Good Morning & God Bless To Everyone !!!
Today is January 13, the 13th day of 2014 and there are 352 days left this year where it is another BLESSED day to be here at work for our Lord at:
For God’s Glory Alone Ministries !!!
I regret I have to report yet another beautiful, (but not boring), wonderful day outside here in Albuquerque. At a little to 8 a.m. were looking at close to 30 degrees outside and a wind is giving us a windchill of about 19 degrees. Really cold out today with highs only in the upper 40’s to low 50’s and another day of God’s precious sunshine spreading across the land. The rest of the week will be much better with lows through Friday in the lower 20’s and highs in the mid 50’s and sunshine ALL week! He sure is blessing us here in the land of enchantment!
So, What Happened Today In 1128?
Pope Honorius II Recognizes Knights Templar
Pope Honorius II grants a papal sanction to the military order known as the Knights Templar, declaring it to be an army of God.
Led by the Frenchman Hughes de Payens, the Knights Templar organization was founded in 1118. Its self-imposed mission was to protect Christian pilgrims on their way to the Holy Land during the Crusades, the series of military expeditions aimed at defeating Muslims in Palestine. The Templars took their name from the location of their headquarters, at Jerusalem’s Temple Mount. For a while, the Templars had only nine members, mostly due to their rigid rules. In addition to having noble birth, the knights were required to take strict vows of poverty, obedience and chastity. In 1127, new promotional efforts convinced many more noblemen to join the order, gradually increasing its size and influence.
While the individual knights were not allowed to own property, there was no such restriction on the organization as a whole, and over the years many rich Christians gave gifts of land and other valuables to support the Knights Templar. By the time the Crusades ended unsuccessfully in the early 14th century, the order had grown extremely wealthy, provoking the jealousy of both religious and secular powers. In 1307, King Philip IV of France and Pope Clement V combined to take down the Knights Templar, arresting the grand master, Jacques de Molay, on charges of heresy, sacrilege and Satanism. Under torture, Molay and other leading Templars confessed and were eventually burned at the stake. Clement dissolved the Templars in 1312, assigning their property and monetary assets to a rival order, the Knights Hospitalers. In fact, though, Philip and his English counterpart, King Edward II, claimed most of the wealth after banning the organization from their respective countries.
The modern-day Catholic Church has admitted that the persecution of the Knights Templar was unjustified and claimed that Pope Clement was pressured by secular rulers to dissolve the order. Over the centuries, myths and legends about the Templars have grown, including the belief that they may have discovered holy relics at Temple Mount, including the Holy Grail, the Ark of the Covenant or parts of the cross from Christ’s crucifixion. The imagined secrets of the Templars have inspired various books and movies, including the blockbuster novel and film The Da Vinci Code.
Other Memorable Or Interesting Events Occurring On January 13 In History:
888 – Odo, Count of Paris becomes King of the Franks;
1099 – Crusaders set fire to Mara, Syria;
1776 – In the American Revolution, in the early morning hours of January 13, 1776, British forces raid Prudence Island, Rhode Island, in an effort to steal a large quantity of sheep. But, upon landing on the island’s southern beaches, the British were ambushed by fifteen Minutemen from Rhode Island’s Second Company led by Captain Joseph Knight, who had been tipped off to the Brits’ plans and rowed across Narragansett Bay from Warwick Neck the previous morning. A brief but deadly battle ensued before the British were forced to retreat;
1785 – John Walter publishes 1st issue of the London Times;
1794 – President George Washington approves a measure to add two starts and two stripes to the American flag following admission of Vermont and Kentucky to the Union. The number of stripes was later reduced back to the original 13;
1842 – A British army doctor reaches the British sentry post at Jalalabad, Afghanistan, the lone survivor of a 16,000-strong Anglo-Indian expeditionary force that was massacred in its retreat from Kabul. He told of a terrible massacre in the Khyber Pass, in which the Afghans gave the defeated Anglo-Indian force and their camp followers no quarter;
1846 – President James Polk dispatches General Zachary Taylor and 4,000 troops to the Texas border as war with Mexico looms;
1897 – Union General Napoleon Bonaparte Buford is born in Woodford, Kentucky. In the Civil War, Buford held many commands in the west and was a hero at the Battle of Belmont, Missouri early in the war;
1906 – 1st radio set is advertised, (Telimco by Scientific America for $7.50), and claims it to be able to receive a signal up to a mile away;
1916 – During WWI, in an attempt to relieve their compatriots under heavy siege by Turkish forces at Kut-al Amara in Mesopotamia, British forces under the command of Lieutenant General Fenton Aylmer launch an attack against Turkish defensive positions on the banks of the Wadi River;
1929 – Nearly 50 years after the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, Wyatt Earp dies quietly in Los Angeles at the age of 80;
1930 – “Mickey Mouse” comic strip 1st appears in newspapers;
