Most people want to live a long and healthy life. Yet we do not think of what we must do to attain it in our youth or regain it in our riper years. The Bible gives us a number of things that can help us attain not only length of days but good health in the latter years. Of course decline is inevitable and death is certain, unless the rapture happens first, but I believe these coupled with common sense will help you have a longer and happier life. I will only write out Ephesians 6: 1-3 and give the references for you to look up. Children obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and thy mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

Proverbs 3:1-4, 13-16 and 28:16. Exodus 20:12 Deuteronomy 4:22-26, 39-40. 5:16, 31-33. 6:1-3. 11:8-9. 17:14-20. 22:6-7. 25:13-16. 30:15-20. 32:44-47. I Kings 3:14 Psalms 34:12-14. You will see that these include business dealings and treatment of wildlife! And don’t forget a joyful and thankful attitude. While God does take some of His children home early, and is always right in doing so, if you honor God and obey these Scriptures you may well find your health improving and life increasing. I hope this has been a blessing and help to you.

Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; MALE AND FEMALE CREATED HE THEM. The Bible says Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap. In the ’60’s women started trying to get into men’s sports, clubs and the Boy Scouts, and jobs traditionally regarded as male, often with “gender norming”. Now trans-gendered men are entering women’s sports on the argument that with the operations and hormone treatment that they are actually women and are on a level playing field to compete. Strangely enough no one brings to notice the following, showing the argument is purely emotional and non-scientific. No one can change the X Y chromosome. And while hormone levels may change certain characteristics they do not change the basic cell structure. Ever wonder why a man that can lift 100 pounds cannot hold a 10 pound baby fifteen minutes while a woman who struggles to lift 50 pounds can hold that child for hours? It’s because the muscle cells are different. So the man does not lose his punching, grappling, and running advantage. So what we have is a man who can’t make it in a man’s world unfairly competing in a woman’s world. So for the conclusion: A person who pretends to be something he is not is a hypocrite. A man that pretends to be a woman is a hypocrite. A woman who pretends to be a man is a hypocrite. And God is not the author of confusion. Be what you are and thank God for it. Mind the place God (not man) has put you in and do your best. If you are a weak man praise God. If you are a strong woman praise God. There is no greater position on Earth than a mother and housewife or a father and provider. And if God (not man) puts you in other circumstances praise God for that too. I hope this is a blessing to you and will give you food for thought.

In Revelation 21 God gave John a detailed description of Heaven. We often read over it and don’t consider it or apply our imagination to these verses. In verse 16 it says ” And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth; and he measured the city with the Reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.” Now a furlong is an eighth of a mile. 12000 furlongs equals 1500 miles. This makes Heaven 6000 miles around so it would take 100 hours or four days and four hours to drive around it at 60 miles an hour no stopping. Also each level of the city has 2,250,000 square miles. If you put 10 miles between each level you have 150 levels. This makes 337,500,000 square miles. Of course you could have one mile or half a mile between levels, just add the zeros. If you take the cubic miles it equals 3,375,000,000. These figures show that Heaven is larger than most countries and made of gold on top of that! If you want more fun multiple times the miles on all this and write it on a dry erase or chalk board and watch a Sunday School class wake up and get excited. Believing the Bible will take your mind off petty worries and create a desire for things above that will help you more than anyone else on Earth.

Next Sunday will be the celebration of Saint Patrick’s Day and there will be more time spent on Irish culture and music and drinking green beer and drowning the shamrock in a glass of whiskey than any consideration of the great man behind the day. And those who do consider him make him into some one he is not through revised history used as propaganda to sway a population from true Christianity.

First Patrick was not Roman Catholic. He was part of the Celtic Church of the then Celtic Britian. Remember that the only history you can trust without much study and confirmation from other sources is his Confession and the Letter to Coroticus, written by his own hand. The Confession was written to defend his ministry to the Irish. If he had received a commission from the Pope don’t you think he would have mentioned that as proof of his legitimacy to preach there? There are many commissions in the Vatican records of the time but none for Patrick. Given his success wouldn’t this be carefully preserved and show cased? No, Patrick appeals to a vision and command from God Almighty and the subsequent fruits of his ministry, especially the baptism of adults!

