Family Tree

PALM SUNDAY

This weekend is Palm Sunday. All of Christiandom will celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ riding a donkey into Jerusalem exactly 173,880 days after the prophet Daniel predicted it would happen. In my studies, I realized something many people miss. People think this was a happy day for Jesus when the people gathered palm leaves and cheered. But if you read Luke 19:42 it says Jesus WEPT as he approached the city. Why? Because the people didn't fully grasp who He was and the significance of that moment --- they blew it! If you doubt me, read it for yourself. In fact, the jubilant crowd who praised him was the same unruly mob that demanded his crucifixion just days later. Never trust the whims of a crowd. Truth can't be found in Group Religion which sways easily to the winds of public opinion. We need to think for ourselves and then balance our findings with clear data. People have asked me how I reached my faith and the short answer is I prayed for an understanding of the truth --- wherever it would lead me (I took the Red Pill) --- and I believe God answered my humble request. Riddled with all the biases and intellectual understanding I grew up with, I realized that I needed to step out of the comfort of my own understanding and into the unfamiliar realm of faith. Imperfect yet hopefully moving in the right direction, my approach to life has changed and I haven't looked back. Bitter sweet this Palm Sunday --- a day of joy and a day of sorrow. The Red Pill of Joy for those who get it; the Blue Pill of Sorrow for those who think they get it. I do not claim to be better than anyone, this is just me.

But as they came closer to Jerusalem and he saw the city ahead, he began to cry. “Eternal peace was within your reach and you turned it down,” he wept, “and now it is too late ... for you have rejected the opportunity God offered you.” --- Luke 19:42

Wisdom from Norm of Arcadia, CA
Words of Wisdom

Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.

Thanks to this week's winners:
Norm of Arcadia; Raffy of Lakewood; Tom J and Tom L of Pasadena; Charlie and Mike of New York
; Debbie of Moreno Valley; John of Rancho Palos Verdes.

You can view this email
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Family Tree
Sent by Raffy of Lakewood, California

A little girl asked her father, "How did the human race start?"

The father answered, "God made Adam and Eve and they had children, and so all mankind was made."

Two days later the girl asked her mother the same question.

The mother answered, "Many years ago there were monkeys from which the human race evolved."

The confused girl returned to her father and said, "Dad, how is it possible that you told me the human race was created by God, and Mom said they developed from monkeys?"

The father answered, "Well, dear, it is very simple. I told you about my side of the family and your mother told you about hers."



Good'bye Windows XP
A TGIF Tech Obituary sent by Tom L. of Pasadena, CA

After 12 long years, the support for Windows XP has finally come to an end last Tuesday. Like many of you, I still have an old computer that runs on this Windows platform. Unreliable Microsoft used to be the brunt of tech jokes until this baby came along. If you are not tech savvy, this probably doesn't mean anything to you but for me it's good 'bye to an old friend. Computers loaded with XP will still work but if it crashes (let's say from a virus attack), Microsoft's tech will no longer be able to help.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/end-of-support.aspx


The First Food and Liquid in the Moon
A TGIF Trivia Special
Sent by Debbie of Moreno Valley, CA

What was the first liquid and food consumed on the moon?

I'm betting that most are unaware of this story.

Over forty years ago two human beings changed history by walking on the surface of the moon. But what happened before Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong exited the Lunar Module is perhaps even more amazing, if only because so few people know about it. "I'm talking about the fact that Buzz Aldrin took communion on the surface of the moon. Some months after his return, he wrote about it in Guideposts magazine.

The background to the story is that Aldrin was an elder at his Presbyterian Church in Texas during this period in his life and knowing that he would soon be doing something unprecedented in human history, he felt he should mark the occasion somehow. He asked his minister to help him. And so the minister consecrated a communion wafer and a small vial of communion wine. Buzz Aldrin took them with him out of the Earth's orbit and on to the surface of the moon. He and Armstrong had only been on the lunar surface for a few minutes when Aldrin made the following public statement:

"This is the LM pilot. I'd like to take this opportunity to ask every person listening in, whoever and wherever they may be, to pause for a moment and contemplate the events of the past few hours and to give thanks in his or her own way." He then ended radio communication and there, on the silent surface of the moon, 250,000 miles from home, he read a verse from the Gospel of John and he took communion.

Here is his own account of what happened: "In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the scripture :

'I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit ... Apart from me you can do nothing.'

"I had intended to read my communion passage back to earth, but at the last minute [they] had requested that I not do this. NASA was already embroiled in a legal battle with Madelyn Murray O'Hare, the celebrated opponent of religion, over the Apollo 8 crew reading from Genesis while orbiting the moon at Christmas. I agreed reluctantly."

"I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility . It was interesting for me to think the very first liquid ever poured on the moon and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements."

And of course, it's interesting to think that some of the first words spoken on the moon were the words of Jesus Christ, who made the Earth and the moon --- and who, in the immortal words of Dante, is Himself the "Love that moves the Sun and other stars."

Validated in Snopes.com


Videos of the week: (click on the picture)

Dog Commercials
Contributed Charlie of New York

Subaru Dog Commercials

More cute than funny are these 4 auto commercials.

Follow the Frog
Contributed Mike of New York

Follow the frog

This is a tad bit political but the creative and humorous way it's presented gets my thumbs up. I was never even aware about this campaign until I saw this video.
What planet was I on?

Cinema and Spice
Contributed Xaris of Westwood, CA

Cinema and Spice

A relative of mine sent me this clip made by her husband's H.S. friends and she wants you to vote for their website as they vie for the covetted Webby Awards. It's essentially a cooking show with foods, drinks and crafts inspired by TV shows and/or Movies.

Space Jump
Contributed by Tom of Pasadena, CA

Space Jump An exhilarating video of the first man to jump to earth starting from way up there in space. I didn't realize it was such a big deal until I saw this.

Learning to Speak Italian
Contributed by Tom of Pasadena, CA

Italian Body Language

What do you call an Italian with one arm? An Italian with a speech impediment!
This clip shows how Italian kids learn to speak with their hands at a very young age.

Blue Angels
Contributed by Tom of Pasadena, CA

Blue angels

This is one of the best Blue Angel videos you'll see!! Great perspective with much of it filmed from the cockpit. You see the formation then see it from the pilot or camera view. It is in HD; hope your computer can handle it.

PIgeon Impossible
Contributed by John of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Pigeon Impossible

Supposedly the best cartoon of the year. It's an animation short in the Mission Impossible genre. It's quite entertaining.

360 fish eye video
Contributed by Charlie of New York

360 video

There's a new wave of cameras out there and it isn't made by the more established camera companies but a newbie. You see them attached in drones, helmets, etc. They're quite pricey but if you have the dough, you might want to purchase one before the Federal Aviation laws catch up with technology. Right now it's use of air space is still unrestricted. TGIF people!

Comments

Nice job reminding everyone that God is in control all the time, Raoul!

-- Pia from La Crescenta, CA

These are good insights to reflect on...Palm Sunday, bitter sweet. I didn't realize the feelings found in Palm Sunday. Bless you! I also liked the Buzz Aldrin story on the moon by Debbie.

--- Dette of Mindanao, Philippines

always LOVE your Christian thoughts and right on comments.

--- John of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Thanks for sharing your testimony, Raoul! Praying that many souls will be awakened during these last days and be led to faith in Jesus...before it's too late!

--- Pia of La Crescenta, CA

Hi Raul,
While you were writing about Palm Sunday I was preaching it. Had to come a couple of days early here in Dubai since Sundays are work days. If I had had your column yesterday, I would have used it as an illustration. Thanks anyway.

--- Doug in Dubai

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