Reflections on Life: The Peyton Manning Era from plugin2god on GodTube . ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Reflections on Life" takes real life situations and applies them to the spiritual life, like modern-day parables. This episode discusses the end of Peyton Manning's career with the Indianapolis Colts and compares it with Jesus' death for us.

This school year, my brothers and I are utilizing the curriculum created by Sonlight Education Ministry (SEM;  http://sonlighteducation.com/ ). It is an absolutely AWESOME program; I simply love it. It is Bible-based, -centered, and -directed. It cannot be rivaled even by a non-Christian curriculum (personal opinion). It is entirely obvious that the creators were led by God while putting together this program. At this time, they are out of business; but are working to put all of their material in a free-distribution format (PDFs, MP3s, etc.). That is actually how we obtained what we do have. They currently have three downloads available, and they are working on the fourth. Their catalogue ("Road Map and Route") outlines how the program works. In any case, in the first download, you can find a book entitled "Spelling from the Scriptures"; it is basically the spelling book. This is where you can find the beautiful spelling card...

     "The life of Christ that gives life to the world is in His word. It was by His word that Jesus healed disease and cast out demons; by His word He stilled the sea, and raised the dead; and the people bore witness that His word was with power. He spoke the word of God, as He had spoken through all the prophets and teachers of the Old Testament. The whole Bible is a manifestation of Christ, and the Saviour desired to fix the faith of His followers on the word. When His visible presence should be withdrawn, the word must be their source of power. Like their Master, they were to live 'by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' Matthew 4:4.       "As our physical life is sustained by food, so our spiritual life is sustained by the word of God. And every soul is to receive life from God’s word for himself. As we must eat for ourselves in order to receive nourishment, so we must receive the word for ourselves. We are not to obtain it merely ...

"In the beginning was the WORD,... All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made (John 1:1, 3)." Below is a TED Talk that was presented in 2007 by David Bolinsky, a medical animator. In it, the speaker emphasizes two words: truth   and beauty . Immediately, I thought of the verse: "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness (Psalm 96:9)." Of course, it may not directly relate; but that's what I thought of. I also considered that God is truth, as pointed out in John 17:17 -- "Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth ." (Note: John 1 establishes for us that the Word is God; therefore, we may safely conclude that because the word is truth, God is truth.) The speaker also mentions with awe the magnificence of human structure, and notes how he feels like he could almost worship it. I would say to worship the Lord who made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of water; the Lord who made you and me ...

I am probably the one millionth person to say this, but let's face the facts: it's a new year. We hear the same thing  every year, and yet each year, it's different.  The year 2011 was PlugIn2God's first official year of operation. What a year it was! God was there at every step and turn, guiding the entire process.  The opening theme for 2011 was "The Connection" in line with the mission of PlugIn2God -- To help young Christians stay connected to the ultimate power Source --Jesus Christ-- and become lightbearers for Him. In order to have a close relationship with someone, we have to meet them first! That is what last year was all about -- connecting to God. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What about 2012? What are we focusing on this year?  The WORD .  This year is introducing us to the written and the living Word of God -- the Bible and its Author. We will be digging deep into the Scriptures to see what messages G...

Throughout the course of this year, we have talked about a lot of different topics. But intellect is not everything; simply knowing stuff does not count. When it comes down to it, it all takes faith. You know what that is, right? Faith is believing something that is not there -- like the wind. In John 3 , Jesus gave this very same metaphor to Nicodemus. "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8, ES V). Faith requires commitment without giving hard evidence (or, in some cases, it gives hard evidence for the very opposite of what is promised). Faith requires submission, humility, and  love . It requires us to give ourselves up to the mercy of hope, and believe someone else's word -- with nothing to back it. Faith and ego really go ...

I have been impressed to do a series of posts on the basic necessities of twenty-first century life. Why?  Because independent living means that doing all of that stuff on our own, we need to know exactly what to consider. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Heat. All I have to say is wood cook  stove . Why? So long as my land is properly forested, I can supply my own fuel. I can prepare food (hence the name). I can warm my house. All of it. I can heat my water. I can bake. I can dehydrate my foods. Et Cetera... You don't have to believe me: but I have evidence ( Exhibit A ; Exhibit B ; Exhibit C ).  That being said, I encourage you to purchase the following instructional DVD: Getting Started with Wood Cook Stoves: A Hands-On Introduction  by Mountain Media Ministries. It is a quality investment. However, there are precautions that have to be taken when using wood and open fires. Liste...