WARNING about Vacuum Cleaners

WARNING to all of you using a vacuum cleaner. NEVER use a vacuum cleaner indoors with the windows shut. The vacuum cleaner will suck in all oxygen in the room with dangerous dire effects to all there.

This happened to me the other day. I was at home alone, except for the cat, and I decided to vacuum clean the carpet in the front room. The windows in the house were shut. After a while I felt a little light-headed, then I felt rather faint. I must have lost consciousness and fell to the ground.

Unfortunately, the vacuum cleaner was still on and it tried to suck me and the cat within it.

In seconds, the cat had gone into the vacuum. I gripped tightly into the carpet to try and save myself as I felt I was being dragged into the infernal machine. I was afraid that once inside no one would hear my cries of help since sound does not travel in a vacuum. Especially if the dust bag is full.

I slowly eased myself forward an inch at a time until I reached the electric socket in the wall and I unplugged the vacuum cleaner.

I opened the window to let in some air in the room as I was gasping for breath.

I then reversed the vacuum cleaner controls from suck to blow and switched it on. The cat shot out of the nozzle at speed and flew out of the window upwards, past the tree in our front garden, and into the open window of our neighbor's bathroom, and landed into our neighbor's lap as she was lying there in a warm bubble bath.

Her screams could be heard for miles around as she shot out of her bath tub.

I'll leave the rest of the scenario to your imagination as I stood there watching at her window and asking for our cat back!

Teaching about God

The preacher was telling the congregation about the evils of drink. “To drink is to follow satan. Drink is bad for you. It will lead you to damnation”.

To demonstrate his point he put two glasses on the pulpit. One contained water and one contained whisky. He then produced a small box containing two worms which he had dug from the garden before the service began.

He placed a worm in the glass of water and it floated about merrily. He then put the second worm in the glass of whisky and after wriggling for a few seconds it died.

“What does this tell you?” he asked.

A member of the congregation replied, “If you have worms drink whisky”.

There’s a message in this joke for us Christians. How often, whilst well-meaning, we try to tell others about our beliefs and end up confusing them and perhaps, un-wittingly, driving them away from God rather than towards Him.

It is worth remembering that not everyone is at the same stage of knowing God as perhaps we are.

You wouldn’t feed a new-born baby pizza or French fries; would you? So let’s go easy with new Christians or people who have yet to know the Lord as we do.

The best way to teach Christianity is by living it as Jesus would want us to.

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” St Francis of Assisi.

The day Noah got drunk

THE DAY NOAH GOT DRUNK

It's in the Bible.

Noah was a farmer and

he was the first man to ever plant

a vineyard.

He made wine,

drank it,

and became drunk.

He then took off all his clothes,

and lay naked in his tent.

His son Ham (what a name)

saw Noah naked and

he took photos with his cell-phone

and posted them on Facebook.

GENESIS 9:20-22.

More Time for Reflections

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Invitation to join a new profitable Business Venture

Dear Friends,

I have a very interesting business proposition to put to you which will mature into a valuable investment.

But first let me give you some background.

A certain member of our family recently made a batch full of black buns. Now for those who don’t know, this is a rich Scottish fruitcake which is encased in pastry and then cooked. It is a particular delicacy up North on Hogmanay; and other celebratory occasions.

Now for some reason, this particular batch of black buns was harder than usual. I mean, black buns in our household are normally hard, but this lot was so hard you could have built a house with them. If you had enough of them that is; which thankfully we didn’t.

No one wanted to eat them so I took them to the local park to feed the ducks in the pond. To my amazement the black buns floated on the surface of the water. Perhaps they were hollow inside, or the rising pastry had trapped some air between the casing and the fruitcake inside.

As soon as these pastry bricks floated on the pond a flock of ducks came floating towards them cackling with excitement. The sound attracted even more ducks and swans and birds who gathered around me for a Scottish feast.

Surprisingly, their sharp beaks managed to break through the concrete pastry and into the cake but … oh horror … as soon as the ducks and swans ate some of the fruitcake they sank to the bottom of the pond like stones. A while later they got up to the surface and quickly got out of the water belching and farting and searching for indigestion tablets.

I got home somewhat dejected at my failure in introducing our ducks to a Northern delicacy; and then it hit me … (someone threw a black bun at me which I had inadvertently forgotten behind!).

I picked up the bun and pondered. As I held the cake in my hand the warmth I generated started to soften the pastry. I ate a bit. It tasted nice and soft; so did the cake inside.

And that’s how genius works, my friends.

I had in my hand a hard edible substance, hard enough for me to stand on it without it crumbling, yet body warmth makes it soft, and safe to eat, and sweet.

What if I had enough black buns ingredients to mould the cake into the shape of a seat?

We quickly made another lot and in about an hour or so we had made a small baby-sized chair. It was strong enough for me to sit on, I tell you; yet, after a while I could break off a bit from the chair and eat it.

That’s it folks! Edible furniture has arrived.

We’re now discussing business terms with a furniture manufacturer and a large bakery nearby.

We intend making all sorts of seats, chairs, sofas, armchairs, as well as tables and other household items.

We’re thinking about different flavors too. Chocolate is a distinct favorite as well as vanilla flavored pastry and savory cakes too.

Can you imagine the endless possibilities?

