Exceedingly Great Stuff

It was 1:30 A.M. on Friday, December 6, 1991. Patrolman Tommy Garrison of the Byhalia (Mississippi) City Police had pulled over a gray Monte Carlo for no tag on Highway 309. Garrison walked to the car where three men were waiting.

The driver said he didn’t have his license with him but knew the number. Then Garrison saw three VCRs stacked in the back seat.

“Where did you get those VCRs?” he asked. That’s when all three men got out. The first attacked Garrison with a knife. While the police officer was wrestling with him, a second man pulled a handgun and shot twice.

The first bullet struck the officer in the stomach and knocked him off balance. When the second hit his chest, Garrison was flung to the ground.

The three men jumped back into the Monte Carlo and spun out, heading north toward the Tennessee line. Before they were out of sight, however, Garrison stood up and ran back to his car to put out an all-points bulletin. He was shaken up and bruised, but unwounded.

That morning Garrison had put on one of the department’s bullet-proof vests. The seven-year-old vest was two-and-a-half pounds of discomfort and reeked with sweat. Garrison had not been wearing it regularly because it was such as nuisance. But that Friday had been cool, and Garrison had worn the vest all day. And at the critical moment, it had saved his life by
guarding his heart.

God warns, ” Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellsprings of life” (Prov. 4:23). In other words, maintain your purity, your integrity, your commitment to the Lord.

Whenever you keep something precious safe, you can cherish and enjoy it, and its value appreciates. The longer we guard our heartthe more time and attention we invest in its carethe easier it is to keep up the watch. The
more carefully we guard it, the more secure it will keep us.

Officer Garrison told me that ever since that bullet-proof vest saved his life he has worn one every hour he’s been on duty. The rest of the officers on the force were motivated to start wearing them too, but it wasn’t long before most of them left their vests at the station once more. When the critical
moment comes, they won’t be ready.

Guard your heart. Keep it for Jesus alone. If Jesus were to appear before you right now, and you were to ask, “What do want of me?” I believe that He would say, “I want your heart. Just give me your heart.”

If He so greatly desires to have your heart, it must be a precious treasure indeed. Guard it carefully.

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Copyright ©2005 Steve Singleton, All rights reserved.

Steve Singleton has written and edited several books and numerous articles on subjects of interest to Bible students. He has taught Greek, Bible, and religious studies courses Bible college, university, and adult education programs. He has taught seminars and workshops in 11 states and the Caribbean.

Go to his DeeperStudy.org for Bible study resources, no matter what your level of expertise. Explore “The Shallows,” plumb “The Depths,” or use the well-organized “Study Links” for original sources in English translation. Sign up for Steve’s free “DeeperStudy Newsletter.”

When you are just about to begin to play cricket it is not always easy to decide what you must acquire. If you go into a sportswear equipment retail store & ask them what you require, you will in all probability end up coming out with loads of kit. So, it is best to work out what you will want before you go shopping. That way you are considerably more likely to receive what you demand, as opposed to what the store owner recommends you require.

Below, is more or less a thorough cricket equipment list, you do not require to get all the goods on this list, as various organisations will lend you equipment in particular at youth level:

Cricket whites, cricket bats, balls, helmets, gloves, batting (wicket keeping) inner gloves, wicket keeping gloves, batting pads, wicket keeping pads, box, chest pad, arm guard, inner thigh pad, cricket boots (bowling boots; batting boots), box (groin guard), stumps and bails.

For the majority of sports meetings you will ever play a part in you will need your own set of whites. Cricket whites include white cricket trousers & a cricket shirt. It is very important to ensure that you acquire a correct pair of cricket trousers as well as a good white cricket shirt and jumper as it can get cold if you are standing out on the pitch for a lengthy period of time in particular if you are going to play in England (the start and end of the cricket season are the coldest). For the best deals on cricket equipment supplies, take a look at Sportswear-Equipment.com today.

If you can not borrow equipment from your club the other most important items of equipment are a cricket bat & box. A well built cricket bat is essential if you wish to score plenty of runs & is a very personal piece of equipment, so spend some time picking your bat, if possible you would be recommended to go to a sports store and pick one up before you buy in order for you to know how it feels to hit with. When you know what you want you can often buy bats on the Web significantly cheaper). You need a good box to protect your groin from the ball, as getting hit down below’ is particularly painful, so investing in a good box before you start is a must - you can not bat without one.

We are very pleased to have with us Karen Wright, a new Northwest writer. Welcome to Reader Views Karen.

Irene: Your book “The Sequoia Seed” was partly developed from responses you received in an on-line e-zine. Tell us what this book is about.

Karen: The Sequoia Seed is diary of the human journey. Regardless of where we live, how old we are, or what beliefs we have, we all share a common path to personal growth. On that path we battle with fear, unworthiness, and doubt as we strive to bring our most precious dreams to life.

The Sequoia Seed talks directly about our struggles while also challenging them. Most struggles are self-imposed and habitual. Becoming aware of our unconscious choices and our unlimited potential is what the Sequoia Seed is all about.

Irene: What inspired you to write this book?

Karen: My subscribers. Many of them have been with me for years and lamented that their computers were filled with saved Waking Up messages. They encouraged me to put my writings in a book.

And I suppose, in truth, I wrote The Sequoia Seed because I needed to read it. It’s so ironic that we can intellectually, and even emotionally, understand spiritual truths, yet still fall victim to doubt and fear. So far, I’ve found that whatever degree of enlightenment I’ve achieved to be a sporadic experience! I’m on the path too.

