frans friday forum: WELCOMING GOD BACK IN 2016...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 01/08/16 04:51 AM
Looking back on 2015, and seeing how screwed up things are in all phases of life, and how all around this world of ours life seems to have deteriorated...
AND...Recalling the familiar words of that song, ‘WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW IS LOVE, SWEET LOVE’...it dawned on me that...
MAYBE, JUST MAYBE, this might be the right time to invite OUR GOD back into our lives...Yes...into our politics, our families, our schools, our work places, our leisure, our goings and our comings...
AND...For those who NEVER KNEW GOD...HE IS ANXIOUSLY AWAITING YOUR CALL...!!!
We have just celebrated CHRISTMAS...We need more than ONE DAY to reflect … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: CONTINUE CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/30/15 11:33 PM
Continue to CELEBRATE
CHRISTMAS!!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR
… (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS...!!!
- 12/23/15 11:09 PM
CELEBRATE
CHRISTMAS!!!
… (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: 'WITHOUT ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING'...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/17/15 10:56 AM
This past Tuesday morning, immediately upon awakening I heard these words forcefully displayed in my mind’s eye, ‘Without Me you can do nothing’...a Scripture Passage from John Chapter 15 I came to find out...
SO.......Like a sensible Christian male, I proceeded to do my spiritual due diligence and further research and finally came up with the
following:
There are only three Chapters in the entire four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, where EVERY WORD of the chapter is
attributed to JESUS...Matthew Chapters 6 and 25, and John Chapter 15...
This Chapter 15 contains probably the BEST SCRIPTURE verses to “EXPLAIN’ … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: TIME TO SOUND RETREAT...AGAIN...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/10/15 10:04 PM
Nooooo...Not to turn back in defeat...!!!
Our annual RELIGIOUS RETREAT at MALVERN RETREAT HOUSE in beautiful CHESTER COUNTY, PA., is yet one more opportunity to renew or rekindle our relationship with OUR GOD...And yet another opportunity to forge ahead in victory in our Spiritual Lives...!!!
In a very peaceful wooded setting, and with mild weather forecast in the 60’s, this weekend is filled with HOPE...A couple of hundred men, from ages 11 to 90 gather each year at this time in December to renew acquaintances, some formed over 30 or 40 years of continuous retreats, and to reestablish or find a new relationship … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: THE AGE OF 'MESS'...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 12/03/15 10:03 PM
We speak of AGES when we talk about the evolution of our PLANET EARTH...ICE AGES...THE BRONZE AGE...THE IRON AGE...THE DARK AGES...THE AGE OF REASON...THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT...
More recently...THE INDUSTRIAL AGE...THE JET AGE...THE SPACE AGE...THE COMPUTER AGE...THE INFORMATION AGE...AND...
WE have now evolved into ‘THE MESS AGE’...TRUTHFULLY, is not the entire WORLD A MESS...???
TO CLEAR THINGS UP A BIT AND MAKE THIS EVOLUTION EASIER TO UNDERSTAND...In the course of HISTORY, more specifically, at THE TIME OF ABRAHAM, THE ONE TRUE GOD WHO CREATED THE UNIVERSE FROM NOTHING, REVEALED HIMSELF TO MAN/WOMAN...Let’s CUT TO THE CHASE...
ISRAEL, THE JEWS, were benefactors of that PHENOMENON...
CHRISTIANITY, THROUGH … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: RIGHT SIDE UP OR UPSIDE DOWN...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 11/27/15 08:29 AM
God’s work is ORDER AND PEACE, The Evil One’s work is DISARRAY AND CONFUSION...
Explained clearly and in ONE WORD: GOD=CREATION...SATAN=DESTRUCTION...YET...
We don’t live in a DUALISTIC WORLD...Good vs Evil...God vs Satan...NO...ALL Creation BELONGS TO GOD and JESUS IS KING OF THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE...
JESUS has NO EQUALS...ALL IS/ARE SUBJECT TO HIM...AND...
