SHALOM, AKA PEACE We typically use the word peace to mean simply “no war.” The Bible’s words—shalom in Hebrew, eirene in Greek—are richer than that, carrying the idea of well-being, wholeness; people existing in harmony and not vexing each other. Needless to say, that type of peace is pretty elusive in this fallen world, but the Bible holds out the possibility that anyone can have peace inwardly if not outwardly. That kind of peace can only be had when the person takes a deep breath and says, “First of all, God is in control.”
1. In Jesus’ Beatitudes, what reward is there for the peacemakers?
2. Complete this quotation from Paul: “The God of peace will soon crush _____ under your feet.”
3. In the Old Testament law, the sacrifices called “peace offerings” were also called what?
4. What man in Genesis was promised he would die in peace, and at a ripe old age?
5. Who spoke the famous words, “Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth”?
6. Complete this quotation of Jesus: “My peace I give you, not as the _____ gives.”
7. What book of the Bible states that “better is a dinner of vegetables than a fattened calf and hatred with it”?
8. Complete this verse from Psalms: “Mark the blameless man and behold the _____, for the reward of that man is peace.”
9. According to Isaiah, God says that there is no peace for what sort of person?
10. Complete this verse from Hebrews: “Follow peace with all men, and _____,
without which no man shall see the Lord.”
11. Who prophesied a peaceful time when men would turn their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks?
12. What did Jesus cause to happen with the words, “Peace, be still”?
13. In Isaiah’s prophecy of a time of peace, what animal will lie down with the lamb?
14. According to Paul’s Letter to the Romans, to set one’s mind on the _____ gives life and peace.
15. Complete this Proverb: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his _____ be at peace with him.”
16. The famous blessing that ends “the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” was first spoken by whom?
17. Who claimed that he came not to bring peace to earth but division?
18. Complete this saying of Jesus: “I have told you these things that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have _____ the world.”
19. To whom did the risen Jesus address the words “Peace be with you”?
20. Who prophesied the coming of someone who would be called “the Prince of Peace”?
21. Which Epistle lists peace among the fruit of the Spirit?
22. Complete this much-quoted verse from Philippians: “The peace of God, which passes all _____, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
23. What old man blessed the baby Jesus and then asked God to let him “depart in peace”?
24. Complete this familiar verse from Isaiah: “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he _____ in you.”
25. Which king from the book of Genesis in referred to in the New Testament as the “king of peace”?
26. According to the Letter of James, people who sow in peace will reap a harvest of _____.
27. According to the Old Testament, under which king did Israel live in safety, “every man under his vine and his fig tree”?
SHALOM, AKA PEACE (ANSWERS)
1. They will be called children of God (Matthew 5:9).
2. Satan (Romans 16:20)
3. Fellowship offerings, mentioned many times in Leviticus and Numbers
4. Abraham (Genesis 15:15)
5. The angels who appeared to the shepherds (Luke 2:14)
6. World (John 14:27)
7. Proverbs (15:17)
8. Upright (Psalm 37:37)
9. The wicked (Isaiah 48:22)
10. Holiness (Hebrews 12:14)
11. Isaiah (2:4). Interestingly, the prophet Joel foretold a time when just the opposite would happen.
12. He calmed a storm that was threatening him and his disciples (Mark 4:35-41).
13. The wolf (Isaiah 9:6), which in normal times would eat the lamb, of course
14. Spirit (Romans 8:6)
15. Enemies (Proverbs 16:7)
16. Aaron, Israel’s first high priest (Numbers 6:26)
17. Jesus (Matthew 10:34; Luke 12:51)
18. Overcome (John 16:33)
19. His disciples (Luke 24:36)
20. Isaiah (9:6). Christians believe that Jesus is this Prince of Peace.
21. Galatians (5:22)
22. Understanding (Philippians 4:7)
23. Simeon, who had been promised he would not die until he had seen the Messiah (Luke 2:29)
24. Trust (Isaiah 26:3)
25. Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:2)
26. Righteousness (James 3:18) 27. Solomon (1 Kings 4:25)
Bible Promises
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."
