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Grace Vanderwaal

You probably haven't heard of Grace VanderWaal yet, but there's a good chance you will. The 12-year-old singer has been blazing a path through the current season of America's Got Talent, earning heaps of praise from the judges, who've compared her to Taylor Swift, with good reason.

On Tuesday night (Aug. 23), the preternaturally mature singer from Suffern, New York, did it again, crushing hearts with an original ukulele ballad inspired by her older sister, Olivia, entitled "Beautiful Thing." She earned a rare standing ovation from hard-to-please judge Simon Cowell.

You're my other half/ You're amazing to me," VanderWaal sang, describing how she can do nothing at all with her big sis and be totally happy.

Howie Mandel, who earlier in the season used his golden buzzer to advance VanderWaal to the live shows on the strength of another original, "I Don't Know My Name," about trying to get noticed in this big, wide world.

"You are a superstar... you're the best thing I've ever seen on this show," Mandel said of the tween whose audition videos have racked up more than 100 million YouTube views to date. He said she might have the potential to be "bigger than Taylor Swift. I predict you are the biggest star to ever come out of this show."

 Alone on stage, Grace sweetly performed an original song and accompanied herself on ukulele, while family members and host Nick Cannon held their breath in the wings.

Afterwards, amid a standing ovation from panel and audience, judge Howie Mandel described her as “a living, beautiful, walking miracle,” and the usually scowling Simon Cowell declared her “the next Taylor Swift.”

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: 

How did it make you feel when Simon said you were like Taylor Swift?
GRACE VANDERWAAL: The only word I could I think of is “honored.” I obviously want to be my own person and be original, but I think that’s not what he meant. I think he meant the success. Everyone knows who Taylor Swift is. She’s extremely successful as a singer/songwriter and to be compared to that is just unbelievable.

Are you a fan?
I was a really hardcore fan of her when she was in her country days. I definitely do listen to her when she’s on the radio, so yeah.

Do you have a favorite artist?
As a person, Katy Perry, because she’s always stayed true to herself. She’s always been her and she’s never let anyone change that. I love that. I think that’s a really good thing to live up to and remember. At least that’s what I think.

Are there any singers or bands that have influenced the music you’ve written?
Yeah, for “I Don’t Know My Name” I learned a lot of chords from Twenty-One Pilots and their songs, because the lead singer plays ukulele. Also all over the Internet I’m being compared to him and that’s been crazy too. Especially since they’re my favorite band.

We got to see you perform with your ukulele on America’s Got Talent, but how many other instruments do you play?
Three. I play the ukulele, piano, and the saxophone.

How is the rest of the America’s Got Talent competition going to work for you?
Now I’m going to the live shows and they think that that’s going to be around mid-August but we’re not sure yet. I’m so excited.

Were you nervous performing in front of so many people?
It was really the type of nerves you’d expect. I thought it was going to be the butterfly nerves, but I got those backstage. Once I was on stage I was kind of in shock. I couldn’t really think straight.

Well we couldn’t tell because you were very confident.
Well, thank you. I practiced in the mirror the night before so many times so I’m glad it showed.

Have you performed live in front of audiences before?
I’ve really only done it in small coffee shops, nothing as big as that! [laughs]

Do you have any advice for other kids your age that are wanting to step out and share their talents?
I do. The one thing I have to say is that everyone always says “don’t care what people think,” but there’s always that voice inside your head saying, “Everyone’s looking at you and judging you.” After all of this, I am so much happier. That voice is dead in my head now. The advice I have is don’t care what people, which I know is easier said than done, but I think once you start doing something people will start to not care enough to make commentary on it. It’s changed my life doing that.

I Don't Know My Name

Grace VanderWaal

[Verse 1: Grace VanderWaal]

I don't know my name
I don't play by the rules of the game
So you say I'm just trying
Just trying

[Verse 2]
So I heard you are my sister's friend
You get along quite nicely
You ask me why I cut my hair
And changed myself completely

[Pre-Chorus]
I am lost...
Trying to get found
In an ocean of people
Please don't ask me any-

[Chorus]
But, I don't know my name
I don't play by the rules of the game
So you say I'm just trying
Just trying

[Verse 3]
I now know my name!
I don't play by the rules of the game
So you say, I'm not trying
But I'm trying
To find my way

