Danny's blog

Letter from Jesus about Christmas

Dear Children,

It has come to my attention that many of you are upset that folks are taking
My name out of the season. Maybe you've forgotten that I wasn't actually
born during this time of the year and that it was some of your predecessors
who decided to celebrate My birthday on what was actually a time of pagan
festival. Although I do appreciate being remembered anytime.

How I personally feel about this celebration can probably be most easily
understood by those of you who have been blessed with children of your own.
I don't care what you call the day. If you want to celebrate My birth, just
GET ALONG AND LOVE ONE ANOTHER.
Now, having said that let Me go on.

                                                OPEN SESAME  

While driving the other day I noticed these “Bar Code” stickers on the side of cars. I must admit I have seen them before but this time, for some reason, it got me thinking. What is the purpose for the bar code sticker? I asked a friend of mine and they said that the bar code sticker is for people who live in “gated     communities”. He went on to say that a sensor reads the code and activates the gate to open. Now remember, I am a fireman (not the sharpest pencil in the box) so I thought about that bar code for several hours, (not exclusively, lest anyone think I’m completely nuts!) I thought that no matter what the driver of the car with     the bar code on it did, he or she would still be allow through the gate at the end of the day. They could speed in a school zone, tailgate, cut off, flip off, lay on the horn, ride the sidewalk or do doughnuts in the Walmart parking lot. No matter what they did, they would be allowed to open the gate and enter their neighborhood. It’s sad to say but many so called “Christians” are the same way. They gossip, lie, make shady business deals, cheat, indulge themselves on fleshly desires, play judge, jury and executioner, and at the end of the day they expect their WWJD bracelet, cross pendant and the fish symbol on their bumper to open the gates. Not so! Yes, we all sin and fall short of the glory of God. But do we “practice sin”? Worry is a sin, yet …I worry…sometimes. I don’t practice worry by making worry an everyday ordeal. Every Christian I know sins, and yes, some are “practicing sin”.  I hear, “so and so lied to me again”, or “so and so said this about so and so”. I hear about the way they treat other people both believers and non-believers. I don’t know why people insist on telling me, when they should be telling them; (privately and with love) maybe it’s the fear of confronting them and being placed on the top of their list. Or maybe you are afraid that they will give you the “Who do you think you are?” speech. Having been there, I can tell you that it’s not fun. It hurts, but it works! It is all how you do it. God Word contains such directions in Matthew 18:15-22.

 Yesterday, during the mandatory officers meeting, we discussed “ Customer Service”. While I did learn more about who our customers were, I couldn’t help but get disgusted about why this is such a hard thing to grasp. What kept rolling through my head was “Do unto others”. For those of you “in Christ” this should be a perfect “teaching moment”. It’s more than “Do unto others” it’s “through love serve one another.” (Gal 5:13) 

You want great customer service? Then serve, and do it through love. But in order to serve through love you are going to have to lose a few things. Pride and Self. You have to stop serving with the anticipation of something in return. You have to start serving with the “love of Christ” in mind.  You must humble yourself , which for most of us is very difficult. But if God Himself can do it than surely we can. God stepped down out of Heaven and all it’s glory to this dung pile called “earth”. Yes, He created it and “it was good” but we destroyed it with our wants, desires and personal agendas.

We all make choices everyday. We choose to get out of bed, we choose to brush our teeth, we choose what’s for breakfast. We choose... 

We make choices all day long. What is the foundational truth about choice? We all choose something and we all live with our choice.  

I don’t know about you but sometimes I wish God would give me His judgmental powers for like 5 minutes. I believe the world would be a better place. Have you ever felt like that? I just want us to be honest with each other. I have felt like that on more than one occasion and I venture to say so have you. Having the occasional thought of vengeance isn’t going to erase your salvation...nothing can do that! But dwelling on the judgement of others could cause you to be dehydrated. Your once overflowing heart is caked with bitterness and anger. Anger that the “Teflon people” seem to get away with murder, nothing sticks to the them. They do what they want and there seems as if there is no recourse. If you dwell on it...it will drive you insane.

     After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?"       He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little."   One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.   Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.   And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost."   So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.  When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"

Visit the site below to see what we are up against. It is a chilling video!

www.obsessionthemovie.com

Wouldn't it be great to see that headline in the paper? If the County wants to bring the mighty tourism dollar to Clay County, how about something family oriented? Why the push for Poker Rooms in Orange Park. Then again, why not? Gambling is gambling whether it be dogs, lotto, scratch offs or poker. What's next?  You have to ask yourself, can anything good come from it? Has anything good come from it? I don't know about everybody else, but the Lotto going to education! come on!  I am buying more school supplies every year!

I'm sure those wanting to have a poker room in Orange Park could rationalize their view. But why not continue playing the game in the venue you are playing it now? Are we to think that you don't play the game because you have nowhere to play it? Please!

The thermal image camera (T.I.C.),  in my opinion,  is one of the greatest advancements in the fire service since the SCBA. (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus). The TIC is an awesome search and rescue tool. TIC’s only see heat, not light, so they can easily see through the dense smoke. The implementation of the TIC has decreased our search times from a 20 minute average in single family dwellings (with zero visibility) to less than 5 minutes. When we arrive on scene it is protocol for those who are search and rescue to carry the TIC in with them. The firefighters can easily open the front door and scan the entire room prior to entering, even with zero visibility due to smoke or light. You see, the TIC sees heat not light (kind of like the Predator movie or Splinter Cell for you gamers out there) so heat shows up as “white”.The hotter the object the whiter the image gets. Cooler objects show up as grey or black also depending on how cold they are. Under normal conditions if you were to look at a person through the TIC they would look “white” (like a negative picture). There are however, many variables. If a firefighter goes into a room on fire, the firefighter will appear grey or dark grey because the firefighter is cooler than the room. As a matter of fact, water from our hose lines is seen as black through the TIC. If that same firefighter were to walk into a large cooler he would appear bright white because he is hotter than his surroundings. During search and rescue efforts if the victim is unconscious and has been inside the heated environment for extended length of time, he or she would be difficult to pick up on the TIC. Remember the TIC sees heat, so if everything is the same temperature it will all look the same. The firefighter must then rely on his/her training to distinguish the victim from a pile of clothes on the floor. So basically, what environment you are in determines what you see through the TIC.