10/09/2008 by Andrew.

Well me finger ends are nearly worn away with all that typing.

Presumably they have fired up the Large hadron collider by now and we are still here. So much for the prophets of doom! If you don’t know ‘the crack’ they were saying that a black hole would be formed and we would all get sucked into it? A bit like your head disappearing down your throat and the rest of your body following it. If you can imagine that. Well thats how I visualised it anyway.

Had to laugh at this.  -  UK’s direct contribution to the LHC is £34m per year, or less than the cost of a pint of beer per adult in the UK per year. - Guess what? 99.99% of the adults would have prefered to have the pint of beer.

They are trying to find out how the universe was created “yes created” that is the word they were using on the proggy that told us all about it.  2.6 billion pounds to NOT find out what we could have told them on the phone. I am sure a lot of them aids orphans in Africa could have managed a wedge of cash like that to put some bread on the table.

Obviously this big tube for wizzing protons up to the speed of light is more important than a few million homeless starving kids. Still it’s not for the likes of us to question the scientists…..is it? Can’t stand in the way of ‘progress’.

Here is another riddle:

I have an eye but cannot see. I am stronger and faster then any man alive but have no limbs. What am I?

Them eclairs sound scrummy yummy Lynda but I could feel my arteries recoiling in horror when I read of all that butter, chocolate and fresh creammmmmmmmmm………………..! Still, it does’nt hurt to dream a little i suppose.

Oh! by the way Ted your little secret is OUT! I know what a ‘balsa stripper’ is. I thought i had better check it out just to make sure it was’nt anything naughty. Don’t worry - your secret is safe with me - for now!  

Anyway I can feel a tired head coming on so it’s time for a little snooooooozzzzzz.

Andrew XXXXXXX

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09/09/2008 by Andrew.

Hi Smokie,

Good question.

Out of all the religions in the world how can i know that christianity is the true way, and if it is the true way, then why are there so many different versions (denominations) all supposedly based upon the same book and yet all different.

All religions (including lots of supposedly ‘christian’ ones) except true Christianity are based upon what we have to do to be acceptable to God. ie. they are works oriented. If you know of one that is’nt let me know because i don’t know of any. People hope that thier good works will outweigh the bad ones in the final reckoning. Christianity stands alone in its proclaimation that there is nothing that we can do to contribute towards our reconciliation with God. The best that we can achieve falls far short of God’s requirements. To understand why, we need to appreciate God’s character.

God is love - that is - He loves His creation with a perfect unselfish love. BUT God is also Holy – that is His righteousness is flawless – He is morally perfect. His standards (law) therefore are the same, as they reflect His character. When we measure ourselves against this standard you can understand how every human falls far short. Breaking God’s commandment (law) brings death, and this is what happened to Adam. As we all descend from Adam we inherit this same inclination towards wrongdoing and so death came upon the whole human race. So where does God’s love (mercy) and His requirement for perfect obedience to His law meet.

The answer is in Jesus the messiah (or Christ). Jesus is God the Son. The Son of the Father who has every attribute of God, AND Jesus is also The Son of man. He was born into this creation as a mortal human being. Jesus is the God / Man, (fully human and fully God) and as such He is the interface between a Holy God and sinful man. Jesus lived a life on this earth without wrongdoing (sin), He did not break God’s Holy law. Because of this it became possible for Jesus to bridge the gulf between us and God.

God’s LAW states that sin brings death – that is the shedding of blood - because the LIFE is in the blood. God’s MERCY says that He has found a substitute in another - the perfect human being – Jesus. Is this fair and just? YES because as one sinful man (Adam) brought sin and death into the world so one sinless Man (Jesus) can remove the curse of sin - which is death - from every person. When Jesus Holy blood was spilled by the scourging, the thorns, the nails and the spear it had the power to atone for every sin committed, by every human being throughout all time. This substitution is God’s answer to our problem, and the place where His holiness, justice, love and mercy meet.

All that God requires from us is (1) to Repent (turn from our own ways to God’s ways) (2) Put our trust (faith) in Jesus finished work and not in our own works. (3) Be baptised in water for the forgiveness of sins. God’s promise to us is that He will give to us the gift of His Holy Spirit who will lead us into all truth and enable us to live out our repentance and allow Jesus to become not only Saviour but also Lord too.

Acts 2:37-39 Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Yep – we are all far from perfect and I mess it up every day in one way or another but the blood of Jesus continues to atone as long as we continue to trust in Him. “If any man sin we have an advocate (defending attorny) with the Father - the MAN Christ Jesus”. “If we confess our sin He is faithful to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”.

