FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine - Issue 36 Vol 4 # 6 June 2003 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. 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: Read My Lips Administration request: Other-than-English Language Editions of FreEzine Prayer: Numbers 6:23-26 (World English Bible) What's On? Seminars & Workshops Prayer Request: Cindy Hogan Repeatable Quotable: What Sin Has Made Havagiggle: The Missionary and the Cannibal The Extensive Exposition: Escaping Addiction's Cycle by V M Parachin The Funny Bone: What Money Will Do Sermon Snippet: Defining Unconditional Love by A M Rodrigues Take a Hint: Using shortcut keys in Windows Letters to the Editor Article: Confessions By ALDA by Joyce Rigsby Watch This Space Subscription & Other Information And in Closing: Praying Scripture FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine -FreEzine Editorial: Read My Lips Many years ago, while counselling a couple, the wife used an expression that I had not heard before. She shouted a statement aimed at her husband and added, 'Read my lips!' Since then I have heard the expression many times and, in fact, the Government has produced pamphlets on child abuse and domestic violence which both use that same expression, 'Read my lips!' I was re-reading the story of Joseph a few days ago and was interested to observe Joseph using the same expression when talking to his brothers. A literal translation of the Hebrew of Genesis 45:12 (in part) reads, 'Your eyes see ... that my mouth speaks.' (The King James reads, 'And, behold, your eyes see ... that it is my mouth that speaketh unto you.'). Moses used the expression, 'HEAR, O Israel, the statutes and judgements which I SPEAK IN YOUR EARS this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them (Deuteronomy 5:1, emphasis added). Job said (13:17), 'Hear diligently my speech, and my declaration with your ears.' The expression to 'have ears and hear not' is found in Psalms 115:6, 135:17, Jeremiah 5:21 and Ezekiel 12:2. The New Testament picks up the refrain, 'If any man have ears to hear, let him hear' (Matthew 11:15, 13:9, 13:43, Mark 4:9, 4:23, 7:16, Luke 8:8, 14:35) and 'He that hath an ear, let him hear' (Rev 2:7, 2:11, 2:17, 2:29, 3:6, 3:13, 3:22, 13:9). Something tells me that there is a great difference between hearing and HEARING; between hearing and listening with understanding. I confess that for many of us what we hear emulates the behaviour of a worm in a cornfield which 'goes in one ear and out another'. God is speaking to us today. Let's read His lips. -- Lionel Hartley, Editor Administration request: FreEzine is distributed internationally, with subscribers currently in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain, UK, USA, and many subscribers whose location is unknown. It is currently published in English and translated into German by the editor, and we have been advised that it is also translated into Spanish, Italian, and French by subscribers who re-distribute it in their own language. If you are one of these translator/distributors, could you please contact the editor as we have recently had a number of additional requests for other-than-English language editions. We are happy to have you continue, and would appreciate copies of your translations to be available to other readers. Also please contact us if you would like FreEzine in a language other than English. Prayer: Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, "Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, 'This is how you shall bless the children of Israel.' You shall tell them, 'Yahweh bless you, and keep you. Yahweh make his face to shine on you, And be gracious to you. Yahweh lift up his face toward you, And give you peace.' (Amen) Source: Numbers 6:23-26 in the World English Bible (WEB - a Modern English update of the American Standard Version of 1901.) What's On? Seminars & Workshops: Check out the following web sites: ; Prayer Request: Cindy Hogan (USA) My name is Gary Hogan. My wife, Cindy, is 32 years old and has just been diagnosed 3 days ago with stage 4 cervical cancer and her chances for survival are very slim. She was pregnant with our second child and had miscarried at 5 months, and now we know why. This is a request for you to pray and ask everyone you know to pray for the healing of Cindy, removal of all cancer in her body so she may enjoy all that life has to offer, and to continue to be the wonderful mother to our 5 year old son, Michael. The power of Prayer is unsurpassed. I want the whole world to have her in their prayers the next few weeks. God will hear our cry. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading this and helping with our request for healing. No words can express how much power we have when we do a little extra to come together. Regards, Cindy's in-love husband - Gary Repeatable Quotable: What Sin Has Made "O miserable man, what a deformed monster sin has made you! God has made you 'little lower than the angels'; sin has made you little better than the devils." -Joseph Alleine, cited in Michael Brown, Go and Sin No More, Ventura, Regal Books, California, 1999, P. 20. Havagiggle: The missionary found his way through the jungle blocked by a cannibal. The missionary fell to his knees and began to say his last prayers. He was amazed when he saw the cannibal on his knees too. "Dear Brother," exclaimed the missionary "I feared my last hour was come. Marvellous that you are with me in praising the Lord." "Don't interrupt," said the cannibal, "I'm saying grace!" -- Adapted from Il Tigre, 'La Barzelletta anticlericale', Danilo Aquisti, published by Roberto Napoleone (Translated by the editor). The Extensive Exposition. Each issue we 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: Escaping Addiction's Cycle: Stepping on the Road to Recovery by Victor M. Parachin Articles may be obtained free by writing to the editor and asking for the article by name. The Funny Bone: What Money Will Do 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- Defining Unconditional