You are currently browsing the J.R’.s Blog Spot weblog archives for October, 2008.
October 28, 2008 by John Rasmussen.
The History of “Halloween”.
Dear Blog readers
As our children get ready to go “Trick-or-Treating” let us
learn a little about the day “Halloween.” Therefore ,
we will depart from our usual message to take a look at a
pagan holiday, that changed because of Christianity, and
thus became a Holy Day that is still observed in some
Denominations still today!
Therefore we will look at a ancient pagan ritual, that is still
practiced today. It’s original name was “Samhain,” however
we know it as “Halloween.”
”Samhain” began at sundown on October 31st and extended
into the following day. According to the Celtic pagan religion,
known as Druidism, the spirits of those who had died roamed
the earth on “Samhain” evening. This night was much feared by
the Celtic people, and they sought to ward off the spirits with
offerings of food and drink.
The dark side of this event was the fact that the Celts built
bonfires, at so called sacred sights, and sometimes preformed
rituals involving HUMAN and/or Animal Sacrifices, to honor Druid
gods. Samhain was abandoned only when the people converted
to Christianity during the very early middle ages.
Now during that period of time the Church often incorporated
modified versions of ancient pagan rituals in order to win
converts. For example, Pope Gregory IV successfully replaced
”Samhain” with All Saints Day, which fell on November 1, thus
the evening of October 31 became known as All Hallows’ Even,
which was later shortened to Halloween. All Souls Day, as it is
known as today, is a Holy Day in the Roman Catholic, and
Anglican Churches, honoring those who have passed away.
Some aspects of this ancient pagan tradition thought to be
incompatible with Christianity, were linked with folk beliefs
about evil spirits. In British folklore, small magical fairies
became associated with Halloween mischief. The jack-o-lantern,
originally carved from a turnip, originated in medieval Scotland.
A small candle would be put into the turnip, that had a scary face
carved on it. This was to be lit at night and displayed to scare off
evil spirits which they feared roamed about that night.
Between the 15th & 17th Centuries, Europe was seized by a
hysterical fear of witches, who were thought to ride flying brooms
and to assume the form of black cats. Thus the images of witches
and black cats soon joined other European superstitions as
symbols of Halloween.
In the 19th & early 20th Centuries, young people often
observed Halloween by perpetrating minor acts of vandalism,
such as overturning sheds or breaking windows. Beginning in
the 1930’s, Halloween mischief gradually transformed into the
modern ritual of trick-or-treating, though some still choose to
perform acts of vandalism on Halloween still today.
A final note, is the fact that Halloween is the high
holy day of the satanic church. So it still bears a very dark side
indeed, even today!
References: ( Encarta Reference Library 2008, and the
Encyclopedia Britannica 2006. )
As for me and my house we do not celebrate Halloween. Some Do at church by distributing candy among church kids from there Car Trunk in the parking lot on a certain day before Halloween. My parents took me trick or treating when I was little. They stopped going house to house when someone was putting Razor Blades in the apples. Be Safe, keep your kids safe should you go door to door. Let’s Celebrate Jesus! Not the Ememy of our Souls, on his high holy day!
Until the next Blog entrie, God Bless you!
J.R. On Tract! www.livn4jc.com
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October 23, 2008 by John Rasmussen.
A big thank you goes out to all those who let me give them a Calendar Card, pen, and a business card this afternoon at the Huntsville Business Expo at the VBCC. Thank you for the goodies you gave me! I hope you are clicking by the sites on the material I gave out, most of my other sites are on the links section of this blog as well as friends and other ministries sites. This blog is about inspirational stories, health info, ministry happenings, Good jokes and other stories of interest. Be sure to tell others about our sites. Our main Goal is to share Jesus with all! We are sharing the message of Jesus at our site www.freegift4life.com. Jesus is the world’s greatest free gift to all mankind! If you are living for Jesus, we have www.livn4jc.com a site about his love. We are working on updates of our sites. A few months back someone hacked our sites and the text got garbled and missing in a few areas. Hits have been coming in from all around the world, including hard to reach Muslim Faith countries and Isreal. Pray for this ministry as I pray for all my website traffic people. I am believing the Lord for some great and wonderfull things to happen for my family and ministry! It has been a long journey these past twenty years of Tract ministry and dealing with some health issues in my life, God is the healer! and is still in the healing business! The Lord has brought me through alot and I know he will carry me on! I know full well what the Author of the Footprints poem was saying! I have been carried in the past! When things looked dark, He was there all the time! he is the light! and he will light your way! Praise God! he is in control! You may go to my personal blog at www.johnlrasmussen.com ministry blog at www.ontractforjesusministries.org
Well gotta go out to eat with my Parents for there 56th Wedding Anniversary! P.S. I also have Advertising Specialties for your business with a great selection of items from a Catalog at good prices. Email me if you should be interested jrlivn4jc247@aol.com Look forward to your reply!
Believing the Lord for Great things in your life as well!!!! God Bless You! Check out some of the previous Blog entries, just scroll down.
J.R. On Tract!
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October 21, 2008 by John Rasmussen.
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This is a little long, but worth the time to read. Just goes to show you God always puts us where He can use us no matter who we are or where we’ve been. The end of this story sounds like a bunch of people from a rescue mission.
