Well, I haven’t posted in a while.  Sorry to all of my devoted followers.  Anyway, here is some useless information for you to think about: 

The first recorded sighting of the Loch Ness Monster was in 565.

In 1963 the French launched a cat named Feliette into space.

Honey never spoils.

Neil Armstrong stepped on the moon with his left foot first.

Thirty thousand Hawaiians signed a petition to change Maui’s name to Gilligan’s Island.

WD-40 stands for “Water Displacement, 40th attempt”. WD-40 was invented in 1953.                                                   

Human skin produces Vitamin D when exposed exposed to sunlight, specifically ultravilet B radiation. 

On average, a child uses 730 crayons by their 10th birthday.

Scientists have discovered that the feeling experienced when we are tickled causes us to panic and is a natural defense to little creepy crawlers like spiders and bugs. That same ticklish feeling sends us into a state of panic and elicits a response of uncontrollable laughter if a person tickles us.

The tongue isn’t a muscle, but a collection of muscles. 

The fork as an eating utensil was introduced in the Middle East before the year 1000. First introduced to Europe in the 10th century by Theophanu, Byzantine wife of Emperor Otto II, the table fork had, by the 11th century made its way to Italy. The fork’s arrival in northern Europe was more difficult. For many years it was viewed as an unmanly Italian affectation. The Roman Catholic Church expressly disapproved of its use: “God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks — his fingers. Therefore it is an insult to Him to substitute artificial metallic forks for them when eating.” It was not until the 18th century that the fork became commonly used in Great Britain.

The Tasmanian Devil stores body fat in its tail and an unhealthy devil often has a thin tail.

Sometimes when I am reading the Bible, I just get caught up in how beautifully written it is.  I can’t even think about what the words are saying, all I can think about is that this is one fine piece of writing!  I feel like there is just enough words, and just enough left out, and tiny subtleties that are brilliant. 

The Bible is one of those fascinating books that can be read by beginners but still has stuff for people who have been reading it their whole lives. 

Someone could read the same chapter repeatedly and never completely get it.  There’s always more.

Then I am reminded that ”all scripture is God-breathed” I guess God is a pretty good writer.  That doesn’t surprise me.   

Happy Veterans Day (observed)!!  To most people, this is just a day off work, a day that the banks and post offices are closed, a no-school day. (yay!)   But really, the point of the holiday is to remember and honor our veterans.  I encourage you to spend just a few minutes doing that.  You can pray for the families of soldiers who have lost their lives.  You could do some research and find out the history of the holiday.  (check out Wikipedia) You could display the American flag.  What else could you do to honor the veterans of our country? 

p.s. If anyone can tell me the rules for displaying the American flag, I have a prize for you!!

Everyone knows the story of Noah’s ark, but here’s a quick rundown, just in case you forgot:  God decides the world has become too evil, and basically wants to destroy everyone.  But there is one rightous man, Noah.  God tells Noah to build and ark for his family and for all of the animals.  So, Noah build and ark and gets ridiculed.  But then the rains come, and it rains for forty days and nights and floods the whole earth.  Noah and his family are safe since they built a huge boat to live on.  After the water finally subsides, the ark lands, and Noah’s family gets off the ark.  God promises He will never again flood the earth, and puts a rainbow in the sky to remind us of this promise. 

Wanna hear something cool?  I found out a few years ago that if all the clouds in the sky were to rain and all the water in the clouds above came down to earth, it would only be about an inch of water.  I don’t know if this is scientifically correct or not, but I see it this way:  God can’t flood the whole earth again.  There isn’t enough water in the clouds to do it.  I mean, maybe He could to something with the water in the oceans, but I think it’s neat that even if it rained and rained and rained, the earth wouldn’t be covered with more than an inch of water.  How cool is that?  God stays true to his promises. 

So, I’ve been thinking recently that we as a student ministries staff tell students to pray and read their Bibles pretty often.  We tell you that it’s important, and encourage you to do it every day.  But do we do a good job of teaching you how to pray, or how to read your Bible, or how to spend time with God?

What are some of the ways you’ve learned to spend time with God? How do you pray?  Where did you learn that? 

Post your comments:  What are some things you find work when you are spending time with God, reading your Bible, or praying?  What are some things you would like to learn?

Have you been reading in Luke?  What interesting things have you found?  What truths have you found? Has anything you’ve read caused you to make a change in your life? I want to hear your stories!!

I am also currently reading through Luke.  I found this interesting part in Luke 10:1-23.  (I’m not gonna type it all in this post, but you can read it here. ) 

The part that really stuck out to me was in verses 18-20.  After the disciples come back, they tell Jesus how excited they are that even demons submit to them, in Jesus’ name.  But Jesus’ response is a little different, he says, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven”

Why would he say that? What did he mean by that? I’ve been thinking about it and I have a couple of ideas.  Maybe he didn’t want the disciples to be focused on the power they had, but to instead think about the mercy they had been shown.  Or maybe he wanted them to rejoice that their names were written in heaven because that was the bigger miracle.  As if Jesus was saying, “God obviously has power over demons, and can share that power with whomever he chooses, but to take away a person’s sins, and allow them into heaven, that is truly something special.”  Another reason may be that the authority over demons wasn’t as important as eternal life in heaven.  Think about it: our lives would be nothing without the hope of heaven, but on the other hand, if we didn’t have authority over demons, our lives would still have meaning.

Of course, I am assuming that when Jesus said their names were written in heaven, he meant that they would receive eternal life in heaven.  Maybe it means something different.   

Just something to think about.