13 Facts About Angels

Ok, this list for Thursday Thirteen is an open attempt to promote my book "Messengers From Heaven: A Biblical Look at Angels!"

Thirteen Facts about Angels

1. Angels are created beings. (Psalm 148:1-5, John 1:1-3, and Colossians 1:16.

2. Angels are not to be worshipped! (Colossians 2:18, Revelation 19:10 & 22:8-9)

3. Angels are not Omniscient (Matthew 24:36 and 1 Peter 1:12), Omnipresent (Genesis 28:12, Daniel 9:21 & 10:12-14, John 1:51, Luke 2:15, 2 Peter 2:4) or Omnipotent. (2 Peter 2:4, Daniel 10:13, Revelation 7:9)

4. Counting the canonized Bible only, there have been only three angels that have been called by a specific name. Michael (Daniel 10:13, 31, Jude, & Revelation 12:7), Gabriel (Daniel 8:16-17 & 9:21-27, Luke 1:11-20 & 26-38), and The Angel of the LORD, JEHOVAH, or GOD (appears 59 times throughout the Old Testament). * = See Below

5. Little children have angels in Heaven. (Matthew 18:10)

6. There are both Good and Evil angels. (Matthew 25:41 & Revelation 12:7)

7. No one knows the exact number of angles there are. (The Bible never gives an exact number of angels...although there are at least 100,000,000...Daniel 7:9-10 & Revelation 5:11)

8. Every angel that appears in the Bible appears in the form of a man or young man. (the only possible exception might be Zechariah 5:5-11)

9. Angels will live forever. (Luke 20:35-36, Matthew 22:30 & Psalm 148:1-6)

10. Everyone will see angels one day! (Matthew 13:41, Luke 16:22, 2 Thessalonians 1:7, Matthew 25:31, Mark 8:38, Luke 9:26)

* = Many people believe that Satan is actually a fallen angel who was once called Lucifer, and that he lived in Heaven. Although widely believed, the Bible never directly states that Satan is actually Lucifer, nor does it state that Satan was actually an angel! However, circumstantial evidence from the Bible indicates that Lucifer and Satan are one in the same! (This belief is based upon verses found in Isaiah 14:11-15 and Ezekiel 28:11-19) I may post a separate blog, called Facts about Satan, next Thursday.

WARNING -- About the movie "The Golden Compass"

Just found out this is true...The movie The Golden Compass is based upon a series of books that are strongly anti-Christian (any religion). The author of these books implies that you can kill God! What makes this worse it is being advertised as a children's movie similar to the Chronicles of Narnia. The movie even supports the idea of castration and female circumcision.

Check out the link about this article on Snopes.com -- The Golden Compass. By the way you can go to Snopes.com to find out the truth (as they know it) about any "Urban-Legend."

Happy Essences & A Wet Noodle

My family now has a new addiction. It is a video game called My Sims for the Nintendo Wii. In this game you are an architect who is called upon to rebuild a town and restore it to its former glory. It is a simple game and very fun to play. While playing the game you collect something called "essences" to enhance your building projects. One of the essences is called a "Happy Essence", which looks like a smiley face. Last night I put on a pair of Smiley Face boxers to sleep in. When my wife saw them, she commented how I have "Happy Essences" on my bottom.

Yesterday evening while sitting around the dinner table eating noodles and shrimp, my son commented that in the Lemony Snicket books, there was a character who hit people with a wet noodle. That got my wife and I to make comments about how we used to say, "I'm going to beat you with a wet noodle," a lot when we were younger. About the time dinner was ending, we started to look at the kid's report cards. (All A's and B's by the way.) My son had a note from his Science teacher with his card. (It was a good note.) As my wife started to read the note, I was being silly and started to say, "Dear Parents, your child has been a bad boy!" My son said, "Daddy, that's not funny," and then he hit me with a noodle. Literally. He slapped me in the head with a wet noodle. If it wasn't so funny, I might have gotten a little upset. But we all had good laugh over it. Especially my daughter.