(EPHESIANS 1:3)
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin”
(1 John 1:7).
"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee; He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."
(PSALM 55:22)
A piece of human bone the size of a box of matches could support a weight of up to 9,000 kgs! That's four times more than an equivalent block of concrete could carry without being crushed.
Maybe It's A Sign...
Here are some funny signs that have been spotted in real businesses around the world....
- On a plumber's truck: "We repair what your husband fixed."
- Door of a plastic surgeon's office: "Let us pick your nose."
- In a veterinarian's waiting room: "Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!"
- Sign at a gynecologist's office: "Dr. Jones, at your cervix."
- On an electrician's truck: "Let us remove your shorts."
- At an optometrist's office: "If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place."
- On a taxidermist's window: "We really know our stuff."
- In a podiatrist's office: "Time wounds all heels."
- In the front yard of a funeral home: "Drive carefully. We'll wait." - On a maternity room door: "Push. Push. Push."
The Water Of Life...
In 1945 a US Government agency put out the word that the human body needs about eight glasses of fluid per day.
While the use of the word 'glasses' left plenty of wriggle room when it came to interpreting this information, it's actually the word 'fluid' that resulted in the most confusion.
You see, that original proclamation was meant to include all the liquids that entered your body whether they be in your food, in drinks like coffee, and so on.
However, somewhere along the line, the word 'fluid' was replaced with the word 'water' and suddenly we were all glugging the stuff down like there's no tomorrow.
I'm not cynical enough to suggest that the bottled water 'manufacturers' had anything to do with perpetuating this myth. Although they might have had... And I'm not cynical enough to suggest that the bottled water 'manufacturers' had anything to do with perpetuating the myth that "if you're already thirsty it's too late".
Although they might have had... What it boils down to is this: if you're thirsty, have a drink. If you're not thirsty, don't. Or, as Mark Twain put it, "Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody."
Did You Know..?
Despite the huge diversity of wildlife – including lots of scary man-eaters – there are no bears currently native to Africa.
But Can It Make Toast?
Microwave ovens get a lot of bad press. In fairness, most of it is somewhat deserved.
After all, if you cook a chicken in the microwave, it's going to be a pretty drab, soggy and tasteless affair when compared to the golden, glistening, delicious work of art that you'll get from your traditional oven.
Worse again, however, is the well-known fact that cooking food in a microwave destroys all the nutrients contained in the food.
Oh wait, scratch that.
As it happens, cooking food in the microwave doesn't destroy the goodness in the food any more than any of the other methods of cooking do.
In fact, because the microwave gets the job done using less heat – and taking less time – it actually does less damage than traditional cooking does!
I still won't be using it to cook the Thanksgiving turkey any time soon...
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Doesn't Count
You've probably never heard of titin. Basically, it's the largest protein we know of. According to Wikipedia, titin "is composed of 244 individually folded protein domains connected by unstructured peptide sequences."
I've no idea what that means either. What's interesting about titin is its chemical name. It starts with methionyl... and ends, much, much later with ...isoleucine.
In between those two parts are another 189,800 letters! That's right, the full chemical name for titin consists of a grand total of 189,819 letters. (That's one hundred and eighty-nine thousand eight hundred and nineteen letters in layman's terms.)
It's sometimes said that this is the longest word in the English language – or in any language for that matter. However, people who know about this type of thing argue that it's not really a word. Instead, it's a "verbal formula" so it misses its place in the record books on a technicality.
The longest word that IS considered a real word and that DOES appear in some dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (pronounced Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis).
One dictionary defines the 45-letter word as "a factitious word alleged to mean 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust, causing inflammation in the lungs."
They key word there is 'factitious' which is another way of saying 'artificial'. You see, the word Pneum...etc... was deliberately coined by Everett M. Smith, president of the National Puzzlers' League (NPL) in 1935 with the express aim of creating the longest word in the language.
