Is There Meaning in the Rainbow Colors?

In the past few decades, the meaning of the rainbow and its colors has been used for various purposes.  Not everyone agrees on the meanings of the colors or the use of the rainbow as a symbol.  Recently, I wondered what is the true meaning of the rainbow?  For answers I looked in the Bible and on the WWW.

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my [rain]bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the [rain]bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the [rain]bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. - Genesis 9:12-16 KJV

In the Bible, it tells us the meaning of the rainbow is a promise from God that he will not destroy the earth via flood again to punish man’s sins. (See above scripture and this simplified version.)  That does not mean we will never see torrential rains, floods, hurricanes, tsunamis, etc.  Instead it means he will choose another method, if necessary, to return mankind from excessive sin back towards God.  (Reveiw more rainbow verses.)

The above covers the rainbow in the sky as a symbol.  What about the meanings of colors within the Bible?  Other ways colors of the rainbow (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo denim,  and violet) are interpreted or used in man’s world exist as well. There are those who use the colors to signify personality traits or moods, We use those color concepts to determine how to decorate based on these theories and for artwork and printing.  We also utilize seasonal color schemes to determine what we should wear.  Ok, looks like I have gone adrift of the rainbow somewhat just like others have done… Sorry. 

Going back to rainbows, science may show us how they occur naturally in papers and videos.   Just because we can explain how rainbows happen, does not change that it is a message or a reminder of a promise from God to mankind.

Looking for a Bible-based rainbow drawing to color?  Download from My Favorite Color is Rainbow from  Hope Ink blog.  Speaking of coloring, ever wonder about those pretty circular drawings in adult coloring books? Check out Adult Coloring and Meditation – What Every Christian Should Know.

Perfect for Holidays: Corn Sausage Dressing

My mother loved dressing, especially if it had a strong sage taste.  However, she said her favorite dressing of all time was the sausage version my husband makes.  Below is my husband’s recipe that he prepares for Thanksgiving or Christmas gatherings.  It is super simple, yet tastes great.  Make it for your next holiday or family get-together.  Then let me know what everyone thought.

Corn Sausage Dressing recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound Owens HOT sausage (raw)

2 cans cream style corn

2 eggs, beaten

1 medium onion, chopped fine

½ cup cornmeal

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together.

Pour into 9” X 12” pyrex dish

Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees.

Giving Children’s Adventure Book Series – Flavia, Harry, or American Classics

1st books from Harry or Flavia series

Are you looking for the perfect birthday or Christmas gift for a child?  How about the timeless gift of reading?  Most children love books, especially if there is adventure to experience a puzzle to solve!  You will find Amazon links below for several good book ideas.

You may know about the various American classic children and teen adventure and detective series featuring Bobbsey Twins (1904-1979), Encyclopedia Brown (1972-2012), Hardy Boys (1927-2016), Nancy Drew (1930-2003), and Tom Swift (1910-2008).  If you liked those classics and want to share them with the new generation, you can buy individual copies at many used book stores to see if they enjoy the stories as well.  If you want to get them every book in the series for a gift, click links above.

 

Of course you have also heard of the popular fantasy (1997-2007) series containing the adventures of Harry Potter by J. K. Rowling (English) .  Her individual book titles are listed at the bottom of this post if you are looking for one your child or grandchild may be missing from the series.  You can also buy the movies as well.  Bonus short stories in Hogwarts ebooks only.

Have you heard of Flavia De Luce mystery series (2010-present) by (Canadian) Alan Bradley? Flavia is into solving murder mysteries and science, especially as they relate to chemistry and botany.  Her older sisters are into literature and classical music.  So the reader learns a lot about science and is exposed to literary phrases and songs that may lead them to want to know more.  Below are the Flavia novels in order of publication.  Start with the first, as each novel references something in a previous murder.  My family loves these books!  Bonus short story only in ebook: The Curious Case of the Copper Corpse.

