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Irish In America

I was really excited to watch this movie because my ancestors came from Ireland. As I watched I was really captivated about the terrible things the Irish had to endure that I had never heard about.

The story talked about Clarice Wolf one of the seven million Irish that came to America in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. Many Irish were told stories form their grandparents; some made American look good, and others made it look very bad. Presbyterians of Scotch ancestry came looking for land in the U.S. They all had different experiences due to the fact that they were catholic. English armies had taken away their land in Ireland. They oppressed them and took away any land belonging to Catholics. Two brothers had to pay rent to liver on the land that had been stolen from them by the English. To own land was considered very powerful because it was hand in hand with the government. One of the brothers moved to the United States, the other brother enlisted the help of a Blacksmith and made weapons for an uprising against the English. They attached in 1798 and were a success. Then in June the “Piteman� (Irish) were defeated. Then this brother too immigrated to the U.S. The first immigrant brother became a mayor of a town and was very successful; the rebellious brother was never heard form again.

Nationalists’ say that immigration was forced exile by the English. It was the only option left for the Irish. The Barrats, an Irish family, immigrated to Canada, they left behind their eldest daughter Mary Rush. She had her own little potatoe crop. Despite poverty, they ate well due to the potatoes. There was soon a potatoe famine. Over one million people in Ireland died of starvation. Mary rush could not afford the passage to America so she was forced to stay and starve to death.

It’s these types of situations that I really thought were amazing. I had never realized the amount of persecution that was endured by the Irish. I am so glad that I watched this movie because it gave me a greater understanding of what my ancestors went through. I also feel better aware of the truth surrounding what was experienced while they stayed in America.

By |July 27th, 2005|Reviews|0 Comments
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In Her Own Time

When I watched this movie I found myself so caught up in the practices of the Jewish culture. I found it amazing that all of these practices are still practiced today. Not many cultures still practice their different types of cultural practices. These are things I would quite possibly never be exposed to if it weren’t for watching this movie. I found it interesting that she turned to God in her times of trouble. Many people do that, I know I did.

When she found out that she got cancer in her lungs she began to look for things she could do that involved being with others. In the Jewish religion a sense of community is very important. I also found some of their laws to be quite interesting. There is a law that men and women cannot have sexual relations for the half of the month. Also the women must go through a purification process before sex. It showed this lady going through this purification process, although she was not married. She had to take a bath and dunk herself under so many times. It was interesting, but I also found it somewhat sad because they had to go through all these processes to feel close to God. I feel close to God everyday no matter what, but to each his own.

They also talked about how Husbands and Wives sleep in separate beds every night. They didn’t go into much detail about why they did things like this, so it’s hard to understand the reasoning behind it. They also showed a family in which the mother decided to change her life and follow God, they talked about how this changed everyone in the whole family. One by one they all began to practice the Jewish religion too. That was very interesting to me. This lady then went to a Rabbi to see if he could perform a miracle. We never got to see anything beyond that. It never said what miracle she wanted, I’m assuming she wanted healing and the movie was turned off before we found out if she ever received that healing.

By |July 27th, 2005|Reviews|0 Comments
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Movie Review: The Terrible Transformations

This movie was really powerful. As I watched the movie, the things that they were saying seemed so unreal to me. I couldn’t believe that some of the things mentioned actually took place in America. As I watched I felt a certain amount of anger rising inside of me. I never realized that African Americans had once been indentured servants. I always thought that blacks only came over as slaves. This only makes the fact that the slaves were promised freedom, then it was taken away worse.

They told stories of a black man who came as an indentured servant and worked his way up until finally he owned a large plantation. The movie never mentioned that there was any type of opposition to him owning land at all. But later on the movie talked about how once the slave ships started coming over the race relations began to go sour. Blacks were suddenly faced with a fear that they would not be able to ever be free. Soon in 1640 there was the first African who was ordered to be a slave for life for trying to run away from his indentured servitude. The whites that ran with him only had there times increased slightly.

It is interesting that the punishment for one man became the rule for an entire culture. I was truly disturbed as I heard of the amount of beatings and punishments that took place as African American men, women and children were taken from the lands into a strange country to be treated as less than human. I couldn’t believe when they talked about how they branded each of the Africans like cattle. They truly believed that they were not human. I don’t know haw anyone could do that to another human being. I am really glad that I watched this movie because it provided me with information that you would not normally hear in school textbooks.