You invite guests to dinner at your house and end up eating the furniture. We’re considering meat and vegetable flavors too as well as vegetarian and vegan products.

The advantage of this is that you save on expensive meals which you have to prepare and cook and, every time you have a party you have a new style of furniture to keep up with the latest styles and fashions … and flavors.

If you go on a picnic, all you have to take with you is some chairs which you can eat whilst lying there on the beach, or nearby a river, or in the park. And don’t worry about cleaning up afterwards. Any crumbs you leave behind will be eaten by the birds.

Imagine for a moment sports venues where all the spectators sit on edible seats which they eat whilst enjoying the football game. They’d be able to book a seat in advance in their favorite flavors.

The same applies to cinemas and theaters. Can you see yourself eating through an opera or a concert?

I’ve received this morning an order for a large consignment of said edible furniture from a famous Department Store. I could have shown you the order, but I ate it.

So if you wish to make a fortune, you’d better invest in this new venture right now.

It’s selling like hot cakes.

ADVICE PLEASE

I am about to embark on a major writing project and would appreciate your advice please. I intend to write a book consisting of a list of all the words used in the English language. The words will not be in alphabetical order and there will not be a definition of the words either. It will be a random list such as:

The and garden notwithstanding hoover fortnightly eaten quarter simultaneously ... and so on.

So far I have written about 113 pages and it is hoped the book will be completed in about six months time. I have a team of six people in my employ working on this.

I guarantee that there will be no repetition of the words and that they will all be spelled correctly both in English and American - e.g. humour/humor.

The book would be a great pastime when travelling on a bus or train, or when you can't sleep in bed and have nothing better to do, or when relaxing in a hot bath. 

The intention is that you'll think of a word and time yourself as to how quickly you can find it. Hence the absence of alphabetical order. Of course if you're in the bath at the time you'll need a water-proof watch (not supplied with the book).

Another use would be to check if you've spelled certain words correctly. For example you could look for the word: Onomatopoeia, but because the book is not in alphabetical order it will be great fun trying to find the word, and in searching for it, you'll discover other words you did not know that you did not know!

A further fun use is to play a game with your spouse or friend. You can think of a word and your spouse or friend has to find it within a set time limit. 

I have three publishers interested in this unique venture in the history of publications.

What I'd like your advice on please is whether you would find such a book useful and how many copies you are likely to purchase. They make a great Christmas gift for family and friends; and are a good conversation starter to break the ice at parties. Please also give me an idea of the price you would be willing to pay for this book.

The information would be very helpful in estimating the number of first print run. One publisher suggested 500,000 copies but I am not sure if this will be enough.

Thank you.

On Stage

They say the whole world is a stage and we are actors on it. They also say this life is no rehearsal – this is it. One and only life. Get on with it!

Let’s consider for a moment we’re on a stage. What part does God want you to play? Are you in a leading role? Centre stage? A great Christian orator, writer, pastor, celebrity or role model?

Or have you only got a minor part? Waiting on the side-lines, behind the curtains, for your time to be in the spotlight?

Whatever role God has given us in this life to witness on His behalf and to spread His Word; we’d better be ready because this is the most important task we’re ever asked to perform in this one life which we have.

Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Matthew 4:18-20.

Unequal rewards in Heaven

The good thing about hopping from one Blog to another on the Internet is that I learn something new everyday - well almost!

The problem though, is to know whether what I have learnt is true, or just someone's opinion.

For example, I learnt the other day that when we get to Heaven our "rewards" will not be the same, but will be commensurate with how well we responded to God's grace when here on earth.

I'll admit this confused me somewhat. I never realised there were rewards as such in Heaven. I thought that once there that was reward enough; if reward is the right word to use in this context.

I doubt very much that if Heaven was a mansion with many rooms, some Saint or other would have the top penthouse apartment facing whatever one faces when looking out of Heaven's window, and I would have a dingy cupboard space somewhere deep in the bowels of said mansion.

That's not how I imagined Heaven. I thought I'd be free to go around everywhere and meet such famous Saints like Peter and ask him what hot drink he drank on earth before they discovered coffee, tea and hot cocoa!

But it seems, from what I've read so far, that this notion of rewards was (or still is) Catholic dogma. Apparently, many years ago, the Council of Florence declared in some Latin entitled document that this is so.

Now as a Catholic I tend to get easily confused between what Christ taught, and what the Church has over the years interpreted and declared as truth (dogma) and woe betides you if you don't believe it and obey it.

So ... to clear up my confusion, and to help me find better accommodation than a small dark cupboard, would any of you please let me know what you think about this?

The Naughty Bits

I was thinking about Adam and Eve the other day. You know how the story goes ...

There they were, Adam and Eve going around happily in the Garden of Eden totally naked and not worrying about anything, except perhaps getting too close to the cactus, or standing near a hot radiator or oven.

Then one day they meet a snake!

Now I don't know about you, but if I were naked and met a snake I'd quickly cover up my bits in case he took a bite.  

If the snake actually talked to me ... well ... I'd probably poop in my non-existing pants rather than engage in conversation with him.

Anyway ... what I don't understand is, after they ate the forbidden fruit, how did Adam and Eve know which are the naughty bits they should cover?

Why not cover their knees for instance? Or their elbows?

Can you imagine? If they'd covered their heads instead; today we'd all be going around naked wearing our underpants on our heads!