THE SPARROW AT STARBUCK’S By John Thomas Oaks It was chilly in weather in of late December and January, but it’s enough to send the masses crowding indoors to vie for available space and warmth. For a musician, it’s the most lucrative Starbucks’ location in the world, It was a fun, low-pressure gig. I was playing keyboard and singing backup After the tune was over, she approached me. ‘I apologize for singing along ‘No,’ I replied. ‘We love it when the audience joins in. Would you like to Hymns? This woman didn’t know who she was dealing with. I cut my teeth on ‘Oh, I don’t know. There are so many good ones. You pick one.’ ‘Okay,’ I replied. ‘How about ‘His Eye is on the Sparrow’?’ My new friend She slowly nodded her head, put down her purse, straightened her jacket and The audience of coffee drinkers was transfixed. Even the gurgling noises of When the last note was sung, the applause crescendoed to a deafening roar I embraced my new friend. ‘You, my dear, have made my whole year! That was ‘Well, it’s funny that you picked that particular hymn,’ she said. ‘Why is that?’ ‘Well…’ she hesitated again, ‘That was my daughter’s favorite song.’ ‘Really ?’ I exclaimed. ‘Yes,’ she said, and then grabbed my hands. By this time, the applause had I said the first thing that found its way through my stunned silence. ‘Are She smiled through tear-filled eyes and squeezed my hands. ‘I’m gonna be Was it just a coincidence that we happened to be singing in that particular God has been arranging encounters in human history since the beginning of was a great reminder that if we keep trusting him and singing his songs, everything’s gonna be okay. The next time you feel like God can’t use you, just remember… Noah was a No more excuses now!! God can use us to our full potential. Besides, we ‘Let your LIGHT so SHINE…’ Matt. 5:16 Live today to the fullest because tomorrow is not promised. What you leave |
Pray about where you may fit into this ministry. Go to www.ontractforjesusministries.org and read about the activity of this ministry. Share our web addresses with others. If you would like to be a part of our email list go to: www.livn4jcstore.com and fill out the form on the first page and submit. We share our email list with no one.
God Bless you! We are praying for all our web traffic. God is still in the Healing business! By his stripes we are healed!
J.R. On Tract today and always!
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October 14, 2008 by John Rasmussen.
GREAT DOG STORY
Anyone who has pets will really like this. You’ll like it even if you
don’t and you may even decide you need one!
Mary and her husband Jim had a dog named ‘Lucky.’ Lucky was a real
character. Whenever Mary and Jim had company come for a weekend visit
they would warn their friends to not leave their luggage open because
Lucky would help himself to whatever struck his fancy. Inevitably,
someone would forget and something would come up missing.
Mary or Jim would go to Lucky’s toy box in the basement and there the
treasure would be, amid all of Lucky’s other favorite toys. Lucky always
stashed his finds in his toy box and he was very particular that his
toys stay in the box.
It happened that Mary found out she had breast cancer Something told her
she was going to die of this disease…in fact , she was just sure it
was fatal.
She scheduled the double mastectomy, fear riding her shoulders. The
night before she was to go to the hospital she cuddled with Lucky. A
thought struck her…what would happen to Lucky? Although the
three-year-old dog liked Jim, he was Mary’s dog through and through. If
I die, Lucky will be abandoned, Mary thought. He won’t understand that I
didn’t want to leave him. The thought made her sadder than thinking of
her own death.
The double mastectomy was harder on Mary than her doctors had
anticipated and Mary was hospitalized for over two weeks. Jim took Lucky
for his evening walk faithfully, but the little dog just drooped,
whining and miserable.
Finally the day came for Mary to leave the hospital. When she arrived
home, Mary was so exhausted she couldn’t even make it up the steps to
her bedroom. Jim made his wife comfortable on the couch and left her to
nap. Lucky stood watching Mary but he didn’t come to her when she
called. It made Mary sad but sleep soon overcame her and she dozed.
When Mary woke for a second she couldn’t understand what was wrong. She
couldn’t move her head and her body felt heavy and hot. But panic soon
gave way to laughter when Mary realized the problem. She was covered,
literally blanketed, with every treasure Lucky owned! While she had
slept, the sorrowing dog had made trip after trip to the basement
bringing his beloved mistress all his favorite things in life. He had
covered her with his love.
Mary forgot about dying. Instead she and Lucky began living again,
walking further and further together every day. It’s been 12 years now
and Mary is still cancer-free. Lucky? He still steals treasures and
stashes them in his toy box but Mary remains his greatest treasure.
Remember….live every day to the fullest. Each minute is a blessing
from God. And never forget…. the people who make a difference in our
lives are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the
most awards. They are the ones that care for us.
If you see someone without a smile today give them one of yours! Live
simply. Love seriously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God.
Have a blessed Day in the Lord! And remember to have a check up for Breast
Cancer. Early detection is key in getting help.
God bless you! Jesus Love and mine! www.livn4jc.com
J.R. On Tract!
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October 7, 2008 by John Rasmussen.
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October 1, 2008 by John Rasmussen.
| CHANGING A LIGHT BULB THE CHRISTIAN WAY How many Christians does it take to change a light bulb? Charismatic: Only 1 Pentecostal: 10 Roman Catholic: None Baptists: At least 15. Episcopalians: 3 Mormons: 5 Unitarians: Methodists: Undetermined Nazarene: 6 Lutherans: None Amish: Hope the above tickled your funny bone! Be sure to take a look at the other blog entries if you haven’t in the last few weeks, there was some good things said. Hope this finds you doing fine despite the financial scene playing out with the stock market. Just continue to look to Jesus! the author of our faith! He will meet our needs! I am praying for all my web traffic, pray for me. Qoute of the day: The important time to keep on trying is when you reach the point where the average person would quit. It will be 20 years this fall that I have been doing this ministry. I am thanking the Lord for the opportunity to do the things I have done with Gospel Tracts and the websites over these years. I know we are making a difference world wide, my stats for the websites prove it. Only the Holy spirit knows the true impact. You may read about my ministry at: www.ontractforjesusministries.org personal blog at www.johnlrasmussen.com God Bless You! J.R. On Tract for the past twenty years, on tract till jesus comes! |
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