TOT Grammar Review: more common problems

Flashing back to 7th grade language arts one more time...Three on Thursday (TOT)

ALTAR/ALTER
ALTAR is of the church variety. Here's a way you can remember this. The one that uses the "A" is for church which should be the first priority like "A" is the first letter in the alphabet. LOL

ALTER is the one that means "to change" like to alter a dress or to change one's hair color! LOL

DESERT/DESSERT
Hmmm...the best way to remember this one (remember that you are thinking like middle schoolers) is you would want two of the "sweet treats" so "da-ZERT" has two s's! LOL "DEZ-zert" is that big sandy place with cactus and/or camels! *wink*

PAST/PASSED
PAST refers to a time before this moment. The one with the T refers to Time!

PASSED is used mostly for to give ("I passed the salt") and to move ("We passed by our exit"). You'll also see if in "I passed my turn" and "My dog passed on."

Hope this is still helping out for some folks. Da Hubby and I still haven't had time to sit down and get the plurals and possessives chart I made into Excel and then into something Blogger-friendly. So stay tuned for that one!

WFMW: Displaying 40+ Family Pictures

While we live within a few miles of most of Da Hubby's immediate family, most of my family and closest friends are more than 2 hours away. So, while trying to figure out a way to not have my Vikings run screaming from the "strangers" every time we traveled somewhere for a visit, I ordered this from Oriental Trading.

I had to trim a row off vertically but I now can have forty 3 X 5 and/or 4 X 6 pictures hanging on the side of my fridge. We used mostly our own pics from our digital camera but have also had my family and some of Viking #1's local friends give/send us pictures that are also hung up on the fridge. Now, #1 and I can chat about who all these people are while making dinner, doing dishes, etc. Works for me!

Visit Shannon's site for more Works For Me Wednesday ideas .

From an angel on earth...

is the only way to explain how her words, her writing today, and her choice of scripture could make so many moms of little ones cry so much in one day! LOL God bless you, Shannon! In the kindest, most bloggy way, you are my mentor and my idol! (((hugs)))

Enough already! LOL

(Update again: this is the view out my kitchen window as of 2pm EST! LOL)

Woke up to ANOTHER 6-8 inches of snow and Da Hubby running the snow blower at 6:30am in the morning! He left grumbling about "if it keeps up like this, you better call me!" LOL Ah, the joy of lake effect "bands" of snow - it could be snowing so hard your roof is in danger of collapsing (oh, yea, that's right! He was already SHOVELING THE ROOF last night) while where he works, less than 10 miles away, could be getting NOTHING!

Anyway, I'm suppose to take Viking #1 out for a play date at Grandma and Papa's today while #2 and I go grocery shopping. We'll see! (Update: My in-laws who spent most of their parenting years in the Upper Peninsula just cancelled on me! LOL That must be SOME snow! LOL So, the kids and I will be snuggling at home today! ;)

Oh, and did I mention how it's not enough that there is this much snow OUTSIDE but that now the snow is now coming into the house to be played in? LOL

Fallen Ministers and Charismatic Credibility

(Wow, just got this in my email. Need to think about it some more. What do you all think? This was written by J. Lee Grady who is editor of Charisma Magazine)

We’ve reached a crisis point. How do we restore fallen leaders in a redemptive way and protect God’s people at the same time?

Suppose you go to the hospital and your surgeon accidentally removes your spleen instead of your appendix. Then you learn that this same doctor cut out the wrong organ from Mrs. Johnson’s abdomen and amputated Mr. Smith’s right leg instead of his left one. Oops!

I guarantee that this quack would lose his medical license no matter how friendly he seemed during office visits. And in this country, thankfully, he could move to the next town and open a surgical practice. We have professional standards that apply not only to doctors but also to dentists, bankers, teachers, lawyers and even cosmetologists.

Unfortunately in our quirky world of independent charismatic churches, there is no such thing as an enforceable standard of professional behavior. A hair stylist has to obey the rules, but our preachers don’t. We make up the rules as we go.

