How many F's are there in this sentence?
Illusion - Finished Files.
Look at the photograph above, and count the number of F's in the sentence. How many did you count? The correct number is shown below.
Your Questions Answered - If God knows the future, does that mean that what is going to happen is going to happen?
Most followers of Eastern religions believe this. They say that our lives are all planned out beforehand for us, and nobody can change their destiny. Thus, for example, if you are destined to have a road accident at age 35, you will have a road accident at age 35! Nothing can change that.
This fatalistic "What will be will be" attitude to life is shown up in many different ways. Thus people may not bother to take care when they are driving a vehicle because they think that if they are destined to arrive safely at their destination, they will arrive safely. But if they are destined to have a crash, they are certain to have a crash - even if they drive carefully. At the Bali bombings a few years ago, most of the native inhabitants of that island just stood back and watched the aftermath. They took the attitude "It must be God's will. If people are going to die, they will die, if they are going to survive, they will survive. Therefore no rescue attempt will make any difference."
God certainly does know everything, including our futures. However the Bible makes it perfectly clear that we are in control of our own destinies. The choices we make today will largely determine what our future lives will be like. However, our eternal, all-knowing God is outside of time as we know it, and is able see the choices we make in the future. They are, however, still our choices. For example, Jesus always knew that Judas was going to betray Him, but that doesn't mean that Judas was not responsible for his actions. No. He made a bad choice! Interestingly, it was actually the "Westerners" in Bali at the time who, after the bombings, rushed to the aid of the injured - thus outworking their belief that what we do can indeed influence the outcome of an event.
So make sure you make good choices in life. And the most important one we have to make is what we are going to do with God's gift of Jesus - to accept Him as our Saviour and Lord, or to reject Him. I hope that you make the right choice. It will affect your eternal destiny.
Story - A free pardon.
This month's story is about a man who made a really bad choice - with deadly consequences!
Back in the 1830's an American by the name of George Wilson spotted a burglar trying to break into a Post office. Wilson pulled out his gun and shot the burglar, who subsequently died of his wounds. George Wilson was arrested and sent to trial for murder. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Wilson's lawyers petitioned the President, Andrew Jackson, on his behalf. On considering the nature of the case, President Jackson decided to offer Wilson a free pardon. Excitedly the lawyers took the good news to Wilson in prison. But amazingly the condemned man refused to accept the President's free parden. The country's legal experts weren't sure what to do in these circumstances, but on consideration concluded that, as Wilson refused to accept the free pardon, it was not valid. Therefore George Wilson was executed for his crime.
We have all sinned against a holy God and stand condemned. The penalty is death (separation from God). However because He loves us, God sent His only Son to pay the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross. This means that God is now able to offer each one of us a free pardon. However, just as in the case of George Wilson, that free pardon has to be accepted - otherwise it is not valid and we will have to pay the penalty ourselves.
Illusion - Finished Files (Answer).
Answer. The correct number of F's is 6. If you got it wrong, go back and count them again - there really are 6 F's in this sentence. Don't worry if you didn't get the right number, most other people get the wrong number as well! Most people overlook two or three of the three "OF's" in the sentence, and so only count three or four F's. This is because when we read a sentence, we actually only read some of the letters in the words, and guess the rest of them. If the word, or full sentence, makes sense to our mind, it is satisfied and moves on.
If you wish to make a copy of this sentence to try out on your parents or friends, type and print it out exactly as shown above. Remember - Type it all in capitals, and make sure that the end of each line is as shown in the photograph.
Look at the photograph above, and count the number of F's in the sentence. How many did you count? The correct number is shown below.
Your Questions Answered - If God knows the future, does that mean that what is going to happen is going to happen?
Most followers of Eastern religions believe this. They say that our lives are all planned out beforehand for us, and nobody can change their destiny. Thus, for example, if you are destined to have a road accident at age 35, you will have a road accident at age 35! Nothing can change that.
This fatalistic "What will be will be" attitude to life is shown up in many different ways. Thus people may not bother to take care when they are driving a vehicle because they think that if they are destined to arrive safely at their destination, they will arrive safely. But if they are destined to have a crash, they are certain to have a crash - even if they drive carefully. At the Bali bombings a few years ago, most of the native inhabitants of that island just stood back and watched the aftermath. They took the attitude "It must be God's will. If people are going to die, they will die, if they are going to survive, they will survive. Therefore no rescue attempt will make any difference."
God certainly does know everything, including our futures. However the Bible makes it perfectly clear that we are in control of our own destinies. The choices we make today will largely determine what our future lives will be like. However, our eternal, all-knowing God is outside of time as we know it, and is able see the choices we make in the future. They are, however, still our choices. For example, Jesus always knew that Judas was going to betray Him, but that doesn't mean that Judas was not responsible for his actions. No. He made a bad choice! Interestingly, it was actually the "Westerners" in Bali at the time who, after the bombings, rushed to the aid of the injured - thus outworking their belief that what we do can indeed influence the outcome of an event.
So make sure you make good choices in life. And the most important one we have to make is what we are going to do with God's gift of Jesus - to accept Him as our Saviour and Lord, or to reject Him. I hope that you make the right choice. It will affect your eternal destiny.
Story - A free pardon.
This month's story is about a man who made a really bad choice - with deadly consequences!
Back in the 1830's an American by the name of George Wilson spotted a burglar trying to break into a Post office. Wilson pulled out his gun and shot the burglar, who subsequently died of his wounds. George Wilson was arrested and sent to trial for murder. He was found guilty and sentenced to death.
Wilson's lawyers petitioned the President, Andrew Jackson, on his behalf. On considering the nature of the case, President Jackson decided to offer Wilson a free pardon. Excitedly the lawyers took the good news to Wilson in prison. But amazingly the condemned man refused to accept the President's free parden. The country's legal experts weren't sure what to do in these circumstances, but on consideration concluded that, as Wilson refused to accept the free pardon, it was not valid. Therefore George Wilson was executed for his crime.
We have all sinned against a holy God and stand condemned. The penalty is death (separation from God). However because He loves us, God sent His only Son to pay the penalty for our sins by dying on the cross. This means that God is now able to offer each one of us a free pardon. However, just as in the case of George Wilson, that free pardon has to be accepted - otherwise it is not valid and we will have to pay the penalty ourselves.
Illusion - Finished Files (Answer).
Answer. The correct number of F's is 6. If you got it wrong, go back and count them again - there really are 6 F's in this sentence. Don't worry if you didn't get the right number, most other people get the wrong number as well! Most people overlook two or three of the three "OF's" in the sentence, and so only count three or four F's. This is because when we read a sentence, we actually only read some of the letters in the words, and guess the rest of them. If the word, or full sentence, makes sense to our mind, it is satisfied and moves on.
If you wish to make a copy of this sentence to try out on your parents or friends, type and print it out exactly as shown above. Remember - Type it all in capitals, and make sure that the end of each line is as shown in the photograph.
Laugh Break - ALL I REALLY NEED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN.
All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