Flavia De Luce books	Harry Potter books
1.  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie  2.  The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag  3.  A Red Herring Without Mustard  4.  I Am Half-Sick of Shadows  5.  Speaking From Among the Bones  6.  The Dead in Their Vaulted Arches  7.  As Chimney Sweepers Come to Dust  8.  Thrice the Brinded Cat Hath Mew'd  9.  A Grave's a Fine and Private Place  10,The Golden Tresses of the Dead	1.  and the Socerer’s Stone 2.  and the Chamber of Secrets  3.  and the Prisoner of Azkaban  4.  and the Goblet of Fire  5.  and the Order of the Phoenix  6.  and the Half-Blood Prince  7.  and the Deathly Hallows

Church It Is Time to Stand Up and Fight!

At my church, we are going through a series on spiritual warfare.  This spiritual war between God’s people and the devil’s destructive intentions has been going on for centuries.  The devil distracts using his three weapons and hides his hateful agenda in issues such as bigotry, earthly wars, politics, and more.  He even directly attacks the Christian church in a multitude of wrong ways (physically and/or via false rhetoric) that have been accepted as right by those he fools with his lies.  Is this war really real?  Yes, spiritual warfare is real, difficult, and dangerous!

Our pastor pointed out that Christians need to:

• Get a grip on reality and see life is BIGGER than what we see. 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, 

against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world

 and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms - Ephesians 6:12 NIV

• Get into the fight.

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.

The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. 

On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 

e demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up 

against the knowledge of God, and we take captive 

every thought to make it obedient to Christ. - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NIV

Many people of faith are experiencing battles with the devil right now.  Seems like it is time for Christians to put on the full Armor of God and perform the righteousness beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12) instead of always leaning towards the meeker ones.

Below is a short video related to spiritual warfare using Ephesians 6 as the basis.  If you want more information   on this topic, visit the Spiritual Warfare blog or get a Bible Study.  See also Love Sinners, Hate Sin based on Jude 23.

Two Texans in a Truck to the Rescue

Pick-up Truck Riffle Rack

A few months ago, south Texas was hit with a natural disaster.  Then it was hit with a man-made one.  In both situations we saw good ole boys step-up to help out. Texas good guys do and will continue to embody the John Wayne spirit in their relentless pursuit of the villain.. 


There are people using the church shooting as their platform for stronger gun control and/or repealing the second amendment to the United States Constitution.  This is not only insensitive to the victims, it is downright wrong for the citizens!  The shooting proves the need for the average citizen to possess personal guns.  If the National Rifle Association (NRA) member from across the street did not come out with his hunting rifle to confront the mass murderer, he most likely would have shot more people at the church.  If this same man had not flagged down the cowboy in a truck to pursue the murderer, the shooter may have killed even more people with the extra gun in his own vehicle as he drove away.

Using tragedies to try to take a way people’s guns will not work.  Criminals and crazies may get some guns legally by error.  However, it they really want guns, they will get illegally.  Guns bans will not stop the wickedness!   Keeping the guns out of the hands of ordinary citizens will only make mass shooting easier for them since help has to wait until the police show up.  A gun license is not a license to kill, it is a way to try to limit access to those who should not carry a gun.  Gun laws differ in the various states.  Although, I repeat g – criminals and crazies can get guns illegally, as well as legally. 
However, I do agree that we need more gun safety training.  This type of training should be required before a license is given or a legal gun can be purchased.  You would think it would be logical for a person owning a gun to know to keep it out-of-reach for children.  Guns should be stored in a locked area, unloaded.  There are too many tragedies of children hurting others or themselves.

I salute the Texas heroes in trucks, boats, or whatever with the below song “Jesus and John Wayne” (Available on Amazon) via the Gather Vocal Band on YouTube. 

Put On the Full Armor of God

In the Bible Study Have You Got MUSTARD, it is more than just building individual faith or small study group faith.  Those are the main points of the teaching, but I noted something else after seeing the meaning of the acronym.  There was also another message within it:  God is building an army of earthly soldiers to fight spiritual warfare along with his angels - so greater faith is necessary.   In recent months, I have also seen presentations where the Armor of God was shown using current soldier accouterments or police officers in riot gear.   With these things and the recent church shooting in mind, I found the below infographic showing the Roman soldier wearing the full Armor of God from Ephesians 6:10-18.