Beautiful Thing

Grace VanderWaal

[Verse 1: Grace VanderWaal]
You think that you know my heart
And you probably do
So I'm always with you
I could stay with you for hours
In an empty room
Never get bored
Never have nothing to do

[Pre-Chorus]
You're my other half
You're what makes me, me
What makes me smile
When I fall down and can't get back, get back,get back up
On my feet

[Chorus]
You're a beautiful thing
We're a beautiful thing together
Even when the weather is low (2x)
We can find the rainbow
Up in the sky
You'd say don't you cry, it's all gonna be alright
That's a beautiful thing

[Verse 2: Grace VanderWaal]
Make hours into seconds together
The weight of the world feel like a feather
Cause we're holding it right in our hands

[Pre-Chorus]
You're my other half
What makes me, me
What makes me smile
When I fall down and need to get back up on my feet

[Chorus]
You're a beautiful thing
We're a beautiful thing together
Even when the weather is low
We can find the rainbow
Up in the sky
You'd say don't you cry, it's all gonna be alright
No, it's all gonna be alright
That's a beautiful thing

Jesus and Nicodemus

There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

For God So Loved

(Genesis 22:1-10; Romans 5:6-11)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Miniature Donkey In Labor Has Baby In Back Of Patrol Car As Officer Drives It To The Veterinarian Hospital

Miniature Donkey In Labor

Police Officer Billy Terr says it took a little pushing, pulling and some animal feed, but he got the miniature donkey nicknamed "Squishy" into the back of his patrol car.

Police responded after a woman found the pregnant animal on the loose in labor. She told the local media that she was concerned about the donkey and that it was in labor. The officer tells TV station KYYR the animal fit perfectly in his vehicle. He says, "I rolled the window down for it."

The woman who found Squishy says if an owner doesn't come forward, she plans to keep the newborn miniature donkey.

"She had her own terms. Her own plans," said Officer Billy.

They were on their way to the hospital when they were forced to pull over to the side of the road.

Another police officer noticed the officer and donkey in need of help and ran across the street.

"Nothing prepares you for a donkey giving birth," said the officer.

"I was freaked out, scared and I was panicky, but between the two of us, everything was OK," stated Billy.

The newborn donkey wasn't moving or anything so it was real scary, and I got her to cry almost like a baby, a baby donkey that is," said officer Billy.

It was an experience neither would trade and one that officer Billy hopes to one day pass down.

"We're actually hoping to save all the videos and stuff, and tell everyone about it,” said the officer.

People need to be informed of our experience, and what it was like for us and the donkey and share it with others.

Cleopatra

On August 12, 30 B.C., the Egyptian queen Cleopatra took her own life inside a mausoleum in Alexandria. During more than two decades as Egypt’s last independent pharaoh, she engaged in ruthless power struggles with her siblings, battled the future Roman emperor and engaged in military alliances—and passionate affairs—with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. She’s remembered as one of the most brilliant and alluring figures of antiquity, yet many of the details of her life are either unknown or clouded by myth. 

Cleopatra was not Egyptian.

While Cleopatra was born in Egypt, she traced her family origins to Macedonian Greece and Ptolemy I Soter, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. Ptolemy took the reigns of Egypt after Alexander’s death in 323 B.C., and he launched a dynasty of Greek-speaking rulers that lasted for nearly three centuries. Despite not being ethnically Egyptian, Cleopatra embraced many of her country’s ancient customs and was the first member of the Ptolemaic line to learn the Egyptian language.

She was the product of incest.

Like many royal houses, members of the Ptolemaic dynasty often married within the family to preserve the purity of their bloodline. More than a dozen of Cleopatra’s ancestors tied the knot with cousins or siblings, and it’s likely that her own parents were brother and sister. In keeping with this custom, Cleopatra eventually married both of her adolescent brothers, each of whom served as her ceremonial spouse and co-regent at different times during her reign.

Cleopatra’s beauty wasn’t her biggest asset.

Roman propaganda painted Cleopatra as a debauched temptress who used her sex appeal as a political weapon, but she may have been more renowned for her intellect than her appearance. She spoke as many as a dozen languages and was educated in mathematics, philosophy, oratory and astronomy, and Egyptian sources later described her as a ruler “who elevated the ranks of scholars and enjoyed their company.” There’s also evidence that Cleopatra wasn’t as physically striking as once believed. Coins with her portrait show her with manly features and a large, hooked nose, though some historians contend that she intentionally portrayed herself as masculine as a display of strength. For his part, the ancient writer Plutarch claimed that Cleopatra’s beauty was “not altogether incomparable,” and that it was instead her mellifluous speaking voice and “irresistible charm” that made her so desirable.