Love ROM & floppy-disk electronic books & multimedia, Video & Audio tapes and Talking Books & audio CDs. Sermon Snippet: Defining Unconditional Love by Angel Manuel Rodrigues Is it correct to say that God's love is unconditional and without any cause outside God Himself? So much has been written about God's love that we can hardly begin to summarise the results of those studies. The most important text is obviously 1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love" (NIV). John's purpose was not to speculate concerning the nature of God, but to motivate Christians to love one another. Yet in the process he made this remarkable statement in which he suggested that if we explore the very nature of God, we will find only love, and that divine activity is motivated and determined by pure love. 1. Unconditional? Can we use the term unconditional to refer to the expression of God's love toward His creatures? If God is by nature love, if the essence of His being is self-giving expressed in concern for the well-being of others, then we must recognise that nothing outside God Himself can move Him to love us. Unconditional is appropriate if understood in terms of our inability to make ourselves loveable before Him. In fact, it is totally unnecessary for us to become loveable, because God by nature loves us. His love is not elicited by our physical or moral attractiveness. He loved us when we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). In practical terms this means He loves Americans and Iraqis, Adventists and Hindus, sinners and saints, etc., with the same intensity. When it comes to God's love for His creatures and His offer of salvation, God makes no distinctions. 2. Causeless? Since God does not expect us to meet certain conditions before we can be objects of His love, some have concluded that no reason can be offered for His love toward us except love itself (He loves me because He loves me). Accordingly, to go beyond love itself is to rob it of its spontaneity. God's love, they say, cannot be grounded on any particular reason except the fact that God is love. This is an attractive idea, but theologically damaging to the biblical view of God. It defines God and the nature of God's ultimate reality as essentially irrational. It is not that love transcends reason, but that reason and love are perceived as incompatible because to provide a reason for love is to condition it. This overlooks the fact that from the biblical point of view the reason God loves us is that He created us. After we sinned, He continued to love us, because Christ died for us, although we were sinful and rebellious. 3. Indifferent? Since God continues to love us in spite of our sin, does that not suggest that He loves us no matter what we do? We should be extremely careful not to give the impression that divine love is like human love, sentimentally born out of irrational emotions accompanied by elements of psychological guilt for personal failures in our interpersonal relations. Love and permissiveness are incompatible. When we say, "God loves me no matter what I do," we are indeed saying that God is indifferent to what we do. The opposite of love is not anger, but indifference. The Bible states that God reacts to what we do or do not do, that what we do evokes a reaction from God because He takes us seriously. It is because He loves us that He becomes angry when we rebel against Him. God's wrath and His love are not incompatible. Divine wrath is God's love seeking to express its pain while offering reconciliation. God's love is tough love. 4. Creative: God's love for us is determined, not by our real or presumed value, but by the fact that He created and redeemed us. However, we should not conclude that we are valueless objects. When God makes us objects of His love, we become extremely valuable. Love moved God to create us, and what He created was valuable, good, very good (Gen. 1:31). We lost that value through the Fall, but when the Son of God became poor in order for us to be enriched, divine love restored our value. We are now children of the King of the universe! John wrote: "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11, NIV). Did you get the point? -- Take a Hint: Using shortcut keys in Windows A reader who uses shortcut keys in Microsoft Word asked if there are similar keys he can use for the desktop. (These hints are for the Desktop, My Computer, and Windows Explorer). If you are using a Windows Extended keyboard, you can display the item's shortcut menu by pressing the APPLICATION key. With any keyboard, when an item is selected, you can use the following shortcut keys: Bypass AutoPlay when inserting a compact disc - Press SHIFT while inserting the CD-ROM Copy a file - Press CTRL while dragging the file Create a shortcut - Press CTRL+SHIFT while dragging the file Delete an item immediately without placing it in the Recycle Bin - Press SHIFT+DELETE Display Find: All Files - Press F3 Refresh the contents of a window - Press F5 Rename an item - Press F2 Select all items - Press CTRL+A View an item's properties - Press ALT+ENTER or ALT+DOUBLE-CLICK Letters to the Editor Bill (email) asks, Where is the Fifth Province? I saw a newsletter from there recently in a Doctor's Waiting Room. Bill, the Fifth Province is not a place, but the loosely knit organisation of around 70 million Irish descendants and emigrants around the world. Your local newsagent may have copies of the publication to which you refer. In response to an article in an earlier FreEzine, ER, USA (Email) asks if the Adventist Church has special churches for the deaf and hearing impaired. Yes, ER, check out the list on For ER's benefit, and for our other readers also, the following article may be of interest. Article: Confessions By ALDA* by Joyce Rigsby (*ALDA stands for A Lately Deafened Adult). I grew up with all the advantages of a hearing person but by the time I was 50 and had learned to 'listen" I was fast losing my hearing. Loss of hearing could easily have made me an isolated person if I hadn't put forth effort