Next consider that his grandfather was a priest. Celibacy was not even a requirement in the Roman church of the time but this shows a church of a different sort than the current Roman one. This is something to keep in mind seeing the current scandals that are rocking that establishment. Bede even says that the Irish monks of his time were married!  This shows that the monasteries started from Patrick’s time were actually communities started to protect the early converts from pagan influence and violence.

Patrick was taken as a lad by Irish pirates and sold into slavery. While tending sheep this back slidden youth came back to the God of his upbringing and prayed to Him as often as 100 times a day. After a miraculous escape and return to his family Almighty God called him to return to Ireland. Without blood shed he preached the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and baptised by immersion those who willingly accepted Christ as their Saviour. His writings are replete with scripture and the humility of this great man shines through.

So the confusion comes from this. A man named Pallidus did get a commission from the Pope but his mission was a tremendous failure, mostly because of his arrogance. So when the Norman English invaded Ireland, with the Pope’s permission, they lifted Pallidus’ commission and added it to Patrick’s name and add a number of made up miracles to make a fictional book to bring the Irish to the Roman fold. I hope this will lead you to your own research. Patrick’s writings are available on the net for free and are short works that can be read in less than an hour by an average reader. These works are truly inspiring.

My Dad recently passed away and I had the privilege of officiating his funeral. He had 6 children and many grandchildren. This funeral was different from many I have seen in that, while there were tears no one lost control. I have heard of some funerals where the family members had to be tranquilized to get through this time of sorrow. I Thessalonians 4:13 says that ye sorrow not, as others which have no hope. We knew my Dad had trusted Christ as his Saviour and was going to a better place. We believe in the resurrection of the Dead. Also my Dad was not the rock of my family, nor was my Mom who has also passed away. No other member is the rock of the family. We were taught early to make Jesus Christ the Rock of our faith and family. While I do not wish to belittle anyone’s feelings of grief and loss I do urge you to get an Anchor before the storms of life come crashing in on your soul. With a firm foundation on the Scripture and Almighty God you can, with the help of God and the brethren, sail through the troubled seas of life.

Yesterday, November the Fifth we celebrated Guy Fawks Day by burning him in effigy. Who was he? He was a conspirator who wished to force Roman Catholicism upon a Bible believing people. The King he sought to destroy, along with the Parliament and lords was King James. This King is of note for he ended the execution of people for religion in Britian. He also is of note for authorising the translation of the Bible that bears his name. This was the beginning of soul liberty, that a man could worship God according to the dictates of his heart not by force of legislation. If England had been taken over by the Roman church at this point the freedoms we now enjoy would have never come to pass. The Bible would still be locked away from the people and we would still be in Papal darkness. Take some time to read up on the gunpowder plot and it will do you and your children some good.

I recently listened to a preacher from the Philippines present his work to our sending church. Brother Bornales is 62 and his father had vivid memories of the Japanese occupation of World War 2. He reminds his people often to be thankful for the American liberation of the islands. He remembers the night he listened to an American missionary preach a salvation message that led to his conversation. He prays for our nation three times a day because he appreciates the things our nation has done for them. My memory went back to some port calls my ship made to Subic Bay. There is a church there called Bible Baptist that welcomed me in. As soon as I sat down a man sat next to me and befriended me and made sure to let me know that I was welcome. The pastor invited me to lunch and we shared testimonies. I came to port a few other times and he always remembered me. He even sent me a letter, typed on an old fashioned manual typewriter. The members were very friendly and hospitable and my fondest memories of West Pac are those short visits. I have decided to pray for the Philippines three times a day like those dear people pray for us. And I look forward to the day when I will unite with them in heaven where there is no parting and be able to thank them for all they meant to a homesick sailor and Christian in need of fellowship.