Irene: It certainly gives more meaning to the adage: when the student is ready, the teacher appears. It sounds like your subscribers are your teachers, as you are for them. When you say “subscribers” what do you exactly mean?

Karen: You’re absolutely right about my subscribers being my teachers - either directly with their responses and experiences, or indirectly by allowing me the privilege of living my life under their watchful eyes.

My subscribers are individuals all over the world who’ve requested my online ezine Waking Up. Waking Up, our common human goal, is a bi-monthly essay about real human challenges and spiritual truths. Insights, for me, never come in explosions of enlightenment…they show up in unexpected moments of simple experiences. One day I was walking on a nature trail near my home. It was early fall and leaves were turning color. I was in a particularly deep funk that morning - fear had me by the throat. As I walked I barely noticed my surroundings. Worry, confusion, and panic blinded me to all by my anxious emotions.

I rounded a bend in the trail and stopped dead in my tracks. Before me was the most beautiful field I had ever seen. The dried grasses were backlit from the setting sun and they shone like radiant gold. It was truly stunning. I’m not even sure I was breathing.

Then it struck me. I was no longer in the grip of panic. All my woeful thoughts had vanished in the face of such magnificent beauty. One of life’s truths showed itself to me that day. Fear and beauty cannot co-exist. I wrote about that experience in Waking Up that week. I knew others would resonate. We all succumb to the dreadful paralysis of fear at times. And sometimes it seems like we have no clue how to get out of it. With that glowing field of golden grasses, I was given a ticket out of hell. I remember that when I start to slide into that fear pit. I get up and go outside and sink my bare feet in cool grass or smell a flower or stare at the setting sun. It never fails to calm my run-away mind and remind me that I’m safe.

These are the moments my subscribers sign up for. Moments of remembrance; moments of unity. They’ve written so often that the message was timed perfect for them. I think we share a common path and they feel connected to me, and I to them, in a way that’s hard to describe. And, I supposed, doesn’t need description.

Irene: How did you come up with the name for your book?

Karen: After eighteen months of testing out titles and asking for input from subscribers, I hadn’t found the title. A book’s title is incredibly important and I’d hoped inspiration would strike. One day it did. I was talking to a friend about my wonderful experiences camping and hiking in the Sequoia National Park in California. One my first visit there I spent some time with a park ranger and he told me all about sequoia trees. They are the most massive living thing on the planet and can grow taller than the Statue of Liberty (305 feet), can live for centuries, and the species dates back 157 million years.

A mature sequoia’s bark is three feet thick and has a natural fire-retardant, as does the cone. Cones are incredibly small, about the size of a small chicken egg, and can lie on the forest floor for decades before sprouting. Ironically, what destroys most of the rest of the forest helps the sequoia flourish. Heat from forest fires don’t damage the cone, but allow it to open and release its seeds.

The metaphor is remarkable. Like the incredible potential in a small sequoia seed, we have amazing potential within us. And that potential can lie dormant for years before it takes root. Often the catalyst for our own personal growth comes from our own fires: tragedies and personal crises. It’s at moment of challenges like these when we loosen our grip on what we believe to be true of the world and ourselves and allow a new truth to take root. In these moments of heartbreak, a window opens and we see new possibilities.

Irene: You have inferred that mid-lifers, who suddenly face changes, would benefit from reading this book. What information is particularly targeted toward them?

Karen: I’m not so sure “mid-lifer” is the best description anymore. I’m finding that, regardless of age, people are earnestly seeking more meaning and truth in their lives. I think this state is due more to the state of humanity than the age of a person. But, there are certainly lots of baby boomers searching. Perhaps we need a certain number of years under out belts to discover that the world’s infatuation with material success doesn’t bring much happiness.

Being a baby boomer myself, The Sequoia Seed naturally speaks to those trying to find a new reality. I think Marcel Proust said it best, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” Most of us have spent years trying to change our circumstances and environment, only to find that our efforts have been pretty futile. Frustration often leads us to seek a new tactic. And eventually we realize that our worlds are merely a reflection of ourselves. How we believe the world is, is the experience we have.

The Sequoia Seed shines a light on our common misperceptions and challenges habitual beliefs and behaviors. If someone’s calling is a new way that they could exist, they will certainly see it.

Irene: You claim that fear gets in the way of our possibilities. Why do you believe that fear is so powerful?

Karen: That’s an ancient question that I’m not sure I have the answer to. And perhaps the answer is irrelevant. Whether we understand why fear is powerful or not may not help us overcome it. And this is because fear is an illusion. Fear is our mind’s response to the unknown. It’s a very basic response emanating from our instinctual fight-or-flight limbic brain. Fear is a self-preservation impulse. It’s meant to get our attention, not paralyze us. Yet, we’ve given fear so much power that we feel controlled by it. Ironic, when you realize that we create fear.

Irene: How do you suggest we face that fear?

Karen: I align with many spiritual gurus: don’t fight fear. Fighting it merely gives it more power. Fear should be used as an early warning system, to give us a heads-up for something that needs our attention. After becoming aware of the fear, simply ask if what your mind is telling you is rational. You will most likely see that fear exaggerates and fabricates. Take any fear to the ultimate conclusion and it will tell you that you’re going to die. Even if the fear starts small, it feeds on itself and ends up looking enormous.

For anyone who’s faced a fear, not let it stop them, and did what they were afraid of, they will undoubtedly tell you that once they took action the fear vanished. Fear’s only power is in paralyzing you - hence, the cliché frozen with fear. If you refuse to stop, fear will loosen its grip. In hindsight, you’ll laugh at how afraid you were of nothing. You are much stronger than fear - never forget.

