Psalm 51 Poem

 

Have mercy on me God, according to Your unfailing love,
I've committed unthinkable acts, I've never dreamed of.
With Your great compassion, blog out my transgressions,
Wash away all my sins, hear my humble confessions!

 

I've sinned against you God, done evil in your sight,
You can justly judge, to condemn You would be right.
I've always been sinful, even from the beginning,
Fear of God through wisdom, warns me to stop sinning!

 

Cleanse me with hyssop, make me whiter than snow,
Hear my joy and gladness, from Your grace that over flow.
Hide Your face from my sins, blot out my iniquity,
Make my heart pure, oh my, what a Victory!

 

For You restored my salvation, now I'm fully prepared,
To teach the lost Your ways, so many souls to be spared.
I'll open my lips and mouth, declaring Your Praise,
I'm Your obedient servant, for all the rest of my days!

 

by James Apple Jr.
 

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. 5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. 6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. (Psalm 51 NIV)

 

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Puppies and Politics

One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see! - John 9:25

 

President Obama is out running around the White House because he is late for a meeting when he sees one of his staff with a box.
He runs over to the employee and asks, "What's in the box?"
The startled employee says, "Puppies, we found them abandoned on the White House grounds and looking for a good home for them."
Obama says, "Oh! OK, what kind of puppies are they?"
"Democrats," the man says. "Wow, you must be a supporter, great job!", then the president runs off.
The next day, President Obama is with Joe Biden and sees the same man with the box. He tells Joe, "You gotta see this, come with me!"

 

Obama and Biden run over to the man and the president asks, "What kind of puppies are they?"
The man replies, "Republicans." "Woe, woe, woe!" Obama screams, "Just yesterday you said they were Democrats, what's going on here?"
"Well," , the employee says, "Their eyes just opened this morning."
"You're fired!" said the president.

by James Apple Jr.

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The Stress Fountain

And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name. (Acts 22:16)

 

For many people, their jobs, school, etc. is very stressful. Certainly, this is a part of life and something that all of us have to learn to live with in one way or another. While having stress is a normal part of life, taking it home with you can be very damaging to any relationship. I am guilty of this and have too often brought my stress and worries home with me and shared them with my innocent family.

For many years, I have tried to remember to leave my worries at the door when I get home, but I often forget and I continue to bring them home day after day. What I need is something to remind me; I need something symbolic!

Just outside the front door of our house in the garden next to the walkway is a beautiful water fountain. It's very large and makes a loud, but soothing water fall sound. It is something that I cannot miss when walking up to the front door of our house. Then it hit me; I'll make this my "Stress Fountain!"

Now, every day when I come home. I make a habit to stop at the stress fountain and use the water to wash my worries away and leave them outside. The next morning, if I need to pick up those worries again; I will go by the stress fountain and pick them up and take back to work with me. However, the next morning it seems that those worries are much smaller and hard to find. Maybe, those worries sank to the bottom of the stress fountain, never to resurface again.

by James Apple Jr.

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Saint Jean Baptiste Day

I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John; yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. (Luke 7:28 NIV)

Saint Jean Baptiste Day

Saint Jean Baptiste Day which is also known as "la Saint-Jean", "St John the Baptist Day", and "Quebec's National Holiday" is a French Canadian holiday that is held annually on June 24. Mostly celebrated in Quebec, this holiday celebrates Saint John the Baptist, a Jewish preacher that baptized Jesus in the River Jordan.

 

On Saint Jean Baptiste Day, celebrations range from large-scale public events such as music concerts, sport tournaments, parades and firework displays to small family events such as barbecues, picnics, yard sales, and bonfires. Church bells can be heard ringing in celebration throughout the day and many people attend public dances.
In 1834, Ludger Duvernay, a very influential journalist of his day celebrated St Patrick's Day in Montreal and was inspired to create a similar event for the French Canadians. He established the Saint Jean Baptiste Society to promote the celebration of Saint Baptiste Day. With the support of the Catholic Church, Saint John the Baptist was designated as the patron Saint of Quebec.

 

by James Apple Jr.