THE GOOD NEWS is: HE IS A GOD OF LOVE, HEALING, FORGIVENESS, REDEMPTION, SECOND CHANCES, MIRACLES, BEAUTY, HOLINESS, AWE, INSPIRATION, ETC., The other guy...
Well, you know...JUST THE OPPOSITE...!!!
THANKSGIVING, A DAY TO CELEBRATE FAMILY, DIDN’T STOP AT MIDNIGHT LAST NIGHT...IT IS RENEWED WITH THE DAWN OF EACH DAY...!!!
MAY THANKSGIVING BLESSINGS CONTINUE TO ENLIGHTEN ALL … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: FAMILIES MATTER...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 11/19/15 11:58 AM
THOUGHTS OF THANKSGIVING which should be dominating our minds these days have been overshadowed by PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES OF PARIS MASSACRE VICTIMS, how to handle SYRIAN IMMIGRANTS, whether to and where to DROP BOMBS ON ISIS TERRORISTS and other ‘TOPSY TURVY’ SERIOUS LIFE ISSUES...
It dawned on me that many of these problems are related to the BREAKDOWN OF THE FAMILY...i.e., How could anyone engage in terrorist behaviour if he had any respect for THE FAMILY UNIT...bringing disgrace to his own family and causing grief for the victim’s families...!!!
What kind of FAMILY UPBRINGING would prompt people to displace families that have lived … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: NO...NOT ONE...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 11/12/15 10:50 PM
NONE OF US HAVE IT ALL TOGETHER.......BUT TOGETHER WE HAVE IT ALL...!!!
Those words of an unknown author, first heard by me at a Prayer Meeting over 30 years ago, kept resounding in my ear, as I lay immobile during one of my biennial GOUT FLARE-UPS this week...!!!
It was a sober reminder of HOW FRAIL WE ARE and HOW MUCH WE NEED ONE ANOTHER...GOD CREATED US THAT WAY...!!!
None of us are perfect, but we all must strive for perfection...!!!
None of us were made to live alone on an Island...WE ARE SOCIAL CREATURES made in the image and likeness of OUR CREATOR...AND...Dependant on … (5 comments)
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frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...THOUGHTFUL AND THANKFUL...!!!
- 11/05/15 10:54 PM
I’m a sucker for a GREAT CELEBRATION...SO...
When it comes to Holidays like THANKSGIVING DAY, CHRISTMAS, EASTER, VETERANS DAY, MEMORIAL DAY, INDEPENDENCE DAY, and LABOR DAY...I’M ALL IN...!!!
In fact...I vote we make them SEASONAL CELEBRATIONS rather than JUST FOR ONE DAY...!!!
IF THANKSGIVING IS WORTH CELEBRATING AT ALL it needs to be CELEBRATED OVER MORE THAN JUST ONE DAY...FLAG DAY AND INDEPENDENCE DAY REQUIRE MORE THAN A DAY OF REFLECTION TO TRULY EVEN BEGIN TO CAPTURE THEIR SIGNIFICANCE...
THE SAME WITH CHRISTMAS AND EASTER...It takes MORE THAN ONE DAY to truly TAKE IN THE MAJESTY THAT THESE SPECIAL DAYS EVOKE...
VETERANS DAY, which we celebrate … (6 comments)
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frans friday forum: SEEING THE FOREST...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/29/15 11:39 PM
I’m sure most are familiar with the adage: ‘I CAN’T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES’...WELL...
According to ‘URBAN DICTIONARY’, this means ‘that if you look at things one at a time, you might not realize that a branch of separate "trees" go together to make a "forest"...FURTHER...
‘When you are too close to a situation you need to step back and get a little perspective. When you do you will notice there was a whole forest you couldn't see before because you were too close, and focusing on the trees. Simply that you have focused on the many details and have failed … (10 comments)
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frans friday forum: DISCOVERING BEAUTY...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/23/15 12:35 AM
I know very little about GENETICS, ART, MUSIC, and IMAGINATION...These seem to be LEFT BRAIN QUALITIES...AND THE ONLY THING I DO ‘LEFT’ HANDED IS BAT AND GOLF...!!!