Irene: Negative self-talk and fear go hand-in-hand. We may quit the negative self-talk, give ourselves positive self-talk, put on a happy smile, and yet, the fear hangs on. Why is it so difficult to release the fear?

Karen: Because we believe it’s stronger than we are. And we think that if we just pretend that we’re okay, it will leave. However, fear only resides in our minds and we can’t run away from that. Positive self-talk that isn’t believed is useless. Saying, “I’m whole and complete just the way I am” while you truly feel panicked is a fool’s ploy. Words aren’t stronger than beliefs. And intellect (the source of language) cannot dispel a feeling (fear). You must shift fear where it lives, in your emotions. You must see that it is your mind run amok.

Irene: Many of us have goals and aspirations. Sometimes we get discouraged because we just can’t attain those goals for some reason or another. Yet, we hang on to the vision in hopes that something will change. Why is it so hard to let go of the vision and alter the course?

Karen: As unconscious humans we believe that our aspirations and visions for our life are immutable. We invest our very worthiness in these goals and if we cannot achieve them, we believe we are failures. So, we hang on. Dreams and visions and goals are choices we make. They are not who we are, they are what we do.

A gentleman asked me just today whether I believed that we each were born with a specific purpose - one that determined who we became. I said I did believe that, but not in the way he spoke of it. He felt that his life purpose centered around a specific role he played and specific things he felt compelled to do. He was a born athlete. And he felt great satisfaction in performing in sports. Satisfaction he didn’t feel in other endeavors.

I asked him how playing sports made him feel. Strong, purposeful, happy, triumphant were his words. I asked him if, in a world of endless other endeavors, if he felt it was possible for him to feel those same feelings doing something else. He figured it was possible. My point was that we invest ourselves to much in what we DO, when if we ask why we do what we do, we’ll recognize that we do it to feel a certain way. It’s the feeling we’re really after. What we do is just the vehicle that delivers that feelings.

When we lock a vision of our life into place without allowing that there may be several ways for us to contribute and find peace and satisfaction, we give up that most precious of all gifts: consciousness and choice. Yes, follow your passion, but realize that it can take many paths.

Irene: We impose limitations on ourselves. Tell us how we can break through the self-sabotage and create a limitless life?

Karen: Limitations are a result of believing in our fear; but not a fear of failure. Marianne Williamson says, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.”

We hope we are fabulous, yet we fear that we aren’t. So, we play it safe and live small and hope no one will notice how unworthy we are. We see brave souls reaching high and imagine that they possess talents we don’t have or are meant to succeed. By comparison, we feel undeserving.

It’s so much easier to not try - to invent endless barriers that stand between us and our dreams. If I don’t try I can’t fail, we think. Yet, in the end, not trying will be our biggest failure. We will have paid homage to our imagined fear and let life go untasted.

The question we must all answer is this: Who do I want to be and what do I want my life to be about? The choice is ours; it always has been. It’s not too late and it’s never too soon to choose what gives us joy. We can observe or we can live. But, in the end we will die regardless of our choice. Knowing our destination, as morbid as it seems, is actually a ticket to freedom. The riskiest thing we can do is nothing. It’s what we will most regret.

We’re here for such a brief time. And our experience of that time is totally up to us. Don’t let doubt and fear make your decisions. You won’t like the choices they make. You are a miracle of life with no limits. It’s not only your privilege to live fully, it’s your responsibility to the life you’ve been gifted.

Irene: Thank you so much Karen on taking the time to speak with us. Is there anything else that you would like our readers to know about you and your book?

Karen: It’s been a pleasure. One of my greatest joys is connecting with other spiritual pathfinders. I’d welcome hearing from anyone who feels an urge to contact me. They can find out more about my journey and services on my website: www.wrightminded.com. My services encompass keynote speaking for conferences, facilitating personal development workshops and retreats, and consulting to businesses.

I am particularly drawn to helping women step into leadership roles; whether within their own family or for a nation. The world badly needs us to play at a higher level of contribution and guidance to achieve critical balance. Women, unfortunately, too often question their dreams and second-guess their talents. It’s my focus to help dissolve our fear of showing up more visibly and more powerfully. My workshop, The Choice, is specifically designed to fulfill that need.

Irene Watson is Managing Editor of Reader Views
http://www.readerviews.com

Don’t settle for mediocrity, and don’t settle for just getting by. The universe wants to give you everything in abundance and wants to give you
the life that you dream of. So many people, including myself, at certain times settled for a nine to five job, getting the bills paid, and watching their dreams fade. Don’t be afraid to fail, or fear that you are asking for too much. Ask, put it out there, visualize it, and keep dreaming
about it, keep working towards it until it becomes a reality.

Just because you are dreaming big, doesn’t mean
that you don’t have to work your tail off. You do have to
work. You have to create opportunities for yourself, you
have to listen to the holy spirit who can give you guidance
as how to do something, who to meet, or where to do it.
Then you have to go and do it, meet the person that you
need to meet, do the work, raise the money, follow up,
encourage yourself, keep working and perfecting
yourself in your craft, keep challenging yourself.

Finally when what you have been dreaming about is
presented to you, you have to receive it. Don’t hesitate
when opportunities come your way. Don’t talk defeat to
yourself and say that you are not worthy, etc. This is
just one of these mental loops. Receive and receive big.
Dreams are done in little steps. You mount
each step before you get up to the gold medal platform.
Your step leads you to be in the right place for the next
part to be given to you. Receive! Step up!! You
need to learn to recognize the right moments and the
help that is given to you along the way. You need
to discern within yourself when something is part of your
dream. or when or when you are being misled. Listening
within to the Spirit of the Light will keep you on the
right path towards your dream. You have to recognize
when, even though something seems very little, it could
be a very significant step for your dream to become a
reality. You have to trust that prompting and leading.
But in following your dream, you still need to keep
your discipline, your purity of heart and mind, and your
childlike spirit.

