Yep – it was a SALT SHAKER in the Mystery Box today! Congratulations to Kayley of Mount Vernon for helping me guess correctly! She wins the $5 gift certificate to Troyer’s of Apple Valley.
Today’s Word of the Day is jamboree – which means a gathering of noisy merrymaking or a large gathering of a group with speeches or entertainment.
Thanks for listening!
-Joe
Today we continue our series on reclaiming values, inspired by the book #Struggles by Craig Groeschel.
The value today is authenticity, which is the quality of being genuine or transparent. This value is difficult to reclaim for a variety of reasons. We want to put on a good face or impression for those around us, so we tend to communicate with filters and veils. Think about how we can now alter our photos to make ourselves look the best, even if we may be feeling the worst!
Craig shares 2 Corinthians 3:16-18 as inspiration for us: “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.”
What can we do to work on authenticity? First, decide that we’ll let our identity be driven by God and not by people. Next, we can try a few of Craig’s suggestions next time we’re in a group of people:
Thanks for listening!
-Joe
June is Iced Tea Month, so Eddie and I picked a couple of special iced tea recipes that you might want to try out this summer.
Mine was a Lemon-Blueberry Iced Tea mix that I found from Southern Living magazine.
The ingredients: 1 (12-oz.) package frozen blueberries; 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice; 3 family-size tea bags; 3/4 cup sugar.
Eddie’s is a Honey-Milk Tea found at AllRecipes.com.
The ingredients: 2 orange pekoe tea bags, 1 cup boiling water, 5 ice cubes, 4 teaspoons of sweetened condensed milk, and 3 teaspoons of honey.
The instructions: steep the tea bags in hot water until the color turns dark red, about 3 to 5 minutes. Discard the tea bags and let the tea cool.
Then, combine the ice cubes, sweetened condensed milk, and honey in a glass or cocktail shaker. Pour in the tea and mix well. (If the tea is still warm, the ice may melt; add more ice if desired.) A strong, flavorful milk tea is ready for you to enjoy.
Today’s Word of the Day is vexillology (vex-il-LOL-ih-gee), which means the study of flags. Totally appropriate for today, since it’s Flag Day.
Here is some proper flag etiquette:
1. Never let your flag touch the ground.
2. Old, retired flags should be burned or buried.
3. Don’t fly your flag at night without a light.
4. The U.S. flag is always at the top of the pole, with other flags flying below it.
5. The flag is normally flown from sunrise to sunset.
Thanks for listening!
-Joe
Today is not the start of the week we anticipated. I fully expected today would be spent sharing about the wedding our family attended Saturday.
Instead, we reflect on two tragic events that have our hearts aching for the families and wondering what we can do to stop violence as a response to conflict. First, we mourn with the families of those lost – the Grimmie family from Friday and the many families impacted by the Pulse shooting early Sunday. We pray with and for them. I also pray for the Orlando officials dealing with two high-profile incidents and for their ability to effectively handle the discussions with family members and the onslaught of media coverage.
I pray for our individual responses to the tragedy – the blame and insulting rhetoric will be tossed around (it already has) by public figures and politicians. Let’s not fall into that trap. These were terrible decisions made by two individuals who were clearly broken and frustrated and chose violence, and ultimately death, as their solution.
I read a column today calling on our Washington leadership, in the White House and in Congress, to ‘go big’ and work together for sensible compromises.
Here’s my thought: while that may be admirable advice, if you want to ‘go big’ and you want a practical solution, start by looking in the mirror. Look inside yourself and evaluate where your heart is. The only change that can have any lasting impact is the change in the human heart, which drives every decision you make and eventually, influences those around you. That change happens when you come to the end of yourself and allow Christ to take His rightful place there, on the throne of your heart.
Allowing Christ and HIS power to be your motivation and your fuel can help you overcome the anger and the frustration you may be feeling right now. It also helps you respond and be bold when you see evil and don’t know what to do. I challenge all of us to earnestly pray for the change we want to see in ourselves and in the world.
Philippians 4: 6-8 reminds us: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Word of the Day: paranymph – it means a groomsman or a bridesmaid.
Thanks for listening and keep those prayers lifted!
-Joe
John 13: 34-35 says,”A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (NIV).
Today we continue our series on values, inspired by Craig Groeschel’s book, #Struggles. The focus today is on restoring the value of intimacy. Intimacy is defined as a close familiarity or friendship. In 2016, Craig believes our definition of friendship has evolved, but not necessarily for the good.