She had a hand in the deaths of three of her siblings.

Power grabs and murder plots were as much a Ptolemaic tradition as family marriage, and Cleopatra and her brothers and sisters were no different. Her first sibling-husband, Ptolemy XIII, ran her out of Egypt after she tried to take sole possession of the throne, and the pair later faced off in a civil war. Cleopatra regained the upper hand by teaming with Julius Caesar, and Ptolemy drowned in the Nile River after being defeated in battle. Following the war, Cleopatra remarried to her younger brother Ptolemy XIV, but she is believed to have had him murdered in a bid to make her son her co-ruler. In 41 B.C., she also engineered the execution of her sister, Arsinoe, who she considered a rival to throne.

Cleopatra knew how to make an entrance.

Cleopatra believed herself to be a living goddess, and she often used clever stagecraft to woo potential allies and reinforce her divine status. A famous example of her flair for the dramatic came in 48 B.C., when Julius Caesar arrived in Alexandria during her feud with her brother Ptolemy XIII. Knowing Ptolemy’s forces would thwart her attempts to meet with the Roman general, Cleopatra had herself wrapped in a carpet—some sources say it was a linen sack—and smuggled into his personal quarters. Caesar was dazzled by the sight of the young queen in her royal garb, and the two soon became allies and lovers.

Cleopatra later employed a similar bit of theater in her 41 B.C. encounter with Mark Antony. When summoned to meet the Roman Triumvir in Tarsus, she is said to have arrived on a golden barge adorned with purple sails and rowed by oars made of silver. Cleopatra had been made up to look like the goddess Aphrodite, and she sat beneath a gilded canopy while attendants dressed as cupids fanned her and burned sweet-smelling incense. Antony—who considered himself the embodiment of the Greek god Dionysus—was instantly enchanted.

She was living in Rome at the time of Caesar’s assassination.

Cleopatra joined Julius Caesar in Rome beginning in 46 B.C., and her presence seems to have caused quite a stir. Caesar didn’t hide that she was his mistress—she even came to the city with their lovechild, Caesarion, in tow—and many Romans were scandalized when he erected a gilded statue of her in the temple of Venus Genetrix. Cleopatra was forced to flee Rome after Caesar was stabbed to death in the Roman senate in 44 B.C., but by then she had made her mark on the city. Her exotic hairstyle and pearl jewelry became a fashion trend, and according to the historian Joann Fletcher, “so many Roman women adopted the ‘Cleopatra look’ that their statuary has often been mistaken for Cleopatra herself.”

Cleopatra and Mark Antony formed their own drinking club.

Cleopatra first began her legendary love affair with the Roman general Mark Antony in 41 B.C. Their relationship had a political component—Cleopatra needed Antony to protect her crown and maintain Egypt’s independence, while Antony needed access to Egypt’s riches and resources—but they were also famously fond of each other’s company. According to ancient sources, they spent the winter of 41-40 B.C. living a life of leisure and excess in Egypt, and even formed their own drinking society known as the “Inimitable Livers.” The group engaged in nightly feasts and wine-binges, and its members occasionally took part in elaborate games and contests. One of Antony and Cleopatra’s favorite activities supposedly involved wandering the streets of Alexandria in disguise and playing pranks on its residents.

She led a fleet in a naval battle.

Cleopatra eventually married Mark Antony and had three children with him, but their relationship also spawned a massive scandal in Rome. Antony’s rival Octavian used propaganda to portray him as a traitor under the sway of a scheming seductress, and in 32 B.C., the Roman Senate declared war on Cleopatra. The conflict reached its climax the following year in a famous naval battle at Actium. Cleopatra personally led several dozen Egyptian warships into the fray alongside Antony’s fleet, but they were no match for Octavian’s navy. The battle soon devolved into a rout, and Cleopatra and Antony were forced to break through the Roman line and flee to Egypt.

Cleopatra may not have died from an asp bite.