When you have wealth, and your dreams
are fulfilled, it is also easy to lose everything by being
corrupted by greed, drugs, alcohol and addictions, arrogance,
waste, and impure living. You need to do
everything with balance. You need to maintain balance
in your dreams and your life. You need to have
gratitude for the places that you have reached and the
help that you received along the way. Remember, no
one does it alone. God and the universe helped you
each step of the way. Family and friends, and other
people helped you, and believed in you, and gave to your
dream. God and the universe create abundance also so
that you can share that great fortune with those that have less
than you. But giving also needs to be done with balance.
To determine when you give, and to whom you give, you need
to seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Everything is interrelated.

One of the biggest elements to achieving your dreams
is to trust the universe that you are being led to the
right person or place, that God wants the absolute best for
your life and wants you to reach the biggest dreams that
you can imagine. Dream big, talk big, and work for it.

Trust that God really wants you to live your dream and be
very happy. Keep yourself open to new promptings, and
new things, because you never know where they might
lead you. God is a god of abundance and wants you to
succeed, and want you do what makes you happy and joyful.
If you achieve your dreams with balance, and live your life
with balance, you will always maintain that joyful place.
Don’t get caught up with the status of something, or the designer
names. In five years or twenty years from now, those things
won’t mean anything to you or anybody. How you lived
your life, for yourself, your family and children– that is what
matters. What you gave, how you encouraged, or who was
with you at that moment is important. At the end of your life can you look back and say, “I did everything that I wanted to do. I really enjoyed this life, and the people that were here. I did well.”

Look around you and you will see someone dreams
that have long since become real. Walt Disney was a
man with a great dream and vision. Disney Land,
Disney World, and the Epcot Center were some of his dreams.
Millions of visitors pass through his properties every day
and share his vision and dreams. They live it. Famous
Amos created some of the most delicious chocolate chip
cookies in America. He marketed his cookies himself.

First he sold them to his friends and family, and then he
began to market the cookies on a bigger scale. The demand
became so great, that I’m sure he had to hire several people,
and he certainly achieved millionaire status.
Mary Kay Cosmetics was created by one woman who
sold her products door to door; now the world over
knows the name Mary Kay Cosmetics. Microsoft Office is
known around the world and it is packaged on nearly 80% of
computers sold. Steve Jobs started Apple computer
in his garage. Now the Mac computer is probably the second
most popular computer in the world.

Whatever you like to do, whatever you like to work
with, can become a huge success. Passion helps to
launch dreams. You have to put your heart and soul into it.
You have to work to break through. But once you do you
will have achieved the whole world. A singer can sing all
over the world. Gourmet Food can be shipped all over the
world. Skin care products are known by women and men
anywhere. Live it, dream it, put it out there, but do it,
don’t wait. This day is gone tomorrow.

Yoga Kat–aka Katheryn Hoban is a yoga teacher with twelve years experience. She teaches children’s yoga ages 3-6, and 7-12 and Adults privately in NJ. She is the author the book DAUGHTER BELOVED which will come out next year. She has created a children’s affirmation CD (ages 3-6) and an affirmation CD for adults. Yoga Kat is available for speaking or writing and can be reached at katscoolcorner@yahoo.com or 201 970-9340

Are you plagued by a computer system that slowing down to a crawl? How many “blue screens of death” have you seen in the last month? Is restarting your computer useless and lengthy? Well, before you toss the computer out the window with the latest in a plethora of DLL and “mystery” errors, it might be time to find out a little bit about your registry.

So what is a registry?

Every Windows operating system has a registry which holds a wealth of information about your computer. You will find that after using your PC for a short length of time, it longer works the way it did when you first purchased it. It starts slowing down, hiccupping and giving you errors that you don’t understand. Let’s face it, Microsoft errors are not exactly user-friendly.

How does it do that

Another way to look at the Windows registry is that it is a database which stores settings and options for the operating system for Windows 32-bit versions, 64-bit versions and Windows Mobile. It contains information and settings for all your hardware, software, users, and preferences. Whenever a user makes changes to “Control Panel” settings, or file associations, system policies, or installed software, the changes are reflected and stored in the registry. Constant changing, addition and removal of software, changing user preferences and the like makes for registry errors which in turn slows your computer down and leads to those frustrating shutdowns, freeze-ups and harrassing errors.

Where do these errors come from?

Many of these errors are due in part to invalid entries that exist in your system registry, that might exist because of software you once used and are no longer using was not properly removed. Just by removing these invalid entries, you can significantly increase the performance of your PC.

So, how do you fix it?

Actually, nowadays it’s pretty easy. There are tons of software on the market that allow you to clean-up and reconfigure your registry so that your computer acts like it did when you first took it out of the box. There are many automatic system utility software programs that range from shareware and freeware to low cost which allows you to clean up your registry. These include Registry Mechanic and Registry Fix.

So, before you toss out that laptop, try a registry fix. By the way, if you want links to good Registry fixing software that’s both effective and inexpensive, visit The Writing Buzz and click on the Registry category.