Pew Research found in 2014 that the average American has 338 Facebook friends, but most Americans say they have just two close friends and 25% of Americans say they have NO close friends.
We also can fall into the trap of desiring immediate affirmation, since that’s what we get many times on social media. I just posted something today about one of my favorite restaurants and got pretty excited when people started responding within a minute.
The key to intimacy is that it takes time to develop…and ideally we should be focused on cultivating intimacy with God and our spouse/family. So how can we work to restore intimacy?
Remember, they will know we are Christians by our love, not our likes!
Thanks for listening!
-Joe
(photo courtesy USA Today)
Okay, I get that we like hot dogs in this country, but this statistic is a bit staggering…USA Today reports that Americans eat about 7 billion hot dogs between Memorial Day and Labor Day. That’s 818 hot dogs eaten EVERY SECOND. Eddie says blame it on those hot dog eating contests.
We also shared information about our 2016 version of ‘Take Dad to Dinner.’ Click here to find out more about nominating your dad to win dinner and a DVD!
Song Poetry today was from Danny Gokey’s ‘Tell Your Heart to Beat Again.’ Congratulations to Brenda from Mount Vernon for winning the $5 gift certificate to Troyer’s of Apple Valley and the Pier House Coffee Shop. Name that Tune was a clip from Phil Wickham’s ‘Your Love Amazes Me,’ and Andrew of Big Prairie, OH won the certificate.
Today’s Word of the Day is villatic (vi-LAT-ick), an adjective meaning of or relating to the country or a farm, or something rural.
Thanks for listening!
-Joe
(photos courtesy of the U.S. Army Militaria Forum)
Today we remember the significance of this day, June 6, where 72 years ago Allied Forces landed over 160,000 troops on the beaches of Normandy. The event was a turning point in Europe during World War II.
The Museum of the Bible shared today in its daily email that during the war, Heart Shield Bibles were produced to fit in a soldier’s pocket. These gold-plated steel bibles were a protection from bullets but also contained an inscription of encouragement from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Today we also brought back the Mystery Box. I hid and you helped Eddie guess the item, which was a mini Twix Bar! Congratulations to Susan of Mount Vernon who won the $5 gift certificate to Troyer’s of Apple Valley. Let’s just say Eddie enjoyed eating the mystery today.
Today’s Word of the Day was a proper one: Normandy, the site of the primary D-Day landing. Normandy is a region in northern France along the English Channel, invaded and settled by Scandinavians in the 10th century.
Thanks for listening!
-Joe
This coming Monday is Memorial Day – a holiday established originally as ‘Decoration Day,’ to remember the fallen of the Civil War. It became a national holiday in 1971 and now covers all of America’s fallen in military service of the country.
So how do we reconcile Memorial Day with our faith? Sometimes that’s difficult because the holiday becomes more about the USA or more about picnics and barbecues then about the people and families impacted.
Andy Rau from BibleGateway.com wrote an article in 2013 that reminds us that memorials and monuments are an important part of history and culture, including the people of biblical times. You can read his article by clicking here.
Honor is also an important concept we need to think about on Memorial Day. We honor those who have served. After all, we live in a country where we can worship freely and those men and women have defended that right…but we also honor their memory by praying for the families that have experienced loss. John 15:13 says: “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
We may not always agree with the decisions that lead to and influence war, but we can honor those who protect us. Romans 13:7 reminds us: “Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.”
Another good read is last year’s Memorial Day blog by Ed Stetzer of Lifeway Research, now with Wheaton College. You can read it here.
Today’s Word of the Day is MILQUETOAST (MILK-toast), a noun meaning a timid, meek or unassertive person.
Thanks for listening!
-Joe
Today our Song Poetry lyrics were:
From the lips of those you saved, a redemption song will rise;
Every tongue, every tribe; hear the church your bride.
The song? Audio Adrenaline – Sound of the Saints! Congratulations to Pam from Fredericktown for guessing correctly.
Our Name That Tune clip was from Stars Go Dim – You are Loved. Betsy from Mount Vernon was our winner for that contest. Both receive $5 certificates from Troyer’s of Apple Valley.
Today’s Word of the Day comes from the novel Don Quixote – DULCINEA (dull-sih-NEE-uh or dull-cee-NAY-uh), which means a lady love or sweetheart.
Today is also Brother’s Day, so my best to my brothers, Jeff and Jim! Thanks for listening.
-Joe
Driving Notes 