it is not important to develop a habit of weekly worship as a safeguard for the hard times in our lives.

The sinner in Green Valley Evangelical Lutheran Church’s worship will hear the pure Gospel, not only as a sweet relief from the sins that beset us, but also as the power from God to resist that sin and overcome it in the future. What good is a religion that only preaches “I told you so”? What good is a church that only tells you, “You can do it”? We rely on the Gospel from beginning to end, to start faith, to sustain faith, to strengthen faith, that we may receive the crown of glory from the

Lord’s hand the day we enter into heaven.

Hollow Men Made Whole

1.Man’s appearance may be fake.

2.God’s worship makes us real.

Perception is reality? I hope we all realize that’s not the case. We’ll be the worst of voters and at the same time, the worst of Christians.

Valentine’s Day is not only a celebration dedicated to lovers any more!

It is also a friendship and family holiday. So, if you are single and if lots of your friends and their friends are also single prefer to organize a Valentine’s Day party instead of staying at home watching a romantic movie.

A Valentines party is also a great opportunity to meet new people: invite your friends and ask them to invite their unmarried friends too.

If you have children, celebrate this holiday with them. The more people you invite, the more your party will be a success!

Set an entertaining party theme such as Grease, Hairspray, Flower Power, Salsa, etc. and decorate your house with white, pink and red items such as heart garlands, cherubs, couples of birds,…

Create invitation cards and a badge that you will give to your guests: there are several websites allowing you to download Valentines images for free. Use a free photo editor to design the invitation card and the badge.

Add more fun to the party by asking your guests to wear a costume linked to the party theme.

You are single but there is no reason for not receiving a Valentine’s gift! Here is the idea: a Valentine’s lottery.

Ask your guests to bring a gift that fits to everyone: a notepad, calendar, a mouse pad, a pen… (something that is not too expensive: $5 or $10 maximum); decorate a box and put it near the entry door. Have the guests put their gifts in as soon as they arrive. Later in the evening, you will start the lottery drawing and will allot the gifts.

The best way for everyone to enjoy the party is by organizing a potluck party. Ask your friends to bring one or more dishes from different categories such as roast beef, chicken wings, seafood, salmon, vegetables, pasta and potato salads, tomato and mozzarella,…; dessert (chocolate, pies, brownies) and also beverages (alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks) so that you do not have all the hard work to do and that way everyone participates in the development of the party.

A supper-table is an excellent way to make your guests able to talk to everyone: convert your dining room table into a supper-table.

Decorate the table with white, pink and red flowers and ask your children to help you to prepare the party.

Choose a party set especially dedicated to Valentine’s day. A party set is the best way for not having to spend the evening in the kitchen, washing the plates while your guests are having fun.

Create a bar area in the reception room and add the drinks that your friends brought and prepare a bowl of alcoholic punch and another one without alcohol. This kind of drink is really useful when you host a party with many guests.

You may also want to prepare some Valentine’s cocktails such as:

Valentine:

4 cl passion fruit liquor

4 cl pineapple juice

16 cl champagne

Mimosa:

15 cl champagne

1 cl fresh orange juice

Kir:

9 cl white wine

1 cl black-currant cream

Royal Kir:

9 cl Champagne

1 cl black-currant cream

Set the musical mood: create some play lists with songs from your favorite CD’s. If you have fresh single guests, do not include songs like “Without You” or “Fly Me To The Moon”. Prefer South American music or set up a theme such as “The 60′s”, “Disco” or “Motown”.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

It is nice to be day dreamers
They can prove as good swimmers
They have the ability to reach shore
They hold their love and adore

Everything things look so good and fine
It can’t be experienced in the influence of wine
You may roam all over when sit to dine
Everything is seen holy as that of divine

Lovely to see and nothing to miss
Nice to enjoy and joy with tease
Life so simple and spent at ease
Something to experience with its release

