Author: admin

Words of life bless souls

Gentle words are a tree of life; a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:4)

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be  courteous; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For “He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. And His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (1 Peter 3:8-12, NKJV)

 

This world looks for encouraging words.

Why are we so stingy to share those thoughts?

Because we don’t often hear them by ourselves; instead, we hear and speak more harsh and arrogant judgments out of pride to crush people, even our own souls.

However, Christians are called to blessing (refer to 1 Peter 3:8-12). 

How about starting Today and learning from Jesus Christ?

When gentle words are planted, hope, courage and confidence grow.

Since the saints are enabled to listen to God’s encouraging words through the Holy Spirit, we can speak and plant those gentle words in the dry hearts of lost souls. 

May God guide us to give His gentle words of life to our children and people, so that they may grow strong in their spirit, faithful in God, hopeful in Jesus, and confident in who they are in Christ. In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

***

If your words have cheered one failing heart, kindled anew one fading altar fire, your work is not a failure; chords are touched that will re-echo from the angel choir.–Cynthia D. Harvey Thomas

What is your color?

Who is putting the lens of color in front of your eyes?

What is distorting the light into your eyes, causing you not to see your true kind?

Blaming on the world? Blaming on the main stream? Never evaluating yourself?

Why do some people not judge themselves by skin color but stand firm to be who they are?

Don’t you want that pure heart with undistorted integrity?

I know I want that new heart because I don’t want to live under other’s speculation or with my own lens of color.

Is it possible to live that kind of life? Is there any place in the world without the truth being twisted?

The light is refracted into our eyes and enters our brains.

Even you can block the light from going to people’s eyes, but you cannot control their minds.

So why are you bothered by the words or views projected from their eyesight?

What they see about you is the image from their heads, which is not the true you.

It is foolish to be scared to frozen by their imagination like a shadow without body.

If you don’t want to live your life like a fool, then don’t look at the assumption cast from people’s eyes.

Instead, lift up your head and look to the direction of the true Light!

When you focus on the source of Light, you will see you are shinning by reflecting that Light.

***

The unfolding of your words gives light;
it gives understanding to the simple. (Psalm 119:130)

A man’s conscience is the Lord’s searchlight exposing his hidden motives. (Proverbs 20:27, TLB)

庫存低、殺價難 二手車價格上漲逾2成

「現在買二手車，別想殺價」，剛剛購入一輛二手車的明州華人Susan說，雖然自己事先作了很多功課，但發現價格不像以前可以多少有議價空間；另一位華人Mike王在比價半天後，決定放棄購買價格高的二手車，直接買了新的豐田Corolla。

上述兩位消費者的實際購買二手車經歷，反映了現階段的二手車市場趨勢，由於全球電腦晶片供不應求，加上疫情期間車廠關閉，造成許多使用晶片的新車減產，使美國4月份的新車數量比去年少了48%。

根據Kelley Blue Book汽車估價服務公司說，由於民眾很難買到新車，紛紛轉買二手車，導致二手車庫存量降低，全美現有的二手車庫存量為234萬輛，比去年同期少了53萬輛。

售車網站Edmunds主管寇德威爾(Jessica Caldwell)說，現在二手車平均價比去年飆高近21%，3月份二手車舊換新(trade in)的平均價格為1萬7080元，比去年同期的1萬4160元多出約3000元。

剛找到工作的Susan說，她第一次買車很擔心車商哄抬價格，因此之前找了熟悉二手車的朋友了解，自己也做了許多準備工作，她先從網路篩選出符合預算的車款，再找時間到車商實地看車，並決定購買豐田的油電混合車Prius，「但是價格一毛都殺不下來」，她說，由於車子少客戶多，車商在價格上比往年態度強硬，最後她選擇屈服。

Edmunds數據顯示，4月份新車成交價格比原廠定價(sticker price)高出13%，但因為二手車價同樣上升，日前要為高中生兒子添購車子的Mike王說，二手車不便宜，其實花費跟一台新車差不多，幾經考慮，選擇了正在促銷的豐田Corolla新車。

Edmunds網站指出，2018年的幾種受歡迎的車款，現在都可以賣到原價的80%；而三年新廂型車(minivan)也能賣到原價的56%，假使家裡有不使用的車輛，或許可趁機出售。

We are called to be a blessing

Praise God, who is worthy of all our praise because He is the only True God and Creator of all creation.