The word (which is sometimes referred to as P45) subsequently appeared in a puzzle book, and the NPL began a campaign to have it included in dictionaries. Merriam-Webster was the first to recognize it in their New International Dictionary, Second Edition (1939).
So what's the longest word in the language that wasn't deliberately made up, or that isn't just some technical formula?
That would be 'antidisestablishmentarianism' which is a political term dating from late 19th-century Britain.
Some Random Thoughts...
- On the other hand, it's better to have fingers than toes.
- To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
- I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges...
- A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
- Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
- 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
- I don't find it hard to meet expenses. They're everywhere.
Heads Up...
Everybody knows that it's important to wear a cap in cold weather.
After all, most of the heat leaves the body through the head, right? Well, no.
It turns out, if you're completely naked, about 10% of your body heat leaves through your head, with the rest of the body accounting for the other 90%.
So how did this myth get started?
Well, it seems that the military carried out a study many years ago to test how soldiers lost heat when exposed to cold temperatures.
They learned that there was rapid heat loss through the head when compared to the rest of the body. Unfortunately, what they failed to take into consideration is that the soldiers were fully clothed apart from their heads! And thus a myth was born.
10 Speechless Notices Found On Common Products
The notice: Suitable for vegetarians.
Found on: A bottle of mineral water.
The notice: Caution: Do not use near power lines.
Found on: A toilet plunger.
The notice: Some assembly required.
Found on: A 500-piece jigsaw puzzle.
The notice: Not dishwasher safe.
Found on: A TV remote control.
The notice: This floodlight is capable of illuminating large areas, even in the dark.
Found on: A floodlight.
The notice: May cause drowsiness.
Found on: Nytol Sleep Aid.
The notice: Do not drive a car or run machinery.
Found on: Children's Cough Medicine.
The notice: Bottle exclusively designed for use with Volvic Natural Mineral Water. Do not refill.
Found on: You guessed it, Volvic Natural Mineral Water.
The notice: Do not use while taking a shower.
Found on: A hairdryer.
The notice: No keyboard detected. Press any key to continue.
Found on: A common, and infuriating, error on many PCs.
Quotes...
Maybe It's A Sign...
Here are some funny signs that have been spotted in real businesses around the world....
- On a plumber's truck: "We repair what your husband fixed."
- Door of a plastic surgeon's office: "Let us pick your nose."
- In a veterinarian's waiting room: "Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!"
- Sign at a gynecologist's office: "Dr. Jones, at your cervix."
- On an electrician's truck: "Let us remove your shorts."
- At an optometrist's office: "If you don't see what you're looking for, you've come to the right place."
- On a taxidermist's window: "We really know our stuff."
- In a podiatrist's office: "Time wounds all heels."
- In the front yard of a funeral home: "Drive carefully. We'll wait." - On a maternity room door: "Push. Push. Push."
The Water Of Life...
In 1945 a US Government agency put out the word that the human body needs about eight glasses of fluid per day.
While the use of the word 'glasses' left plenty of wriggle room when it came to interpreting this information, it's actually the word 'fluid' that resulted in the most confusion.
You see, that original proclamation was meant to include all the liquids that entered your body whether they be in your food, in drinks like coffee, and so on.
However, somewhere along the line, the word 'fluid' was replaced with the word 'water' and suddenly we were all glugging the stuff down like there's no tomorrow.
I'm not cynical enough to suggest that the bottled water 'manufacturers' had anything to do with perpetuating this myth. Although they might have had... And I'm not cynical enough to suggest that the bottled water 'manufacturers' had anything to do with perpetuating the myth that "if you're already thirsty it's too late".
Although they might have had... What it boils down to is this: if you're thirsty, have a drink. If you're not thirsty, don't. Or, as Mark Twain put it, "Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody."
Did You Know..?
Despite the huge diversity of wildlife – including lots of scary man-eaters – there are no bears currently native to Africa.
But Can It Make Toast?
Microwave ovens get a lot of bad press. In fairness, most of it is somewhat deserved.
