FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine - Issue 43 Vol 5 # 1 January 2004 FreEzine is a free email magazine/newsletter containing articles of interest from a Christian perspective and is published no less than monthly. FreEzine is NOT Spam and is only sent to people who request it. If you ever want to stop (or start) receiving FreEzine you'll find instructions at the end of this newsletter. FreEzine is also available in Spanish - La Revista libre de Ezine, French - La Revue de Ezine libre, German - FreiEzine Zeitschrift, Italian - La Rivista di Ezine libera, and Portuguese - Revista livre de Ezine. A special "hello" to all of our new subscribers. We welcome and appreciate feedback on how we can improve this e-zine for you. IF YOU FIND THIS NEWSLETTER USEFUL... ... PLEASE FORWARD IT TO FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES! IN THIS ISSUE: Editorial: Enjoy ... As much as ... Natural Remedies: Colic Prayer Thought: Resurrection From My Case Files: A Ring and a License Slips that go Pass in the Type: Faultes Escaped in the Printing What's On? Seminars & Workshops Repeatable Quotable: Getting Somewhere Article: Jesus is Real Havagiggle: Automated Computer Grammar Check Haveanothagiggle: The Bald Truth Split Second Wisdom: Endurance The Extensive Exposition: 'Esther Plus' The Funny Bone: The Brutal Truth Sermon Snippet: Onion Peel Theologically Speaking: Power Freebies: Start Screen Saver Programme Take a Hint: Win 3.1 Groups Cooks Corner: Potato Balls Watch This Space Subscription & Other Information And in Closing: Need a Day Off Work? FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine Editorial: Enjoy ... As much as ... 'We hope you enjoy this issue as much as we've enjoyed receiving your feedback over the year'. I read this appropriate sentence in Telstra's 'BigPond Ponderings' Magazine (Issue #86) and have chosen to use as an introduction to this the first issue of FreEzine for 2004:. Thank you readers, for your feedback. Many write little notes of encouragement and I value these. When I send out the magazine each month I have no way of knowing (without your feedback) how or if it is received. Email is virtually free. If you haven't written, can you spare a moment to email me with your comments on FreEzine? What don't you like about it? What do you like? Do you find it useful? (Yet another reader this month said, 'I found quite a bit in your last FreEzine useful for my sermon this week. [The] theme is Communion. Thanks' [email, JZ]). Others have shared similar comments. I look forward to receiving your comments in 2004. --Editor. Natural Remedies: Exploring some of nature's hygiene helpers and ways to fix basic ills, chills, aches and pains. Common sense is paramount - some of these hints are health related, and if you have a medical condition such high blood pressure, are taking prescription medication or are in any way unsure whether you should follow the self-help suggestion/s provided, consult a doctor or natural therapist. This month: Colic Peppermint tea may provide relief by promoting digestion and helping to expel wind. To make peppermint tea, pour one cup of boiling water over two teaspoons of dried peppermint leaves. Cover and let brew for 15 minutes, then strain. Give the baby half a teaspoonful as often as needed. -- Pamela Allardice, Natural Therapist Prayer Thought: Resurrection What is more difficult, to be born or to rise again; that what has never been should be, or that what has been should be again? Is it more difficult to come into existence than to return to it? -- Blaise Pascal, 'Pensees' From My Case Files: A Ring and a License After three decades of counselling, your editor (a retired sociologist) sometimes ponders some of the things which have come up in counselling that, in retrospect, contain an element of humour. This section will be included from time to time to share some of these snippets. Names have been changed to protest privacy. Maggie and Egbert were arguing. She explained that the proof of their marriage was the marriage license and their wedding rings. Egbert countered by saying that 'two rings form a chain' and 'marriage licence' is just another name for 'work permit'! Slips that go Pass in the Type: Faultes Escaped in the Printing In Henry Peacham's 'The Mastive, or Young Whelpe of the Olde Dogge, Epigrams and Satyres', published in 1615, we read, 'The faultes escaped in the Printing (or any other omission) are to be excused by reason of the authors absence from the Presse, who thereto should have given more due instructions.' -- From Henry B. Wheatley, Literary Blunders, L&R Hartley, Murwillumbah, NSW, 1990 What's On? Seminars & Workshops: The 2004 GNU Seminars (Hope, Heaven and