Cleopatra and Antony famously took their own lives in 30 B.C., after Octavian’s forces pursued them to Alexandria. While Antony is said to have fatally stabbed himself in the stomach, Cleopatra’s method of suicide is less certain. Legend has it that she died by enticing an “asp”—most likely a viper or Egyptian cobra—to bite her arm, but the ancient chronicler Plutarch admits that “what really took place is known to no one.” He says Cleopatra was also known to conceal a deadly poison in one of her hair combs, and the historian Strabo notes that she may have applied a fatal “ointment.” With this in mind, many scholars now suspect she used a pin dipped in some form of potent toxin—snake venom or otherwise.

A 1963 film about her was one of the most expensive movies of all time.

The Queen of the Nile has been portrayed on the silver screen by the likes of Claudette Colbert and Sophia Loren, but she was most famously played by Elizabeth Taylor in the 1963 sword-and-sandal epic “Cleopatra.” The film was plagued by production problems and script issues, and its budget eventually soared from $2 million to $44 million—including some $200,000 just to cover the cost of Taylor’s costumes. It was the most expensive movie ever made at the time of its release, and nearly bankrupted its studio despite raking in a fortune at the box office. If inflation is taken into account, “Cleopatra” remains one of the priciest movies in history even today.

The Trial of Job

Have you experienced pain and suffering? Then you have shared Job’s anguish and perhaps his wonderment. Like Job, you also may find God much closer than you thought.

The book of Job in the Bible is the story of a devout man who lived thousands of years ago. But tragedy hovers over this righteous man. When the book opens, we notice Job is about to lose everything — children, property and wealth, good name and even his health.

Why will Job suffer such tragedies? Because God is about to challenge the devil with Job’s obedience and faith.

The big dare

The introduction to the book of Job tells us the background of God’s challenge and Job’s suffering. Scene I invites us behind the curtain to the universe-ruling throne of God. In this drama, angelic beings are delivering reports on their activities. Satan is among them. The Evil One has been roaming the earth, surveying his domain (Job 1:6-7; 1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:9).

Job’s troubles begin after God presents him to Satan as shining example of virtue. “Have you considered my servant Job?” God asks Satan. “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8).

God will soon allow Satan to afflict Job, but God is not punishing Job for sin. God himself says Job is “blameless and upright.” Job suffers because he is among the best, not because he is the worst.

Satan rejects God’s view of Job’s good character. He implies that Job has a selfish motive, a cynical reason for obeying and trusting God (verses 9-22). “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan asks. Satan insinuates that Job is simply out for what he can get from God. Job is only a fair-weather friend, Satan insists. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has?” Satan argues. “You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.”

Satan’s challenge

Satan sneers at the good example. Job doesn’t love you, Satan implies. Take away Job’s many blessings and you’ll find that he’s no friend of yours. Satan tries to make a bet with God. 
“Stretch out your hand and strike everything he has,” Satan dares God, “and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Really? Does Job love God only for selfish reasons? Do we? “Well — let’s see,” is God’s reply. He tells Satan, “Everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”

With God’s permission, Satan grabs a handful of dirty tricks from his bag of suffering. He flings them at Job, and the world caves in on this innocent man. Job’s herds and property are either carried off by raiders or destroyed by natural disasters.

But Satan is proven wrong. After these terrible tragedies strike Job, he tears his robe and shaves his head. He falls to the ground in worship, saying, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” The author of the book of Job is careful to point out, “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

The second dare

Time elapses. One day, another angelic report takes place in heaven. God reaffirms to Satan his contention that Job truly loves God and his ways (Job 2:1-7). Satan again scoffs at Job’s faith in God. “A man will give all he has for his own life,” jibes Satan. “But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

God again expresses confidence in Job. “Well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”

The devil immediately strikes poor Job with horrible sores over his entire body. The fall of the house of Job is complete. It appears he has become — without his knowledge or permission — the guinea pig in one of history’s greatest tests.

Job is now on trial. He must answer a vital question. How will he, who had faithfully trusted God for help and protection, react to suffering that seems senseless and unjust? Will righteous Job reject God, or maintain his faith?

So far, Satan has lost every round. He has been proven wrong about Job’s faithful relationship with God. But can Job endure? Will he continue to trust in God as the seemingly endless suffering rolls on, with only pain and death in sight? Will Job persevere even though God seems to have forsaken him? That is the issue at stake.

Job can be seen as a metaphor of the suffering believer. How Job reacts to God’s test says something about how we should react to trials. The book asks us to consider our faith. Would we continue to trust God, to love God with all our heart, soul and mind (Matthew 22:37-38) — even while suffering for reasons we don’t understand?

