Rebecca

Yep. Southern food can get a bit ...inventive. They are known as "koolickles"

Pickles and koolaid do not belong together. Surf and turf do not belong together.

Hermit crabs are an interesting critter. They use the empty shells of other critters for their protection since they don't grow their own shells. Usually when they outgrow the shell they are in they have to go in search of an empty shell large enough to fit them, and if another Hermit crab is nearby that also needs to upgrade they will wait in line to take the hand-me-down shell. I thought I was witnessing that when I saw these three Hermit crabs surrounding a larger shell. However, it turns out that there was a fourth crab inside the large shell! Two crabs were trying to evict the one in the large shell while the smallest was just waiting for the winner to leave its shell so it could take it over. I wasn't able to stay to the end of the fight to see the outcome, unfortunately.

I will concede that ketchup does go on hotdogs. Will you accept mayo on pizza?

I like breakfast burritos with scrambled eggs, bacon, and diced tomatoes. I do have to say though, that ketchup, although derived from said tomatoes, belongs on fries and hamburgers, not eggs.

I'm going to change it up and show an ugly creation: the Black sea cucumber/Black tarzan (both names are common). I at first thought this creature was a piece of garbage floating around in the shallow tide pool, but on closer inspection, it turned out to be a creature that is very ugly. However, when I looked closely at its head, it was interesting how the tendrils flowed out and around in search of food. The video quality isn't very good and my dog is splashing around, but you can see it moving its tendrils in search of food.

1 Corinthians 11:24-25 King James Version (KJV) 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

I'd like to add a suggestion. At the church I attended during Bible college, occasionally the song leader would bring out an interesting fact about the hymn we were about to sing, whether about the song itself or the author of the song. It really helps with the understanding or appreciation of the hymn. It would take some effort on your part to do some research about one of the hymns, but if you do this than the folks who know nothing about the hymns will grow in their understanding and appreciation of why we sing the traditional hymns. It's not something you need to do for every song and not needed every service, but just once in awhile bring something interesting out about what you are singing. Nothing more than a minute or two of talking, especially if you just had the people stand for the song! I would also like to encourage you not to worry about whether or not you have a singing talent. Just keep up what you are doing and some day God will lead someone to help lead the singing. With the way the church is growing, it's possible God has already put this on someone's heart, they just might not be ready yet.

I agree, starting with the life of Christ is a must! I started with that as well. I understand the need to restrain myself and slow down. I am already praying about what to teach after Moses. I may go back to the NT and teach about the early church.

In Sunday school we are finally back to our series on Moses, where we had left off after switching to a few weeks of lessons about the birth of Christ in December. Today we have started learning about the ten plagues. In the main services, the pastor taught on Matthew 25:34-40 After services, people like to stay and fellowship for awhile before heading home. These two girls decided to take that time to finish coloring and to chat a bit before their parents were ready to go. No, they don't sit on the table during class!

I have not seen a single article or news report concerning arson arrests. It's either not being reported outside Australia or buried under the alarmist reports. YES. For other reasons as well. Depends on the person or organization who either started it, or (which is more likely in the Australian fires case), took advantage of a bad situation and made it worse to further their cause. I have been seeing a quite a number of videos on youtube from animal rights organizations that are not only blaming climate change, but also the large amounts of factory farms, especially the cattle ones (because cattle contribute to climate change when factory farmed). Some animal rights organizations deliberately cause harm to farms and ranches. Last year I had seen numerous reports of DxE (Direct Action Everywhere), an animal rights organization, in large numbers, invade/trespass and cause damages to farms in Australia in their efforts to "save" animals or "bear witness to their suffering". It would not be a shock to me at all if some of the arsonists arrested had links to either this organization, or ALF (Animal Liberation Front, noted by the FBI as a terrorist organization). These people thrive on showing the world shocking photos of harmed and suffering animals to prove that humans who eat meat are evil, and if a farm in question takes great care of their animals, they will fake abuse, deliberately harming the animals in some way so they can film it and cry abuse to get the farm or ranch shut down (PeTA is well known for doing this). The vast majority of news I've seen out of Australia concerning the fires has focused on showing the animals that are burned to death or still suffering from burns. Very few have focused on the displacement and suffering of the human victims.

The first service of the new year went well. The first Sunday of each month, I travel to another city to attend the church I had ministered in for about five years before moving to where I live now and ministering in a local church there. So today I was at Victory Baptist Church, my old stomping grounds, which was a tremendous blessing as I can see that the truth of God's Word is working in peoples lives. From an outsiders perspective, the church is small and maybe boring. But from my perspective, it is thriving as God's Word is being boldly proclaimed each and every Sunday, regardless of who happens to show up. In today's culture of business type churches, this is counter-productive, possibly running off people who may get offended or bored. But it is a great blessing for me to see a group of Christians show up to church ready to serve and listen to what God has in store for them.

That's a very interesting plant, I've never heard of it before, thanks for sharing!

Merry Christmas!