Immortality; The Gospel and the Blessed Hope: Melbourne: February 27th & 28th , Carey Baptist Grammer School Chapel, Corner of Barkers Rd. & Daniel St, Kew. Sydney: March 6 Thornleigh Community Centre, Corner Phyllis and Central Ave., Thornleigh. Brisbane: March 12th & 13th, The Holiday Inn, Roma St., Brisbane (next door to the Transit Centre, city end). Topics The Gospel, Our Only Hope. Immortality, Mirage or Fact? Beyond Our Wildest Dreams. The Invincible Surmise (The Development of the Biblical faith in Immortality). An Eternal Weight of Glory (How the Blessed Hope addresses the Disappointments and Injustices of this Life.)); also check out the following web sites: , ; and . Thank you to reader Brian Smith who drew my attention to an incorrect web address for Des Ford in the last issue. - Ed. Repeatable Quotable: Getting Somewhere I write as I walk because I want to get somewhere. I write as straight as I can, just as I walk as straight as I can - because that is the best way to get there. -- H G Wells Article: Jesus is Real Howard County Sheriff Jerry Marr got a disturbing call one Saturday afternoon. His 6-year-old grandson Mikey had been hit by a car while fishing in Greentown with his dad. The father and son were near a bridge by the Kokomo Reservoir when a woman lost control of her car, slid off the bridge and hit Mikey at a rate of about 50 mph (30 kph). Sheriff Marr had seen the results of accidents like his and feared the worst. When he got to Saint Joseph Hospital, he rushed through the emergency room to find Mikey conscious and in fairly good spirits "Mikey, what happened?" Sheriff Marr asked. Mikey replied, "Well, Papaw, I was fishin' with Dad, and some lady runned me over, I flew into a mud puddle, and broke my fishin' pole and I didn't get to catch no fish!" As it turned out, the impact propelled Mikey about 500 feet, over a few trees and an embankment and in the middle of a mud puddle. His only injuries were to his right femur bone that had broken in two places. Mikey had surgery to place pins in his leg. Otherwise the boy was fine. Since all the boy could talk about was that his fishing pole was broken, the Sheriff went out to Wal-mart and bought him a new one while he was in surgery so he could have it when he came out. The next day the Sheriff sat with Mikey to keep him company in the hospital. Mikey was enjoying his new fishing pole and talked about when he could go fishing again as he cast into the trash can. When they were alone, Mikey, just a matter-of-fact, said, "Papaw, did you know Jesus is real?" "Well," the Sheriff replied, a little startled. "Yes, Jesus is real to all who believe in him and love him in their hearts." "No," said Mikey. "I mean Jesus is REALLY real." "What do you mean?"asked the Sheriff. "I know he's real 'cause I saw him." said Mikey, still casting into the trash can. "You did?" said the Sheriff. "Yep," said Mikey."When that lady runned me over and broke my fishing pole, Jesus caught me in his arms and laid me down in the mud puddle." --Courtesy of Patricia Hanks" who says "I am told this actually took place in Indiana, USA, in 2001" Havagiggle: In the article Jesus is Real above, my automated computer Grammar Check (in Microsoft Word) wanted to change the sentence, "His 6-year-old grandson Mikey had been hit by a car while fishing in Greentown" to read, "A car while fishing in Greentown had hit his 6-year-old grandson Mikey with his dad"! Haveanothagiggle: The Bald Truth A reader suggested the manufacture of a new shampoo for men who are going bald, called "What's the Use?" (EK, Email) Split Second Wisdom: Endurance is patience concentrated --Thomas Carlyle The Extensive Exposition. Each issue we will make available a longer article available by email free to those who request it. This is to keep the FreEzine a readable length yet make available more in-depth material for those who are interested. Articles provided under this section do not always reflect totally the beliefs of the editor. In some issues more than one article will be available under this section and articles will need to be asked for by name to save confusion. We have no separate mailing list for the automatic despatch of articles in The Extensive Exposition so a separate request will need to be made for each article. This month's article is the electronic book: 'Esther Plus', edited and annotated by Lionel Hartley. Chapter 10 of the biblical Book of Esther has only three verses. Where is the rest of the book of Esther? This book provides the apocryphal supplement from the Deuterocanon of the 1899 Douay-Rheims Bible, with footnotes by Dr Lionel Hartley. In Adobe(R) Acrobat format. Articles may be obtained free by writing to the editor and asking for the