Tuesday 30th of April 2024

a bible bedside story...

ggod heavens

And it came to pass after this, Amnon son of David fell in love with Tamar, the beautiful sister of Absalom son of David.

Amnon became so obsessed with his sister Tamar that he made himself ill. She was a virgin, and it seemed impossible for him to do anything to her.

Now Amnon had an friend named Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother. Jonadab was a very clever man. 

And he said onto him, “Why do you, the king’s son, look so haggard morning after morning? Won’t you tell me?” Amnon said to him, “I’m in love with Tamar, my brother Absalom’s sister.”

“Lay in bed and pretend to be ill,” Jonadab said. “When your father comes to see you, say to him, ‘I would like my sister Tamar to come and give me something to eat. Let her prepare the food in my sight so I may watch her and then eat it at her hand.’”

So Amnon lay down and feigned to be sick. When the king came to see him, Amnon said to him, “I would like my sister Tamar to come and make some special bread in my sight, so I may eat from her hand.”

David sent word to Tamar at the palace: “Go to the house of your brother Amnon and prepare some food for him.” 

So Tamar went to the house of her brother Amnon, who was lying down. She took some dough, kneaded it, made the bread in his sight and baked it. 

Then she took the pan and served him the bread, but he refused to eat. “Send all men out of here,” Amnon said. So everyone left him. 

10 Then Amnon said to Tamar, “Bring the food here into my bedroom so I may eat from your hand.” And Tamar took the bread she had prepared and brought it to her brother Amnon in his bedroom. 

11 And when she took it to him to eat, he grabbed her and said, “Come to bed with me, my sister.”

12 She answered him “No, my brother!”. “Don’t force me! Such a thing should not be done in Israel! Don’t do this wicked folly. 

13 What about me? Where could I get rid of my shame? And what about you? You would be like one of the fools in Israel. Please speak to the king; he will not withhold me from thee.” 

14 But he refused to listen to her, and since he was stronger than she, he forced her and raped her.

15 Then Amnon hated her with exceeding hatred. In fact, he hated her more than he had loved her. Amnon said to her, “Get up and get out!”

16 “No!” she said to him. “Sending me away would be a greater wrong than what you have already done to me.” But he refused to listen to her. 

17 He called his personal servant and said, “Get this woman out of my sight and bolt the door after her.” 

18 So his servant put her out and bolted the door after her. She was wearing an ornate[a] robe, for this was the kind of garment the virgin daughters of the king wore. 

19 Tamar put ashes on her head and tore the ornate diver robe she was wearing. She put her hands on her head and went away, crying aloud as she went.

20 Her brother Absalom said to her, “Has that Amnon, your brother, been with thee? Be quiet for now, my sister; he is your brother. Don’t take this thing to heart.” And Tamar, in her brother Absalom’s house, lived a desolate woman.

21 When King David heard all this, he was furious. 

22 And Absalom never said a word to Amnon, either good or bad; he hated Amnon because he had disgraced his sister Tamar.

23 It came to pass, when Absalom’s sheepshearers were at Baal Hazor near the border of Ephraim, he invited all the king’s sons to come there. 

24 Absalom went to the king and said, “Behold. Your servant has had shearers come. Will the king and his attendants please join me?”

25 “No, my son,” the king replied. “All of us should not go; we would only be a burden to you.” Although Absalom urged him, he still refused to go but blessed him.

26 Then Absalom said, “If not, please let my brother Amnon come with us.” The king asked him, “Why should he go with thee?” 

27 But Absalom urged him, so he sent with him Amnon and the rest of the king’s sons.

28 Absalom ordered his men, “Listen! When Amnon is in high spirits from booze and I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ then kill him. Don’t be afraid. Haven’t I given you this order? Be strong and brave.” 

29 So Absalom’s men did to Amnon what Absalom had ordered. Then all the king’s sons got up, and every man mounted their mules and fled.

30 While they were on their way, the report came to David: “Absalom has slain all the king’s sons; not one of them is left.” 

31 The king stood up, tore his garments and lay down on the ground; and all his attendants stood by with their garment torn.

32 And Jonadab son of Shimeah, David’s brother, said, “My lord should not think that they killed all the princes; only Amnon is dead. This has been Absalom’s express intention ever since the day Amnon had sex with Tamar, his sister. 

33 My lord the king should not be concerned about the report that all the king’s sons are dead. Only Amnon is dead.”

34 Meanwhile, Absalom had fled. The young man standing watch looked up and saw many people on the road west of him, coming down the side of the hill. The watchman went and told the king, “I see men in the direction of Horonaim, on the hillside.”

35 Jonadab said unto the king, “See, the king’s sons have come; it has happened just as your servant said. So it is”

36 As he finished speaking, the king’s sons came in, wailing loudly. The king, too, and all his attendants wept with sore tears.