On the ash heap

Scene 2 of this great drama takes place on an ash heap in the land of Uz, here on earth (Job 2:8). Job is suffering pain and anxiety. He is emotionally alone, tormented, confused, angry. His three friends who came to comfort him are instead emotionally and verbally persecuting him.

The human actors in the drama do not know that God is deeply involved in Job’s life at this precise moment. They have no understanding of what God is trying to accomplish nor why Job is suffering so terribly. Nor do they grasp that a cosmic issue is at stake.

Job himself does not understand why this evil is happening to someone who has faith in God. Why has a good God allowed such terrible things to happen to a decent, God-fearing human being? Job, in short, is asking, “Why me, Lord?”

On the ash heap, the issues are very human, confused and not completely understood. The principal human characters all have incomplete and distorted knowledge. They make partial or even incorrect judgments about God’s activities. Or they misapply general observations to Job’s specific situation.

The introduction has given us a sneak preview of the heavenly perspective on Job. We know God is much pleased with and concerned about him. No matter that God has temporarily suspended Job’s protected condition. There is a reason.

Job is not a victim of time and chance, but a part of God’s orchestrated purpose. Job has no inkling he is the star actor in a God-directed morality play on earth. As far as Job knows, God has disappeared from his life.

Job’s primal scream

Job desperately tries to solve the mystery behind his suffering. He struggles on his own, looking for clues. None appear. Job prays expectantly. God will surely speedily intervene in his life — heal him of his disease, explain to him what in the world is going on. But nothing happens. The horribly painful disease reduces Job’s strength. He grows weaker and weaker. He becomes more confused.

Job’s language sometimes borders on the irrational and incoherent. At times he appears almost delirious. Opposing attitudes clash in his speeches. Job appeals to God to act before it is too late. At times he even challenges God. Please help me, he cries. Come to me quickly. “I will soon lie down in the dust,” Job cries out, “you will search for me, but I will be no more” (Job 7:21).

Through his agony Job becomes increasingly confused, perplexed, discouraged, without hope. In his worst nightmare, Job sees death coming around the corner of his life, ready to run him down. Job knows he is finished — through. He sees himself doomed to die a broken, lonely, hated and despised person. Job’s hopelessness is painted throughout the book. In one place he moans, “My spirit is broken, my days are cut short, the grave awaits me” (Job 17:1).

Even though Job has done nothing wrong and pleads desperately for help, God still chooses to stay hidden. “I cry out to you, O God, but you do not answer,” Job wails (Job 30:20). 

Job’s tragic circumstances challenge and contradict everything he has always believed about God as a rewarder of the good. Life has gone crazy for Job, and he has been locked up in the padded cell of his own mind.

Wrestling with God

Job can only assume God is persecuting him, hiding from him. He lashes out at God in pain and anguish. “If I have sinned, what have I done to you, O watcher of men? Why have you made me your target?” Job complains (Job 7:20).

We should not mistake Job’s terrible discouragement, his lashing out at God, for disbelief. God’s existence is not in question. Job knows that somewhere in the universe God must be alive. “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him,” Job cries out in despairing belief (Job 13:15). Still trusting in God as his Advocate, Job insists, “I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25).

Meanwhile, Job’s friends are shocked at his outbursts. Surely, the comforters think, the fire of God is about to burn up this man. They are afraid to admit that no cause-and-effect reason exists for Job’s painful trial. That would imply they live in a senseless world. How could God be just and strike Job unjustly?

Blame the victim

Their answer? Job obviously must have sinned terribly against God. Yes, that’s it — Job’s sins are the cause of his suffering. God is off the hook. The friends put forth the old “if you are suffering you must be sinning” answer to suffering. It is blame-the-victim time. Although at first they came to console Job, they end up attacking him as a hideous sinner.

Eliphaz accuses: “Is not your wickedness great? Are not your sins endless?” (Job 22:5). He and the other two friends completely misread Job’s spiritual condition and God’s purpose. They, too, try to find the perpetrator of the crime — the cause of Job’s terrible suffering. But they accuse the wrong person — innocent Job.

Part of what the friends say about the relationship of sin and cursing, virtue and reward is true. Sin does have consequences — we do reap what we sow (Psalm 1; Galatians 6:7). But Job’s friends misapply their remarks in Job’s case. They take a general principle and nail it to a specific person — Job — and the specific trial he is undergoing. They will soon be shocked to discover how wrong they are (Job 42:7-8). Sometimes people suffer from the sins of others.