to remain a part of the hearing world. As soon as I realised my hearing was not stable I enrolled in a speech reading class. There I realised that I needed to learn, besides the basics of reading lips, to understand body language. The process is energy draining and the tendency is to monopolise a conversation. Because I had a tendency towards monopoly anyway, I must constantly be on guard to be sure I'm engaged in dialogue and not monologue. When I become tired my mind seems to blank out temporarily. This "blanking out" by the Hard of Hearing (HOH) causes some hearing to say, "You hear what you want to hear."' I do admit to understanding more and for longer periods on subjects that interest me. This happens to hearing people too, except they are able to hear a few words and can get back on track quickly. I have found it hurtful to be accused of selective listening when I'm doing my best to be part of an ongoing conversation. At times I'll ask someone next to me, 'What did I miss?" and am told, "I'll tell you later." Later rarely comes. An occasional thoughtful soul will read my face and know I've not understood and scribble a few words to clue me in. For those persons I am grateful but have learned not to expect continuous clarification. It is okay to be the last to know. I've told relatives and close friends, "If it is important that I know what you tell me, please check and make sure I understood." Years ago I knew an old lady who refused to get hearing aids but wanted to be included and expected the whole family to raise there voices. So before I started becoming deaf, I made a resolve to get hearing aids if I ever needed them - even if they were hard to adjust to. (they were!!) Expecting the world to shout for me is akin to wanting the ground carpeted so I don't have to wear shoes! Too many people who are "HOH" blame others when they can't hear. Impaired hearing does separate the mumblers from those with clear diction BUT I soon learned that most people were not going to change for me. (Though one interpreter shaved his beard off when he realised I couldn't lip-read him) I got farther by freely admitting my limitations first. It's so much easier to pretend that I've heard rather than stop an ongoing conversation to clarify a point. Years ago a two-year-old granddaughter said something I did not hear, and I answered, "That's nice." Her mother nearby asked, "Did you hear her?!! She said 'I bit Nathan today."' I've learned that if I don't hear and can't clarify on the spot my responses should be non-judgmental. I could have responded, "You did?" and she might have said something that would clarify. With an adult I now often repeat what I have heard and usually they will then fill in what I missed. Group situations with attendant background noise are the most difficult. Because I've gone to church regularly all my life I did not stop going during my hearing loss. I suggested to one pastor that I might have to change my membership if our church did not invest in a sound system that included provision for the hard of hearing. 'The Williams Sound System was installed and used by more than me. One young minister told me that his church had a brand new system and the HOH chose not to hear rather than be identified as HOH. Assistive devices are invaluable even if you have to sit in a special section or wear head phones. Before my hearing loss outpaced technology I started learning sign language. If I could do it over I would start sign language at the same time I first went to lip reading classes. Usually it's easier for a younger person to pick up a new language. Hard as I tried to learn I had to give up my dream of becoming proficient in ASL (American Sign Language). But I've made many friends among the deaf through the last few years and have found them patient in helping me learn more. I've learned that not every deaf person can adapt down their signing to my slow speed BUT I've also learned that not every hearing person is willing to accommodate someone who cannot follow the flow of their conversation. Society on the whole is not in tune with the needs of the "HOH" or deaf. Churches on the whole have done little to include the hearing impaired as an integral part of their planning. But I've learned that I can help myself. When I go into a restaurant I can ask for a quiet corner, I can be sure I'm not facing a window, I can ask the waitress for an extra glass or mug on which to fasten a hand held mike. And I resolve not to blame, monopolise or pretend. I need to use my energy to hang on in as long as I can and then announce my need for "time out." I rationalise that 'ten years from now it won't matter a bit that I didn't hear all 'conversation'. It will matter a lot if I give up and become a recluse! -- 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. 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This could be your next home: Check out And, in closing: Praying Scripture The words "pray" and "Prayer" in their different forms appear over 250 times in the Bible, so why not use the Bible in prayer? The Bible is full of God's promises for all circumstances in life. Bible verses can be a wonderful inspiration to make up your prayers or even praying a particular promise God has brought to your mind or attention while reading the Bible. When you need inspiration, there is no better place than the Bible to find it. Look up the subject in a concordance or pray and ask God to guide you to the verse you need to find. It will happen. God communicates with you through Scripture. He can show you promises you need to claim or pray for every circumstance. Kurt Johnson, in Prayer Works, suggests the following: Lay the Bible before you on your chair or bed. Read the passage on your knees. Pray through each verse. Apply the verse to your life in prayer as you talk to God. Write down the thoughts that come to you in prayer. A good place to start may be the Book of Psalms. Other places to pray through could be Colossians 1:9-14, Philippians 1:9, Ephesians 3:16-20, or Jeremiah 10:23-25. (--editor).