 

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Feast of Pentecost

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. (Acts 2:1 NIV)

The Feast of Pentecost is also known as Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, the Feast of Harvest, and the Latter Firstfruits in the Bible. It is celebrated on the fiftieth day after Passover. The Feast of Pentecost or Shavuot was originally a festival for expressing thankfulness to the Lord for the blessing of the harvest. Normally a time for giving thanks for the grain of the summer wheat harvest in Israel.
The name "Feast of Weeks" was coined because of the commandment from God to the Jews to count seven full weeks (or 49 days) beginning on the second day of passover (total of 50 days), then to present offerings of new grain to the Lord as a lasting ordinance.

From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. (Leviticus 23:15-16 NIV)

The feast gained the name "Latter Firstfruits" because it occurs at the end of Passover.

This celebration also has a tie to the giving of the Ten Commandments from God to Moses and took on the name of Matin Torah or "giving of the law." Jews believe that this was when God gave the Torah to their people.

 

Below are some biblical references to observances of the Feast of Pentecost:

"Celebrate the Feast of Weeks with the firstfruits of the wheat harvest, and the Feast of Ingathering at the turn of the year. (Exodus 34:22 NIV)

15 " 'From the day after the Sabbath, the day you brought the sheaf of the wave offering, count off seven full weeks. 16 Count off fifty days up to the day after the seventh Sabbath, and then present an offering of new grain to the LORD. 17 From wherever you live, bring two loaves made of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour, baked with yeast, as a wave offering of firstfruits to the LORD. 18 Present with this bread seven male lambs, each a year old and without defect, one young bull and two rams. They will be a burnt offering to the LORD, together with their grain offerings and drink offerings--an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD. 19 Then sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering and two lambs, each a year old, for a fellowship offering. 20 The priest is to wave the two lambs before the LORD as a wave offering, together with the bread of the firstfruits. They are a sacred offering to the LORD for the priest. 21 On that same day you are to proclaim a sacred assembly and do no regular work. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live 22 " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' " (Leviticus 23:15-22 NIV)

16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the LORD your God at the place he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. No man should appear before the LORD empty-handed: (Deuteronomy 16:16 NIV)

13 according to the daily requirement for offerings commanded by Moses for Sabbaths, New Moons and the three annual feasts--the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles (2 Chronicles 8:13 NIV)

8 But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost (1 Corinthians16:8 NIV)

16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost. (Acts 20:16 NIV)

18 He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created. (James 1:18 NIV)

by James Apple Jr.

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Ascension Day

Ascension Day, or also know as The Solemnity of Ascension commemorates Jesus' return to Heaven 40 days after His resurrection on Easter. Most commonly, Ascenstion day in on the 6th Thursday of Easter. In many cultures, this celebration which is most commonly celebrated with a feast is transferred to the Sunday after the traditional date. Alternative names for this Solemnity holiday is Analepsis and Episozomene.

 

Acts 1:6-11 6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

Jesus' ascension into Heaven is the final component to the paschal mystery, which is one of the central concepts of the Christian faith relating to the history of salvation. Its main focus is on the passion, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The ascension of Jesus was the first event where humanity was taken into Heaven and the "final blow" against Satan's power. Thus, the symbol of ascension came from the lion (Jesus) conquering the dragon (Satan).

by James Apple Jr.

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Leaders Vs Followers

Now the overseer must be above reproach,the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable,able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome,not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceitedand fall under the same judgmentas the devil.  He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil's trap. (1 Timothy 3:2-7)

Leaders vs Followers

When leaders make a mistake, they admit they were wrong.
When followers make a mistake, they blame it on someone else.
A leader works their way through problems.
A follower goes around problems.
A leader works hard and always makes time for others.
A follower is always "too busy."
A leader seeks to make themself better.
A follower is "better than most other people" with no need to change.
A leaders makes and keeps their promises.
A follower makes and forgets their promises.
Leaders listen.
Followers talk out of turn.
Leaders respect their superiors and want to learn from them.
Followers resent their superiors and wants to bring them down.
Leaders feel responsible for things outside their job scope.
Follower say, "I only work here."
Leaders look for better ways to do things.
Followers say, "That's the way things have always been done."

by James Apple Jr.

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