One of the first things you learned about Frame is that the LMI also serves as a keepalive, or a heartbeat - and if three consecutive LMIs are missed, the line protocol goes down. There’s a limitation to LMI as a keepalive, though. The LMI is exchanged only between the DTE and the closest DCE. The LMI is therefore a local keepalive that does not reflect any possible issues on the remote end of the virtual circuit.

Taking the LMI concept to the next logical level, Frame Relay End-To-End Keepalives (FREEK, one of the least-heard Cisco acronyms for some reason) are used to verify that endpoint-to-endpoint communications are functioning properly.

What you have to keep in mind about FREEK is that each and every PVC needs two separate keepalive processes. Remember, with a PVC, there’s no guarantee that the path taking through the frame relay cloud to get from R1 to R2 is going to be the same path taken to go back from R2 to R1. One process will be used to send requests for information and handle the responses to these requests; this is the send side. When the send side transmits a keepalive request, a response is expected in a certain number of seconds. If one is not received, an error event is noted. If enough error events are recorded, the VC’s keepalive status is marked as down.

The process that responds to the other side’s requests is the receive side.

This being Cisco, we’ve got to have some modes, right? FREEK has four operational modes.

Bidirectional mode enables both the send and receive process enabled on the router, meaning that the router will send requests and process responses (send side) and will also respond to remote requests for information (receive side).

Request mode enables only the send process. The router will send requests and process responses to those requests, but will not answer requests from other routers.

Reply mode enables only the receive process. The router will respond to requests from other routers but will initiate no requests of its own.

Finally, passive reply mode allows the router to respond to requests, but no timers are set and no events are tracked.

Frame Relay End-To-End Keepalive defaults:

Two send or receive errors must be registered in order for the VC to be considered down.

The event window size is three. The event window is the number of events considered by the router when determining the status of the VC. Therefore, using the defaults, two send or receive errors would have to be received within the event window of three events for the VC to be considered down.

The timer mentioned earlier - the amount of time a router waits for a response - is set to 10 seconds

Working with Frame Relay end-to-end keepalives is just one Frame skill you’ll need to pass the CCNP exams - and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them on a CCIE exam. Know the details and you’re on your way to Cisco certification exam success!

Wisdom and knowledge come from the same family but are as different as apples and watermelons. What we call common wisdom is what made you expect me to say oranges instead of watermelons. Common wisdom flows off the tongue like water over the falls but doesn’t always require that the brain be fully engaged. Some people call this, the common wisdom of the day. This particular kind of wisdom is rarely examined for truth or any other useful quality. It is commonly accepted because it is so commonly heard. It is much like an unpaid commercial that we set into motion not knowing where it came from and with little regard to whether it is true or not. It is like an old pal who always steps in to keep a conversation going when we run low on original ideas. It is almost never questioned and in most conversation, it is only a matter of who is going to say it first. Some of these sayings so glibly passed around among us are innocuous, while others are outright misleading and sometimes dangerous. Here are five of them that should be challenged, examined, analyzed and if reason prevails, will finally be put out to pasture.

Crime Doesn’t Pay: Oh really. Who is sponsoring the myriad of television programs like, CSI, Law and Order, Cold Case Files, FBI, City Confidential, Cops and many others? Of course the criminals weren’t thinking of this when the committed their crimes and we are not thinking of it when we see their stories but someone thought it out very carefully. They knew this was a goldmine. They knew they could sell their products and goods on the backs of the victims of these crimes and through the medium of the public’s natural curiosity. Crime does pay; in fact it is an industry that pays in the millions. Perhaps it is time that we insist that some portion of the earnings from these sponsors was used against crime. Funds could be set aside for rehabilitation, prevention, law enforcement, education and prison ministries. Some states have enacted legislation that prevents the perpetrators of crimes to profit from their misdeeds through the publication of books and articles. Why not hold accountable others who are profiting from their misdeeds? Does this seem unlikely? It is not. If people can boycott a certain product or program why can’t they also begin a movement to engage the producers and sponsors to contribute to the cause of crime prevention or help for victims? Has anyone asked them? This is not an idea whose time has come but rather it is an idea that is long overdue.

Reverse Psychology: Please read every word in this paragraph. If this far fetched notion were founded at all you wouldn’t be on this sentence. What parent has not been heard voicing the reverse psychology notion? We have started to take seriously the idea that the only reason your teenager is doing something you don’t like is that you have told him or her not to do it. The Catholic Church has misled many people with the idea that we are all straddled with something called original sin. The bible quite clearly says that is not so. What it does say, is that man is born with a sin nature or a natural proclivity to sin. We sin, not because we are told not to sin, but because it is in our nature. If we’re going to take this lame saying seriously, then why aren’t we demanding that our kids be lazy, do everything wrong and take drugs? Then we could sit back and watch them do just the opposite? Why would God have wasted his time with Ten Commandments? Couldn’t He have done better with the ten sinful options? Maybe we should be grateful that God doesn’t have any notions.

How Much Are You Worth: Your mind may have already begun to drift toward your last bank statement or the assessed value of your home by now. If this were a magazine like Forbes or Fortune 500 you wouldn’t think twice about whether that is what the question was referring to. As a boy I remember a teacher telling us that the chemicals and other elements in our body were worth a little over a dollar. Inflation and other factors have since brought the figure up to a little over four dollars. Jesus said, a mans life is never measured by the things he possesses, Lk 12:15. A recent television show featured people who had succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. They had acquired everything they had ever hoped for and more. The one thing they had in common besides money was the feeling that they were totally unfulfilled. Many of them went searching for meaning by becoming volunteers, or joining charitable organizations, churches, prison ministries and other service oriented endeavors. Their net worth did not cut it for them in the most traditional sense of the word. People spend the last few years of their lives getting their business in order. That usually means they are arranging for the transfer of their personal wealth or property. Why is it that you needn’t tell dying men that their net worth is not worth a whole lot? What man wouldn’t give up a fortune to be able to cancel his last breath and go on living? Christ has told us that we are of inestimable value to both Him and His Father. We have an eternal value placed on us from above, and there is not enough money in this world to pay for even the least of us. How much are you worth?

