Monthly Archives: April 2014

Tweener’s, BFF’s, Selfies and Other Alien Species

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1ap (one awesome post)

Ken Knowlton's avatarartistdayapart

My wife and I were returning from Pennsylvania this past weekend, when I saw a license plate that read Ask12B1. That got me thinking in two different directions.  The most obvious was the fact that our language is changing.  Some may claim it is deteriorating, others say it is becoming outmoded.  But, in reality, it is simply evolving–as all languages have since the beginning of time.

  

I have had a hard time keeping up with the current crop of new words and acronyms that seem to change almost daily.  Remember, I’m still one of those guys who doesn’t even own a cell phone.  I do, however, have a small presence on Facebook, Twitter, and this website, so I’m not totally archaic.  Seeing what people do to the English language in the name of speed and convenience is sometimes scary.

But the license plate also got me thinking about what it actually meant. …

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High Holy Week

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

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I mentioned in an earlier post this week that I feel like the Lord is bringing many things together during this season of my life. I feel like I am on high alert and the that the world is just rushing by. Maybe that’s not quite right. Maybe it is me that is rushing by the world trumpeting as I go, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”

Holy Week always approaches with the force of a level five rapids but this year it feels more like I am heading towards Niagara in a barrel. Maybe I should be terrified; But I am exhilarated and filled with a powerful hope that the dead world around me is about to meet up with the resurrection power of Jesus:

I feel that as I prepare to head off to the sound stage to consult with one of our artists who is cutting his first album. I feel that as I load the sound system for Special Touch into my van for our monthly outreach. I feel it as I prepare for Palm Sunday, Good Friday and Easter services next week. I feel it as I prepare for two town meetings concerning the makerspace/art center project. I even feel it as I prepare for two potential hospice visits and for two committal services scheduled for the week after Easter. I feel it… even better I feel Him in all these situations because I have called Him into them. He always answers when I call. I have hope and victory in all these situations because He walks with me in them.

As I think about it Holy week would not be holy if  Jesus had not chosen to involve himself in it. I suppose that means any moment or day or week into which I call His Spirit becomes a High Holy moment or day or week

What situations do you have to call Him into in order for your times to become holy?

FAMOUS LAST WORDS

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Great thoughts from Angela. It is nice to have her back in the blogosphere.

meetingintheclouds's avatarMEETING IN THE CLOUDS

Last WordsThose of us who have spent time beside a dying loved one know how precious are their last words. We remember them and cherish them for many years. I well remember the huge smile on the face of my mother as (I believe) she saw the face of her Redeemer as she passed from life on this earth. She hadn’t really known us for years, was blind, and was unable to talk, but her smile said it all. I also remember with sadness and pity the torment of my evil stepfather as He died. His eyes were full of sheer terror.

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Heaven Pt. 142: So What Are You Going To Do?

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

Mel11

In the Lord I take refuge.
    How then can you say to me:
    “Flee like a bird to your mountain.
2 For look, the wicked bend their bows;
    they set their arrows against the strings
to shoot from the shadows
    at the upright in heart.
3 When the foundations are being destroyed,
    what can the righteous do?”

4 The Lord is in his holy temple;
    the Lord is on his heavenly throne.
He observes everyone on earth;
    his eyes examine them.
5 The Lord examines the righteous,
    but the wicked, those who love violence,
    he hates with a passion.
6 On the wicked he will rain
    fiery coals and burning sulfur;
    a scorching wind will be their lot.

7 For the Lord is righteous,
    he loves justice;
    the upright will see his face. Psalm 11

This world needs warriors! The Earth needs men and women sold out to Christ who are not going to back down in the face of “overwhelming opposition”. It would seem the foundations are being destroyed. The nations are falling into the quagmire of  bad-politics, bad economies and even worse moralities.

Oh I hear the cry as well as you do…”Run! Hide! Protect Yourself! Flee to the mountains! Withdraw! Christianity is a lost cause!”

Christianity may leave the face of the Earth but that will be via the rapture not because it is a dying religion. The foundations might be destroyed but to that event I give the same answers my forbears gave when the Roman Empire collapsed..”It is on Christ the solid rock I stand! All other ground is sinking sand.”

In the end we have a better reason to hope than anyone  else on earth has. Our hope is in Jesus and as the old song goes “Jesus never fails”. So, Warrior Christian don’t flee to the mountains. God sees you from Heaven! He has your cause and He has your back. Run towards the burning building and see who you can rescue from it!

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Patterns

Posted on by under Photography

This post was created in response to cees-fun-foto

 

See how some of my fellow-blog-laborers answered this challenge at:

http://ceenphotography.com/2014/04/07/cees-fun-foto-challenge-patterns/

Here are my thoughts

“From where we stand the rain seems random. If we could stand somewhere else, we would see the order in it.”
― Tony Hillerman, Coyote Waits

The Water Dandelion, Keukenhof

The Water Dandelion, Keukenhof

 

“What we call chaos is just patterns we haven’t recognized. What we call random is just patterns we can’t decipher.”
― Chuck Palahniuk

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The Great Convergence OR Share Your World With Cee 2014 Week 14

Posted on by under For Family & Fun

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This week  “SYWWC” is all about the traffic patterns. At least for me. It has been a week of “You never know who you are going to run into.”

