Friday, October 31, 2014

HALLOWEEN?

HALLOWEEN?
Why Christians should embrace the devilish holiday with gusto and laughter.
A few years back, our local Christian radio station ran a poll asking whether Halloween is spiritually harmful. The response from a predominantly evangelical audience here in Alberta was two-to-one against Halloween. This did not surprise me. It is now popular in some Christian circles to repudiate any celebration of All Hallows Eve = Halloween.

"We all know what day is coming," said a young woman who sang in the choir of the Church my wife and I attended. "For I think we need to be in prayer that the evil powers and principalities be held in check over this next weekend." Halloween fell on a Sunday that year, making the event seem all the more sinister. On the calendar October 31 sits in a dark square with no acknowledgment that there is anything special about the date.

"It's Satan's Holiday," affirmed one of my Christian Brethren. "Didn't you know?"
Well, no, I didn't know. And I am reluctant to give up what was one of the highlights of my childhood calendar to the Great Impostor and Chief of Liars for no reason except that some of his servants claim that it is his.
Give up nothing!

I have always considered Halloween a day to celebrate the imagination, to become for a short time something wonderful and strange, smelling of grease paint, to taste sweets that are permissible only once a year. How wonderful to be with other children dressed up as what they might grow up to be, what they wished they could be, or even what they secretly feared. All of us, dreams and nightmares, were brought together on equal footing, going from door to door to be given treats and admired for our creativity. How delightful to go to parties with doughnuts, apples, brown cider, and pumpkin cakes—and to hear spine-tingling ghost stories and feel our hearts skip a beat when the teller grabbed for us.
Now some are pressuring us to give this all up, and they use what is for some of us the most difficult argument to answer: it's the "Christian" thing to do.

Some Christians shun make-believe. Such believers feel that a young Christian's mind should never long to be in lands where little men have fuzzy feet, dragons breathe fire, and horses have wings. Instead, they maintain that a Christian should be caught up in the here and now of the "real" world. Defending the reality of fiction and the value of fantasy requires an entirely different essay.

Christians certainly may be leery of sharing anything with modern pagans and Satanists who claim Halloween as theirs. But who gave these individuals the right to claim the holiday? If they are Druids, they are celebrating Samhain, which is not Halloween but an even older holiday. As for Satanists, their calendar is a perversion of Christian seasons—there would be no Satanists if there were no Christians. Let them claim all they want.
I give them nothing!!

"But look at the roots of Halloween," some may say. "Don't you see how evil it once was?" I do, but the operative word in that sentence is was. Samhain was once a time of fear and dread, but at one time so was Yule or Midvinterblot, as it was called in Sweden. Toward the time of the winter solstice, the days became shorter and colder. The land was laid waste. In pagan times, to keep the fire of the life-giving sun alight, people often made sacrifices before a great oak tree. Boniface is supposed to have stopped one such sacrifice and instituted the indoor Christmas tree at the same time. The burning of such logs in the midst of sacrifice has come down to us as the traditions of burning Yule logs and enjoying Christmas trees.

I'm not suggesting fir trees and Yule logs be banned from Christmas; I'm only demonstrating what has happened time and again in history. For our pagan ancestors, the holidays that marked the great seasonal changes were often fearful, terrible, and dark. But with the coming of JESUS CHRIST came a great light that reclaimed not only individuals but also the holidays they celebrated. In the case of Midvinterblot and Yule, the holidays that once marked the terrible price required to provide light instead began to express the joyous arrival of GOD's true light.
Laughing away our fears and foes...

What would a reclaimed Halloween express? In our culture, Halloween traditionally has allowed us to look at what frightens us to experience it, to laugh at it, and to come through it. So at the end of October, we are visited by cute Caspers, laughing pumpkin heads, and goofy ghouls, even Klingons.

Should the forces of evil be mocked? Should Satan be laughed at? He most certainly should be! At the beginning of The Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis includes two telling quotations, the first from Martin Luther: "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear scorn."

The second comes from Thomas More: "The devil, the proud spirit cannot endure to be mocked."
The one thing Satan cannot bear is to be a source of laughter. His pride is undermined by his own knowledge that his infernal rebellion against GOD is in reality an absurd farce. Hating laughter, he demands to be taken seriously. Indeed, I would say that those Christians who spend the night of October 31 filled with concern over what evils might be (and sometimes are) taking place are doing the very thing Lucifer wants them to do. By giving him this respect, such believers are giving his authority credence.