Science And The Bible Don’t Agree: When most of the world was afraid to sail too far out on the ocean for fear of falling off the edge of the world, the Bible clearly indicated that the world was round. It was the church that condemned Galileo for saying the sun and the planets revolved around the earth, it was not the Bible. Science has made a poor showing of trying to explain the Bible. Fortunately, it has also made a poor showing for disproving the Bible as well. The Bible on the other hand doesn’t even enter the fray. It never argues with the findings of legitimate science. It has indicated that God intended for man to know and name just about everything on the earth, it is called taking dominion. God doesn’t foster stupidity and having blind faith is not God’s plan to keep us blissfully un-informed. The best answer that can be given to anyone about this absurd notion is contained in the following. Science is the book of how, the Bible is the book of why.

Maybe God Used Evolution To Create Man: To argue against the evidence would take more space than allowed here for the task. But don’t be fooled the Scopes Monkey Trial will go down in history as the only bout ever won by the evolutionists. All anyone has to do is put up the words “creation science” on any good internet search engine. The material fed back from that phrase alone would keep them busy for weeks. The evidence against the evolutionary model is mounting exponentially as opposed to the few finds the evolutionist are claiming. The power of the evolutionary model is no longer in its facts but now it is largely in its momentum. It is hard to stop a speeding train. There is much now to refute this secular pipe dream but it is not just the evidence that is failing the evolutionist it is their philosophy. Science which is otherwise known as empiricism has popped the bounds of its own definitions. By definition science is the procuring of data by and through repeatable, observable phenomena. When scientists make statements about something that happened millions of years past the have left the realm of empiricism. Since no one was there to see the phenomena in question much less to repeat it, such statements are now only speculative, conjectural and akin to simple guesswork. Such speculation is in the realm of “prior philosophic postulate”. In plain English that is the exact equivalent of faith.

The belief that God used evolution to make man, speaks of a faithless generation. It also speaks of a generation of Christians who haven’t noticed that they are worshipping a God who after all may only be a liar. And God’s Son bought into that lie so how can we expect a liar to provide the whole world with the kind of truth that universally saves men. In street terms we are speaking of gutless Christians but for the sake of diplomacy let’s say they aren’t too willing to take a firm stand. The apostle Paul wasn’t as gentle as I have been. He said we should let God be true and every man a liar, Romans 3:4. I think I’ll stand with Paul on this one.

Rev Bresciani is the leader of a non-denominational ministry in the New Orleans area. He has written many articles over the past thirty years in such periodicals as Guideposts and Catholic Digest. He is the author of two books available on Amazon.com, Alibris, Barnes and Noble and many other places. Rev Bresciani wrote, Hook Line and Sinker or What has Your Church Been Teaching You, published by PublishAmerica of Baltimore MD. He also wrote a book recently released by Xulon Press entitled An American Prophet and His Message, Questions and Answers on the Second Coming of Christ. Rev Bresciani has his own website at http://americanprophet.org

(Chinese Solar Year : 04.02.2006 to 03.02.2007)

Flying Stars or Fei Xing is a powerful form of Feng Shui derived from the famous Xuan Kong Fengshui. It is an Analysis of the Five Elements and Star Combinations (representing certain energy patterns) that occupy every building. Each new year these annual stars change, Qi (energy) shifts happen, bringing good and bad energy with them - thereby producing different effects.

In February 2004 all the Feng Shui Energy Patterns underwent huge transformations to the NewAge of Land Luck called Period 8 Energy Cycles. It means that a large scale evolution of the human race with completely new energy dynamics has started. The significance is that the new, vibrant energies of Period 8 impacts on the buildings differently than before and energies that were previously activated now need to be remedied, in order to reduce any bad effects from the past influences.

The Flying Stars Chart or the 9-Grid Meteor Plan for the Bing-Xu, Year of the Yang Red Fire Dog has been plotted and the effects of their energy patterns are analyzed. The analysis also contains suggested remedies/cures for reducing the impact of negative energy and recommended enhancers for increasing and improving upon the beneficial energy.

For the remedies/enhancers to be effective, they should be cleansed, energised, blessed and programmed not only for the particular individual/family but also for the specific purpose/problem. They should also be placed in the indicated location.

The direction in which your main door lies is very important to any form of Geomancy, including Fengshui & Vaastu. The primary reason for this is that the air currents and energy flow in and flow out through the mouth of the main door. Thus you receive positive energy for the year, if the main door faces a direction of auspicious stars or meteors (powerful energy bodies) and receive negative energy for the year, if the main door faces a direction of evil stars or meteors. In case negative impacts are forecast, you can simply offset the negative energy by installing the recommended remedies there. Any or all of these remedies can be reused for the coming years, the only thing is that they should be repositioned according to the new year.

Please note that the effects may be felt in varying degrees depending upon the exact compass degree of the main door.

ANNUAL FORECAST & REMEDIES FOR FLATS/HOMES/OFFICES/FACTORIES WITH MAIN DOOR FACING SOUTH WEST :

A good year where the Celebration Star brings you good name, fame and prosperity. There will also be many occasions to celebrate : awards, rewards, achievements, increments, promotions, governmental recognitions, pregnancy, new births, marriages, etc. Business people will expand the existing setup and embark on new ventures. Previous investments will payoff now and there will be surplus moneyflow. Those in employment will get promotions and increments. Females will fare better than males.

