Since it is All Saints Day, I thought it would be a great time to talk about Super-Hero Saints from the olden days. 

​These men inspire me to follow Jesus with all my heart and make a difference in my generation. I hope this post will make you want to learn more about these amazing saints!

​Saint Polycarp (69-155), bishop of Smyrna, was mentored by Apostle John the Beloved. He pastored his flock faithfully in the midst of terrible persecution, but managed to make it to the age of 86. At this point, the Emperor decided to execute Polycarp, but gave him permission to recant his faith in Christ. When he heard he was a wanted man, he refused to flee, but waited patiently for the soldiers to take him to the arena. When asked to recant, he replied, "86 years I have served him and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior. 

Saint Eusebius (260-340), bishop of Caesarea, is considered the Father of Church History. He escaped execution during Emperor Diocletian's "Great Persecution," but was imprisoned. After Emperor Constantine's Edict of Milan, Eusebius returned to pastoring his flock. Today, we remember him for ​Ecclesiastical History​, a 10-volume work covered Church history from Jesus to his time. I read this book and I love it! It's so awesome to read about the early church! In addition, he wrote a 15-volume work explaining how Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Christ. He also wrote a history of the world.  

Saint Nicholas (270-343), bishop of Myra in Asia Minor is remembered for his kind heart and generosity. He loved children and they loved him. During the "Great Persecution" of Emperor Diocletian, he was imprisoned and exiled. Saint Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea, a defender of Orthodoxy, defending the Deity of Christ, the Trinity, and Incarnation of Christ. He boldly denounced the heresies of Arius. 

​Saint Athanasius (296-373), the Archbishop of Alexandria, was exiled five times for his strong stand on the Deity of Christ and the Trinity. When the Church was divided over the heretical teachings of Arius who claimed that Jesus was not always one with the Father, Saint Athanasius firmly stood his ground on the Word of God. Throughout Christendom, there were fierce arguments. Emperor Constantine finally had enough and he called for a church council at Nicaea where the Nicene Creed was hashed out as a answer to Arius' heresy. Athanasius' works on the Incarnation of Christ helped to lay a strong foundation for sound doctrine in the Church. 

"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" Henry Stanley, the newspaper reporter asked the Scottish doctor. "The whole world is looking for you." 

​"I'm not lost," the doctor replied in his hearty voice, that belied the illness he had been fighting. 

Dr. David Livingstone (1813- 1873), born in Scotland, spent most of his childhood working hard in a mill. His heart was set on being a doctor, so after his long days at the mill, he took night classes, eventually graduating with a medical degree.

​One day, David heard a missionary doctor speak about how missionaries with medical knowledge were needed in China. As David prayed about it, he felt called, not to China, but to Africa.

​David spent many years in Africa, traveling to places that no white man had ever gone before. It was quite an adventure! One time he was attacked by a lion! Another time a terrible accident destroyed his left arm. Best of all, he discovered beautiful rivers and majestic waterfalls.  

Where did Halloween come from anyway? Here is a brief history of the second most popular holiday in America. Most of the sources I have used for research are secular and some are from witches themselves.

Halloween has its roots in the Celtic new year festival of Samhain in ancient England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. This was considered the beginning of winter. Herds left the pastures for the barns, and tenant farmers renewed their leases.[1] Their pagan priests were called Druids. “Now on or about the first of November the Druids held their great autumn festival and lighted fires in honor of the sun-god in thanksgiving for the harvest.”[2] Druid priests fostered the belief that ghosts and witches were more likely to wander around on this night, more than all other nights during the year. The Celts lit bonfires on hills to frighten spirits away because they believed that “on the eve of this festival, Saman, the lord of death, called together all the wicked souls that within the past twelve months had been condemned to inhabit the bodies of animals.”[3] “During the Samhain festival the souls of those who had died were believed to return to visit their homes, and those who had died during the year were believed to journey to the otherworld.”[4]

The Celts lit bonfires to frighten away evil spirits because they were afraid they would cause harm or death. They also put on “masks and other disguises to avoid being recognized by the ghosts thought to be present. It was in those ways that beings such as witches, hobgoblins, fairies, and demons came to be associated with the day. The period was also thought to be favorable for divination on matters such as marriage, health, and death.”[5]
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When the Roman Empire spread out to include Great Britain and Ireland, Roman festivals were added to the Celtic celebration.[6] Under the 400-year Roman rule, the festival of Samhain came to include the Roman festivals of Feralia and Pomona. Feralia was “a day in late October when the Romans traditionally commemorated the passing of the dead.”[7] Pomona, the Roman goddess of the harvest, fruit, and trees, was honored in another Roman celebration. The symbol for Pomona was the apple and this “probably explains the tradition of ‘bobbing’ for apples that is practiced today on Halloween.”[8]
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But the Celts did not stay in darkness. The Gospel came to their land and many Celts abandoned their pagan practices to serve the True and Living God. Some Druid priests also gave up their pagan practices to serve Jesus. Celtic Christians were devoted to the Lord, but those who resisted the Gospel continued these pagan practices of Samhain along with the added Roman celebrations.

Celebrations are never complete without stories.

And our American Thanksgiving is full of stories.

Here are two chapter books that are lovely to read aloud to your children or grandchildren during the week of Thanksgiving.