On the ash heap, all the drama’s actors, Job especially, have been asking questions of God and imputing motives to him. Job has already prosecuted God. The friends have been, let us say, mistaken witnesses against Job.

From the storm

Throughout the dialogues between Job and his friends, Job especially had claimed vast knowledge of the way things work — or should work — in this world. Job said of a hoped-for encounter with God, “I have prepared my case, I know I will be vindicated” (Job 13:18).

In scene 3, God storms into Job’s presence. Now, it’s my turn, he says. I will cross-examine you. Out of the raging storm, God begins to challenge Job’s claim to understanding: “Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). Who is ignorantly accusing me of doing wrong?

From the whirlwind, God demands of Job, “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him?” (Job 40:2). God tells Job he doesn’t know what he’s talking about when he questions God’s fairness. He isn’t going to answer any of Job’s “Why?” 

questions. God has come to cross-examine. “I will question you, and you shall answer me,” he tells Job twice (Job 38:3; 40:7).

How does God answer Job? He sidesteps every question Job had. Instead, God gives Job a wilderness appreciation tour, recounting the majesties of nature from hail to horses (Job 38:22;39:19). Is this relevant? Indeed, it is.

God’s point to Job, Philip Yancey wrote in Disappointment With God, is this: “Until you know a little more about running the physical universe, Job, don’t tell me how to run the moral universe.”

Aaagh! How stupid I was, thinks Job. He smacks his brow and puts his hand to his mouth. Job finally understands the error of his hasty conclusion (Job 40:4). He grasps that his position is built on ignorance. He realizes God is quite capable of running the universe correctly.

A bigger God

Job now knows that whatever has happened to him — in some way he can’t fully understand — will work out for his benefit, for everyone’s benefit (see Romans 8:28). Job can say to God, “I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).

Job is now convinced of God’s infinite wisdom in dealing with him as he sees fit. Job now knows there is a purpose for his suffering — God’s purpose. That is quite enough for him. The mighty voice of God thundering out of the whirlwind puts everything into perspective for Job. It says: God is alive; God is here; God cares; God is capable.

Job has been given an answer, not the one he expected, but one much more important. It does not matter that he was not given a chance to present his own case. When God appears, Job’s questions melt away precisely because God has now revealed himself.

Surprisingly, God does not condemn Job for railing against him and accusing him. God only corrects Job’s misconception about his ability to rule the creation. God does reprimand Job because Job condemned him for injustice. Out of the storm, God batters Job with these questions: “Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?” (Job 40:8). But God does not accuse Job of sin. God neither calls him self-righteous nor a blasphemer.

God won’t condemn

Does this mean that we might also dare express our frustration, our anger — even call God to account in our ignorance and confusion — without being condemned by God? Shocking though it may be — yes, we can. In Yancey’s words: “One bold message in the Book of Job is that you can say anything to God.

 Throw at him your grief, your anger, your doubt, your bitterness, your betrayal, your disappointment — he can absorb them all.” God is much bigger than we are.

Job also recognizes how big and how great God is. After hearing God’s argument, Job says, “I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6). But repent of what? Of some specific sin? Not quite. Job explains, “Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know” (verse 3).

It wasn’t that Job had to overcome a specific sin, but rather that he had to grow in understanding. Job had been too hasty in concluding God was unjust or unable to rule in the right way.

Job now had a deeper, clearer perception of his Creator. But this new awareness was only a by-product of the real purpose of Job’s suffering — the testing of his faith and love. In this case, God needed to know something about Job, and Job needed to know something about himself and about God.

The why of suffering

The book of Job teaches us that suffering may occur for reasons that we don’t understand unless or until God reveals them to us (see John 9:1-7, for example). Trials may come because God needs to know something about a faithful servant (Genesis 22:1-12). Job’s suffering had such an intent — to prove whether he would love God in spite of everything.

This message of Job has deep implications for our relationship with God. Trials and suffering provide spiritual enrichment and build a relationship between us and God (2 Corinthians 12:7-10; Hebrews 12:4-12; James 1:2-4; 1 Peter 4:12-19).

Job also tells us no ironclad relationship exists between suffering and sin. Just because Christians suffer trials or tragedies does not mean God is punishing them for some sin.