If any of you are in marketing or medical line; real estates, food or in education fields, you will flourish more. If any of you are in metal business, including jewellry, you may not get it that good. To enhance the Wealth Chi, you may place a Fengshui Water Fountain near your main door.

If you wish to have a marriage or childbirth within the year, install a potted plant with large leaves, near your main door. Light up a small green bulb that will continuously burn, 24/7, outside your main door. Minimise the colours black and blue here. Use red or green coloured pillow covers and bedspreads in the bedroom.

If any of your family is, according to the Chinese Zodiac, a Dragon or Dog or Ox or Rooster, they should wear an Amethyst Crystal Pendant around their neck. When any of these people have to sign any documents, make sure of all the fine print.

Display the “Safety Talisman for 2006″ in the North West sector and carry a miniature version of it always.

Door Mat Colour for the Main Door : Green or Red (on the outside).

COMMON MINIMUM REMEDY FOR ALL BUILDINGS FOR 2006 :

To minimise damage due to gossiping and rumours, arguments and disputes, avoid the colours green and blue in the center of your home. Do not place any moving water features like fish aquarium or water fountains here. Display 8 red roses without thorns and leaves in the center of your home/office/building and light up a small red coloured bulb which will burn continuously, 24/7. This is applicable for all buildings, irrespective of the direction of the main doors.

This is copyrighted work. Permission is granted to republish (both in electronic media as well as print media) the article in it’s entirety only, including the full bio of the author and his links. All links should be “clickable” hyperlinks. An acknowledgement mail from Republishers will be appreciated.

The Author of this article Sri Janarrdhana Guptha is an Energy Consultant, Vaastu & Fengshui Researcher, Crystal Master and a Clairvoyant Karma Reader. His speciality is in permanent, life-time Remedial Solutions, especially Crystal Energy Fields. His wife Srimathi Kalpana Guptha is also a Psychic Reader. The Energy Couple can be reached through crystalvaastu@yahoo.com
or either of their websites:
http://www.newage-kabbalah-numerology.com or
http://www.crystal-vaastu.com/home.htm.

Janarrdhana Guptha has authored the book titled “Guide to Fengshui Good Luck Symbols”. He writes regularly in leading English & Tamil Magazines from India. More of his articles can be read at his blog : http://www.spaces.msn.com/members/crystal-vaastu/.

Usually, whenever people get sick their overall attitude about the world turns from rosy to gloomy. When feeling ill most people are not excited about anything and look at most tasks as a chore. They do not talk much. They feel pessimistic. They dwell on their misery, pity themselves and feel there is no escape. This is exactly how Satan wants us to feel. He wants us to be miserable, just like he is. By adding a positive perspective and focusing on our eternal destiny, we can rise above this despair, knowing that such privations are minuscule and benefit us by strengthening and refining us.

Strong faith is the foundation on which a strong will to endure must be built. By developing unwavering faith in Jesus Christ, we will be better able to endure adversity well. Coupled with faith we must also have determination. Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary defines determination as “the mental habit of settling upon some line of action with a fixed purpose to adhere to it; adherence to aims or purposes; resoluteness.” The phrase the dictionary uses to put the word in context is “a man of determination.” Let us be men and women of determination, strictly obeying the commandments of our loving God; determined to succeed no matter what obstacle is placed in our paths.

In order to endure trials well, we must have discipline. We must not let ourselves become enslaved to TV, the Internet, video games and other frivolous pursuits. By engaging excessively in such distractions, we are idling away our precious time. With discipline, we can refrain from such amusements and engage in more worthwhile activities. By instituting stricter discipline in our lives, we will be better able to withstand the vices we could fall into in attempts to escape our trials.

Prayer is also essential in endurance. We must humble ourselves, get on our knees and thank Heavenly Father for all of our blessings, even our trials. Furthermore, in the midst of our trials we should pray for the strength to endure. If we have the necessary faith, determination and discipline, our prayers will be answered and we will receive the strength we seek.

At the end of the movie Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker demonstrates many characteristics essential for endurance. First, he obeys the command of both Yoda and the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi by facing his father, Darth Vader, so that he can complete his Jedi training. While on the forest moon of Endor, Luke surrenders himself to The Empire’s guards, who take him to Darth Vader and The Emperor. He shows the courage of faith in the encounter, not knowing beforehand how the meeting will end or even if he will make it out alive. He has a determination to succeed, faith in The Force and faith that there is still good in his father. As the meeting begins, the Emperor tries to incite anger in young Luke by showing him the beating the Rebel force is taking outside the Death Star. The Emperor’s tactics work for a little while as Luke engages his father in a duel with their light sabers. After cutting off his father’s hand, Luke allows discipline to take over, throws his light saber to the ground and announces to The Emperor that he will never turn to the Dark Side. Seeing this, The Emperor tells Luke that since he will not turn to the Dark Side he will die. The Emperor then starts shocking Luke with what looks like lightning coming from his fingertips. Luke exhibits longsuffering in enduring The Emperor’s wrath. Unable to watch The Emperor kill his only son, Darth Vader feels compassion and with his last ounce of strength picks up The Emperor and throws him down a seemingly bottomless shaft of the Death Star. Luke’s faith, determination, discipline, obedience and longsuffering help him endure and succeed.