If you read the first two chapters of Job in the Bible (as suggested) you will read how Satan approached God to condemn Job, acting as the prosecution. Now WE have a defending attorny who represents us before the Judge (God) who must judge us according to His Holy Law. Jesus stands for us as our defence if we trust in Him. His answer to satan’s accusations is to present His own blood and plead the substitution. The rightious Judge must proclaim - not guilty - a ransom has been paid!

Now to answer your question. My answer is - a question - did Mohammed or Budda or any of the other chappies of the other religions die for you and me? This is why Jesus is the ONLY way to God all the others are FALSE WAYS designed by God’s enemies to lead people away from the Truth. Only Jesus died in our place to atone for our sins – no one else…..!   I truly believe that if I had been the only sinner on this earth Jesus would still have come and died for me alone. Thats how much He loves me and He does not love you any less. How can we not respond to such selfless love?

At the great white throne judgement when the dead – small and great are resurrected, people will be judged according to their works but this will not decide whether they are cast into Gehenna – the lake of fire - and suffer the ‘second death’. This decision is based solely upon whether their names are written in the Lambs book of Life – do they belong to Jesus.

It is never too late for a person to repent and put their trust in the ‘Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world’. While you have breath in your body there is hope, but if you die in your sins then there remains only judgement and despair. “It is appointed unto man but once to die and then the judgement”. God does not want anybody to miss THE WAY but the choice is ours. He say’s, “Today I have set before you the Way of Life and the way of death – THEREFORE CHOOSE LIFE”.

Lots of love.

Andrew.

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03/09/2008 by Andrew.

Greetings ALL,

BOB it’s not the Pennines it’s Barrow in Furness that keeps the East coast dry! But like Ted says ‘count your blessings’. Maybe next year Sol will shine upon us too.

GINGER biscuits, GINGER beard - Ted has obviously got a ‘thing’ about GINGER at the moment. Best ease off on the boat building Edward and take it easy for a while. Taking about taking it easy - why am i sat here at 10.20 AM typing this when i should be out working, answer - No work to do. It’s one of those strange unexplainable phenommenon…….. phennomenen………… fenomemme……..phenomenon………’things’    being self employed. You can be really busy and then suddenly - like someone turned off a tap- the phone stops ringing and the thumb twiddling starts. But! - not for long - you can guaranteee that ‘SHE who must be obeyed’ whips out a list of ‘things that need doing’ aaaagh! Actually i am sat here awaiting the summons right now. 

Talking about Janette, she still has her dizziness - some days worse than others - and it is really getting her down as she feels that it is never going to go away. To be honest i  don’t think the medics have a clue. they are good at what they can do but something like this really shows up the shortcomings of medicine. Today we look to them thinking that they can do miracles, but they can’t. Years ago when people believed and trusted in God they would look to Him for all their needs because there was nothing / no one else. In todays western society we don’t need God anymore because we have medical science, lots of food in the shops etc but what happens when these things fail?

When a persons back is up against the wall and they have no where to turn eg. they are going to die through an incurable illness - that person will instinctivly call out to God to help them because of the fear they have. The problem is that only faith (from a humble and contrite heart) in Jesus Christ, is the ONLY way to open God’s ear, fear does not work and so the cry is lost. This is not because God is heartless but simply because He cannot help us unless we come to Him through the WAY which He has provided. When a person trusts in God everyday and acknowledges with a thankful heart that everything that he has is there through God’s goodness then that person is able to turn to Him when times get tough, knowing that God will hear and reach out to help. There is a scripture that says:-

Ecc 12:1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days do not come, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them.

Although the primary meaning of this is about getting old i suppose that it applies to any days of trouble. So why do bad things happen to christians then? Take the time to read the first two chapters of Job for the answer to this. God uses adversity to teach His children lessons that they need to learn, just as we discipline our children to teach them right and wrong. This is a true sign that we love them and want the best for them. When things happen to a believer we need to ask ourselves, what is God’s purpose in this? Where is this situation steering me? and allow His will to be accomplished. If we dig our heels in and resist you can guarantee that we will end up at the same place at some time in the future.

If i have got a bit ‘religious’ i don’t apologise as it is something we all need to consider and the post just seemed to meander in that direction - so there!

Anyway lots of love and XXXX to everyone.

Andrew & family.

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09/08/2008 by Andrew.

Hi folks - just a quickie to ask BOB where he has spent his summer? As this is our third month of cloud and rain apart from the odd day or two, my remarks did have an element of sarcasm!

