2150AFC121021 – A Bouquet of Doozies (Part 2) THIS ON IS SHORTER THAN #1
Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
This one has a bouquet of Music Links included. It’s almost impossible these days to just 
play a music link without those ridiculous ads holding you for ransom. Here’s a way to avoid having to listen to them. This little photo shows you approximately where to place your cursor (or curser, if you really dislike the ads). When you open a (↔ Music Link), just position your cursor at about this position just above the Theater Mode and Full Screen icons. DON’T RIGHT CLICK ON THE START ICON! Just hold your cursor there for 5-7 seconds and the Skip Ads button should show up. Right-click it and your video should run. Now, let’s get on with finishing this two-part retrospective.
↑↑↑OUR REFERENCE GUIDE, THE B.I.B.L.E.↑↑↑
Because of the incessant demands on our time in keeping up with medical appointments, I’ve had to build 2 new posts out of a collection of old posts, hence, the name A Bouquet of Doozies. I’ve gone through Advent posts from 2011 through 2020 looking at messages from the second or third weeks in Advent. From those I’ve chosen a paragraph or two – in most instances – that were characteristic of the content. There are a couple of places where I have asked you to go off-site and do a little sleuthing on your own. At the head of each paragraph is a link to carry you to that source-post. We’ll try this for this last time, and then things should be “back to normal.”
1650AFC120916 – Rejoice already! Remember we recently looked into why the roads were made straight, the mountains leveled, and the valleys filled? That’s because Emmanuel is coming, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. (See 1 Timothy 6:12-15 and Revelation 19:16 – seriously, look them up) Isn’t that something? God is coming to us. Talk about A-MAZ-ING!! What if your Pastor started your church service Sunday morning by saying, “I want everyone here to be on your best behavior today because we are expecting a Very Special Guest. In just a few minutes, this person will be right here with us; in fact, he is already among us, but you may not have recognized him. He looks and sounds just like us, but he’s not from around here. No, he’s from someplace far, far away and more splendorous than the most beautiful places on Earth. Brothers and Sisters, lift up your hearts and hands and voices to welcome ….. (drum roll and trumpet fanfare) …(↔ Music Links!)
And here is …..
Well, who do you think is coming? The Corner Stone the Builders Rejected (↔ Music Link). Yes, so don’t worry about anything because even the deserts and the mountains and the seas and all the People of the Earth are going to be glad! We don’t want to miss out on rejoicing about that!
That is such a great word – REJOICE. When I hear it I hear it as re-joys as in joys again, and again, and again. One of the best JOY words around is Halleluiah and its alternative Alleluia. We are to be an Alleluia People! What does that word mean? It means GOD BE PRAISED. We used to sing a song about that. (↔ Music Link) We’d be divided into two groups – boys and girls, left-side and right-side, children and adults – and on the Halleluiah phrases one group would stand. When Praise ye the Lord came up the Halleluiah group sat down and the second group stood up. There was a lot of “jumping up and down.” Rejoicing is like that. It’s just being so happy that we simply can’t sit still. (↔ Music Link)
1749AFC120817 – Waiting for God He created the universe and put me in it (you too, Belovéd). He provided for my salvation. He called me to be his servant. He put me 
where I could learn everything I needed to know about him and what to do with that knowledge. When I finally started paying attention to all that he had already done, I had to reassess my plans. OK, not just reassess my plans, not just rethink my plans, but pretty much dump my plans and get on board with his. Compared to what he had laid out, my goals and objectives were worse than silly. They would end up taking me in the wrong direction – farther away from God instead of closer to God. I realized I had become one of those people whose prayer was, “What are you waiting for, God? Just do it already!” I was not paying attention; he had already done everything. I simply ignored most of it. (See also 1139AFC093011 – The Corner)
1750AFC121517 – Light and Darkness In the past several weeks, we’ve seen way too much of what happens when you shut out the Light. Many people, especially several previously-powerful men, have had their dark deeds exposed. They are all rightfully disgraced for their lewd and greedy sexual immorality (fornication). We are rightfully all disgusted with what we are learning about their actions in the past. It seems no one is exempt from this darkness or the Light that is now shining on it. At this point I 
don’t believe anyone can accurately predict what the final outcome will be for some of the most famous people in the Nation. We know, though, that the Light has overcome the darkness, and that this is explained well in Scripture. I am going to give you a link, and trust you will follow it. OR you can use the link for this section and read the entire post. You will find comparative translations here: Ephesians 5:3-20
1849AFC113018 – 2018 Advent Series #2 – The Messianic Psalms: This is a week-long Bible-study outline. The challenge is to read what’s in the Table presented over the course of a week; but if you’re feeling intrigued, I happen to know you can do it in just one day!