The book of Job is about much more than suffering or God’s justice. Job affirmed that God was still God — no matter what — and always worthy of our love, reverence and worship. That was the test on Job, and he passed it. He vindicated both himself and God by remaining faithful. Job proved it is possible for humans to love God unconditionally.

Suffering had been an expansive, faith-demonstrating opportunity for Job. God had grown much bigger; Job had become smaller in his own eyes.

Vampire Dogs Running Free Throughout US With Rabies

Seeing fangs on any dog will lead one to think of Count Dracula.

This dogs teeth resemble vampire fangs. 

The History of Vampires

The history of vampires is rich in both ancient mythology

Despite being one of the oldest and most prevalent creatures of world mythology, the origin of vampires has remained unknown for thousands of years.  It wasn't until more recently that we were given a glimpse into the early vampire history.
 
Blood-sucking (which, by the way, is called "hematophagy" in case you were curious) is also included in this "blessing".  In the vampire origin story, Ambrogio hunts swans and uses their blood as ink to write love poems to his lady Selene.  While this may be considered a little creepy by our standards, it wasn't all that unusual in ancient Greece to make do with what you hunted.

The First Vampire

The most famous vampire is, of course, Bram Stoker's Dracula, though those looking for a historical "real" Dracula often cite Romanian prince Vlad Tepes (1431-1476), after whom Stoker is said to have modeled some aspects of his Dracula character. The characterization of Tepes as a vampire, however, is a distinctly Western one; in Romania, he is viewed not as a blood-drinking sadist but as a national hero who defended his empire from the Ottoman Turks.

The vampires most people are familiar with (such as Dracula) are revenants — human corpses that are said to return from the grave to harm the living; these vampires have Slavic origins only a few hundred years old. But other, older, versions of the vampire were not thought to be human at all but instead supernatural, possibly demonic, entities that did not take human form.

Matthew Beresford, author of "From Demons to Dracula: The Creation of the Modern Vampire Myth" (Reaktion, 2008), notes, "There are clear foundations for the vampire in the ancient world, and it is impossible to prove when the myth first arose. There are suggestions that the vampire was born out of sorcery in ancient Egypt, a demon summoned into this world from some other." There are many variations of vampires from around the world. There are Asian vampires, such as the Chinese jiangshi (pronounced chong-shee), evil spirits that attack people and drain their life energy; the blood-drinking Wrathful Deities that appear in the "Tibetan Book of the Dead," and many others.

Identifying vampires

While most people can name several elements of vampire lore, there are no firmly established characteristics. Some vampires are said to be able to turn into bats or wolves; others can't. Some are said not to cast a reflection, but others do. Holy water and sunlight are said to repel or kill some vampires, but not others. The one universal characteristic is the draining of a vital bodily fluid, typically blood. One of the reasons that vampires make such successful literary figures is that they have a rich and varied history and folklore. Writers can play with the "rules" while adding, subtracting or changing them to fit whatever story they have in mind.

Finding a vampire is not always easy: according to one Romanian legend you'll need a 7-year-old boy and a white horse. The boy should be dressed in white, placed upon the horse, and the pair set loose in a graveyard at midday. Watch the horse wander around, and whichever grave is nearest the horse when it finally stops is a vampire's grave — or it might just have something edible nearby; take your pick.

Interest and belief in revenants surged in the Middle Ages in Europe. Though in most modern stories the classic way to become a vampire is to be bitten by one, that is a relatively new twist. In his book "Vampires, Burial, and Death: Folklore and Reality" (Yale, 2008), folklorist Paul Barber noted that centuries ago, "Often potential revenants can be identified at birth, usually by some abnormality, some defect, as when a child is born with teeth. Similarly suspicious are children born with an extra nipple (in Romania, for example); with a lack of cartilage in the nose, or a split lower lip (in Russia) … When a child is born with a red caul, or amniotic membrane, covering its head, this was regarded throughout much of Europe as presumptive evidence that it is destined to return from the dead." Such minor deformities were looked upon as evil omens at the time.

The belief in vampires stems from superstition and mistaken assumptions about postmortem decay. The first recorded accounts of vampires follow a consistent pattern: Some unexplained misfortune would befall a person, family or town — perhaps a drought dried up crops, or an infectious disease struck. Before science could explain weather patterns and germ theory, any bad event for which there was not an obvious cause might be blamed on a vampire. Vampires were one easy answer to the age-old question of why bad things happen to good people.