I Will Not Give My Son $3-4

There is the video game my son wants really bad. He has earned/saved enough money to get the game, but not enough to pay the tax. He really bad wants me to give him the extra $3-4 to cover the tax. I know he would pay me back for the amount of the tax, but I am not going to give it to him. It may sound mean, but I am trying to teach him delayed gratification and the joy of being able to buy something entirely on his own. I am also trying to teach him that he can't always rely on Dad to give him "free" money if he needs it. He needs to learn to budget his money wisely, and having Dad, or Mom, give him a little extra, he is not learning the full meaning of saving his money to reach a goal. I know he may be sad now, but he will be much happier when he earns the money on his own and gets his game without having to pay someone else back.

Thirteen Little Known Facts About ME

I am borrowing this idea from my Wife's Blog, who borrowed it from someone else. I am just putting my own twist on it.

Fact # 1 -- Something I am very afraid of -- Besides something bad happening to my kids or dear wife, I would have to go with...heights or being swarmed by little insects.

Fact # 2 -- One thing I dislike about myself -- The way I am sarcastic and sometimes condescending to my children. I am working on it. Pray for me!

Fact # 3 -- One profession I have absolutely no respect for -- Any one who works for, or is associated with the porn industry.

Fact # 4 -- My favorite type of music -- Motion Picture Musical Scores (my favorites are Superman, Pirates of the Caribbean & Battlestar Galactica)

Fact # 5 -- A unique place I have visited -- Teotihuacan, Mexico. It was here I climbed the Pyramid of the Sun. What a trip! (See picture)

Fact # 6 -- Age at which I got my first real kiss -- 21. Hey, I was a shy young man, raised with very conservative beliefs. Plus I was a bit of nerd. I'm glad I waited though, knowing who I am now, I might have turned out quite different if I had started the "smooching" earlier.

Fact # 7 -- My dream job -- I think I would love to be an archaeologist! If not that, I think I would love to work full time for the Texas Rangers Baseball Club.

Fact # 8 -- A sound I love to hear -- The sound of my children laughing or the sounds of thunder and rain.

Fact # 9 -- A food I cannot eat enough of -- Tacos. I just can't stop eating them.

Fact # 10 -- Something new I really want to do as a hobby -- Join a ghost hunting group and do some ghost hunting.

Fact #11 -- My favorite word -- Truthiness -- "a satirical term created by U.S. television comedian Stephen Colbert to describe things that a person claims to know intuitively or 'from the gut' without regard to evidence, logic, intellectual examination, or facts."

Fact # 12 -- Something that other people do that I hate -- Gossip! I hate it and try my best not to get involved with it.

Fact # 13 -- My little "vice" -- I loved stuffed animals and have a hard time not buying them for my kids or myself. (Hey, even a 40 year old man needs his Teddy Bear! Ha-Ha!)

It's Finally Fall Weather

First of all congratulations to the Colorado Rockies in their sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks to advance to the World Series! Now I just hope the Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox!

Fall weather is finally here! The air is cool and windy. Fall thunderstorms are blowing through. Leaves are falling, and the grass doesn't need mowing until next Spring. In the part of East Texas where I am from, it is called "Yamboree Weather", because the cooler weather normally coincides with the coming of a county festival called The East Texas Yamboree. This festival is held in Upshur County in Texas every third weekend in October.

I think this is my favorite time of the year. The baseball playoffs are going on, with the World Series just around the corner. Football season is well under way. Hunting Season is rapidly approaching. The kids have a full six-weeks of school under their belts. Halloween is almost here, and the weather is finally cooling off, after another hot Texas Summer. I also like the fall storms, even if it is tornado season. It's just a great time to be alive and thank God for all your blessings. Especially since Thanksgiving is not to far away either. Tuuurrrrkeeeyy!