1949AFC120619 – It’s the Same Old Story These posts are the stories of my story with Jesus and his Church. It is a way for me to testify about how God has shaped my life – given me my life. Sometimes I get to share your stories – especially your prayer requests (which is one of the main reasons we have this outlet on the Internet). Music has always been a top activity in my story. From marching around the room to Big John and Sparky with Yehudi, to the 12-inch 78 rpm records my Gramma gave me, to the coral-colored transistor radio I got in the seventh grade, to the Children’s Choir and Sunday School, and Concert Choir, the Folk Song Club, my guitar and dulcimer, always, always, always there is music, music, music. That strange little guy in the back right-hand corner of my brain is always playing something. If there is music coming 
, I cannot help but listen to it. That is especially true if it is music related in any form or fashion to His Story – the story of Jesus. So, Belovéd, I’m going to risk sending you into the listening booth. If you’re at work, you might want to find your ear-buds; however, if you are at home or at the beach or in the mountains, go ahead and PUMP UP THE VOLUME!!
Tell Me the Old, Old Story (↔ Music Link) From the Corona and Two-by-Two days
Tell Me the Stories of Jesus (↔ Music Link) I still sing this one when I need pepping up
I Love to Tell the Story (↔ Music Link) I like the traditional arrangement better than the contemporary, overly orchestrated versions
Tell Me The Story Of Jesus (↔ Music Link) A close relative of my pep-up song
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross (↔ Music Link) Gramma’s favorite was The Old Rugged Cross
Shadrach (↔ Music Link) I sang Armstrong’s version for years.
Blessed Assurance (↔ Music Link) This and Jesus Loves Me are great ways to start your day, remember?
1950AFC121319 – The Power of Patience – “Patience is power. Patience is not an absence of action; rather it is ‘timing.’ It waits on the right time to act, for the right principles, and in the right way.” ― Fulton J. Sheen
In today’s world, feelings are more important than truth. The World takes delight in 
shaming and persecuting us; nonetheless, we can – and must – endure this through firmly-declared and patient Truth. DO we want to be liked more than we want to be truthful? How easily we have forgotten that nothing, nothing in this World is worth dying for! Only that which is beyond the muck and smut of the World is worth dying for because only those things are worth living for. James 5:7 – 7 Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains.
2050AFC121120 – 2020 Advent Series #3 Proverbs 9:9 – 9 Give instruction to the wise, and they will become wiser still; teach the righteous and they will gain in learning. You’ve heard this before, but it bears repeating: Isaiah 30:21 – 21 And when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left, your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”
Here, then, is my question – preceded by some information leading to a summary. We started out with the idea of rejoicing – this is, after all, Gaudete Sunday we are planning for. We saw that there is Wisdom in rejoicing when the cause of our rejoicing is our commitment in the Life given to us through the Grace of Salvation in Christ Jesus when we repent and believe the good news. John 
the Baptist testified to that Power of Grace by saying, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” When sin is removed, death is removed, and that leaves only LIFE. We can pursue that life, sail through that life, enjoy that life, and extend that life by navigating with the best tool for directing that life: Wisdom, the Wisdom to know, accept, and Love Christ Jesus. Now the question (you’ll recognize it right away!) 🙂
Why would you ever want anything less than that? If you are wise, nothing else (↔ Music Link) will suffice. If you are unwise, anything else will suffice. That was the mistake Israel made at Peor, but we need only remember the words of the Apostle Paul: Philippians 1:21 – 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. That is indeed Wisdom to support our rejoicing!
Thank you for your patience. I hope you found some useful memories in this bouquet of doozies. We should be able to go back to the usual format next week.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
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Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