If I try to ‘FORCE’ my imagination to work, it’s like starting an old pull rope lawn mower...It never starts on the FIRST PULL, and rarely even on the 2nd or 3rd...BUT...
IF I WORK AT IT HARD ENOUGH, sometimes in ‘FEAR & TREMBLING’, I seem to get a lot out of it...AND LEARN A LOT...
I think what it comes down to is GAINING AN APPRECIATION FOR BEAUTY AND BEAUTIFUL THINGS...!!!
NOW...I’m not talking about ‘BEAUTY’ as … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: A VINTAGE BLESSING FOR JOSH ET AL...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/16/15 01:11 AM
Tomorrow, my son Joshua turns 21...One of those ‘SPECIAL’ birthdays...AND SO...
Thinking of ways to commemorate this event...
My wife and I considered many possibilities from simply presenting him with a modest monetary gift to having a full blown ‘FAMILY REGALIA’...
JOSH, however, is not a SPLASHY kind of guy...a mechanic in training...who is not fond of public displays and shy by nature...AND SO...
My wife will graciously provide the customary ‘BIRTHDAY CAKE’ of HIS choice combined with a ‘FAMILY DINNER’ also of HIS liking...
Since Josh never reads my blog, at least I don’t think he does, I can share with all who read this … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: INTERSECTIONS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/08/15 11:57 PM
I don’t believe in COINCIDENCES...They occur too often to be ACCIDENTAL...INDEED...Sometimes ‘COINCIDENCES’ DEFY ALL ODDS...I believe that COINCIDENCES ARE ‘GOD’S INTERSECTIONS’...!!!
LIFE IS A JOURNEY...HOPEFULLY A JOYFUL AND FULFILLING ONE...!!!
When on a trip, every intersection is an opportunity to REEVALUATE our BEARINGS, and make necessary corrections...Do we not recall that ‘GPS LADY’ who reminds us when we make a choice other than the one plotted for us, “RECALCULATING”...
The nice thing about GPS is that no matter what decision we make...IT CAN USUALLY SET US BACK IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION...EVENTUALLY...
COINCIDENCES ARE SOMEWHAT SIMILAR...They often remind us that SOMEONE BESIDES US IS IN CHARGE...IN … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: LIFE: A FAITH WALK...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 10/01/15 11:55 PM
Over the lintel of OUR FAMILY ROOM DOOR to our screened-in three season room is a LONG NARROW PLAQUE that reads: WE WALK BY FAITH AND NOT BY SIGHT...
THAT SCRIPTURE PASSAGE FROM 2 CORINTHIANS 5:7 is sandwiched by the preceding verse which reads: SO WE ARE ALWAYS OF GOOD COURAGE...AND the passage immediately following which reads: WE ARE OF GOOD COURAGE...
THESE PASSAGES are to remind us that WE ARE NOT YET WITH THE LORD but we need to maintain our FOCUS ON HIM while we continue our journey here on Earth...SOMETIMES THIS IS NOT EASY...
NEVERTHELESS...This is what we are called … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: POPE'S HOMERUN TO CONGRESS...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 09/24/15 11:35 PM
Without getting too political, but attempting to sum up POPE FRANCIS’ MESSAGE BEFORE CONGRESS YESTERDAY, a clear HOMERUN WAS HIT...
DRAWING UPON THE LIVES OF FOUR AMERICANS OF FAITH...ABRAHAM LINCOLN, MARTIN LUTHER KING, DOROTHY DAY, and THOMAS MERTON, the POPE CLEVERLY CRAFTED HIS MESSAGE WHILE WEAVING ONE SEAMLESS CLOTH OF THE TRUTH OF JESUS CHRIST THROUGHOUT HIS SPEECH...