Warning: “not all believers should celebrate Halloween.” For those who have been redeemed from the occult, Halloween in its foolishness may contain what was for them deadly seriousness. While their souls were in deadly peril, however, what they experienced were lies and illusions.

It is understandable that they look with horror upon what once enslaved them. Such sensitivity may be appropriate for them, but it is not appropriate for the majority of Christians. Holding their opinions as appropriate for most believers is like having a former bulimic dictate how Christians should regard church hot-plate socials.
Christians should instead celebrate Halloween with gusto. If we follow the traditional formula of having a good time at his expense, Satan flees.

In any event, I doubt the anti-Halloween party will prevail. This tactic was tried before—with Christmas. In the 17th century, because of its pagan ancestry and because it was a Roman Catholic holiday (Christ-mass!), many Protestants decided that true believers should not recognize Christmas. In 1620 our pilgrim forefathers purposely started unloading the Mayflower on Christmas Day to make the point to the crew that they were not going to observe such an evil day.

I'm glad those believers—however well-intended—failed. How bleak and desolate would a winter's December be without Christmas! We could have lost our chance to celebrate Christ's first coming and a chance to witness to the world, as I fear those pilgrims lost a chance to witness to those sailors.

If we give up All Hallows Eve, we lose the delight of GOD's gift of imagination and we condemn the rest of society to a darker Halloween because our laughter will not be there to make the devil run! So “Boo!”- in the name of JESUS CHRIST ;)
Posted by Sir Richard,
A Christian Klingon... Qapla!'

Thursday, October 30, 2014

TODAY IS MY 10th CHRISTIAN BIRTHDAY!

TODAY IS MY 10th CHRISTIAN BIRTHDAY!
Today is my Christian Birthday, for on October 30th 2004 is the day.
For which I was reborn, in the name of JESUS CHRIST.
I Praise our LORD GOD, as thy humble knight remembers this 10th year of my rebirth,
for I write:

AS I DRAW CLOSER AND CLOSER HOME
Lord each day, is fully lived as only You would wish of thee.
I take in each second at a time, each minute, every hour,
another day, another month, yet another year,
of Your daily blessings to me.

My Love for all Your things, all creatures great and small, sunrise,
sunset, a clear mountain stream, my fellow man and woman.
A Love which only You can bestow on us all.
A Love if we want, we can actually all share.
As I rejoice in Your name; O My Lord GOD!

For in the future, when my moment draws near.
As thy humble knight in full but battered armour did repent,
on bent knees.
So through You, I shall and have been,
made righteous, before Your Holy Throne.
For thy humble knight's heart is about to explode.
As I draw closer and closer to home.
 Written by,
Sir Richard
A knight in thy service of the King of Kings!
THIS KNIGHT’S OATH:
Have nigh fear in the face of your enemies.
Be brave and upright, as GOD might Love thee.
Speak the truth always.
Safeguard the helpless!
Do No Wrong…
In the name of GOD the Father, CHRIST JESUS and the HOLY SPIRIT,
Amen.
P.S.: "GOD will never take you, where the Grace of GOD will not protect you!"

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

BE HOPEFUL – BE YOU!

BE HOPEFUL – BE YOU!
I believe in heaven but I don’t want to be, the first to see it!
I believe no matter what religion we could co-exist,
I think that’s what GOD would really wish.
Dear Shooter…
Psalm 55
Listen to my prayer, O GOD,    do not ignore my plea;    hear me and answer me.My thoughts trouble me and I am distraught
    because of what my enemy is saying,
    because of the threats of the wicked;
for they bring down suffering on me
    and assail me in their anger.

 My heart is in anguish within me;
    the terrors of death have fallen on me.
 Fear and trembling have beset me;

    horror has overwhelmed me.
 I said, “Oh, that I had the wings of a dove!
    I would fly away and be at rest.
 I would flee far away
    and stay in the desert;
 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
    far from the tempest and storm.”

 LORD, confuse the wicked; confound their words,
   
for I see violence and strife in the city.
 Day and night they prowl about on its walls;

    malice and abuse are within it.
 Destructive forces are at work in the city;
    threats and lies never leave its streets.

 If an enemy were insulting me,    I could endure it;
if a foe were rising against me,
    I could hide.
 But it is you, a man like myself,

    my companion, my close friend,
 with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
    at the house of GOD,
as we walked about
    among the worshipers.