1931 – The bridge connecting New York and New Jersey is named the George Washington Memorial Bridge;
1938 – The Church of England accepts the theory of evolution;
1941 – New law goes into effect granting Puerto Ricans U.S. birthright citizenship;
1942 – In WWII, allied representatives of nine German-occupied countries meet in London to declare that all those found guilty of war crimes would be punished after the war ended. Among the signatories to the declaration were Polish Gen. Wladyslaw Sikorski and French Gen. Charles de Gaulle. The core of the declaration was the promise of “the punishment, through the channels of organized justice, of those guilty of, or responsible for, these crimes, whether they have ordered them, perpetrated them, or participated in them.”;
1950 – For the second time in a week, Jacob Malik, the Soviet representative to the United Nations, storms out of a meeting of the Security Council, this time in reaction to the defeat of his proposal to expel the Nationalist Chinese representative. At the same time, he announced the Soviet Union’s intention to boycott further Security Council meetings;
1962 – In the Vietnam War the 1st “Farm Gate” combat missions are flown by American T-28 fighter-bombers in support of a South Vietnamese outpost under Viet Cong attack;
1966 – President Lyndon B Johnson appoints the first African-American cabinet member, making Robert C. Weaver head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the agency that develops and implements national housing policy and enforces fair housing laws;
1972 – President Richard Nixon announces that 70,000 U.S. troops will leave South Vietnam over the next three months reducing U.S. troop strength by May 1 to 69,000 troops;
1982 – An Air Florida Boeing 727 plunges into the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., killing 78 people. The crash, caused by bad weather, took place only two miles from the White House;
1990 – In Virginia, Douglas Wilder, the 1st African-American elected Governor of a U.S. state takes office;
1994 – Tonya Harding’s bodyguard, Shawn Eric Eckardt and Derrick Brian Smith arrested and charged with conspiracy in attack of skater Nancy Kerrigan;
1998 – In presenting his $12.5 billion budget proposal for fiscal 1999 to the Georgia state legislature on January 13, 1998, Democratic Governor Zell Miller covered all of the expected basics, such as schools, roads, hospitals and the like. And then he got to an interesting and unexpected item: a request for $105,000 of taxpayer money to provide Classical music CDs to every child born in the state of Georgia. At this point, the governor hit “Play” on a tape recorder he had brought with him and he treated the gathered lawmakers to an excerpt from the “Ode to Joy” section of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. “Now don’t you feel smarter already?” asked Miller. “Smart enough to vote for this budget item, I hope.”;
2012 – The cruise ship, Costa Concordia, runs aground at Isola de Giglio, Italy killing 32. The ship is expected to be towed away this summer, possibly as early as June;
2013 – It was one year ago today!
Now, Off To The Fun Stuff:
Today’s Funny Sign:
Today’s Inspirational Music Video:
The Lost Get Found – https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=GO2prEoATH8
Today’s ‘From Mom’s Dictionary’:
BATHROOM – a room used by the entire family, believed by all except Mom to be self-cleaning.
Today’s Word Of The Day:
Euphemism (yū’fə-mĭz’əm) – is a polite or agreeable word that is used to replace a possibly offensive or harsh one. It can also refer to a word or expression that under estimates the real state of things.
Today’s Computer Theory:
When the going gets tough, upgrade.
Today’s ‘A sign for every profession’:
On an electrician’s truck – “Let us remove your shorts.”
Today’s ‘It’s the Cat’s job’:
Today’s Crazy Law:
California – In 1838, the city of Los Angeles passed an ordinance requiring that a man obtain a license before serenading a woman.
Today’s Crazy Thought/?:
How come whenever you start to sing, you automatically sing in a higher voice than you talk?
Today’s Cute Face:
Today’s Joke Of The Day:
To tell the weather, go to your back door and look for the dog.
If the dog is at the door and he is we, it’s probably raining. But if the dog is standing there really soaking wet, it is probably raining really hard.
If the dog’s fur looks like it’s been rubbed the wrong way, it’s probably windy.
If the dog has snow on his back, it’s probably snowing.
Of course, to be able to tell the weather like this, you have to leave the dog outside all the time, especially if you expect bad weather.
Sincerely,
The Cat
Today’s ‘A nation run by idiots’:
If a seven-year-old boy can be thrown out of school for saying his teacher is “cute,” but hosting a sexual exploration or diversity class in grade school is perfectly acceptable – you might live in a nation that was founded by geniuses but is run by idiots.
Today’s Patriotic Quote:
“Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country.” – Franklin D Roosevelt
Today’s Construction Site Oops!:
Today’s Verse & Prayer:
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” – 2 Corinthians 5:19-20
Gracious God, I know my sin has broken your heart and offended you. Words, therefore, cannot communicate my thankfulness to you. You were hurt by my sin and yet provided a sacrifice to redeem me from it and reconcile me back to you. I praise you for your grace, thank you for your love, and promise to share your mercy. Through Jesus, I pray. Amen.
Today’s Funny Church Sign: