THE VALENTINE TRUTH

THE ORIGIN, ESSENCE AND SPIRITUAL IMPLICATIONS OF VALENTINE DAY:
During the third century, an oppressive Roman Emperor called Emperor Claudius II had made it a capital punishment (death) to worship and serve Christ.
He had decreed the Romans to serve and worship his gods, and deprived the young Roman soldiers of getting married.
But an elderly Christian had stood his ground for his faith and had insisted on serving Jesus Christ and preaching the love of God to the young soldiers.
This was considered treason against the government.
He was arrested, sentenced to death and jailed. In the last weeks of his life in the prison, the jailer (prison commander) who observed that he was very learned and possessed very good Christian character, brought his blind daughter to him to be giving her lessons.
He taught her about God and told her many Roman histories and stories from the Bible. He taught her the love of God. The blind girl got so used to the elderly Christian prisoner. On his last night he left a note for Julia, the blind girl, encouraging her to love God and serve Him. And in ending the note, he wrote: "From your Valentine".
His death sentence was carried out the next day, February 14, 270 A.D.
*The name of this martyr was Valentinus*, a man who died for standing for the Preaching of the Christ and teaching people about the love of God.
So, for his love for God, he was regarded as 'Saint'.
Archaeologists have unearthed a Roman catacomb; an ancient church dedicated to Saint Valentine. During 496 AD, the Pope marked February 14 as celebration in honor of his martyrdom.
*February 14, is known as Valentine Day. But the essence of Valentine Day historically was a celebration in honor of the martyrdom of a devoted preacher, Valentinus, who stood on his faith in Christ against the devilish idolatry decrees of a Godless Emperor.*
*He preached Christ to the Roman soldiers and spread the love for God and humanity when it was a crime to do so. The day he was martyred was declared "Valentine Day". February 14, 270 AD.*
However, the devil has rewritten history today. All over the world, the history has successfully been erased and rewritten the way the devil wanted. The reason for the DAY has been blotted out from people's memory and a minor aspect of the whole story had been blown beyond proportion. The little card note Valentinus had left behind for Julia, her young beloved convert, whom she taught, preached to and prayed for, had ended with: "From Your Valentine".
*On February 14, in the year 270.AD, somebody died for Christ and is now in Heaven, but on February 14, 2017, several people will die spiritual death.*

INSPIRATION FROM MICHAEL JORDAN

Michael Jordan was born in 1963, in the slums of Brooklyn, New York.

He had four  siblings and his father's earnings were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.

He grew up in a poor neighbourhood. Exposed to mindless violence and heavy discrimination in the slums, he saw for himself only a hopeless future.

His father saw in Michael, a lost soul and decided to do something.

He gave Michael, who was 13 years old, a piece of used clothing and asked: "What do you think the value of this outfit would be?"

Jordan replied,"Maybe one dollar."

His father asked, "Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your family."

Jordan nodded his head, "I'll try, but no guarantee that I'll be successful."

Jordan carefully washed the cloth clean. Because they didn't have an iron, to smoothen the cloth, he levelled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two dollar bill and ran home.

After that, everyday he looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it, and sold it in the crowd.

More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, "Can you think of a way you can sell this for 20 bucks?"

Aghast, Jordan said, "How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most."

His father replied, "Why don't you try it first? There might be a way."

After breaking his head for a few hours, finally, Jordan got an idea.

He asked for cousin's helpto paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study.

Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought that outfit for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years. He loved it so much and he gave a five dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount for Jordan, the equivalent of a month's salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing, "Are you able to resell it at a price of 200 dollars?" Jordan's eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie "Charlie's Angels", Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, "This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!" He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father broke into TEARS and said, "I am amazed that you did it My child! You're really great! "

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, "Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?"

Jordan replied, "Where there's a will, there's a way."

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, "What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us - living & thinking humans? We may be darker and poorer, but what if we CAN increase our VALUE."

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate myself.

From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.

He went on to become the greatest basketball player of all times.

How can I increase my own value?                                                           I am finding it a very interesting thought. I am sure, you too, will --culled from ICC.

The Biography of Benjamin Franklin; The man who promoted the abolition of slave trade.

The Biography of Benjamin Franklin; The man who promoted the abolition of slave trade


Benjamin Franklin was born in 1706 at Boston. He was the 10th son of a soap and candlemaker. He obtained some formal education but was self-taught basically. He served as an apprenticeship to his father between the ages of 10 and 12. After which, he went to work for his half brother James, a printer.