 Let death take my enemies by surprise;
   
let them go down alive to the realm of the dead,
    for evil finds lodging among them.

 As for me, I call to GOD,    and the LORD saves me. Evening, morning and noon    I cry out in distress,
    and He hears my voice.
 He rescues me unharmed
    from the battle waged against me,
    even though many oppose me.
 GOD, who is enthroned from of old,
    who does not change,
He will hear them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of GOD.

 My companion attacks his friends;
   
he violates his covenant. His talk is smooth as butter,
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
   
yet they are drawn swords.

 Cast your cares on the LORD
    and He will sustain you;
He will never let
    the righteous be shaken.
 But you, GOD, will bring down the wicked

    into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
    will not live out half their days.
But as for me, I trust in You.
Posted by Richard, for I ask;
Would I lie to you?

FEMALE KURDISH FIGHTERS

FEMALE KURDISH FIGHTERS
#ISIS male fighters are “TERRIFIED” of being killed by a Female Kurdish Fighter.
Because the male ISIS fighters believe that if they are killed by a Female Kurdish Fighter,
then they will not go to paradise!
This F.Y.I. is posted by
Sir Richard...

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

RICHARD’S PROWLER?

RICHARD’S PROWLER?
This morning Oct. 28th, 2014, as I walked my puppy dogs across the other side of the park between 6:55 am - 7:20 am. I watched this guy; age 35-45, 5'-5", balding head with hair on either side of his head, glasses, dressed in business suit with long dark coat. Arriving from the north on the east side of my house via the walkway, he started to watch my house.
By walking around to the back of my house and parking pad, from a vantage point in the back parking pad and alley. As I watched he would stop every so many steps and again kept looking into & at my home. He did not see me, as I continued to just be a dog walker to watch him. He finally stopped looking in my house after standing beside my car for 15 minutes, turn 180 and walked right passed me in the park heading south.


Friend - U should call police for suspicious person complaint. Have u ever seen him before?

I called after much thought, as the last time I called the Police was when Joyce passed. As for the peeper, well I have never seen him before!

Friend - Well let's hope it’s just some random weirdo. Perhaps watch after work to see if he always walks by again.

I will. I think that he was looking at my home, as I had all my lights on and I was happy that I had locked the door. Or I thought that maybe he stopped for a smoke but he did not smoke. He walked right into my back parking pad and stood by my Car Ruby and I think that he was looking into my home for movement?

Friend - Freaky!

Yes, I was scared as I am not well enough to defend myself! Yes very freaky, as he did not seem to know who I was when he finally walked by me. With my diabetes I cannot see close up anymore, so his facial details are not that good.

Friend - At least it's not targeted then because he probably and hopefully doesn't know u. He might live nearby & like ur house design. Who knows? People r weird & do weird things for no good reason.

Yes, or he was watching for a reason but what? Maybe he was hoping that I was female, good looking and coming out of my bathroom naked? Thanks for listening, as I feel better now.

Friend - If that's what he was hoping for he would have gotten a surprise. Maybe next time U'll see him & can open the door & say... BOO!
Make him crap himself!


Actually I was walking the dogs, just 30 feet away. I thought of walking by him and into my yard. At the same time asking; "Can I help you?" But my left Cancer arm has debilitating nerve damage; Lucy Dog is blind, Lilly Dog is too small. My heart has 3 stents and that is just for starters, so I chickened out and just watched him. He saw me and did not stop looking in? Scary after 15 minutes and him walking by me right after!

Friend - U have to protect urself for sure!
Make sure u take cell when out so u can take pix/video & then call cops.

I will take the cell for sure; I just forgot it this morning as Lucy Dog had to go, like now! Actually, I will have to take my Cannon as my cell will flash and my Cannon will take photos in the dark with no flash. I will call the Police right away next time instead of waiting but I hate being a bother. This is soooo Unreal! As it seems that the older I get, a little less courage I seem to have each day…  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8UeeIAJ0a0
Posted By,


Richard Abbenbroek
P.S. To My Wife Joyce, I am Waiting for you, Listening for you, Watching for you, Wishing for you and one day in the future, when GOD decides through CHRIST JESUS; on that day Joyce, I shall be with Him and also be near you again.
For just as you did, one day I’ll leave our earthly home but I’ll never leave you or Him...
Remembering you through every second of every day.
With LOVE, from your STM & devoted Grimm – Amen.