If you desire a poster, pamphlet, or PowerPoint based on the original armor theme in below Armor of God infographic, Amazon has many options including stickers and the laminated wall chart from the publisher of below infographic.  For a great interpretation of the Armor of God scriptures, check out this video.

In the past, I posted a link to a list of spiritual warfare songs for Christian soldiers. The song
“I Am A Soldier” (available on Amazon) was not included in that list, so I offer it for listening via Tribute on YouTube. 

POST SHORT URL =  https://tinyurl.com/48zy9d7r

Church Shooting in Texas Calls for Prayer

On Sunday, the news was full of stories about a church shooting in Sutherland Springs, Texas at the First Baptist Church.  We heard how an evil-spirited man with a gun shoots children, teens, adults, and elderly.  We heard comparisons to other mass shootings, opinion of gun control lobbyist, neighborhood heroism, as well as reports of dead and wounded.  On one news channel, I heard someone call for a “moment of silence” for the lost.

What America needs, what that church needs, what that community needs is:  PRAYER!  I am praying for those affected personally and those of us affected emotionally.  If there was ever a time to link arms in solidarity, this is it.  We need to surround those people with our love and prayers as they plan and conduct services for the dead.  We need to surround those people with our love and prayers as the wounded heal and all their spirits need uplifting.   Answer the call to prayer from the Vigil.   If ever there was a time for prayer, this is it.  Please pray with me for them.

It is my hope the song “In the Valley He Can Hear My Voice“ via Tribute on YouTube will give comfort in this great time of sorrow for the this church and all the Christian churches who grieve with them.  God does still hear our voice!

It is a shame that churches must now lock their windows and doors to prevent vandalism and theft.  Once the church building’s doors were always open so anyone could come in and pray.  It is horrifying that someone would allow the devil to overtake their souls and then take their anger out on people of the loving Christian faith.  Once in America, Christianity was respected and the buildings were safe.  Has church has become too much about entertainment, acceptance, or compliance?   In an America where God is no longer sought after with submissive hearts, will churches continue to suffer?  What has become of us?  Is the church now fighting for existence?  Are we nearing the "end times?" What will become of us? What will become of America without God, without its Christian foundation?

It is time we put on the full Armor of God, become an Army of God, and stand up for the Freedom of Religion as it relates to our Christian faith.  I do not plan to use this sad situation as a soapbox.  However, I feel a leading to write a few future blog posts with God’s people and American rights in mind.

Biscuit Recipes from Monkey Bread to Coffee Cake and More

Monkey Bread

Anyone remember the traditional Cinnamon Monkey Bread recipe using refrigerated biscuits?   I used to love that as a child.  It was an easy sweet tear-apart treat requiring no utensils or plates.  Just what the kid in all of us wants!

In the tradition of biscuit-based cakes,  I used to make the below coffee cake recipe often as a breakfast treat when I was in my late teens and early twenties.  Try it and let me know what you think.

Jubilee Coffee Cake Recipe

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

½ cup sugar

½ cup chopped nuts

½ teaspoon cinnamon

2 packages refrigerated rolls

1/3 stick margarine, melted

1 (12 oz) jar apricot preserves

Directions:

1.       Combine sugar, nuts, and cinnamon; sprinkle ½ cup mixture in greased 9-inch ring-type pan.

2.       Cut each biscuit in half; roll in balls. Dip each ball in margarine.

3.       Layer biscuit balls, cinnamon mixture and ½ cup of preserves in pan.

4.       Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

5.       Invert pan onto serving plate; top with remaining preserves.  Serve hot.

Note:  You can substitute other flavors of preserves to suit your family’s taste.

For more biscuit-based recipes, check out 30 Amazing Things to Do with Biscuits.  There is even a mini-Monkey Bread!    Check it out to find some quick and easy breakfast items that you may want to consider for holiday guests.