This is what my daughter just screamed from upstairs after trying a light switch out of habit. It was like Christmas morning for her.

🙂

I’m relieved more than anything. Now comes the cleanup.

Tomorrow things can return to our normal schedule. That’s a good thing. I need some normalcy about now.

Thank you all so very much for your prayers. It’s been appreciated very much.

This, and hundreds of others like it in town, are the culprits responsible, along with 80 mph winds.

What should we pray about today?

And a huge thank you to all who have been praying for those of us impacted by this storm.

It means alot to us just knowing you are.

Thank You!

🙂

Good morning.

Once again, the fine folks at Panera help us out with WiFi,and a hot meal.

Still no power. Day 5. I had to throw away the contents of our fridge and freezer.

😦

But all in all, we’re OK, just powerless, and a little chilly.

Thanks for all the prayers, and I’ll catch up with you all as soon as I can.

I miss you folks.

What should we pray for today?

And could you please continue to pray for those of us still dealing with the aftermath of this storm.

Also, I’ve witnessed many good things about my neighbors and friends in the neighborhood. Despite the conditions, many are going out of their way to help others. My neighbor Jimmy is one such, and I’d ask you to pray for him. He’s interested, and has questions about God, but isn’t quite there yet. May the Lord show him the answers he seeks thru this experience.

Thanks all.

Good morning! Well, for 5 more minutes it is.

Still no power. Todays free WiFi is from the fine folks at McDonalds.

Quote of the Day

“This stinks!”

Me

🙂

We’re hoping to have power back soon. The stuff in the fridge is a loss. But between ice and a time share on a generator from a good friend and neighbor, the freezer is still good. The problem now is it’s getting cold, and the furnace needs electric to run. Continued prayer is appreciated.

Thanks all.

As you may already know, this past Sunday was designated Pulpit Freedom Sunday. It was an attempt to force the IRS, and the courts, to remove the federal statute enacted by LBJ which they feel unfairly limits churches from endorsing candidates for office from the pulpit. Let’s face it, Democrats have been doing this for years at certain churches anyway, and those churches have never faced penalties for it. The IRS is on shaky ground here, and they know it, that’s why they seem reluctant to enforce the law. They don’t seem to be in a hurry to have the courts review this, opponents say because they know they will lose. Usually, a strongly worded letter is as far as it’s pursued. But isn’t it time the courts revisit this?

Now I’m of two minds on this. I can see why a church might like the freedom to advocate for candidates that join them in sharing biblical reasons to take one position over another. But at the same time, I’m uncomfortable with the idea of politics being the focus of a worship service. I, like most of you I’m sure, don’t attend church for political reasons or guidance. I attend to join others in worshipping and praising God, as well as to continue to learn what His word says. I think if you know and study God’s word, you will already know which candidate you should support. Hearing my pastor say it isn’t necessary, and it’s not why I’m there.

Here’s a little more info on the group behind it, and some news on it.

The Speak Up Movement

The Alliance Defending Freedom

Here’s some news on it from Breitbart.

“Doubtless many of you are thinking to yourself, “That’s illegal—churches can’t endorse candidates.” You are correct that such endorsements violate a federal statute. However, that statute is almost certainly unconstitutional.”

“When serving in the Senate on July 2, 1954, Johnson pushed through the Johnson Amendment on the Senate floor without any committee hearings or discussion, making it illegal for nonprofit tax-deductible entities to speak in any manner intended to influence an election.

As ADF—a Christian legal organization that fights for the unborn, marriage, parental rights, and religious liberty—explains at its Pulpit Freedom website, this broke almost 200 years of practice where American pastors could freely speak on their understanding of how biblical principles applied to major issues facing the country, and which candidates for office those pastors believed did a better job of adhering to Christian principles in their proposed government actions. Video messages from leaders such as Pastor Jim Garlow and ADF’s lead lawyer on this project, Erik Stanley, walk visitors through the history of this issue and the specifics of ADF’s plan to combat this silencing of churches.”

“The Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution protects the ability of churches—including pastors and lay Christians—and adherents of other faiths—to freely live out their faith through participating in the political process. And the Supreme Court has made it clear for more than a century—most recently in 2010 in Citizens United v. FEC, that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment guarantees that citizens can speak as freely through a corporate entity (such as a church) as they can individually about political and social issues.”

Read more here

So my questions are these. Did your church participate, and what do you feel the result was if they did? And what of the group promoting it?