To bump into some other fine bloggers here in the blogosphere take a hop on over to Cee’s page and read some of her other subscriber’s answers to this week’s questions.

http://ceenphotography.com/2014/04/07/share-your-world-2014-week-14/

BUT FIRST:

If you had to describe your day as a traffic sign, what would it be?

If my life were a traffic sign today it might read “LANES MERGE UP AHEAD” or maybe it would just say this.

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It feels like so many things are coming together right now in some sort of great convergence: home and family life, ministry, artwork. It’s a little disconcerting to see myself hurtling from what appears to be six lanes of life traffic down to two. I am on heightened alert and I see the potentials for trouble and yet I see the great adventure that lies before me as well. I am speeding on!

Is your hair short (total neck and ear showing), medium (covering ears and neck), long (below shoulders), extra long (at least halfway down your back) or bald?

My hair is short and thinning near the top. Wrinkles is not just going grey (and there is a lot more grey than there used to be). He is going bald-ish.

When you are with your friends, do your interactions include much touching—for example, hugging, kissing, rough housing, rubbing backs? Would you like to have more of this? (Note: the answers may vary depending on where you live on this wonderful planet.)

The word is New England. Not an extraordinarily touchy group of people are we. We love deeply but usually from a distance. 🙂

What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $100? 

I love to go out to dinner with friends and then maybe a movie as long as it involves superheroes! The movie that is, I have never had dinner with a superhero. Though, how cool would that be?

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Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

I am grateful that the good Lord helped me to keep up my exercise regimen everyday last week! I am looking forward to finishing at least 5,000 more words of my new novel.

No Deposit? No Return.

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This one slams us all right in the pocketbook. And in America at least most of us could use a good slam! I know I need one every now and again.

Ken Knowlton's avatarartistdayapart

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full–pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.   (Luke 6:38)

I know every bird of the mountains, and everything that moves in the field is mine.  If I were hungry, I would not  tell you, for the world is mine, and all it contains. (Psalm 50:10-12)

So let’s get one thing straight from the start.  God doesn’t need anything from us.  It’s all His to begin with.  We are His stewards or caretakers.  He not only owns the cattle on those hills, he owns the hills themselves, the air above the hills, and anyone taking care of those cattle–not to mention everything else.  Remember, this is His creation.  Maybe that’s why so many Christians have a problem with giving something back to…

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Turbo Follow Week 9

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles

imagesCA74DISE

 

This is our final Turbo Follow blog! As you know  Cornerstone Church Winchendon is into week  9 of a congregation-wide study written by, Daniel McNaughton and Bryan Koch, entitled Follow: Learning To Follow Jesus. Each Sunday our pastoral staff has been preaching from one of the seven attributes covered in the book while the congregation has read the daily devotions and participated weekly in a life group focused around the topic at hand.

 

The group I am tasked with leading has been dubbed “Turbo Follow”. Rather than approaching the class as a traditional Bible study we have chosen to act as an accountability group. The class begins with a brief overview of the daily devotionals. Then participants break into smaller, accountability groups. Each group participant asks questions of their fellows concerning the teachings. At the end of each class individuals are asked to decide what God would have them do in light of what they have learned. Then we pray for each other.  

As I said, this is our  last post for the Turbo-Follow group. I hope you  had fun. Please let me know this week what you have been learning as you have FOLLOWED!

Last week we had our discussions on Learning to manage our lives through Christ’s power.  Here is a synopsis of each day’s devotional material:

 

Day 1: God wants you to learn to manage your thought life.

Day 2: God wants you to learn to manage your money.

Day 3: God wants you to learn to manage your body.

Day 4: God wants you to learn to manage your words.

Day 5: God wants you to learn to manage your time.

Day 6: God wants you to learn to manage your gifts and talents.

Here are the questions we asked of one another in our group:

  1. Of the “Managing devotions” which one stood out to you the most?

 

 

  1. What made that particular devotion stand out to you?

 

 

  1. What area of management does God want you to cooperate with Him on?

 

 

  1. How are you going to practically cooperate with Him?

 

How Close Are You?

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An awesome word on being God’s friend.

debbestillandlisten's avatarDebBe Still and Listen

I never thought of God as someone I could talk to like a best friend. I have always given Him the reverence He deserves but to talk to Him like a long-time friend really never crossed my mind. A couple of Sundays ago Pastor Donna Slocum and Pastor J Lillie performed a skit depicting how God wants to be our friend.  I truly had an epiphany while they were speaking.  I was not conversing with Him like He wanted me to.  I wasn’t treating him like a good friend never mind a best friend. I was holding back on our relationship. If someone heard me speaking to Him, one might say, ‘Why are you being so formal, Deb?’

I know I can tell Him anything and I do, but am I talking to Him like He’s my friend and the answer to that would be, No! Why am I having a hard time wrapping…

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