I would definitely like to some how integrate this into my teaching. I think this movie is so powerful. It really makes you think about the American society as a whole. It makes you look at the amount of corruption that took place in Americas first years and wonder how we have come so far since then. I am so glad that I didn’t live in a time when I would have had to watch people be so severely abused and treated like animals. The thought that human could cause so much physical pain to another human startles me. I wonder if anyone from and organized hate group has ever watched a film like this because I bet it would cause them to think twice about the persecution that they place on African Americans.

By |July 27th, 2005|Reviews|0 Comments
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How to benefit from the Bible

How to benefit from the Bible.
Brandon Hopkins
April 7, 2002

– Prayer

– Juan Carlos was a famous pirate. He was notorious for his thievery, and it was rumored that he had a very large amount of plunder buried. One day he was in Mexico and a man came up to him, pushed him to the ground and said “Juan Carlos tell me where all your money is buried or I will shoot you right here�? Juan Carlos didn’t speak a word of English, so he found a young boy to act as interpreter. The boy relayed the message to Juan Carlos, and fearing for his life Juan Carlos said “tell him that I don’t want to die. All my money is located 30 paces north of the city water tower under a large rock�?. So the boy turned to the man and said, “Juan Carlos says he is an honorable man and will never tell you where the money is. He says to kill him now.�?

That’s actually just a good joke…that has nothing to do with the sermon…but this one does.

– A preacher and a soap manufacturer were walking down the street one-day. As they walked they notice how wrongly people were treating each other. The streets were filled with corruption. The soap manufacturer looked at the preacher and said, ” Preacher, that bible you preach must not be any good, it’s not helping anyone. Look at all the filth and corruption “. The preacher didn’t say anything, he just kept walking. After awhile they came up on some children that were dirty and nasty. It looks as though they hadn’t taken a bath in weeks. The preacher looked at the soap Manufacturer and said, ” That soap you make must not be any good. Look how filthy and dirty these children are “. The soap manufacturer replied, ” Soap doesn’t work unless you use it and apply it “. That’s ” right ” said the preacher. ” It’s the same way with the Bible. The bible want work unless people use it and apply it to their lives “.

So you see from the story that without application, there is no benefit. Without the application of the soap, you don’t get the benefit of cleanliness that the soap brings.

The same principal applies to the Bible, and that’s what we’re talking about today.

I’m here to tell you this morning that it doesn’t matter how many Bible verses you can quote, how many Bibles you own, or how long you’ve been going to church. None of that matters, unless you do what the Bible says…and apply it to your life.

None of it matters until you apply it to your life.

Read James 1:19-27 for background and content, focus on v. 25.

James 1:25 says “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.�?

The word intently does not mean to “glance�?, and then look away. The Greek word for “intently�? is “parakypsas�?. “Parakypsas�? literally means, “to stoop down�?.

So you ask, “How does this apply?�? well, what would be a good reason for stooping down? One might stoop down to see something more clearly, get a better understanding of something, or just to get closer to it. Is that ironic, that this is the word used for studying the Bible?

The “perfect law�? talked about here is God’s perfect law…which is the Bible. Perfect means no lacking, or having everything.

In the next part of the verse we are told that the man who looks intently into the Bible…how often? Once? No, continuously.

Read James 1:25 with emphasis on “continues to do this�?.

The word “continue�? does not mean once or twice or even 1,000 times. The word “continue�? is indefinite. It does not have a time limit. It essentially means until God returns or you die, whichever comes first.

Read James 1:25 with emphasis on “not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it�?.

Now hear me out right here.

If you were in the mountains, and saw a hole and your friend who was with you said, “if you put your hand in that hole, a deadly snake will bite you, and you’ll be dead in 2 minutes�?. Would you put your hand in the hole? Of course not.

You took what you heard, didn’t forget it, did it, and saved your life.

That’s what this part of the verse is talking about.

“Not forgetting what he as heard�?.
“Not forgetting�? “Not forgetting�? “Not forgetting�? “Not forgetting�?

Read the verse again…“Not forgetting�?

Moving on, the next part of the verse talks about the application.