Anway, Janette had her grommet fitted and her hearing seems OK now so I don’t have to shout at her (all good things come to an end). After the op her dizziness was much worse for a day or two which makes you wonder if maybe it is her ear that is the problem?

She says thanks for the card Linda & Richard - much appreciated.

And thats all i have to say so i’me off.

God bless and keep you all.

Andrew

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02/08/2008 by Andrew.

I hope you are all enjoying this wonderful summer weather, I think it is even better than last year. As you can see from the picture that Ted posted we are making the most of it. Peter declined a day out as he felt that he might have problems making the transition from the dingy onto the boat (he is getting on a bit now i suppose). Anyway Ted did’nt have any problems, did you big brother? Ha Ha!  Lets just say it was fortunate that i had some spare clothes on board.

Every one in this family of the Talbot tribe is OK apart from Janette who has been suffering with a form of dizziness for about six months now. She had a stay in hospital for about five days but they never got to the root of the problem. She has an ear problem since a cold last Christmas and they suspected that it had affected the vestibular system to but no treatment has done any good. She is due to go for an op to fit a grommet next week. Our doctor on the other hand suspected that there was compression of the spinal cord due to spondylosis in her neck but this was eliminated after an MRI scan. She is also due to have another MRI on the lumber region soon. (Don’t ask why they could not have done it in one go, but thats the NHS for you!!) Personally I think this is the problem as she also has funny (not Ha Ha) feelings and unsteadyness in her legs and as the brain takes balance info from pressure sensors in the feet and muscles of the legs any interference of these signals (spinal cord compression) might be confusing the brain (as if Janettes brain is’nt confused enough - ouch! - sorry dearest).

 Anyway thats enough about Janette, its ME i want to talk about - only kidding. I hope everybody else is in good health and enjoying life. You can work your life away and make lot’s of money and buy lot’s of things but when it comes to the crunch if you have not got good health and contentment then it is all pointless.

I wish you all every blessing.

Lots and lots of love from us lot.

Andrew

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23/02/2008 by Andrew.

Here is the transcript of Mums 90th birthday speech:-

I wrote this to thank you all and to tell you how much I love you all.

My dear lovely families its so great to see you all and to thank you for coming, to help me celebrate my 90th birthday.

Thank you all too for all the love and caring over the years. There are a lot of us now but each little family and each home has a special place in my heart and in my prayers.

I think of, and pray for each one of you day by day, I love you all and I am so proud to be your mum, your gran and your great gran.

A special thank you to my lovely daughter Gwen for this very special party so that we can all be together and all the love and planning that has made it so perfect.

As I go into my twilight years, I give thanks unto God who is the giver of all life and for all the many ways that He has blessed us as families over the years and is still doing so.

Keep loving each other because love is so important, love is the main ingredient in our lives. Fill your homes with love and kindness and love one another and may He keep you and bless you all always.

And here is Mum’s blessed hope:-

Tit 2:13  looking for the blessed hope, and the appearance of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,

1Th 4:13   But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words

1Co 15:50  Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed —   in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written:        

“DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.” 

O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O HADES, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?”

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Want to be there ???

Here is how:-

Act 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”  Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”   Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Our part:-

(1) REPENT - Trust in Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who was slain to atone for our sin. Turn from our own ways to God’s ways as revealed in the scriptures.

(2) Be BAPTISED in water in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

Gods promise:-

(3) He will give to us the gift of His Holy Spirit - the Spirit of Truth, Love, Joy and Peace who will dwell within us forever.

Love from Andrew XXX

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19/01/2008 by Andrew.

Ted, one word - superb!

Thanks very much - keep em coming

Andrew XXX

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25/12/2007 by Andrew.

Wishing everybody a pleasant  winter holiday season and a healthy new year.

From

Andrew, Janette, Rachel, Lee, Nadia, Sarah, and Joel

XXX

(kisses not beer barrel X’s) 

(Unless you want them to be beer barrel X’s in which case you may consider them so)

The Christmas tree in scripture

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03/07/2007 by Andrew.

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29/01/2007 by Andrew.

Hurrah!!!! - After 1001 attempts and 101 different password / user name combinations I have finally managed to log in, its a miracle!

Thanks Ted for all your help. By the way rumour has it that its your birthday today and that you are 37 years old so if it is true have a very happy and blessed birthday you deserve it.

Somebody once told me I might be dyslexic but I don’t believe it for a minute. Anyway, greetings to all you members of the Talbot family it will be nice to be able to post and keep in touch. Janette and the little ones send their love to everyone as I do.

Andee XXXXXXXXXXX

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