Praise God, who is love and willing to be merciful to sinners by sending His only Son, Jesus Christ to the world, who is the ultimate Solution to all human problems.

Praise God, who is the Prince of Shalom, comes to reconcile with sinners who offend Him, miss His standard and keep the glory to themselves, rather than give all the acclaim back to Him.

Praise God, who is doing new things by going before us and preparing a new way in the spiritual desert and wilderness of pandemic.

Thank Jesus Christ for holding us like little lambs, close to His heart so that we can hear His heartbeat of delight in us as His children, redeemed by His precious blood.

May we revere God by seeing His mighty hand is not lifting up against the saints in Christ, but destroying the devil’s works.

May we choose to have the heart of Jesus Christ to be humble to God and obey Him out of love and reverence to go to the world with compassion through our prayer and action.

May we not focus on our church need alone, but on the hoarseness of crying from the lost souls.

May we humble ourselves to seek God and find Him and come alongside Him to do Jesus Christ’s Great Commission, making disciples to the end of the world through prayer and a new way of church gathering.

May we bring the good news of gospel and Jesus Christ’s name, the only Remedy to people, because we have been called to be His blessing to one another and the world.

In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

鬱金香花苞怎麼斷頭了？防範吃花賊有剋星

新冠疫情影響民眾外出旅遊意願，居家蒔花種草也因此變成許多人的休閒娛樂，尤其天氣轉暖，許多家庭紛紛在前後院種植鬱金香，不過，有民眾發現鬱金香花苞才開，卻不明原因花瓣散落一地，專業園藝網站指出，此情況很大可能是碰到動物吃花賊，要防範可在植物上噴灑辣椒粉(cayenne powder)，或在土壤表面灑上動物驅逐劑(animal repellant)。

明州愛花人黃曉文在臉書分享經驗說，花園中的鬱金香圓潤飽滿花苞整朵掉落地上，不知是兔子還是松鼠的傑作？她有遵照園藝專家建議，在整株植物上灑了辣椒粉，但美麗的花朵還是無法逃過一劫。

黃曉文說，之前曾在花圃裡發現一個大洞，曾懷疑是否有地鼠出沒，還特別請來花藝專家架設感應照相機監視，專家最後判定可能是挖掘力強大的松鼠所為。

園藝網站hyanniscountrygarden.com指出，避免動物吃花，在每次澆花後都建議於整株植物噴灑辣椒粉，下過雨後必須再灑一次；或用專用的動物驅逐劑(animal repellant )，如狐狸尿(fox urine granules)、氨水(ammonia)等灑在土壤表面，避免動物靠近。

網站還說，種在花盆裡的鬱金香球莖開花後，要盡快移到戶外種植，土要挖六吋深，盡量將球莖深埋在土裡；部分葉子埋入土裡沒關係，但不要將莖葉剪短；然後充分澆水後並施肥，可幫助球莖生長，看到葉子發黃時再行修剪，專家並建議，如果每年都想欣賞到鬱金香，最好每個秋天都埋下新的球莖。

此外，鬱金香花謝後，可保留莖葉並用液體肥料施肥，強化球莖讓明年繼續開花，假使冬天要把球莖移到花盆，應使用大的花盆，盆底需挖孔排水，才不會讓球根腐爛。

新人不用出門 庫克郡法庭網路公證結婚上路

想登記結婚卻擔心新冠病毒感染而不想到法院的新人可以放心了，伊利諾州庫克郡法庭即日起推出網路公證婚禮服務，想要結為連理的新人，只要透過網路Zoom，就可以邀請眾親友一起上網，見證他們在法官面前宣誓結婚的過程。

庫克郡巡迴法院(circuit court)的交通局(Traffic Division)與婚姻法庭(Marriage Court)的法官瑪斯雷克(Diann Marsalek)說，這是法院第一次以Zoom的方式舉行結婚公證，開放首日的公證婚禮直播，過程多半順利進行，但也有添意外插曲。

住芝加哥南邊(South Side)的新人Nicole Bell 和Curtis McQueen在公證當天透過手機向法官宣誓時，因為距離太近而造成回音，最後只好分開到不同房間分別跟法官對話，兩人還彼此在不同房間飛吻定情。

另一對新人Erica Grier和 Benny Flax原本想舉辦實體婚禮，但婚禮前一周因疫情蔓延而被迫取消，因此選擇上網公證，當天兩人上網一開始忘了取消靜音，接著新郎找不到藏在家裡的結婚戒指拖延了幾分鐘。

根據伊州法律，結婚新人要實體到法院書記官面前驗明身分才算完成結婚手續，但由於疫情初期公家機構辦公室關閉，州長普立茲克去年5月即頒發了行政令，授權各郡府在疫情期間，可透過視訊會議驗證身分並核發結婚證書。

Having the Heart of a Praying Mom

Jeremiah 24:7

I will also give them a heart to know Me, for I am the LORD; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me wholeheartedly.

