Warm Thoughts Giclee by Alonzo Adams is a(n) Limited Edition. The Edition is Limited to Limited Edition 500 pcs

Writer-director stars alongside a strong Kieran Culkin in engaging dramedy.

Stephen Colbert spent the majority of his opening monologue on Wednesday night’s “Late Show” talking about President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet choices so far, including Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida as attorney general and Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence. “Almost eight years ago, we all saw [Trump] saunter down those Capitol steps, put his […]

By Eli Yudin Published: November 13th, 2024

The pandemic had the hospitality industry rethinking its operating models for safety, security and survival. This crisis event promoted innovation and new concepts and applications in all businesses, including hospitality and tourism.

There is a wide gap between planning and implementation.

The body of a 52-year-old man was discovered in his Toa Payoh flat last Sunday (Nov 10), several days after his death. The police told AsiaOne they were alerted to the case at 11.15am on Sunday, where they pronounced the man dead at the scene. It is not known when he died.  The man, Bai Zongren (transliteration), had been living alone in his unit at Block 157 Toa Payoh Lorong 1 for several years after divorcing his wife, according to a neighbour who spoke to Shin Min Daily News. He also had a daughter, who moved out with his ex-wife after they split.  The neighbour, who did not want to be named, added that Bai would occasionally get visits from relatives. "His mother used to live on the fifth floor, but she died a few years ago."  The neighbour told Shin Min that she was unaware of Bai's death when she passed by his unit several days ago. As Bai's door was locked, she assumed the flat was empty.  When she passed by his unit again on Saturday, she detected a foul smell but thought that it was from wastewater. She said she only found out about his death when she saw the police at his door.