Villagers combined their belief that something had cursed them with fear of the dead, and concluded that perhaps the recently deceased might be responsible, having come back from the graves with evil intent. Graves were unearthed, and surprised villagers often mistook ordinary decomposition processes for supernatural phenomenon. For example, though laypeople might assume that a body would decompose immediately, if the coffin is well sealed and buried in winter, putrefaction might be delayed by weeks or months; intestinal decomposition creates bloating which can force blood up into the mouth, making it look like a dead body has recently sucked blood. These processes are well understood by modern doctors and morticians, but in medieval Europe were taken as unmistakable signs that vampires were real and existed among them.

Vampire defense and protection

The best way to deal with vampires, of course, is to prevent them from coming back in the first place. A few centuries ago in Europe this was often accomplished by staking suspected vampires in their graves; the idea was to physically pin the vampire to the earth, and the chest was chosen because it's the trunk of the body. This tradition was later reflected in popular fiction depicting wooden stakes as dispatching vampires. There was no particular significance to using wood; according to folklore, vampires — like djinn (genies) and many other magical creatures — fear iron, so an iron bar would be even more effective than a wooden stake.

Other traditional methods of killing vampires include decapitation and stuffing the severed head's mouth with garlic or a brick. In fact, suspected vampire graves have been found with just such signs. According to a 2012 Live Science article, "The body of the woman was found in a mass grave on the Venetian island of Nuovo Lazzaretto. Suspecting that she might be a vampire, a common folk belief at the time, gravediggers shoved a rock into her skull to prevent her from chewing through her shroud and infecting others with the plague, said anthropologist Matteo Borrini of the University of Florence." Other researchers later challenged this interpretation, and suggested that the brick may not have been placed in the mouth after all, but instead was one of many bricks surrounding the body that merely fell there after burial. Whether that burial reflected an accused vampire or not, other graves are much clearer. In 2013, archaeologists in Bulgaria found two skeletons with iron rods through their chests; the pair are believed to have been accused vampires, according to an article in Archaeology magazine.

Sleeping Angels - Yes That's Right They Do Sleep!

Recently people who had NDE's, near death experiences, have reported being told by angelic beings during their NDE's that angels have their own living quarters and that they also have periods of rest or sleep.

Why are they being told this? Maybe because if the daily routine in heaven kind of resembles living here on Earth they'll be more relaxed concerning the afterlife!

When individuals inquired how long the angels sleep, they were informed that in a 24 hour period they slept on average 6-7 hours. 

But that's not all at one time. Most angels take 2-3 naps for a few hours at a time. Angels are assigned regular duties and in the course of a daily 24 hour period they may rest or sleep whenever they wish. At their convenience. As long as their assignments are done! 

And every angel has his own room with a bed that sits approximately 18" above a golden floor. Yes they each have their own private living quarters in one of the many mansions in heaven. All of the rooms are fully equipped with everything that they need!  The average room size for each angel is 18 by 20 feet, but then again room size, position, and floor level can depend on the angels rank: cherubim, seraphim, archangel, and then finally your basic angel.

And every time they leave and return to their living quarters or rooms in these heavenly mansions, they're greeted by streets of gold, resembling transparent glass and gates of pearl.

Angels are mentioned at least 108 times in the Old Testament and 165 times in the New Testament.

Concerning Near-Death Experiences

In 1943, at the age of 20, Dr. George G. Ritchie, Jr., M.D., (September, 25, 1923 – October 29, 2007) was a private in the Army stationed in Texas awaiting a transfer to Richmond to study medicine at the Medical College of Virginia to become a doctor for the military. 

However, he got sick with pneumonia and died. The Army physician in charge stated in a notarized statement that the medical officer summoned detected "no evidence of respiration or cardiac impulse" and declared Ritchie dead. 

Ritchie had left his body in a near-death experience wandering around the hospital ward unaware he was dead. He found it strange no one could see him. He returned to his room and recognized his lifeless body, which had been covered with a sheet, by his fraternity ring. The room then became bright and Ritchie found himself in the presence of Jesus who then guided him through several realms of the afterlife before being told to return to his body. 

As the ward was preparing Ritchie's body for the morgue, he thought he detected movement in Ritchie's chest and called for a medical officer who provided a shot of adrenaline to the patient's heart causing him to breathe and his heart to beat. Ritchie then returned to life with one of the most important and profound NDEs every documented.