Being a mom with a new heart of God miraculously leads me to understand Father God’s heart for me.

Recently, my daughter secretly assisted my husband to pack a small tote bag for me to stay overnight with my husband in Stillwater as his creative surprise for celebrating our 25th anniversary. I had no clue until opening the door of the beautiful Inn. What surprised me more was the things my daughter packed for me: my Bible, laptop computer, my DSLR (a camera), the lotions for day and night, clothes for change and other things for personal care. I feel so honored that she observes me closely and knows my routines and interests.

While I gave thanks to God for her, I seemed to sense Father God saying to me: I am well pleased with you when you come to observe Me and know Me, just like you are pleased with your children who are watching you daily. I was in tears, overwhelmed by God’s love.

Then I think about all the praying sisters in Moms in Prayer groups, who come to praise God’s attributes week by week and learn more and more about who He is and thank wholeheartedly about what He has done. As a result, not only our faith is strengthened, but our relationship with Father God is also deepened, even though we together think we are just praying for our children. What a privilege to be Father God’s daughters; and what a blessing to be praying moms.

***

My prayer for all the parents with children:

Praise God as our LORD, who creates a new heart and gives a new spirit in us so that we can come to know Him and love Him as He has loved us first.

May we thank God for our children as His precious gifts for teaching us His love, not for burdening us to worry about their needs, because Father God is their Creator and their LORD.

May we depend on God to be a godly example by carefully listening to God’s word, lovingly following Jesus Christ’s perfect example of obedience to Father God, and joyfully responding to His calling for doing His good works.

May our children be blessed through our humility to let the Holy Spirit within us speak with our lips to affirm them and intercede for them, and work with our hands to hug them and rear them.

May God’s richness of His glory be abundantly dwell in us and in our next generations until eternity. In Jesus Christ’s name. Amen.

大芝加哥汽車觸媒轉換器竊案暴增 警察教招防範

根據全美保險犯罪局(National Insurance Crime Bureau)統計，各地觸媒轉化器(catalytic converter)偷竊案急遽增加，伊利諾州的轉化器失竊率居全美第五高，芝加哥警察提醒民眾留意，尤其靠近北區(North Side)近來出現多起轉化器竊案；庫克郡警官史密茲(Leo Schmitz)建議，要避免催化轉換器被偷，將車停在安全地點是其一方法，或在催化轉換器上刻上車輛標記號碼，並將螺栓焊牢。

數據顯示，2019年全美有3389起觸媒轉化器偷竊案件，2020年增加了將近五倍達1萬4433件，史密茲說，疫情期間大家都需要錢，多少催化了這類案件的增加，而庫克郡的情況也差不多，去年3、4月前，約只有8起轉化器竊案，而今年同期發生多達25件。

觸媒轉化器的目的是用來減少汽車排放的廢氣，轉化器被拔除後，開車時會發出像戰車般的噪音，史密茲說小偷可能把觸媒轉化器廢鐵賣，因為裡面有白金、鈀、和銠等貴重金屬，可賣到150元到500元不等。

史密茲說，小偷可爬到車底下直接切斷轉化器拿走，過程可能不到兩分鐘，因此他建議民眾把車停在人多、光線充足的地區。如果車子裝有警報器，可設定為車子搖動時就啟動發出警鳴；或把車子的VIN號碼用噴漆或烙印刻在觸媒轉化器上，另外也有人使用鐵鍊上鎖、焊接觸媒轉化器的螺絲連接處，或加裝金屬鋼板等方式遏阻小偷。

NerdWallet公司的個人財務專家帕瑪(Kimberly Palmer)說，花費200元到800元加裝保護觸媒轉化器裝置，使小偷因偷竊不易而放棄，這個投資還是比買新的轉化器要划算，因為裝新的動輒花費數百元到千元。