The Life And Death Of Kathryn Kuhlman: "Her life was a mystery. Many events of her life were shadowed with half-truths, deception, confusion and misrepresentation. If the righteous or wicked die as they live, then her death was a proof of her disobedience and bondage by false spirits. In fact, of all the mysteries about her, her death was the most mysterious." - "On February 20, 1976, in a strange hospital, in a strange city, surrounded by people she hardly knew, with a man she once disdained standing in the wings ready to preach her funeral. The woman whom Time magazine called a 'veritable one-woman Shrine of Lourdes' was dead at the age of sixty-eight." (Daughter Of Destiny, Jamie Buckingham, pp. 1-2.) -- "In the second paragraph above he mentioned a statement by Time magazine in which she was called a "veritable one-woman Shrine of Lourdes." A second biography, written by Wayne E. Warner, entitled The Woman Behind The Miracles, stated that people often used monies saved to visit an apparition of Mary and instead visited a crusade being conducted by Kathryn Kuhlman. It was very apparent that her healing services were on the exact same level as a so-called mystical apparition of Mary." -- ""Although she had not mentioned marriage, everyone seemed to know. A ghastly hush fell over the congregation. All the rumors they had been hearing about Waltrip divorcing his wife in order to marry Kathryn - it was all true. Women began to sob. Several got up from the choir and walked out. Men sat stony faced in their pews, looking at Kathryn in disbelief. How could she do it? This woman, who had preached such dynamic messages about purity and holiness. This woman who had been such a model of decency and divine compassion." (Daughter Of Destiny, pp. 82-83.) -- Kathryn Kuhlman And "The One World Religion" -- Kahryn Kuhlman was apparently the first minister within the Evangelical/Pentecostal world that laid a foundation for the new unity movement of religions. It was said by her official biographer, Buckingham, that Miss Kuhlman did not like to conduct her services without Catholic priests on her platform. He stated, "She had a special love for doctors, and wanted them either on the stage or on the front rows of the auditorium. The same was true of priests and nuns - especially if they were 'in uniform'. Nothing thrilled Kathryn more than to have thirty or forty Catholic clergymen, especially if they wore clerical collars or, better yet, cassocks, sitting behind her while she ministered. Somehow it seemed to lend authenticity to what she was doing - and helped create the proper climate of a trust and understanding which was so necessary for a miracle service." (Daughter Of Destiny, p. 221.) -- She had a special affinity for the Catholic style of high church grandeur. When Kathryn went to Las Vegas for her crusade, the following was reported, "Kathryn had but one pass through Las Vegas, and she would deliver the gospel with power! Hundreds of people in Las Vegas as well as the faithful in Youngstown, Pittsburgh, and Franklin had agreed to pray that the Holy Spirit would stir the city. Not far away a Roman Catholic priest said a Mass for the meeting the day before." (The Woman Behind The Miracles, pp. 229-230.) -- Please remember that a Catholic Mass is believed to be a time when the very bread and wine becomes the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ. Millions of Protestants died as martyrs because they rejected this blasphemous assertion. Did her affinity for Catholic dogmas help start the declension within the Pentecostal circles that has now become a watershed of deception and compromise? I certainly believe so! "Kathryn Kuhlman was an ecumenist without portfolio." (Ibid, p. 15.) Jamie Buckingham further stated, "In 1948 while ecumenists designed programs for denominational unity, Kathryn Kuhlman threw open the heavy old doors of north Pittsburgh's Carnegie Music Hall. Streaming through the doors and scurrying for chairs came Protestants, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Jewish, and other groups, most related to churches but others not. And they were back the next week and the next." (Ibid, p. 15.) -- This certainly would have been acceptable if they were led out of these cold-dead churches to embrace a life of separation and New Testament lifestyle. That's certainly what Jesus did. On October 11, 1972, Pope Paul gave her a private audience at the Vatican. Mr. Warner stated, "Complimenting her on her 'admirable work,' he admonished her to 'do it well!' and gave her a gold, handmade engraved medallion bearing a dove symbolizing the Holy Spirit." (Ibid, p. 172.) -- Kathryn Kuhlman And Her Spirit Guides: I am personally convinced that Miss Kuhlman was controlled by a spirit guide masquerading as the Holy Spirit. There appears to be no other possible answer. Coming to this conclusion has been a very tough and heart-rending experience. The following quote from Benny Hinn's book, Good Morning, Holy Spirit, will give you a glance at her attachment to either the Holy Spirit or a spirit. "I looked up to see Kathryn burying her head in her hands as she began to sob. She sobbed and sobbed so loudly that everything came to a standstill. The music stopped. The ushers froze in their positions. "Everyone had their eyes on her. And for the life of me I had no idea why she was sobbing. I'd never seen a minister do that before. What was she crying about? It was told later that she had never done anything like that before, and members of her staff remember it to this day. "It continued for what seemed like two minutes. Then she thrust back her head. There she was, just a few feet in front of me. Her eyes were aflame. She was alive. "In that instant she took on a boldness I had never seen in any person. She pointed her finger straight out with enormous power and emotion - even pain. If the devil himself had been there, she would have flicked him aside with just a tap. "It was a moment of incredible dimension. Still sobbing, she looked out at the audience and said with such agony, 'Please.' She seemed to stretch out the word, 'Plee-ease, don't grieve the Holy Spirit.' "She was begging. If you can imagine a mother pleading with a killer not to shoot her baby, it was like that. She begged and pleaded. "'Please,' she sobbed, 'don't grieve the Holy Spirit.' "Even now I can see her eyes. It was as if they were looking straight at me. "And when she said it, you could have dropped a pin and heard it. I was afraid to breathe. I didn't move a muscle. I was holding on to the pew in front of me wondering what would happen next. "Then she said, 'Don't you understand? He's all I've got!' "I thought, 'What's she talking about?' "Then she continued her impassioned plea saying, 'Please! Don't wound Him. He's all I've got. Don't wound the One I love!'" (Good Morning, Holy Spirit, Benny Hinn, pp. 8-9.) -- Her words reveal a view of this spirit that is extremely unusual. She said, "Don't you understand? He's all I've got." Again, she said, "Please don't wound Him, He's all I've got. Don't wound the One I love." The Holy Spirit absolutely never speaks of Himself. He glorifies Jesus Christ in His church and in you and Jesus Christ alone. Jesus said, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you." (John 16:13-14). She was enamored with this "spirit" that came upon her. Often she spoke of her fear that he would leave her. She would wait behind the stage, even at times while the service languished for this "spirit person" to manifest himself. When he came she was electric and performed as the greatest of actors. Hinn continued in his description of Kuhlman's emphasis on this spirit whom she called the Holy Spirit. He said, "In my church, the pastor talked about the Holy Spirit. But not like this. His references had to do with the gifts or tongues or prophecy - not "He's my closest, most personal, most intimate, most beloved friend." Kathryn Kuhlman was telling me about a person that was more real than you or I." (Ibid, p. 9.) Source: www.pawcreek.org/articles/endtimes/KathrynKuhlmanandHerSpiritGuide.htm

THOUGHTS ON COMMUNION: What a sweet comfort to us that our Lord Jesus Christ was once known in the breaking of the bread. In earlier Christian times, believers called the Communion "the medicine of immortality," and God gave them the desire to pray: Be known to us in breaking bread, But do not then depart; Savior, abide with us and spread Thy table **in our heart [not just in our mind]. Some churches have a teaching that you will find God only at their table-and that you leave God there when you leave. I am so glad that God has given us light. We may take the Presence of the table with us. We may take the Bread of life with us as we go. Then sup with us in love divine, Thy body and Thy blood; That living bread and heavenly wine Be our immortal food! In approaching the table of our Lord, we dare not forget the cost to our elder Brother, the Man who was from heaven. He is our Savior; He is our Passover!

