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Cybersalt News

Oh look, Chicken Thursday.

For the last month or so, Canada Post has been on strike. However the "posties" (not a bad term here in Canada) returned to work on Tuesday. Grandma Cybersalt and I could tell they were back because the news said so and we also got one letter in the mailbox on the front of our house. I am waiting for some literal "cheques in the mail" from clients, so I am eagerly anticipating more envelopes. That said, we didn't get any mail yesterday. At least the mystery of when they will arrive keeps life from getting boring!

Today's video share is another commercial that makes one think. In a world when we all live in our own bubbles, let's do what is needed to break out of them!
Click Here to Watch

~ Pastor Tim 

by Ruth Sockett

I have not wrapped a present and the paper's disappeared.
The children are hysterical, they just found Santa's beard.

The baby ate a Christmas ball, there's eggnog in my tea
Daddy's chasing mistletoe, he swings from tree to tree.

Susan's changed her mind about the doll that walks and talks
Now she wants a simple thing, a real live horse that talks.

I just got back my Christmas cards that gave me writer's cramp
I didn't forget a single soul, I just forgot the stamps.

So, Santa, when you do get here and find beneath the tree,
A poor lost soul without a mind, be nice, for it is me!!

Do twins ever realize that one of them was unplanned?

"Be a Billionaire!"

and Help

Refugees and

Persecuted Christians

A Russian named Rudolph and his wife were on a train traveling across Siberia when it started snowing outside.

His wife said, look Rudy, it's snowing. He said no, that is rain. She said I'm pretty sure it's snow. He came back again, no I'm sure it is rain. She said, but look, it's white and flaky.

Getting rather upset he said sharply, "Rudolph the Red knows rain dear!"

"Now you would think that if God so rules the world as to use an empire-wide census to bring Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem, he surely could have seen to it that a room was available in the inn.

"Yes, he could have. And Jesus could have been born into a wealthy family. He could have turned stone into bread in the wilderness. He could have called 10,000 angels to his aid in Gethsemane. He could have come down from the cross and saved himself. The question is not what God could do, but what He willed to do."

- John Piper, Good News of Great Joy: Daily Readings for Advent

In about my tenth year, as Christmas approached, I longed for an electric train. The times were those of economic depression, yet Mother and Dad purchased for me a lovely electric train.

Christmas morning bright and early, I thrilled when I noticed my train. The next few hours were devoted to operating the transformer and watching the engine pull its cars forward—then backward around the track.

Mother said that she had purchased a wind-up train for Widow Hansen’s boy, Mark, who lived down the lane at Gale Street. As I looked at his train, I noted a tanker car which I much admired. I put up such a fuss that my mother succumbed to my pleadings and gave me the tanker car. I put it with my train set and felt pleased.

Mother and I took the remaining cars and the engine down to Mark Hansen. The young boy was a year or two older than I. He had never anticipated such a gift. He was thrilled beyond words. He wound the key in his engine, it not being electric nor expensive like mine, and was overjoyed as the engine and three cars, plus a caboose, went around the track.

I felt a horrible sense of guilt as I returned home. The tanker car no longer appealed to me. Suddenly, I took the tanker car in my hand, plus an additional car of my own, and ran all the way down to Gale Street and proudly announced to Mark, “We forgot to bring two cars which belong to your train.”

I don’t know when a deed had made me feel any better than that experience as a ten-year old boy.

Featured Illustrations are items well suited for illustrating or inspiring a point in a sermon, speech, or devotional. Funny, moving, or perhaps even graphic, the point of them is the point you make with them.

Susan Page writes . . . . 

- photo by Susan PageRecently, I attended a concert where traditional Christmas carols were beautifully shared.

I deeply appreciate the rich history behind the words and the tradition of these sacred hymns passed down throughout the generations. Some people think the timeless Christmas carols are no longer relevant. I beg to differ, knowing that, like the traditional hymns of the Church these carols have lyrics and melodies that speak deeply to our souls. Singing them also brings back memories of people and places that have been a part of our heritage.

The Cybersalt Digest is a ministry of Pastor Tim and Cybersalt.