Divide the chapters up so that you can finish the whole book in a week. The children will love these books and they give them a look back in time to the very first Thanksgiving.  

The stores are filled with hearts, chocolate, and roses in every shade of pink and red imaginable. As a lover of pink, chocolate and roses, this just may be my favorite time of year to shop!  It's St. Valentines Day! Yes, St. Valentine's Day--I know that sounds a little odd to your ears. When I was a little girl, that's what we called it. But in recent years, as all holidays are secularized and materialized more and more, St. Valentine's Day became Valentine's Day. 

Who was St. Valentine and why do we celebrate love on the day we've set aside to remember him?  Valentine was a priest who lived in Rome during the reign of Emporer Claudius. He was know for his kindness and selfless love. He was arrested for his faith and imprisoned, but managed to send and receive letters from his friends and fellow Christians. Emporer Claudius tried to convert him to Roman paganism to spare his life, but Valentine shared the Gospel with the emporer instead. Before he was martyred for his faith in Jesus, he healed the eyes of his jailor's blind daughter.  

In the Late Middle Ages, when courtly love and romance became the rage throughout Europe, St. Valentine's Day became associated with love and romance. Both romantic love and Christian martyrdom are things to celebrate.  St. Valentine stands in the "great cloud of witnesses," in Hebrews 12, cheering us on! St. Valentine's Day can be celebrated in either direction, or both directions. We can celebrate the romantic love we share with our sweethearts or we can remember those who have given their lives for the Gospel of Christ.

If we are celebrating St. Valentine's Day with our sweetie, there are many options.  He, of course, can buy us a dozen long-stemmed roses and a big box of Godiva chocolate.  We can go out to a lovely dinner and gaze into each other's eyes.  But, of course, those things cost money.  So, what are some inexpensive ways to celebrate the romance you share with your husband?  Here are some things Mike and I have done:

• Pack china, crystal goblets, a tasty lunch, and sparkling grape juice. Go on a picnic in a pretty spot.  Bring a beautiful comforter to sit on and be careful with the china and crystal!
• Buy a package of Valentines for children.  Write little notes to your husband on each one and hide them throughout the house.  Make most easy to find, but hide some so that they won't be found until later
• Make a CD of romantic songs and dance outside on the patio in the moonlight
• Make a scrapbook of your relationship from its conception until now. Look at it together. 

• Tell your children how you met, how your husband proposed, and other fun stories. Your children will love this!
• Wait until the children are in bed and have a romantic dinner by candlelight ALONE!
• Read old love letters out loud to each other!

"Look a watch shop," I said to Julianna, Shine, and Jimmy.

Ten Boom Watch and Jewelry  was written in Dutch and English on the large store front window. Clocks, watches, and jewelry glittered in the window. I smiled.

​Corrie ten Boom was the daughter and granddaughter of a watch maker. In fact, Corrie was the first registered clock and watch maker in the Netherlands.

It Started with a Prayer Meeting

Three generations of watch making symbolized before me, but more importantly, three generations that loved Jesus Christ with all their hearts. In 1844, Corrie's grandfather, Willem was approached by a Messianic Jewish pastor who asked Willem to start a weekly prayer meeting for the Jewish people. That was strange because back then there was no nation of Israel and the Jews were scattered throughout the world. But, Willem began weekly prayer meetings for the Jewish people that continued for 100 years.

We were ushered in by our tour guide up some narrow steps to a charming living room. I felt like I had stepped back in time to the early twentieth century. Unlike other museums, we were able to sit down on the ten Boom furniture and listen to our guide.

Life in Amsterdam

​“Lord's day, Oct. 19. ‘In the morning I felt my soul hungering and thirsting after righteousness. While I was looking on the elements of the Lord's Supper, and thinking that Jesus Christ was not "set forth crucified before me,’ my soul was filled with light and love, so that I was almost in an ecstasy; my body was so weak I could scarcely stand.

“I felt at the same time an exceeding tenderness and most fervent love toward all mankind; so that my soul and all its powers seemed, as it were, to melt into softness and sweetness. But during the communion there was some abatement of this life and fervor. This love and joy cast out fear; and my soul longed for perfect grace and glory. This frame continued til the evening, when my soul was sweetly spiritual in secret duties.,”

(from the Diary of David Brainerd)

Would you like to learn more about this Colonial American missionary to the Native Americans?

Orthodox Christianity is a list of beliefs that Christians adhere to. We may disagree on the non-essentials, but on this set of beliefs, Christians agree. This is the non-negotiable part of our doctrine, or core of beliefs about Who God is and How God does Things.

Do not compromise on these truths:
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• There is one God eternally existent in the Triune Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
• 
  

Jesus Christ is God, the only begotten Son of the Father, eternally co-existing with Him from and beyond eternity. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, was born of Virgin Mary, was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again of Third Day. He ascended in bodily form into Heaven where He awaits us, is seated at the right hand of the Father and is interceding for us.

That God created the world and all that is in it. He has ownership rights over all people

Separatists, on the other hand, did not hold out hope for the Church of England. They simply wanted to be free to worship God according to the pattern they saw in Scripture. There was persecution for all those who rejected the Church of England.

"You are the salt of the earth!  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.  You are the light of the world.  A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl.  Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven,"  (Matthew 5:13-16 NIV).

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