It is nice to be called a fool
Nights are calm and there prevails lull
Stars twinkle with peaceful message
I wonder at sky for smooth passage

I may walk slowly to reach an edge
Nothing so difficult but easily to manage
He may emerge in form of moon
I shall feel coolness in noon

No sun blaze or hot rays can deter
No rising waves or river flow can alter
I think of him only and utter
It is sincere wish and very simple matter

I am not going too far
He may be shining star
I shall submit to dark nights
I have to be there by all my right

You may reign supreme
I can’t go to extreme
I must see light of the day
There must be straight and open way

I can love till the end of tenure
I may not have secured future
I still have good feelings to nurture
You just see the reason and make it sure

Girls don’t like it when you are annoying. They also don’t like it when you are pushy needy or to easy or too friendly or too excited with them. That translates to lack of control in their minds. However, often times, those are the same behaviors that increase excitement and good feelings in girls when you do it right. In other words, it makes them feel good, it makes them like you and at the same time it makes them not like the way you do it and makes them leave you.

The way to have the benefits of those behaviors and not have the girl leave is to use the principle of captive audience. See, people all the time do things that they don’t really like, that makes them want to stop originally, but that they still do by putting themselves in a situation where they don’t have a choice. Girls do the same thing. They put themselves in a situation where they don’t have a choice, but to listen to lame pick up lines, to have to watch your moves and flirting etc, that they say they are not interested in. The truth is that is a girl makes herself captive and you don’t do those behaviors, she will not make herself captive again. But if you do it right, she might complain and wine about it during the time, but will put herself truth that again.

The way the principle of captive audience works is that there is a warm up and a cool down. Most guys make the mistake of giving their spiel as soon as they get the chance and without really having the control of the girls exit, thus encouraging her to leave. The way the principle of captive audience works is that you wait for the girl to make herself captive on her own terms. Then you wait a little bit longer to worm up to take her to the climax, about five percent of the duration. Then before the duration is over, you cool down and take it easy for the remaining five percent. What that does is it shows to the girl that you have self control and will not abuse her when she is captive, but you are only doing it to show her what she is missing that she otherwise would never do on her own.

So basically there is three steps. There must be a captive situation where there is no exit. You are taking a cab together, you in a classroom together, you are working together etc. There is a period of time where there is no exit for that period of time. Then there is the worm up. You don’t bug as soon as you get a chance to talk to her because that will shock and freak her out. You might still jostle and shake her up a little bit during the middle of your conversation, but at least you have reassured her by showing self control with a slow worm up and you will again show self control with a cool down.

So yes, there is a way to tell a girl all your funny jokes, your funny faces and comical remarks that might be too over the line if you do it right away and when the girl is not captive. If the girl is not captive, doing it is counter productive because it might discourage her and she will automatically assume that you want to discourage her on purpose because you don’t like her. If she thought you did like her she would expect you to take some control over her first.

Captive audience situations happen all the time. They happen pretty much every time you are in a place where women are present. They just vary in type and magnitude making them hard to identify and thus you might think that they are not there, but they are.

Taking the elevator together. Having a friend give you two a ride. Sitting together during a classroom. Working in the same office together. Having lunch at the same place together.

In order for the captive audience principle to work, it must be not you who’s making the audience captive, it must the type of situation of which the person is aware of, knowing hot it works and allows themselves to be willingly involved.

There must be a line which you do not cross when you lay on the charm. Having dinner together has not as much control as hanging out with friends because with friends there is more peer pressure making the girl confirm. So you would lay on the charm heavier when you are with friends than when out for coffee one on one because it’s easier for her to make some lame excuse and leave. She knows that she has the choice to leave. The harder it is for her to leave the more attractive you look when you come on with the jokes and corny lines.

That’s pretty much all there’s to it. Identify a captive situation. Worm up. Deliver the punch line that is within the border line. And cool down. On their own these corny behaviors come across as needy and insecure, but done correctly will actually increase interest level.