article by name. The Funny Bone: The Brutal Truth A man called up a bible believing church and the church secretary answered the call. The man on the other end of the line said, "I'd like to speak to the head hog." The secretary replied, "That wasn't a very nice thing to say about our beloved minister, Rev. Jones." Again the man replied, "I'd like to speak to the head hog, because I'm going to donate $75,000.00 to the church. She replied, "Hold on a moment, I think the big fat pig just walked in." -- Aside: Are you a writer, a poet or an illustrator? If you have something you have written or illustrated that you would like to consider having published, a free 60 page Style Guide is available online at , or from the Editor of this FreEzine. There is no charge for publishing and YOU receive payment on publication (see the free Style Guide for details). Publishing formats include Books, Pamphlets, Leaflets, Magazines & Ezines, Online video & audio, CD-ROM & floppy-disk electronic books & multimedia, Video & Audio tapes and Talking Books & audio CDs. Sermon Snippet: Onion Peel The onion verse of Scripture is this: Where your treasure is, there will you heart be also (Matthew 6:21). This is a Sermon on the Mount thing, and I call it the onion verse because you have to peel the layers off. The deeper you go the closer you get to the soft heart of the onion. It is often used as a kindly sedative to lull us into a dream that nobody has the sense to explain, but it should be used as a piercing smoke alarm. It should wake us up to reality. Take a moment to identify your treasures. Probably spouse and children are near the top of the list-I hope they are right at the top. Afterwards, it may be the thing we have devoted our lives to. Whether it be a home in Majorca, or a cottage up the road; a media empire or a few acres of dirt, or a bank directorship. Everyone has an empire. It's just that some empires are more noticeable than others. To some people, sleeping in on Sunday morning is the ultimate 'empire' experience; religiously guarded; stringently observed, and woe to the one that disturbs that empire! The trick of good 'empiring' is to be able to hand it all over. Remember what Jesus told the beautiful young man that had it all? Sell it! Divest yourself. It makes good economic sense to sell your treasures while they are still worth something. Easy with things. A little more complicated if it is the spouse and kids. The spouse may be close to the use-by date and the kids may be shop-soiled. "Hand 'em over" says the Lord. If they are your treasure, divest yourself. Oops. You mean start life over again like the Merry Widow? Get on with life, forget the past? No! Hand them over every morning to Day Care. Hand them over every evening to the Night Watchman. Hand them over to your Lord. He pays well. He gives life superannuation inscribed with your name; delayed, but sure. You see, if they have your heart and your heart goes with them, it goes to the right place. God gets you both. Your heart is then with the Lord, because where you treasure is, there is your heart. And you have peeled one layer off the onion verse. One shame of a loveless society is that mothers of miscarried or still-born children were not allowed to grieve. Only recently, on the loss of a child at any age, has grief been allowed, and it is now a little more understood. If this has been your grief and if you have been deprived of your treasure, do this: consciously give your lost one to the Lord. Whether it was decades ago or yesterday make the gift to God. Your heart will follow, then you and your treasure will both be together with the only one who has ever understood all your grief. And you have peeled off another layer of the onion verse. In the future, whether sooner or later, He who bore all our griefs will restore to you a hundred-fold (Mark 10:30). Can you imagine your lost one being restored to you in a faultless environment? Can you imagine bringing up your child in a perfectly loving society with all the wisest of all the mothers in all ages to support you? Imagine doing that in a world with no poverty; no taunting, no bullying; neither shortages of time nor wisdom; no deprivation. You have just peeled off another layer of the onion verse. God remembers the tears of now. He stores them. He knows their measure. He wrings every soaked pillow into a preserving jar (Psalm 56:8). Then he makes a proclamation: "I heard a loud voice proclaiming from the throne, 'Now God has his dwelling with Mankind. He will dwell among them and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There shall be an end to death, and to mourning, and crying and pain, for the old order has passed away.'" This is God speaking. The