Five From My Playlist - 12/30/2005

Here's another five fabulous songs!

1) "Because of You" - Kelly Clarkson. The lyrics in this song are so beautifully moving.


2) "God on the Mountain" - Taranda Greene. Taranda does a great job with this gospel favorite.

3) "She Walks in Beauty" - Sissel. Incredible. That's all I can say.


4) "God of Wonder" - Third Day. This song has a powerful, uplifting message.


5) "Home" - Michael Bublé. Michael has a wonderfully old school swing voice. And this track is just fabulous.

Five From My Playlist - 12/26/2005

I am a music-aholic. I got an MP3 player for Christmas, and I am in paradise downloading music like crazy and copying over all my CDs. I decided to periodically post a list of 5 songs that I really enjoy, so that I can share my findings. So here goes...

1) "Remember When It Rained" - Josh Groban. Oh how I love this song. It gives me chills every time I hear it, especially the piano spotlight towards the end.


2) "Alpha and Omega" - The Gaither Vocal Band. I could listen to David Phelps sing anything. His descant part in this song is awesome.


3) "The Prettiest Flowers" - Sonya Isaacs. Sonya's strong soprano makes this hauntingly beautiful song especially moving.


4) "Habanera" - Charlotte Church. Love this song, and this is a spectacular arrangement of it.


5) "Your Song" - Ewan McGregor. I like Elton John's original version, but there is something about this one from the Moulin Rouge soundtrack that I particularly love. Maybe it's the orchestra and fabulous backup singing.

Goodbye, House!

We closed on our house in Harrisburg today. We are one step closer to being able to build our dream home!

Site Spotlight: San Diego Zoo Pandas!

Want to see a baby giant panda? The San Diego Zoo Panda Cam shows real time video of baby Su Lin (left), and the other pandas too. The zoo's panda team also keeps a blog tracking the cub's milestones and providing other interesting information about these endangered creatures.

The zoo also provides cams for their polar bear, ape and elephant exhibits.

Love Worth Finding

Acclaimed pastor and teacher, Adrian Rogers passed away yesterday after battling cancer and pneumonia. Dr. Rogers was the founder of Love Worth Finding Ministries, and the inspiration messages of his radio and television ministry touched many lives. His messages were filled with hope and a passion for sharing the love of Jesus.

While reading information about Dr. Rogers after I heard about his passing, I came across a quote of his from an address to young pastors, commenting on the lack of passion that some Christians have, that brought a smile to my face: "I wonder if sometime we don't need to eavesdrop on Hell and hear one demon say to another demon, 'If those Christians really ever let Jesus Christ out of that grave, Hell help us, all Heaven will break loose!'"

Lunch

An Irishman, a Mexican and a Blonde Guy were doing construction work onscaffolding on the 20th floor of a building.

They were eating lunch and the Irishman said, "Corned beef and cabbage! If I get corned beef and cabbage one moretime for lunch, I'm going to jump off this building."

The Mexican opened his lunch box and exclaimed, "Burritos again! If I get burritos one more time I'm going to jump off, too."

The blonde opened his lunch and said, Bologna again! If I get a bologna sandwich one more time, I'm jumping too."

The next day, the Irishman opened his lunch box, saw corned beef and cabbage and jumped to his death.

The Mexican opened his lunch, saw a burrito, and jumped, too.

The blonde guy opened his lunch, saw the bologna and jumped to his death as well.

At the funeral, the Irishman's wife was weeping. She said, "If I'd known how really tired he was of corned beef and cabbage, I never would have given it to him again!"

The Mexican's wife also wept and said, "I could have given him tacos or enchiladas! I didn't realize he hated burritos so much."

Everyone turned and stared at the blonde's wife. The blonde's wife said, "Don't look at me. He makes his own lunch."

Live Longer - Pray!

A recent study conducted by Duke University studied 4,000 older adults from rural North Carolina. Study results show that private prayer and Bible study contribute to people living longer and healthier lives. The study shows that prayer lowers stress levels.

In other related studies, Bible study and church attendence can lower the risk of diastolic hypertension by 40 percent. Also, elderly heart patients who rely on faith were 14 times less likely to die after surgery.

Here's the full article:
http://www.family.org/focusoverfifty/articles/a0019095.cfm

Christian Prices?

Why is that you have to pay around $17.99 for a Christian music CD at a Christian bookstore? Why is it that even at your local discount store a Christian music CD cost $2-$3 more than a secular music cd? What about $29.99 for a Christian music DVD verses $20.oo for secular?

Music can often speak to the soul in a way that nothing else can. Shouldn't it be readily available at a more comparable price? After all, we cannot put a price on spreading the gospel!

Beware of Scientology

An evil space alien brought billions of people from different planets and blew them up, brainwashing them and leaving them to float around on earth, including in our heads? Give me a break. Unfortunately, this isn't just a bad plot from a movie that bombed out at the box office. Thousands of poor misled people actually believe this is the truth.

They are part of a cult called Scientology, a mysterious "religion" (meaning they get tax-free status) who has been promoted heavily this year with the help of a certain actor who just cannot seem to draw enough attention to himself.

For more information, check out this site:
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/s04.html

Things to Ponder

• Just remember - if the world didn't suck, we'd all fall off.
• Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money inbinoculars to look at things on the ground?
• Why is it that you can't read a Bible in school, but you can in prison?
• Can you cry under water?
• How important does a person have to be before they are considered assassinated instead of just murdered?
• If money doesn't grow in trees then why do banks have branches?
• Since bread is square, then why is sandwich meat round?
• Why do you have to "put your two cents in"...but it's only a "penny for your thoughts?" Where's that extra penny going to?
• Why does a round pizza come in a square box?
• What disease did cured ham actually have?
• How is it that we put man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage?
• Why is it that people say they "slept like a baby" when babies wake up like every two hours?
• If a deaf person has to go to court, is it still called a hearing?
• If you drink Pepsi at work in the Coke factory, will they fire you?
• Why are you IN a movie, but you're ON TV?
• Why do we choose from just two people for President and fifty for Miss America?
• ?Why do doctors leave the room while you change? They're going to see you naked anyway.
• If a 911 operator has a heart attack, whom does he/she call?
• Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out!" Or watch a white thing come out a chicken behind and think, "that ought to taste good."
• Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer?
• When your photo is taken for your driver's license, why do they tell you to smile? If you are stopped buy the police and asked for you license, are you going to be smiling?
• If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?
• Can a hearse carrying a corpse drive in the carpool lane?
• If the professor on Gilligan's island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can't he fix a hole in a boat?
• Why does Goofy stand erect while Pluto remains on all fours? They're both dogs!
• If Wyle E. Coyote had enough money to buy all that ACME equipment, why didn't he just buy dinner?
• If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?
• If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?
• Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him for a car ride; he sticks his head out the window?