In 1721, the latter founded the New England Courant, the 4th newspapers in the colonies. Franklin secretly contributed 14 essays to it, his first published writings.

In 1723, due to dissension with his half-brother,Franklin moved to Philadelphia, where he obtained employment as a printer. He spent just a year there and then sailed to London for 2 more years. Back in Philadelphia, he rose rapidly in the printing industry. He published The Pennyslvania Gazette (1730-1748), which had been founded by another man in 1728, but his most successful literary venture was the annual Poor Richard's Almanac (1733-1758). It won a popularity in the colonies second only to the Bible, and its fame eventually spread to Europe.


In 1730, Franklin had taken a common-law wife, Deborah Read, who was to bear him a son and daughter, and he also apparently had children with another nameless woman out of wedlock. By 1748 he had achieved financial independence and gained recognition for his philantrophy and the stimulus he provided to such civic causes as libraries, educational institutions,  and hospitals. Energetic and tireless, he also found time to pursue his interest in science, as well as to enter politics.

In the year 1736-1751, he served as a clerk, 1751-1764 as a member of the colonial legislator, 1737-1753 as the deputy postmaster of Philadelphia and in 1753-1774 as the deputy postmaster general of the colonies.

In addition, he represented the Pennyslvania at the Albany Congress (1754), called to unite the colonies during the French and the Indian war. The Congress adopted his "Plan of Union," but the colonial assemblies rejected it because it encroached on their powers.

1757-1762 and 1764-1775, Franklin resided in England, originally in the capacity of agent of Pennyslvania and later for Georgia, New Jersey and Massachusetts.
During the latter period, which coincided with the growth of colonial unrest, he underwent a political metamorphosis.  Until then a contented English man in the outlook, primarily concerned with Pennyslvania provincial politics, he distrusted popular movements and saw little purposes to be served in carrying principles to the extremes. Until the issue of palamentary taxation undermined the old alliances, he led the Quaker party attack on the Anglican proprietary party and its Presbyterian frontier allies. His purpose throughout the years at London in fact had been displacement of the Penn family administration by royal authority-the conversion of the province from a proprietary to a royal colony.

It was during the Stamp Act crisis that Franklin evolved from leader of a shattered provincial party's faction to celebrated spokesman at London for American rights.
Although as agent for Pennyslvania he opposed by every conceivable means the enactment of the bill in 1765, he did not at first realize the depth of colonial hostility. He regarded passage as unavoidable and preferred to submit to it while actually working for its repeal.

Franklin's nomination of a friend and political ally as stamp distributor for Pennyslvania,  coupled with his apparent acceptance of the legislation, armed his proprietary opponents with explosive issues. Their energetic exploitation of them endangered his reputation at home until reliable information was published demostrating his unabated opposition to the act. Mob resentment threatened his family and home in Philadelphia until his tradesman supporters rallied against it.
Subsequently,  Franklin's defence of the American positiob in the House of Commons during the debates over the Stamp Acts repeal brought back his prestige at home.

May 1775, Franklin returned to Philadelphia and he became a distinguished member of the Continental Congress. Thirteen months later, he served in the committee that drafted the Declaration of Independence. He subsequently contributed to the government in other important ways. He was the general postmaster, and took over the duties of president of the Pennyslvania constitutional convention.

After his return, within less than a year and a half, Franklin set sail once again for Europe, where he started a career as a diplomat that would occupy him for the most
of his life. In the years 1776-1779, as one of the three commissioners, he directed the negotiations that led to treaties of commerce and alliance with France, where the people adulated him, but he and the other commissioners squabbled constantly.
While he was sole commisssioner to France (1779-1785), he and John Jay and John Adams negotiated the Treaty of Paris (1783), which ended the War of Independence.

In the year 1785, back in the U ited States, Franklin became president of the supreme Executive Council of Pennyslvania.  At the Constitutional Convention, though he did not approve of many aspects of the finished document and was hampered by his age and ill-health, he missed few if any sessions, lent his prestige, soothed passions and compromised dislutes.

In his twilight years, working on his Autobiography, Franklin could look back on a fruitful life as the toast of two continents. Energetic nearly to the last. In the year 1787, he was elected as the first president of Pennyslvania Society for promoting the abolition of slavery- a cause to which he had committed himself to since the 1730s.
His final public act was signing a memorial to Congress recommending dissolution if the slavery system. At the age of 84 in 1790, Franklin passed away in Philadelphia and was laid to rest in Christ  Church Burial Ground.