Monday, October 27, 2014

MY ROOMMATE'S HAND - 5 MONTHS TODAY

MY ROOMMATE'S HAND - 5 MONTHS TODAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXMRQR20ajs
Of late I have again, been in tears every day due to the pain of my loneliness, for my wife Joyce (who passed 5 months today) and at the same time. I find it hard to even venture out my house, even if only just as far as the community mailbox.
You may not know it but I have been trained to fake being OK and at times in control. As there are those who say that I should be this way now but I am not.
For I am good at saying with Hope what needs to be said to Parents of Missing Children and even to myself, a lie? No; for at times, just a needed helpful diversion.
So I take my meds, deal with my puppies, eat, or each day just try to get out of bed.
Really and truthfully I wish that this was all just a bad dream from which when I awoke, it would be gone from my head.
Seeking some trustful advice I text my Pastor Friend, asking if he thought that I should talk this through with my new forever Roommate?
Good idea my Pastor Friend said; and also suggested that I read some of my forever Roommate’s words that are written in our Roommate’s agreement (the Bible).
Maybe try Psalm’s 46 or 62; to quote what my Pastor Friend said.
So after reading these, I did text my Pastor Friend back. Telling him that I have read my Roommate’s agreement and that my Roommate’s hand must be behind me reading this passage; Psalm 42.
For which I inadvertently selected upon opening my Roommate’s agreement.
It seemed pre-chosen and not at all, by mistake?     

Psalm 42
1 As the deer pants for streams of water,
   so my soul pants for You, my GOD.

2 My soul thirsts for GOD, for the living GOD.
   When can I go and meet with GOD?

3 My tears have been my food day and night,
   while people say to me all day long,
   "Where is your GOD?"

4 These things I remember
    as I pour out my soul:
    how I used to go to the house of God
    under the protection of the Mighty One
    with shouts of joy and praise
    among the festive throng.

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
   Why so disturbed within me?
   Put your hope in GOD,
   for I will yet praise Him,
   my SAVIOR and my GOD.

6 My soul is downcast within me;
   therefore I will remember You
   from the land of the Jordan,
   the heights of Hermon,
   from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep
   in the roar of Your waterfalls;
   all Your waves and breakers
   have swept over me.

8 By day the LORD directs His Love,
   at night His song is with me,
   a prayer to the GOD of my life.

9 I say to GOD my Rock,
  "Why have you forgotten me?
   Why must I go about mourning,
   oppressed by the enemy?"

10 My bones suffer mortal agony
     as my foes taunt me,
     saying to me all day long,
    "Where is your GOD?"

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast?
     Why so disturbed within me?
     Put your hope in GOD,
     for I will yet praise Him,
     my SAVIOR and my GOD.

Posted By,
Richard Abbenbroek
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tre-24uxVK8
P.S. To My Wife Joyce, I am Waiting for you, Listening for you, Watching for you, Wishing for you and one day in the future, when GOD decides through CHRIST JESUS; on that day Joyce, I shall be with Him and also be near you again.
For just as you did, one day I’ll leave our earthly home but I’ll never leave you or Him...
Remembering you through every second of every day.
With LOVE, from your STM & devoted Grimm – today 5 months, Amen.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

GOD keep our Land, Glorious and Free!

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
 O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
GOD keep our land, glorious and free!
 O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
   O Canada, we stand on guard for thee…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv6Wkb-mavs

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

CORPORAL NATHAN CIRILLO & WARRANT OFFICER PATRICE VINCENT R.I.P.


CORPORAL NATHAN CIRILLO AND 
WARRANT OFFICER PATRICE VINCENT R.I.P.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbF8Zi7LN2U 
Though the Parliamentary Sargent of Arms is to be Honoured.
Corporal Nathan Cirillo of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders,
of Canada Regiment.
R.I.P. a HERO, as thee stood guard at Canada’s Cenotaph &
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, with no bullets but duty and bayonet.
Also R.I.P. Remember Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent of the Joint Personnel Support Unit and Integrated Personnel Support Centre in 
St-Jean-sur-Richelieu Quebec.

AN OATH - Have nigh fear in the face of your enemies.
Be brave and upright, as GOD might Love thee.
Speak the truth always.
Safeguard the helpless.
Do No Wrong
Posted In your memory Patrice and Nathan.
from,
Richard Abbenbroek
Photo of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo taken just before shooting today
Oct. 22nd 2014.