After all, if you cook a chicken in the microwave, it's going to be a pretty drab, soggy and tasteless affair when compared to the golden, glistening, delicious work of art that you'll get from your traditional oven.
Worse again, however, is the well-known fact that cooking food in a microwave destroys all the nutrients contained in the food.
Oh wait, scratch that.
As it happens, cooking food in the microwave doesn't destroy the goodness in the food any more than any of the other methods of cooking do.
In fact, because the microwave gets the job done using less heat – and taking less time – it actually does less damage than traditional cooking does!
I still won't be using it to cook the Thanksgiving turkey any time soon...
Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Doesn't Count
You've probably never heard of titin. Basically, it's the largest protein we know of. According to Wikipedia, titin "is composed of 244 individually folded protein domains connected by unstructured peptide sequences."
I've no idea what that means either. What's interesting about titin is its chemical name. It starts with methionyl... and ends, much, much later with ...isoleucine.
In between those two parts are another 189,800 letters! That's right, the full chemical name for titin consists of a grand total of 189,819 letters. (That's one hundred and eighty-nine thousand eight hundred and nineteen letters in layman's terms.)
It's sometimes said that this is the longest word in the English language – or in any language for that matter. However, people who know about this type of thing argue that it's not really a word. Instead, it's a "verbal formula" so it misses its place in the record books on a technicality.
The longest word that IS considered a real word and that DOES appear in some dictionaries is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis (pronounced Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis).
One dictionary defines the 45-letter word as "a factitious word alleged to mean 'a lung disease caused by the inhalation of very fine silica dust, causing inflammation in the lungs."
They key word there is 'factitious' which is another way of saying 'artificial'. You see, the word Pneum...etc... was deliberately coined by Everett M. Smith, president of the National Puzzlers' League (NPL) in 1935 with the express aim of creating the longest word in the language.
The word (which is sometimes referred to as P45) subsequently appeared in a puzzle book, and the NPL began a campaign to have it included in dictionaries. Merriam-Webster was the first to recognize it in their New International Dictionary, Second Edition (1939).
So what's the longest word in the language that wasn't deliberately made up, or that isn't just some technical formula?
That would be 'antidisestablishmentarianism' which is a political term dating from late 19th-century Britain.
Some Random Thoughts...
- On the other hand, it's better to have fingers than toes.
- To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research.
- I wonder how much deeper the ocean would be without sponges...
- A conclusion is the place where you got tired of thinking.
- Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.
- 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
- I don't find it hard to meet expenses. They're everywhere.
Heads Up...
Everybody knows that it's important to wear a cap in cold weather.
After all, most of the heat leaves the body through the head, right? Well, no.
It turns out, if you're completely naked, about 10% of your body heat leaves through your head, with the rest of the body accounting for the other 90%.
So how did this myth get started?
Well, it seems that the military carried out a study many years ago to test how soldiers lost heat when exposed to cold temperatures.
They learned that there was rapid heat loss through the head when compared to the rest of the body. Unfortunately, what they failed to take into consideration is that the soldiers were fully clothed apart from their heads! And thus a myth was born.
10 Speechless Notices Found On Common Products
The notice: Suitable for vegetarians.
Found on: A bottle of mineral water.
The notice: Caution: Do not use near power lines.
Found on: A toilet plunger.
The notice: Some assembly required.
Found on: A 500-piece jigsaw puzzle.
The notice: Not dishwasher safe.
Found on: A TV remote control.
The notice: This floodlight is capable of illuminating large areas, even in the dark.
Found on: A floodlight.
The notice: May cause drowsiness.
Found on: Nytol Sleep Aid.
The notice: Do not drive a car or run machinery.
Found on: Children's Cough Medicine.
The notice: Bottle exclusively designed for use with Volvic Natural Mineral Water. Do not refill.
Found on: You guessed it, Volvic Natural Mineral Water.
The notice: Do not use while taking a shower.
Found on: A hairdryer.
The notice: No keyboard detected. Press any key to continue.
Found on: A common, and infuriating, error on many PCs.
Quotes...