Thought for Today

 1533: John Calvin escapes Paris by lowering himself on bed sheets 1783: Washington bids farewell to his army 1824: Popular vote for President first recorded--Jackson defeats John Quincy Adams 1867: Harper's Bazaar Magazine first published 1880: James Garfield elected President. Accepted Christ at age 18; preached his first sermon in 1853. Served as a Major General in the War of Northern Aggression. Known for telling his soldiers of their need for a personal relationship with Christ. 1898: First cheerleaders at a college football game--Minnesota 1917: Balfour Declaration supports a Jewish state in Palestine 1944: Auschwitz begins gassing inmates 1947: U.S. wins first post-war Ryder Cup with Ben Hogan as captain 1947: Howard Hughes flies the Spruce Goose 1983: Martin Luther King holiday established Born: Daniel Boone, Marie Antoinette, James K Polk, George Boole [Boolean algebra], Burt Lancaster, Ken Rosewall, David Schwimmer,  Died: Jenny Lind, George Bernard Shaw, James Thurb...

1755: Lisbon earthquake kills 50,000+ 1894: Vaccine for diphtheria announced by Dr. Emile Roux 1952: First H bomb detonated in the Marshall Islands 1959: First fiberglass face mask for a goalie in the NHL 1997: "Titanic" premiers at the Tokyo International Film Festival Born: Gary Player Died: Ezra Pound, Phil Silvers, Walter Payton  Happy All Saints Day!. Hope you survived Halloween. Halloween apparently began as a Celtic New Year's Eve party--the transition from harvest to winter. Their New Year began on November 1. November 1 was originally called All Martyrs Day to celebrate those who died for the cause of Christ. Later, the Catholic Church added All Souls Day on November 2 to pray for those stuck in purgatory [their concept].  At our high school Baccalaureate, Jan and I [along with our class] sang "For All the Saints." The hymn was written in 1864 by an Anglican Bishop and performed as a processional to a tune by Barnby. In 1906, the tune was changed to ...

 445 BC: According to This Day in History, Ezra reads the Law in Jerusalem [Nehemiah 8]; my own research says the date was October 8, 444 BC 1517: Martin Luther sends his 95 Theses to the Archbishop of Mainz 1541: Michelangelo completes "The Last Judgment" in the Sistine Chapel 1731: All Lutherans are expelled from Salzburg--20,000 leave and many die during the winter.  1922: Mussolini becomes Premier of Italy 1941: Mt. Rushmore monument completed 1968: LBJ halts bombing of North Vietnam 1984: Indira Gandhi assassinated 2003: Bethany Hamilton loses her arm to a shark while surfing--"Soul Surfer" 2010: Al Qaida massacres 120 worshippers in a Baghdad church Born: John Keats, Juliette Low, Chiang-Kai-shek, Dale Evans, Dan Rather, Michael Landon, Jane Pauley, John Candy, Nick Saban,  Died: Charles Taze Russell [founder of Jehovah's Witnesses], Harry Houdini, George Halas, John Houseman, River Phoenix, Willie McCovey Thought: Chapter 3 of Second Peter contains some f...

  1768: First Methodist Church in North America [Wesley Chapel, NYC] 1873: Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth begins 1894: Time clock patented by Daniel Cooper [remember one in the cotton mill] 1938: Orson Well's broadcasts "War of the Worlds" 1944: Aaron Copeland's "Appalachian Spring" premiers 1952: Clarence Birdseye sells the first frozen peas 1954: First use of 24-second clock in pro basketball 1974: Rumble in the Jungle-Ali and Foreman 1989: Largest milkshake made---1575 gallons Born: Christopher Columbus, John Adams, Ezra Pound, Charles Atlas, Dickinson Richards [Nobel Prize for inventing heart cath], Henry Winkler, T Graham Brown, Ivana Trump, Marcus Mariota Died: Steve Allen, Robert Goulet Thought: Reading 2 Peter 2 this morning. These words make me examine myself, acknowledge sin, seek forgiveness, and praise God for His amazing grace. I have a number of words and phases underlined in red in this chapter, and this morning here is what I am hearing:...

 1492: Columbus sights Cuba 1636: Harvard University founded for the primary purpose of preparing ministers and religious educators 1646: First Protestant church for American Indians established--Massachusetts 1726: "Gulliver's Travels" published 1793: Eli Whitney files patent for cotton gin 1831: Michael Farraday demonstrates his invention, the electric generator 1858: RH Macy opens his first store on 6th Avenue in NYC 1867: Maimonides College is the first Jewish college in the US 1886: Statue of Liberty dedicated 1900: Second modern Olympics ends after 5 months--no opening or closing ceremonies 1919: Congress overrides President Wilson's veto and prohibition begins 1965: Gateway Arch competed Born: Erasmus, Eliphalet Remington, Evelyn Waugh ["Brideshead Revisited"], Bowie Kuhn, Jim Beatty [1st sub 4 minute indoor mile], Charlie Daniels, Bill Gates, Julia Roberts, Brad Paisley, Joaquin Phoenix Died: John Wallis [introduced the symbol for infinity] John Lock...

 312: Constantine has a vision of the cross before a battle victory. Some believe this led to his deathbed conversion. He called the Council of Nicaea in 325 and was responsible for building the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem. 1659: Quakers, Marmaduke Stephenson and William Robinson, are hung for their faith in Boston. This date is celebrated as International Religious Freedom Day. 1682: Philadelphia founded by William Penn 1954: Walt Disney's first TV show, "Disneyland", premiers on ABC 1982: China population exceeds 1 billion 2018: Gunman kills 11 at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh Born: James Cook [explorer], Isaac Singer [sewing machine], Theodore Roosevelt, Dylan Thomas, Ralph Kiner, Ruby Dee, HR Haldeman, Sylvia Plath, Floyd Cramer, John Cleese [Monty Python], Lee Greenwood,  Died: Ivan the Great, Allan Lane [voice of Mr. Ed], Joe Niekro Thought: WOW! I underlined 2 Peter 1:4. Take a look at 1:3-4 this morning.  God's power has provided to us...

 1492: Graphite pencil first used 1787: Federalist Papers published 1825: Erie Canal opens 1881: Gunfight at the OK Corral 1901: First recorded use of a getaway car 1950: Mother Teresa founds Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta 1970: "Doonesbury" cartoon debuts 1984: "Terminator" released Born: Mahalia Jackson, Jackie Coogan, Pat Conroy, Jaclyn Smith, Pat Sajak, Hillary Clinton,  Died: Alfred the Great, Charles Comiskey, Hattie McDaniel, Igor Sikorsky, Jackson Scholz [lost to Harold Abrahams in the 1924 Olympics, Chariots of Fire], Dottie Green [catcher for the Rockford Peaches, but not the inspiration for Dottie Hanson in "A League of Their Own"] Thought: Reading 1 Peter 5:8 today. What a vivid reminder of the enemy's tactics. Consider this reminder in view of the surrounding verses [5:6-10]. Here is what the Lord is saying to me about these words: The devil is prowling. He is looking for an opportunity. He is active in this world. And like the lion, ...