same One who said, "Mother, there is your son", and to the disciple, "There is your mother." Now do you find it hard to sell all you have? Now do you find the soft heart of the onion verse? 'Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.' -- Elizabeth Price, Good News Australia 5/99 Theologically Speaking: Power It is a fact known best amongst students of the human mind, which our ego insistently longs for power. This longing is expressed in the desire of the self which seeks position, prestige, popularity; which loves to sway people with charm, personality or strength of wit, or by external possessions. The possession of power imposes a heavy moral strain. It opens the door to self-indulgence. Many people cannot withstand such a temptation. Once power is experienced it can become overwhelmingly desirable, so that like a drug habit, one is driven to seek an increasing dose. Once a person has a measure of power over his fellows it becomes difficult to understand how his fellows live. Later he may find it hard to even care how they live. Here is a passage from one of the Old Testament Prophets. It is filled with solemn import. `Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds. At mornings light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.' Micah 2:1. So does the prophet describe a series of horrible deeds on the part of Israel's privileged. They carry these deeds out with ruthless despatch - because they have the power to do it. It is frightening to think what human beings will do to other humans if it is in their power to do it. World history is replete with examples of atrocious acts committed by people against other people. Hitler and the Nazis come readily to mind. It seems quite apparent that the will to power is ever present and ready to come raging forth the first moment it stands unchecked, unguarded. Each of us has power. We have power to help people, to hurt them, to lift them up or to tread them down. We have power to make the life of others hard and anxious or glad and peaceable. Everyone has some power over someone. What shall we do with this power of ours? In the teachings of Jesus we find his warnings and rebukes more often directed to the powerful than to the weak. He saw that the troubles that would wrack the world, would come largely from the strong. The ages have testified the truth of this. In this secular age Christians are often maligned as being weak and inadequate, afraid of life and needing the opiate of religion to protect them from the harsh realities. But it is not the weak who have drenched the world in blood and made the centuries reek with the smell of death. The strong have done that. So the ethic of Jesus was primarily directed at the strong. He said to his disciples; `The Kings of the Gentiles laud it over them ... but you are not to be like that. Instead the greatest among you should be like the youngest and the one who rules, like the one who serves'. Luke 22:25,26. Thus did Jesus recognise human power. Power is to be dedicated and used and renounced if need be. Christ exemplified this teaching. `I am among you as one who serves.' As he stood before Pilot in the Judgement Hall, Pilot was everything that Jesus declined to be. Pilot menaced Jesus with his power. `Don't you know I have power to release you or to crucify you?' Jesus renounces his power. `You would have no power at all unless it was given to you from above.' The mystery of Jesus' way is that in his renunciation of power he overcame Pilot and the world with all its brandishings of power. The most powerful thing in the world is power renounced. Another word for this is service. Service in Christ's name for God and God's creatures. Said Paul, `We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.' Romans 15:1. We are citizens of a world society where power is worshipped. To go out into life armed with the spirit and ethic of Christ will bring us into sharp conflict with the status quo. For the Gospel is not only medicine for the weak (who are usually first to embrace it) it is medicine for the strong as well. More people are ruined by their strength than by their weakness. God help us each to be Christians; to be powerful for God in service and in sacrifice. --Ron Allen Freebies: Start Screen Saver Programme This is a simple application for launching whatever Windows(r) Screen Saver is currently configured. Handy if you want to be able to launch your screen saver when you are going to walk away from your desk for a while. There is no configuration necessary for this program. Just run it and the screen saver configured in the Control Panel/Desktop section will be launched. (I have a shortcut to it on my desktop.) If you want a free copy, email