Author Archives
Faith in God is believing His Word over anything you may see, hear or experience. Married to SueAnn and living in Newcastle NSW Australia - We both love Jesus - he is our strength, our Hope and our Redeemer.
itsbygracealone.blogspot.com
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Mrs. Hopley and Capstan Navy Cut Cigarettes!
I was brought up at No 22 Steel Street in Hamilton, NSW – it was the house that my grandfather, Joshua Fellows, had built when he came back from way up north. You can read all about that and my… Read More ›
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Here we have Percy
Jesus went to a wedding and noticed the guests jockeying for places of honour at the dinner, so he told them a parable, which we will get to in this blog. These days, at weddings, we all have guest cards… Read More ›
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Greg T and Me – Came to blows!
Oh, dear, the memories come back to me. Greg T and I were in Primary School together and usually in the same class. Things didn’t work out like that in Year 5. There were two classes from Year 5 onwards…. Read More ›
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My Third Class Teacher – Mr Ambrose – an Expert with the Cane!
My 3rd class teacher, Mr Ambrose, was truly an expert with the cane. So many people these days wouldn’t know what the cane was, but Mr Ambrose certainly did. The cane was just what it said it was, a bamboo… Read More ›
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Hannah and Joshua
Joshua Fellows was an engineer and worked on the railways. He had married young Hannah Spruce. Hannah and Joshua were my grandparents on my mum’s side. Their photo is on the left. My mum was the youngest of their five… Read More ›
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A Wigwam for a Goose’s Bridle
My Grandpa was the most amazing man, as I’ve mentioned about him and my Grandma before in a recent blog. He was always making things, and he had the most interesting backyard. Being the youngest of five kids and with… Read More ›
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Jesus and the dinner party
Ever been to a dinner party? I know I have been to a few times, and we have had people over to our place quite a lot. We had met a few new friends at one time because we had… Read More ›
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I need bigger and I need better
“I need bigger and bigger, and I certainly need better,” she said, and ended up achieving just that. She is quite the person. She is nice in lots of ways, pleasant and respectful. That’s so good. She bought her friend’s… Read More ›
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PUSH AHEAD: I must be first I really must!
“Don’t push yourself forward,” Jesus said this in Luke 14. Now that’s a pretty odd thing to say in this day and age. Pushing yourself forward is pretty much a given. We drove into the city last night to have a… Read More ›
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Poland had a bear that served in the military in 1942
Poland had a bear that served in the military in 1942. “Wojtek the bear was adopted by Polish soldiers and fought alongside them in World War Two”. I quote: “In 1942, a company of Polish troops was evacuated from the… Read More ›
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The SYGNA Storm
“You must be ready because Jesus will come again when we least expect him.” That’s my take on Luke 25:40. We are all going to get a big surprise when that happens. Way back in 1974, here in Newcastle, Australia, we… Read More ›
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“BEE READY” – “BEE PREPARED”
Keep watch – that’s pretty good and a very wise thing to do. If you were a honey bee, that is exactly what you would do. Unfortunately, we are not honey bees, and most of us don’t keep watch at… Read More ›
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Thieves and Robbers
Thieves and robbers – hmmm, made me think. Went to church on Sunday, and the sermon was based on John 10 about what Jesus said about sheep pens, thieves, and robbers. Jesus actually told the Pharisees the following story as… Read More ›
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Regardless of Persecution
Don’t you love liquidambar trees? They are really beautiful. We loved our liquidambar tree. It was pretty big. It wasn’t always big; it had been a little squirt of a plant, and we put it in the lawn just to… Read More ›
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Sheep and Goats
Ever thought about sheep and goats? I haven’t, not really. It wasn’t that long ago that one of my blogs referenced sheep, and I mentioned how big sheep stations are in Australia. It was then that I thought about sheep… Read More ›
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Let’s not waste what God has given us
Let’s not waste what God has given us. I guess we all have different talents and things we can do. My son-in-law is absolutely crippled after huge operations to remove cancer, but has he given up on life? He certainly… Read More ›
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The murders of Peter and Paul
Nero, as mentioned in one of our recent blogs, was the emperor of the Roman Empire and was responsible for a highly decentralized system of authority. Nero eventually killed himself. He was born on December 15th, 37 AD, and committed suicide… Read More ›
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We can learn a lesson from a fig tree
We can learn a lesson from a fig tree. When I was a little bloke years ago, we lived at a place called Hamilton in New South Wales, Australia. Near where we lived, there was Gregson Park, and all around… Read More ›
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Weddings
Weddings are amazing – well, I feel they are. I know some are different. I remember ours; it was quite the day. Some are full of good thoughts and lots of great memories. Some are full of terrible mistakes and… Read More ›
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The Cornerstone of our Lives
Ever read the Bible? I know I have, and it can be very sobering in that it can leave us really thinking about what it really means. When Jesus walked the earth here, and just five days before he was… Read More ›
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Ask God to Lead You
Two fences built together can cause a bit of trouble. I appreciate that so much. Not that we have had any trouble at all when we built our home here at Rankin Park. The boundary fences were already there when… Read More ›
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Forgiveness
Ever had trouble with forgiveness? I know I have. It can be hard, but it is something we really have to think about. In the Bible in Matthew 18, Peter, one of the disciples of Jesus, was obviously concerned/thinking about… Read More ›
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Waiting All day!
Don’t you love it when you wait all day for an appointment with a doctor in an emergency situation in a hospital? Three months ago, my son-in-law had a huge operation in Sydney, which is approximately two hours drive away… Read More ›
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Sharing!
Sharing! It can be a problem. I know we had a “friendly neighbour” across the road from us, and down about four homes. A seemingly nice guy, always going around the streets, entirely ready to help in all situations, and… Read More ›
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Wars!
So wars continue today! In the Middle East and pretty well all over the world, things can be pretty tough. The whole world seems to be at war, and it is getting tougher and tougher. Missiles, drones, all intensifying as… Read More ›
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Unique
Australia is pretty unique in lots of aspects. For example, Rawlina Station in Western Australia is the largest sheep station in Australia; it spans roughly 10,117 kilometers or 2.5 million acres. It is right on the Nullarbor Plain, which is… Read More ›
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Reconciled
My Grandad was a teacher, not a real one, but someone who loved to help you do things and show you how to make things. He had lots of plans. His name was Charles, and he loved to go out… Read More ›
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Keep the good and throw the bad away!
Keep the good and throw the bad away! Jesus told yet another parable/story to his disciples. This time, He told them about how the people were out catching fish and how they threw the net out and caught a lot…. Read More ›
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72nd Anniversary of the Army Duc disaster in Newcastle NSW
It was the 72nd Anniversary of the Army Duc disaster in Newcastle, NSW, at Stockton Beach on March 8th. It was one of the most peacetime military tragedies to hit Newcastle since World War II. It was in the early… Read More ›
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Nastiness can be nasty
While Jesus was physically here on earth, he told many stories, or parables, as they were known then, and one of those parables, recorded in Matthew 13, was about a sower or a plowman sowing seeds. In those days, the sower… Read More ›