37 Absalom fled and went to Talmai son of Ammihud, the king of Geshur. But King David mourned every day for his son.

38 After Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he was there there three years. 

39 And the soul of King David longed to go forth to Absalom, for he was conforted concerning Amnon’s death.

 

This was directly brought to you from Samuel chapter 13...

And god sat on his cloud of smoke...

heaven is full of smoke...

22 Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up in smoke. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing instruments and oxen furniture for the wood. 

23 All this, Your Majesty, doth Araunah gives to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept thee.”

24 But the king replied to Araunah, “Nay, I insist on paying for the stuff. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels (six pence) of silver for the lot. 

25 David built an altar to the Lord there and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer on behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

 

Makes sense?... Not a skerrick... All is well that ends up with burning something... Heaven must be full of smoke...

it's a miracle...

Floods caused by days of non-stop rain in south-west France have forced the closure of most of the Catholic sanctuary of Lourdes and the evacuation of more than 450 pilgrims.

Buses ferried guests from all the hotels in the lower town to a conference centre and a sports complex as officials said the sites visited by millions annually would stay closed for several days.

Two campsites were also evacuated and several roads closed around Lourdes, where Catholics believe the Virgin Mary appeared to peasant girl Bernadette Soubirous in a grotto in 1858, as the river Gave de Pau burst its banks.

The water was around one metre deep in front of the grotto and 80 centimetres in the avenue du Paradis, where most of the hotels for pilgrims are located, after what officials said was the worst flooding in 25 years.

Only the massive basilica, built on higher ground, was still accessible.

"The space in front of the grotto is entirely covered with water, the altar is under water," Thierry Castillo, the custodian of the sanctuaries, said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-21/pilgrims-evacuated-as-floods-swamp-lourdes/4325052

of god's sports...

 Mr. Weldon, 53, is in a position that few superintendents in small-town Texas have found themselves: taking a stand on religious expression that has put him at odds with the majority of his students and his neighbors, not to mention the governor, the attorney general and, some in Kountze believe, his God.

After consulting with lawyers, Mr. Weldon banned the district’s cheerleaders from putting Bible verses on the banners they hoist at the beginning of football games, out of concern that the signs were unlawful and amounted to school-sanctioned religious expression. A group of cheerleaders and their parents sued Mr. Weldon and the district, prompting a legal battle that has outraged and inspired Christians across the country. Last week, a judge issued a temporary injunction, barring the district from prohibiting the banners for the rest of the football season while the case proceeds to trial.

Mr. Weldon, a Protestant and former football coach, has said he supports the cheerleaders and their message, but feels he must uphold the law. Though he has taken a stand that pleases the Anti-Defamation League and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, he is not their ally. Though his action upset the Liberty Institute, a Christian legal group representing the cheerleaders, he is not their opponent. He is caught somewhere in between.

“He made the decision against the popular prevailing sentiment, and he’s been reviled for it,” Mr. Weldon’s lawyer, Thomas P. Brandt, told the judge last week. “He has stood, though, solidly in favor of not what he personally wants, but what he perceives the law requires.”

Mr. Weldon has had to defend his decision even as Gov. Rick Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott and scores of students, parents and others have criticized the district’s ban on the signs and registered their dismay and disgust in subtle and not-so-subtle ways. The marquee outside the First Baptist Church quoted Acts 5:29: “We must obey God rather than men.” Steve Stockman, a born-again Christian and former congressman running for re-election in the area, suggested that Mr. Weldon’s job was on the line.

“Banning religion is a direct assault on our founding principles,” Mr. Stockman said in a statement. “This is East Texas, not San Francisco. The superintendent can either overturn his ban on religion, or pack his bags.”

Not everyone has been so harsh. Rebekah Richardson, 17, a Kountze High School cheerleader, said: “We understand that he’s in a hard situation.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/us/in-texas-a-legal-battle-over-biblic...       

the devil must be very busy...

The Catholic Church has established an exorcist hotline in Milan, its biggest diocese, to cope with demand. Monsignor Angelo Mascheroni, the diocese’s chief exorcist since 1995, said the curia had also appointed twice as many exorcists to cope with a doubling in the number of requests for help over 15 years.

“We get many requests for names, addresses and phone numbers; that’s why we’ve set up a switchboard in the curia from Monday to Friday from 2.30pm to 5pm,” he told the chiesadimilano website.

“People in need can call and will be able to find a priest in the same area who doesn’t have to travel too far.” And to that end, the number of demon-busting priests on call has increased from six to 12.

The Monsignor said he knew of one exorcist who had been seeing up to 120 people a day. “But with so little time per client he was only able to offer a quick blessing. That’s not enough,” he said. ”There should be two to four appointments a day, no more, otherwise it’s too much.”

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/hi-deliver-me-from-evil-catholic-church-sets-up-an-exorcist-hotline-to-deal-with-demand-8368988.html

 

Are they serious????>>>>

see toon at top...