Seldom will we know the reason we undergo specific trials while they are happening. Later on, when the tribulation has passed, looking back we realize why we needed to go through it. In this life we will constantly be tried. We will be given line up on line the experiences necessary to prove ourselves faithful and strengthen us while on our eternal course. Whenever discouraged, we need only to remember the supreme example of endurance, Jesus Christ, who suffered more than anyone of us will ever will without a single complaint.

This article may be used for reprint as long as authors byline and live link is intact.

C.F. Bettridge has had a love for writing since childhood. She has written plays, poetry and many articles. Her latest e-book titled End Time Secrets can be found at http://endtimesecrets.com.

It seems obvious how a sailboat sails downwind: It is pushed along by the wind in its sails. Less obvious is how it can sail upwind or how some sailboats can sail faster than the wind.

Sir Isaac Newton formulated three basic laws that pertain to the motions and accelerations of all objects.

Let us have a look at the third law: For any force exerted on an object, an equal but opposite force must be exerted by that object onto whatever exerted the force. A direct consequence of this law is the conservation of momentum (Momentum equals mass times velocity). The conservation of momentum tells us that if the velocity of one thing is somehow changed (in either magnitude or direction) that the velocity of something else must also change accordingly. Moreover, a large change in velocity of a light object can be balanced by a small change in velocity of a massive object. This is, of course, how a sailboat sails. Because of its large sail area, a sailboat can change the velocity of a huge amount of air in a small amount of direction or speed. The change of velocity that the sailboat imparts to the air hitting her sails is mainly a change in the direction in which the air is moving. So a sailboat can experience a large driving force even when she is sailing against the wind. In the real world, there are two forces. One is the wind pushing on the sail when it is changing direction. The air traveling over the leeward surface of the cambered sail creates the second force. It has to travel a longer way to reach the end of the sail (the leech), and as a consequence goes faster. This is causing a pressure differential in accordance with Bernoulli’s principle. (More speed gives less pressure and less speed gives more pressure).

So a sailboat can sail upwind with the addition of these two forces. But remember that the force created by the depression is four times bigger that the one created by pushing the air sideways. A fluid flow exerts a force upon an object in a direction perpendicular to the uninterrupted flow of that fluid. As a result, a lift is generated. But there is also creation of a drag that is a force acting in the direction of the fluid.Because lift and drag are defined as being perpendicular to one another, any force acting on a sail can, using trigonometry, be divided into a lift component and a drag component. By separating the force into these two components, we can study the relationships between lift, drag, the shape of the sail, and the angle between the sail and the airflow( AOA or Angle Of Attack with the Greek letter)

Sailing is not a complicated sport. Anyone can do it and enjoy it. Spend time on the water You just need to take a little time on the water. Trying and collecting experience is one of the best way to learn. I am sure you will have a great time on the water. You can start just by yourself. Plenty of sailors started buying, renting, borrowing or otherwise obtaining a boat for their first sail without any knowledge. Let me say that you have to take care because it could be hazardous to your health. Get the Right Boat For a child, learning to sail in a dinghy seems natural. For an adult, it is not so simple. You react less by instinct and fear to go on this unstable machine could surface. For this reason, many people opt for a larger, seemingly more forgiving big boat to learn on. It is another way, but they miss out on a pure form of sailing not experienced in larger boats. Is it Dangerous? Which danger could threaten you on a small sailing boat? You could tip over. It is called “Capsize”. Capsizing and learning to right your boat again are all part of the learning process and could be fun. With the fear of capsize behind you, you will be able to concentrate wholly on sailing maneuvers instead of constantly worrying about getting wet. Don’t wait and Jump Remember, you told everyone that you would like to become a sailor and go across oceans… Well, it’s time to make good on that. At first, gauge how you feel about the water. During your last summer vacation, did you jump right in the water or did you cautiously wade in? Okay, I agree it could depend of the weather and the temperature of the water. But if you’re a jumper, you can stop reading here. Just take a day off from the office, buy or rent a boat, or ask an old friend sailor to come with you, and get out of here! If you’re still with me, then you’re a wader. Don’t worry. I am not a jumper too, and I sailed during the last 40 years having fun. It is difficult for me to take the decision to go, but if I fall, by accident,in the (cold) water, it is not such a big problem for me. The more I think about, the less I go… Have no fear. Nobody is going to splash you. Let’s start with dipping our toes into the water. The way to do that with sailing is to go out and buy a few books about the sport. Stay away from anything boring, technical, or overly historical. You need an easy book, with a lot of drawings, and nice to read. Lobbying, Lobbying Now let’s go to a more serious work. Figure out a way to catch an invitation onto a sailboat. The important thing is to get sailing. You can pay to go on a sailing boat with skipper, or twist a friend’s arm to be invited aboard his next sail. I don’t care the method. You need to go on the water. As a good info, it is very rare to be sick on small boats. You are outside, in the wind, all thing concurring to have you feeling well. Just take care not to do a race with a crazy guy who will cure you of sailing. You have to start with a mellow sailing day. Take a Course It’s time to move on to the second step. Find an adult sailing course and sign up for it. Personally, I would recommend taking your first lessons in a small sailing boat, a dinghy. For sailing courses they are designed for beginners. They will give you an immediate response to any shifts in the variables that affect sailing (weight, wind, waves, and weather). If your wife (or your husband, boyfriend or girlfriend) wants to learn sailing too, take separate classes. It’s difficult enough to learn a new sport without having your partner watching over your shoulder at every step of the way. It will be time later to sail (and should the occasion arise, to fight) all together, as an old couple, on the same boat.

For more information on sailing please visit the sailing resource center at Home SecurityResource Center