Case in point: Paul Cain, the celebrated charismatic prophet who appeared in countless conference pulpits during the 1990s, stepped down from ministry in 2005 after he was publicly confronted by three high-profile church leaders, Mike Bickle, Rick Joyner and Jack Deere. They brought disciplinary charges against Cain because of a pattern of homosexual behavior and alcoholism.

Cain admitted his failures, stepped down from ministry and initially agreed to submit to a regimen of accountability prescribed by a group of men who knew him. But a few weeks later Cain announced that he was moving to California to find restoration from a different group—a church that Bickle, Joyner and Deere knew nothing about.

Then, 12 months later, voila! The church in California announced that Cain was “restored” and ready to preach again.

Bickle, Joyner and Deere did the right thing by releasing a statement on Jan. 21, which said, in part: “We cannot say with confidence that this is a genuine restoration that is according to the principles of God’s Word. It will be harmful to [Cain] and others if he is released prematurely and then relapses into his past failures.”

Thank God someone was bold enough to demand a higher standard—at a time when so many Christians have gone squishy and spineless on biblical morality. It is time for leaders in our movement to show some tough love and adopt some stringent policies about biblical restoration.

Cain’s situation is an opportunity for us to examine our movement’s credibility crisis. We need clearer guidelines on how to handle a leader’s moral failure. Here are four:

1. Forgiveness is immediate. God’s mercy is amazing, and He is quick to forgive a fallen leader who repents. God does not require us to wallow in shame or self-pity. We can eagerly embrace the redemption that Christ purchased for us.

2. Personal restoration is a process. Repentance is not just feeling sorry for making a mistake. A leader must have heartfelt humility and a genuine sense of brokenness for the way his or her sin hurt others. If the leader is in denial about his failures, true friends must confront his deeply rooted pride and deception.

3. Restoration to ministry should never be fast-tracked. Many experts suggest that a fallen leader should step down for a minimum of three years in order to find full healing in his or her own life as well as in marriage (especially in the case of sexual sin). Some denominations only require two years of rehabilitation, but those of us in independent churches have required even less time. As a result of our hurry, there are many unhealed, unhealthy leaders in the pulpit today—as well as congregations that feel exploited by spiritual traitors.

4. Restoration should involve people who know the fallen leader. If a leader fails morally, he will be tempted to run across the country and find a new set of friends who are wowed by his charisma but don’t see his dark side. But true restoration must include reconciliation with the people hurt by his or her actions.

I know some will complain that I am being “judgmental.” The truth is that I know several ministers who fell morally and then returned to their pulpits in God’s time, not theirs. Restoration is possible and it should be our goal.

I will stand with the apostle Paul, who drew unpopular lines in the sand, demanded character of church leaders and warned early Christians to avoid the self-restored Lone Rangers of that era. If we don’t draw some lines today, the flaky prophets and carnal con artists will bring all of us down to their level.

Gotta Love That Lake Effect!

(Update: for some more photos we took yesterday, Da Hubby created a cool little webpage this morning.)

Grrr...the lake effect snow storm warning has been extended until tomorrow! 2-5 more inches today and possibly 1-4 tomorrow! Yikes!

As it is, Da Hubby has to get up on the roof tonight to push some of the snow off! Ought to be interesting! LOL

Viking #1 is enjoying it though! She was "helping" DaHubby snowblow again last night. She makes me remember the winters when I was little! LOL

Happy Monday to all!

Now THIS is a Michigan winter! LOL

Da Hubby's "snow prayers" have finally paid off. My "Yooper" (from the Upper Peninsula thus "U.P.-er" thus "Yooper" for those of you uninitiated to Michigan lingo LOL) hubby is in his glory! Church cancelled. Twelve inches in last 12 hours and it's coming down so strong that we can barely see across the street! LOL A glorious day of rest to all...