Motivation can be hard to come by, especially in the face of challenges or difficult work. When you are thinking about implementing that new idea, or starting that new company or beginning that new regimen -- this is the new year, after all -- it is easy to talk yourself into procrastinating. Or worse, avoiding your goal altogether.

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It's 2021 in some places already, creeping around the planet. Pretty soon it will have reached Hawaii, and it'll be 2021 everywhere, and 2020 will be done.

Well, that was a year. Kind of a year, anyway.

When my Cousin Helen and her two sisters reached a displaced persons camp at the end of WW2, having survived the Holocaust by luck and bravery and the skin of their teeth, they had no documents, and the people who gave them their papers suggested to them that they put down their ages as five years younger than they were, because the Nazis had stolen five years from them, and this was their only chance to take it back. They didn't count the war years as part of their life.

I could almost do that with 2020. Just not count it as one of the years of my life. But I'd hate to throw the magic out with the bathwater: there were good things, some of them amazing, in with the awful.

The hardest moments, in retrospect, were the deaths, of friends or of family, because they simply happened. I'd hear about them, by text or by phone, and then they'd be in the past. Funerals I would have flown a long way to be at didn't happen and nobody went anywhere: the goodbyes and the mutual support,  the hugs and the tears and the trading stories about the deceased, none of that occurred.

The hardest moments personally were walking further into the darkness than I'd ever walked before, and knowing that I was alone, and that I had no option but to get through it all, a day at a time, or an hour at a time, or a minute at a time.

The best moments were moments of friendship, most of them from very far away, and a slow appreciation of land and sky and space and time. In February 2020 I'd been regretting that I knew where I would be and what I would be doing every day for the next three years. Now I'd been forced to embrace chaos and unpredictability, while at the same time, learning to appreciate the slow day to day transition that happens when you stay in the same place as the seasons change. I was seeing a different sunset every night.  I hadn't managed to be in the same place, or even the same country, for nine months since... well, probably when I was writing American Gods in 2000. And now I was, most definitely, in one place.

I had conversations with people I treasure. Some of them were over Zoom and were recorded. Here are the two conversations that I felt I learned the most from, and I put them up here because they may also teach you something or give you comfort. The first is a conversation with Nuclear Physicist and author Carlo Rovelli, moderated by Erica Wagner, about art and science, literature and life and death:

from Instagram https://instagr.am/p/DB48I-gSloZ/ via IFTTT

Land values are at an all time high after the increased interest in land use for the increasingly important biofuels.

Its 5am here in California and I’m awake. It’s either the excitement around the Portable Media Expo or the fact that my body still hasn’t adjusted to the time difference. It’s a good job I’ve been waking early because there...

Using 20 years of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from tens of thousands of brain imaging experiments, neuroscientists at the University of Massachusetts have created a geometry-based method for massive data analysis to reach a new understanding of how thought arises from brain structure...

February 14, 2006 – ACCESS has been concerned for months that the State Department’s plan to include RFID chips in passports has not been well thought out. The original plan would have placed an RFID chip in every passport which would have contained unencrypted data about the passport holder. After a storm of protest, the State Department revised the standard to include some encryption. Now, a Dutch television news program has along and broken that encryption in less than two hours. The ramifications of this to passport holders are anything but positive.

Cloud kitchen K Noms, the brainchild of former weightlifter Abirami S Shakthivel, aims to provide nutritionally balanced food for the calorie-conscious in Tiruchi

Fr. Stephen Freeman speaks from his own experience about depression, anxiety, and a 40-year battle with panic attacks. He sets these within the wisdom of the tradition and offers a way of understanding as well as some helpful ways of moving forward.

Fr. Stephen Freeman examines in some depth why success and progress are not the right measures of the spiritual life.

Frederica shares a reply on the subject of doubt to a visitor to her website.

Ever noticed how your thoughts seem to impact your day in a big way? This week, Christian explores this phenomenon, pointing toward how our thoughts also impact other people.

Today, Fr. Thomas Hopko reflects on the nature of our thoughts and emotions in this fallen world.