What is your favorite piece of scripture and why?

Here’s mine.

John 14:6

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

Here’s why.

When I first became a Christian I had a conversation with my sister-in-law Ellen. I was new to the whole scene and was seriously lacking in my knowledge of the Bible and what it had to say. This verse hit home to me. It was so simple, so easy to understand, and Ellen said it so matter-of-factly that it hit me like an “Of course! How could I not see something so obvious?” kinda moment.  It made perfect sense. It still does. It’s not a difficult verse to understand, it’s a straight forward and honest statement of truth. It is the only way.

What’s yours?

Talk about whatever news has caught your attention.

As someone with sensitive teeth, this one caught mine.

Japan Tooth Patch Could End Decay

“Scientists in Japan have created a microscopically thin film that can coat individual teeth to prevent decay or to make them appear whiter, the chief researcher said.

The “tooth patch” is a hard-wearing and ultra-flexible material made from hydroxyapatite, the main mineral in tooth enamel, that could also mean an end to sensitive teeth.

“This is the world’s first flexible apatite sheet, which we hope to use to protect teeth or repair damaged enamel,” said Shigeki Hontsu, professor at Kinki University’s Faculty of Biology-Oriented Science and Technology in western Japan.”

And this one did as well.

From the Washington Post

“QE3: What is quantitative easing? And will it help the economy?”

“Answer that might make sense: Normally, when there’s a recession or the economy is limping along, the Federal Reserve will reduce short-term interest rates in order to spur more lending and spending. But right now, the Fed has cut interest rates as far as they can go and the economy is still struggling. This is known as the “zero bound.” The Fed can’t go any lower.

So, instead, the central bank can try quantitative easing. Since the Federal Reserve can just create dollars out of thin air, it can buy up assets like long-term Treasuries or mortgage-backed securities from commercial banks and other institutions. This pumps money into the U.S. economy and reduces long-term interest rates further. When long-term interest rates go down, investors have more incentive to spend their money now. In theory.”

Read more here

But if the first 2 didn’t work, why would the 3rd?

OK, yesterday MakeItMan asked a question,

“How come I keep getting a message that says; “Internet Explorer blocked this website from displaying content with security certificate errors”?”

Since I had insomnia I did some digging to try and get to the bottom of it. As best I can understand it, and I am not an expert, the warning is for your protection. It’s telling you it blocked content that may be from a questionable source or of a questionable nature. It’s not necessarily that it is such content, only that it could be. Doing this, blocks anything with outdated security certificates, or none at all, or with source code issues so you’re safe. This is of particular concern when doing financial transactions from sites with this warning for obvious reasons. Thankfully, there’s no need to do transactions here. If you want to send me money, it’ll have to be by mail. 🙂

I’m kidding of course, but again, we’re not doing those type of transactions. With a public forum like this, anything like a link, photo, or video can trigger this warning if their certificate at the source is out of date. Hitting F12 can show you what it blocked, but not always why. Some of the links posted by myself and others seem to be the cause, as the source sites may or may not have issues. It’s not that it does, but it could. That’s why I’d noticed the warning on other sites I visit as well. Also, on some sites, it’s the ads that cause it in some cases. Ads aren’t a problem here, thankfully. I don’t much like them.

Here are some links to give you more info. The new IE version is the one that does this. Firefox and Chrome block it without the notification popping up. According to McAfee and WordPress, we’re safe and you shouldn’t have any concerns. Just be aware that links and whatnot that take you elsewhere could have issues, but again, this blocks the questionable content for your safety and for your protection. And a warning doesn’t always mean there is a problem, just that there could be. I promise you all I will do everything possible to keep you folks and myself safe and secure. Anyone with more expertise in this area can chime in with a comment as well. But I did notice that when using “http” you will notice the warning is gone, when you use “https” the more secure type, with the lock picture in the address bar, the warning appears and content is blocked. Check out the links for more info.

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2005/04/20/410240.aspx

“What can we do today?

“I hope you will join me in calling on operators of insecure HTTPS sites to correct these mistakes.

In the short term, you may be able to work around these security holes:

• If available, a “Login securely” link might lead to get to an HTTPS login form you can use instead of the form on a HTTP page.  Or try visiting the https:// version of the site directly.
• If prompted to download mixed content, always choose “No”.”

See also,

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ie/archive/2011/06/23/internet-explorer-9-security-part-4-protecting-consumers-from-malicious-mixed-content.aspx