me today: . (Please check the available space in your email box before requesting attachments) Take a Hint: Win 3.1 Groups A reader has asked, 'I have recently upgraded my computer operating system from Windows 3.1 to Windows 98. How do I continue to use my Windows 3.1 groups?' You can convert Windows 3.1 program groups in two ways: Simply click a '.grp' file to automatically convert it to a Windows 98 folder. Or if that seems too simple you can run the GRPCONV command with the /m parameter to display a dialog box in which you can select groups to convert. --Editor Cooks Corner: Potato Balls A very easy and tasty meat-ball substitute - makes a good patty or loaf too 1 cup grated potatoes / 1 cup grated onion / 2 teaspoon soy flour / half teaspoon sage / half teaspoon marjoram / 1 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs / 1 cup ground walnuts / half teaspoon salt. Mix well and form into balls. Place in baking dish, cover with any gravy and bake at 180 ºC (350 ºF) for 30 minutes Watch This Space: Future issues will include other sections not listed here. Why not write to us suggesting what you would like to see included. Subscription Information: FreEzine is a free email magazine/newsletter, published by Lionel Hartley () no less than monthly and sent out ONLY to those who request it. As FreEzine uses an opt-in email list, we never buy or otherwise obtain email addresses. Although we encourage our readers to forward a copy of FreEzine to their friends and invite them to subscribe, we have a strictly No Spam Policy. To subscribe, please send an email telling us where you heard about FreEzine, to and type SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. To change your email address, please send a blank message to and type ADDRESS CHANGE in the subject line. To unsubscribe, simply send a blank message (we invite your comments also) to and type UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line. It is NOT necessary to access a website and/or go through a complicated ritual to unsubscribe from FreEzine! Privacy: Protecting your privacy is very important to us. We will not share, rent, sell, or exchange your e-mail address with a third party for any purpose. Unsubscribing permanently removes your name and address. A note on the format: Your editor has considered many possible formats, including a colourfully illustrated E-book, webpage, Portable Document Format (.pdf), etc. Reluctantly, plain text was chosen to make this ezine available to the greatest number of users - DOS, Windows(R), Macintosh, etc. Address all correspondence to the editor Please do not use "Reply To Sender" email option as this magazine may occasionally be sent out by a commercial or other distributor, unrelated to FreEzine. Free offers in FreEzine of CD-ROMs, Back issues, software, posters, additional articles, screensavers, etc. have a time limit which is normally until the issue of the next edition of FreEzine. Special exceptions are sometimes made. Contact the editor for information. In order to cater for a variety of tastes and beliefs, the content of FreEzine does not always reflect totally the beliefs of the editor. E&OE. Although all care has been taken to check details in this newsletter but no responsibility can be taken if information is inaccurate. The Editor would appreciate being informed of erroneous information so that it may be corrected. Contents of FreEzine are COPYRIGHT and we make every endeavour to acknowledge sources. You may freely quote from FreEzine PROVIDED is cited as a reference source. Occasional contributions from Good News Australia are used with permission. YOUR contributions and comments most welcome. Although all out-going emails are scanned using Symantic's Norton AntiVirus with the most recent virus definitions, FreEzine cannot warrant or represent that this communication (including any enclosed files) is totally free from any electronic viruses, faults or defects. And, in closing: Need a Day Off Work? Peter (email) sent this following anecdote: A man and a woman, co-workers in a factory, were talking: "I think I'll take some time off work." said the man. "How do you think you'll do that?" asked the woman. He proceeded to show her, by climbing up to the rafters and hanging upside down. The boss walked in, saw the worker hanging from the ceiling, and asked him what on earth he was doing? "I'm a light bulb" answered the man. "I think you need some time off," said the boss. So, the man jumped down and walked out of the factory. The woman began walking out too. The boss asked her, "Where do you think you are going? The woman quickly answered, "Home! I can't work in the dark". (Now the boss thinks he is the one who needs the time off!)