After HITTING A FEW SINGLES to APPEASE THOSE WHO WERE THERE FOR PURELY POLITICAL PURPOSES...i.e., ‘CARE FOR NATURE’ for ‘climate changers’...’TOLERANCE FOR IMMIGRANTS’ for ‘amnesty obsessors’...’COMMON GOOD’ for ‘socialism advocates’...
BUT THE REAL HOMERUN WAS HIT when HE, REACHING FIRST BASE, ADVOCATED TO PROTECT ALL HUMAN … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: OUT OF THIS WORLD...Fran's Friday Forum...!!!
- 09/17/15 11:59 PM
There are BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS of Galaxies, BILLIONS UPON BILLIONS OF STARS...Each star is a sun...AND SO...
IT IS NOT INCONCEIVABLE that somewhere out there, there could be AN EARTHLIKE PLANET, indeed, many earthlike planets, much like ours, and possibly contain even LIFE LIKE OURS...!!!
Those of us WHO BELIEVE IN GOD see ALL this CREATION AS GOD’S HANDIWORK...!!!
Somewhere in Scripture it is written, “...ARE MY ARMS TOO SHORT TO SAVE...?”
GOD IS A 'BIG' GOD...!!!
MY GOD could have created THE EARTH IN A BREATH...If, in fact, it took 6 days or six thousand years or 14 billion years, it is because of HIS … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...THE WAY...!!!
- 09/11/15 01:25 AM
The early days of my life I shied away from, if not extremely disliked, READING...LATER...
Approaching middle age, I softened a bit and got my toes wet in READING...Of course, READING IS CONTAGIOUS...The more you read, the better you get, and the more addicted you become...
In the final analysis, READING is the tip of the iceberg in a LIFE OF LEARNING...!!!
WELL, now that you’ve beared with me through that tirade, I’ll get to the point...
I have arrived at a point where my READING consists of several books at a time...MOSTLY SPIRITUAL, but hardly ever FICTION, and nearly always something EDUCATIONAL OR LIFE … (2 comments)
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frans friday forum: IS WORK PRAYER...Fran's Friday Forum...???
- 09/03/15 11:05 PM
You've probably heard the old adage: PRAYER WORKS...!!!
Well, I got to thinking, CAN THE ADVERSE BE TRUE...IS WORK, PRAYER...
And especially on this LABOR DAY WEEKEND...Wouldn’t it be great if WORK WERE PRAYER...
Scripture encourages us to PRAY WITHOUT CEASING...I often wondered how we can accomplish that...BUT...
Perhaps it IS POSSIBLE, that, If we put GOD FIRST IN OUR LIVES, and to the extent that our PRIORITIES ARE IN RIGHT ORDER, OUR VERY LIVES BECOME A PRAYER...!!!
THAT THOUGHT IS EXCITING, because if PRAYER IS CONVERSING and/or COMMUNICATING WITH GOD, then, UNLIKE OUR CELL PHONES...WE ARE HARDWIRED INTO HIM, AND NEVER DROP A CALL...!!!
Every WORK, … (4 comments)
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frans friday forum: Fran's Friday Forum...TIME TO BLOW THE TRUMPet...???
- 08/27/15 01:17 AM
I don’t know about you, but these days I’m starting to PAY ATTENTION to DONALD TRUMP...
Truthfully, he hasn’t been one of my favorite candidates for President in 2016, but I’m slowly warming up to him...HE DESERVES TO BE HEARD...!!!
Again...I don’t agree with some of his opinions...but HE BEATS THE ALTERNATIVES SO FAR...HANDS DOWN...!!!
Many of the politicians...both Democrat and Republican...who seem to have FLOATED TO THE TOP in National politics in the last decade have sold us short in my opinion...SO...
Perhaps what we need FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY and THE FUTURE OF OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN is a NON-ESTABLISHMENT TYPE … (4 comments)
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