Monday, October 20, 2014

#WE ARE N

ISIS MARK CHRISTIAN’s #WeAreN
FROM CBS NEWS = A Symbol of ISIS hate becomes rallying cry for Christians.
“Watching the homes of Christians be marked with this Arabic letter marking them for extermination...hurt in my soul” - Jeremy Courtney
When the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIS, captured Mosul, one of Iraq's largest cities, militants began singling Christians out. The symbol that marked their homes and businesses the Arabic letter "n," which is pronounced "noon" and stands for Nazarene or Nasrani, the Arabic word for Christian, reportedly was a signal: Convert, Pay a Tax or Be Killed. Many Christians fled.

Jeremy Courtney, who has lived in Iraq for almost eight years, decided to bring the world's attention to what the militant group, whose radical views on Islam have been widely condemned by Muslims around the world, had been doing.

"Watching the homes of Christians be marked with this Arabic letter 'n,' marking them for extermination - I was just very moved and hurt in my soul and inspired to try and do something to awaken the emotions of people anywhere, everywhere to pay attention to this tragedy," said Courtney, the founder and executive director of an international development organization called Pre-emptive Love Coalition, which provides life-saving heart surgeries to Iraqi children and aid for displaced families.

Courtney said he grabbed a marker in mid-July and marked his hand with the Arabic letter "n" to stand in solidarity with the Christians who were also being marked.
He posted the photo on Twitter with the hashtag #WeAreN.

"When I started the #WeAreN hashtag, I certainly didn't know or envision that this was going to be a rallying cry for Christians and others around the word," said Courtney.
Places like the the Archdiocese of Washington posted it on their Facebook. The Church of England has it on their Twitter feed. More than 22,000 people have also taken to Instagram, posting photos of the Arabic "n" on their hands, faces and clothing with #WeAreN.

"They [ISIS] gave us a logo in which to hang our best hopes for Iraq. Suddenly, now the whole Western world was paying attention," said Courtney.
One of those paying attention was Michelle Palmeiri in New York.

"All I could think of was Iraq and Syria, and the poor Christians who were being moved from their homes and killed and I was like 'We got to do something,'" said Palmeiri.
She is a member of The Church of the Holy Innocents in Manhattan, where she started organizing vigils where people would wear the Arabic "n" on pins, on their hands and on posters. People also wore the pins during the church's masses.
"Christ says 'be not afraid,' and we're showing that we're not afraid of them [ISIS]," said Palmeiri.

They have held three vigils so far. Members of the church walk with candles and prayers in hand from their church location on 37th Street to Herald Square a few blocks away.
They pray inside and outside of the church for the Christians being persecuted in the Middle East and want to support them by wearing the letter.
The Rev. Stephen Safron helps with Mass at the Church of the Holy Innocents where he has spoken about the persecution of Christians.
"Things like this do bring attention to specific needs at a specific time," said Safron.

He also sees historical parallels in ISIS' persecution of Christians.
"We think of history itself also, the invasion of Poland for example and the beginnings of World War II. We think of the Jewish people forced to wear the star and so this here, we see the same thing happening. People are being labeled."

"It's really blasphemy to say that these things [killings] can be done in the name of GOD. This sheer fanaticism tries to justify itself by wrapping itself in religion but it really is holding religion in contempt," the Rev. George Rulter, an administrator at the church, said.
Rulter sees the effort to reclaim ISIS' intended symbol of Christian oppression and turn it into one of solidarity as "propaganda for the good rather than for the bad."

"They wanted to identify with fellow Christians who were suffering. And I think now it has served the function of awakening other people as well," he said.
Since Palmeiri's initial efforts a few months ago, she said she has received messages on Facebook from bishops and priests in the Middle East thanking them.
"It's a serious matter, especially when that area of the world is asking us to help them. ...

Something has to be done whether it's the physical or in the spiritual."
What ISIS used as a symbol for Christian oppression in the Middle East has now become image of solidarity for people like Palmeiri, Courtney and thousands of others.

"I was not expecting #WeAreN as a hashtag or the 'noon' as a logo or icon to grow this big at all. No, it was a moment of frustration. It was a moment of personal protest, just trying to say if you're coming for them, then you can come for me too," said Courtney. "Living in Iraq/Syria and watching this play out in my backyard, I just had this sense that we can't just stand by idly and let our neighbors be slaughtered."

F.Y.I. More News:

Also Praying for Iraqi & Syrian Christians.
In the name of GOD the Father, JESUS CHRIST & the HOLY SPIRIT – Amen.
A Post by Richard…
#WeAreN