Guess who just logged in for the first time in three forevers? :)

Just felt like clearing out my screen. :)

Jack was a mean, miserly drunk. One night, Jack had too much to drink and was about to fall into the Devil's hands, but managed to trick the Devil by offering his soul in exchange for one last drink. The Devil turned himself into a sixpence to pay the bartender, but Jack quickly pocketed him in his purse. Because Jack had a silver cross in his purse, the Devil could not change himself back. Jack would not let the Devil go until he promised not to claim his soul for ten more years.

The Devil agreed and ten years later Jack came across the Devil while walking on a country road. The Devil wanted to collect, but Jack, thinking quickly, said "I'll go, but before I go, will you get me an apple from that tree?" The Devil, thinking he had nothing to lose, climbed the tree, but as he was plucking the requested apple, Jack pulled out his knife and carved the sign of the cross in the tree's trunk, preventing the Devil from climbing down again. Jack made him promise to never again ask for his soul. Seeing no way out, the Devil agreed.

Years later, when Jack died, he tried to get into Heaven but he was turned away because he had been such a mean drunk during his lifetime. Jack then went to the gates of Hell, looking for a place where he could spend all eternity. True to his word, the Devil refused him entry. "But where can I go?", asked Jack. "Back where you came from!", replied the Devil, and he threw a live coal at Jack straight from the fires of Hell. To light his way and to keep it from blowing out in the wind, Jack put the coal in a turnip he was carrying.

Jack has since been doomed to wander in darkness with his lantern until Judgment Day. The Irish began to refer to his ghostly figure as “Jack of the Lantern” and then simply as “Jack O’Lantern.” Jack of the lantern became known as the symbol of a condemned soul.

Children in Ireland carved potatoes and turnips to make lanterns to be used on Hallowe'en night. When the Irish Potato Famine (1845-50) prompted over 700,000 people to immigrate to the Americas, these immigrants brought with them their traditions of Halloween and Jack o'Lanterns. Turnips were not as readily available as back home, but they found the American pumpkin to be a more than an adequate replacement. Today, the carved pumpkin is perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday.

Recently I was doing some research on the birth control pill. I was very surprised at what I found. Maybe some of you have heard of Randy Alcorn’s research titled “Does the Birth Control Pill Cause Abortions?” If not, leave me your email address and I will send it to you. It is a pamphlet (lengthy, but quick and easy reading) which evaluates how the BCP works. If you use or have used the BCP, and are not completely sure of how it works, you should read this pamphlet and ask your doctor about it. I’ll break it down simply.

There are three mechanisms of the BCP. The first and primary function of the pill is to inhibit ovulation. The second is to make it more difficult for sperm to travel. The third is to prevent implantation of a fertilized egg. It is the third mechanism that should be raising red flags to anyone who believes life begins at conception. According to this study, most of the time the pill prevents pregnancy, but some of the time, it simply ends it.

In his research, the author contacted the BCP manufacturers to question them on this, and he records their responses in detail. It is quite interesting.

He also goes into details on some other noteworthy points. First, that these same mechanisms are found in “low-dose” pills. And second, that the “morning after pill” is nothing but a heavy dose of the standard BCP. What does that tell you?

Of course, this isn't true ALL of the time. Like the first and second mechanisms, the third mechanism can sometimes fail as well. That is how some people wind up pregnant even though they are on the pill at that time.

I’m interested to know if any of you have done some research on this as well, and if so, what did you find? If it is true that the BCP can cause a fertilized egg to be aborted, (and my doctor just today agreed that it does) then why aren’t Christian girls made more aware of this?

Thoughts??

Our annual singing is this Friday night...and I haven't really heard yet who's planning to come up/down/over to join us. Will you be there??