伊州與全美其他23州正在立法遏止這項犯罪。其中伊州將要求購買觸媒轉換器，像是技師等買家，購買轉換器前要取得賣者的駕照等個資。

芝公校暫停警察專員回到校園 擬找替代方案

芝加哥公立學校(CPS)宣布，儘管高中已經返校上課，但由芝加哥警察局安排警員到各高中擔任警察專員(school resource officers，簡稱SRO)的項目即日起暫停，CPS說，將找尋更全面保護校園安全的方式，汰換現行備受爭議的SRO方案。

明尼蘇達州佛洛伊德事件發生後，芝加哥學生及多個組織，開始積極推動「警察退出校園」。

CPS負責校園安全的主管周嘉丁(Jadine Chou，音譯)說，CPS基於幾個月以來蒐集到的社群意見，加上目前到校上課學生不多，這個學期上課天數僅剩10、20天，因此決定暫時停止讓全職的SRO返回校園，周嘉丁說，確保每位學生安全是公校的優先任務，「我們有信心以目前的教職員人數，足夠保障孩子們的安全。」

芝加哥教育委員會去年已經刪減了聘用SRO的經費，原因包括民眾對警察不滿、新冠疫情使學生都在家上課，以及有超過12個學區委員會(Local School Councils)投票撤除SRO。

周嘉丁表示，接下來要如何使校園能夠獲得於社區服務的警察協助確保安全，CPS與芝市警察局正在討論中。

CPS說，從公校3月初重新讓學生返校至今，除了22名被派遣到CPS學區的警官外，所有學校的警察專員都未回到校園。

根據全國學校警察專員協會(National Association of School Resource Officers)網站，SRO的角色與一般保安警衛不同，他們可以配戴與值勤警察一樣的武器，並能在第一時間趕到學校支援。另外，SRO兼具教育者、諮商輔導與執法人員三層意義；SRO的目標是提供學生安全的學習環境、支援教職員、與青年學生培養正面的關係、開發策略解決青少年問題，和保護學生安全。

州務卿籲小心 更新牌照貼紙出現新型詐騙

伊利諾州州務卿懷特(Jesse White)表示，最近出現兩種打著州務卿辦公室名號的新型詐騙，請民眾務必提高警覺，他說，這兩類詐騙分別是透過簡訊和網站，騙取受害者金錢和個資，懷特提醒，州務卿辦公室絕不會透過手機簡訊要求民眾提供敏感個資，也不會要求民眾登陸特定網站繳交汽車牌照貼紙費用。

懷特說，第一類詐騙是以簡訊方式發送信息到民眾手機，稱州務卿辦公室在處理民眾的資料時出現問題，因此要求民眾點擊簡訊中的連結網站：www.uipendingcases.org補充完整個資。

他說，一旦信以為真而按下該連結後，手機很可能因此自動下載惡意軟體(malware)，並引導受騙者輸入個資，州務卿建議收到這類簡訊或電子郵件，不要打開任何網站連結，應直接刪掉，更勿提供個資。

另一類詐騙是送出簡訊或郵件，要求民眾上網購買新一期的汽車牌照貼紙，但所提供的購買貼紙網站，都會多收取額外費用，例如其中的一個網頁：www.IllinoisCarReg.com，要求購買者必需支付151元的汽車牌照貼紙費用外，還要多付39.99元的手續費。

由於上述網站也在全美其他州進行詐騙，聯邦貿易委員會(FTC)現已著手調查。

懷特建議大家可採取以下措施防範詐騙：

●刪除聲稱可發放駕照或州身分證的電郵或簡訊通知，千萬不要點擊其中網站連結。

●接到自動語音電話或詢問社會安全碼、銀行帳號或其他身分證件的電話時，立即掛斷。

●定期更新手機、電腦的作業系統與防毒軟體版本。

此外，一旦發現信用卡遭收不明費用時，要盡快與信用卡公司聯絡。

懷特說，州務卿辦公室的官網是：www.cyberdriveillinois.com，收到任何自稱州務卿辦公室郵件時，可先確認是否來自此網址。

遇詐騙，請撥打伊州檢察長消費者詐騙熱線：(800)386-5438(芝加哥)、(800)243-0618(春田)，或(800)243-0607(Carbondale)。