Fr. Thomas Hopko takes one last look at the phrase "Relax, God is in Control" and provides information on additional material he has written and spoke about regarding this general topic. Here is the list: Abba: The Tradition of Orthodoxy in the West by Met. Kallistos Ware And from his Speaking the Truth in Love series: Pain and Suffering The Wrath of God The Wrath of God - Part 2 Anger and Wrath in Human Life On Sadness and Grief in Christian Life Theological Reflections on Calamity Does God Play Favorites? Predestination, Providence, and Prayer Understanding Evil - 9/11 Remembered God and the World Sandy Hook God and Death

Join Michael as he uses science and examples in everyday life to discuss order and disorder, why it is important to understand what they mean spiritually, and how we must be deliberate and committed in our choices to be holy and grow in Christ.

CDC reports that suicides have increased 25% since 1999 in nearly every state and recent celebrity suicides have cause a renewed focus on this issue. The CDC report further lists reasons, warning signs, and who this is affecting most. What can everyday ordinary Orthodox Christians do, who are not clergy or mental health professionals, to help combat this tragedy. Join Michael Haldas as he shares his personal experience and offers some thoughts on this topic.

Join Michael as he uses Scripture and a well-written article to discuss the slippery slope of letting the words “our thoughts and prayers” become synonymous for non-action.

Many of us have read the book Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives by Elder Thaddeus which is packed with holy wisdom. However, our thoughts gives rise to our actions, and our actions in turn reflect our thoughts. We are held to account by God for both what we think and what we do. Join Michael as he discusses the relationship to thoughts and actions, how we often entertain and get seduced by the wrong thoughts, and can make philosophy, psychology, and even theology and excuse to not have the right thoughts or take the right actions.

What role do our thoughts play in being the people God wants us to be? Fr. Nicholas and Dr. Roxanne give some practical advise on controlling our thoughts and submitting them to Christ.

In this episode, Fr. Anthony and Fr. Gregory Jensen talk about some of the themes in St. John Chrysostom's On the Priesthood. Enjoy the show!

Join Fr. Anthony and Amon Sul co-host Richard Rohlin as Richard shares his origin story (the spider bite was a bilingual household!), some thoughts on kata, and his love of language. This edition serves as a warmup for their upcoming conversation on the need to get the stories of ourselves, our nation, and the cosmos right. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Anthony talks with Fr. Gregory about scientific theories about the origin of thoughts and how the Orthodox understanding covers and improves on them both theologically and practically. This should not be surprising as Orthodoxy grounds anthropology within the fullness of the faith and monastic wisdom is the practical fruit of this theology as it has been lived, developed, and preserved for many generations. Enjoy the show!

Fr. Michael talks about how our thoughts influence our lives. "This is success: to become by grace a God-filled human being, to become all that God has called us to be."

Fr. Michael uses the illustration of rock climbing to talk about fear and freedom.

Fr. Michael shares an article by Abbess Victoria of St. Barbara's Monastery (Santa Paula, California) on ways to handle worries and distractions while praying.

Fr. Michael continues his discussion from last week. "We should not teach our children that anything outside us can defile us.... The defilement is already in our hearts and what we avoid, we avoid because it stirs up the disordered passions of my heart."

St. Isaac the Syrian refers to zeal as a guard dog. He refers to sinful and unwanted thoughts and impulses as birds that fly around our soul. Zeal is the guard dog that barks and warns us that these unwanted thoughts are there and motivates us to chase these birds away.

Fr. Michael Gillis shares about anger. "If I were to venture a guess as to the most commonly confessed passion that I hear in confessions, I would say that it is anger. Just about everyone is angry. According to many of the saints, anger and misdirected desire are the two main passions from which all vices and passions come."

Fr. Michael Gillis uses a gardening analogy to discuss dealing with the deep-rooted sins in life.

Someone recently asked me about how to understand the evil thoughts they experience.

The movement of thoughts in a man originates from four causes.

This week’s Divine Liturgy for the Forerunner is accompanied by a simple yet profound thetokion, which we mine for treasure by reference to Psalm 44/45, the Psalter, Song of Solomon, and other helpful passages from the Old Testament.

Fr. Ted encourages us to pace ourselves in this, our second week of Lent, as temptations from the evil one can thwart our efforts to be closer to God. He also reminds us to be patient with others as each path is different and we are not to judge.

Fr. Ted explains that the essence and energies of God can be applied to who we are as human beings and how we act toward one another.

Fr. Ted invites us to silence the many thoughts which fill minds, so that we can put our minds in a place where God can speak to us.

What should we do when thoughts come? The Psalms will help wash your heart of the distractions and you will reach the point where you can pray better.