What did I say at the beginning of this lesson? “Without application, there is not benefit.�?

You could know every snake hole, on every mountain, but if you don’t take that knowledge and apply it, you’re going to be putting your hand in a lot of snake holes.

But, if you are wise, and don’t forget what you have learned, there is just one more thing. Now that you know what to do, you must do it to gain the benefit.

Towards the end of James 1:25 it says “not forgetting what he has learned, but doing it�?.

This is by far the most difficult part. Anyone can read the Bible and go to church, but not everyone can take what the Bible says, and live their lives according to it.

Don’t think that this may be a part of the Bible that you can skip over, or act like you didn’t hear. It’s so important; God said it more than once!

Read up a couple verses, and in James 1:22 it says, “do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. DO WHAT IT SAYS.�?

It doesn’t get any plainer than that right there…DO WHAT IT SAYS. DO WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS!

If you only listen and hear, but do not do what it says, your not going to be any use, and you surely will not be blessed.

We’ll talk about being blessed in a few minutes.

So as you can tell, it’s easy to see how much content there is in just this one verse, but what happens when you do all the things we talked about?

Well, if you “look intently�? into God’s word – the Bible, and “continue�? to do this, and you don’t “forget�? all that you learned and heard…here is how the title of the lesson fits in…if you do all those things…read the last part of the verse…

“He will be blessed in what he does�?.

It’s that simple. If you do those things, you will be blessed.

Now its time to talk about your benefit from the Bible, and God.

What exactly does being “blessed,�? mean? Is it that great? Am I sure I want it? Should I go out of my way to make sure I get it?

The verse we’ve been studying, James 1:25, tells you how to become blessed, but lets find out what blessed means.

A good definition of “blessed�? is “Happy or Wonderful; praiseworthy; bringing pleasure or divine favor�?.

That surely sounds good to me. “Happy and wonderful�? and “Bringing pleasure�? sound great, and it definitely sound like something that I want in my life, and I’m sure you would agree with that.

But what is the practical, real life, down to earth meaning of “blessed�??

First lets recap what we’ve learned so far:
If you want happiness and pleasure in your life, you want blessings, and to get blessings you need to…

1. Look Intently into the perfect law…the Bible.
2. Continue to do it indefinitely.
3. Don’t forget what you’ve learned and heard.
4. Put it all into your life…Application

Then it’s all smooth sailing from here.

Lets finish with the real life, practical, down to earth meaning of blessing.

What kind of blessings might you receive?

There are many different kinds of blessings.
1. Wealth (Proverbs 10:22)
2. Children (Luke 1:39-56)
3. Protection (Malachi 3:11)
4. Delightful land (Malachi 3:12)
5. Compassion (Isaiah 30:18)
6. Justice (Isaiah 30:18)
7. Deliverance (Psalm 41:1)
8. Mercy (Psalm 32:2)
9. Prosperity (Psalm 1:3)

These are just the start of the blessings, and God will definitely pour them out when you fulfill the pre-requisites.

(King David’s blessings)

When you fulfill the pre-requisites, start looking for blessings in your everyday life, and don’t be like the man who was on his roof, and he started sliding down the roof. As he was half way down, he started praying for God to save him, right when he started praying; his pant leg got stuck on a nail, and was saved. After that the man said “never mind God, I got it, thanks anyways.�?

– Prayer

April 7, 2002
How to Benefit from the Bible.

James 1:25 “But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.�?

How can I be blessed?
The word “intently�? translates into the Greek as ___ _______ ______.
The “perfect law�? is the _________.
The word “continue�? does not have a _____ ________.
The phrase “not forgetting�? means _____ _______.
The most difficult part is ______ ___.
If you accomplish those things, you will be ________.

What exactly is a “Blessing�??
The definition of blessing includes ________, _____________, ___________, and _________ _________.
Wealth (Proverbs 10:22)
Children (Luke 1:39-56)
Protection (Malachi 3:11)
Delightful land (Malachi 3:12)
Compassion (Isaiah 30:18)
Justice (Isaiah 30:18)
Deliverance (Psalm 41:1)
Mercy (Psalm 32:2)
Prosperity (Psalm 1:3)

Notes:

By |July 18th, 2005|About Me, Christian|0 Comments
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