How to tell if a credit card is stolen

Visa_Card.jpgIf the signature on the back of a credit card matches the signature of the person presenting the card there’s a fair chance it’s stolen. I’m working on a similar kind of logic as the well known fact that if you look exactly like the photo in your passport, you’re too sick to travel.

We were recently sent new credit cards and so I’ve just been through the process of activating them. I followed all the prompts from the electronic voice on the designated phone number and without ever having to speak to a real human, I managed to complete the process. Now we can continue to go out and spend money we don’t have on stuff we don’t need.

The thing that fascinates me is the way that we’re expected to sign our ‘normal’ signatures on the cards. Maybe I’m just not that good but I really find it difficult to replicate the way I sign pieces of paper which require my autograph when it comes to signing a small piece of shiny plastic.

I really do try my very hardest but when I’m signing the card the pen doesn’t act the same way as it would on paper, and to tell the truth, my signature is usually bigger than the microscopic box they give me on the back of the credit card.

Oh well, I think I’ll just continue to rely on the fact that people who work in shops don’t generally look too closely at either my card or my signature when I buy stuff from them.



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FAST for FOOD – Week One

Fast_for_Food.jpgFAST for FOOD starts tomorrow.

If this is the first you’ve heard of this initiative of Compassion you can read my earlier posts. Every 7 Seconds … and FAST for FOOD Explained.

It’s certainly not too late to get involved and to start making a huge difference for the 300 million children who will go to bed hungry tonight. Will you add your voice to those taking part? You can leave a comment below this post to let me know you’re ready to changes lives for the better.

Starting tomorrow and throughout November I’ll be posting the daily entries from the FAST for FOOD Prayer Calendar. You’ll have opportunity to follow along and to post your comments about anything that God is showing you through the month.

The following is the introduction to the calendar:

Around the world, people are feeling the effects of the economic and food crises—none more so than the 300 million children who will go to bed tonight hungry. We know that when the well-off suffer, the poor die. The world needs light now more than ever.

As men and women of a steadfast and generous God, this is our opportunity to demonstrate our unshakeable trust in Him by reaching out and generously assisting those who are in desperate need. Although we are not immune to world events, we can rest assured that God is faithful, loves the poor and continues to call Compassion to challenge, partner and equip the church to release millions more children from poverty in Jesus’ name. In God’s economy there is always more than enough and He is always faithful when we pray, fast, give and share with generous and joyful hearts.

I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Ephesians 3:20 (CEV)

This prayer calendar contains a weekly theme and a Bible reading for each day to encourage and strengthen you through the 30 days of FAST for FOOD.



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Global Food Crisis

This video from Compassion gives a little of the background for the Global Food Crisis.

If you care enough to want to see change and to save the lives of those who are suffering the most, please consider joining me on the FAST for FOOD throughout November.

Please read my previous post Every 7 Seconds … for more information.



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Post Secret

postcard.jpgWhat’s your secret? Is there something that gnaws away inside you that you wish you could share with someone?

I spotted this article from OC Register a few weeks back. It talks about how Frank Warren’s plan to create a unique art exhibit has turned into an international phenomenon.

In preparation for a local art show, Frank left 3,000 postcards in pizza parlors, bookstores and Washington, D.C., subways that read: “Send Frank a secret.”

Ha, ha. Art.

He got a few hundred replies, which he displayed at his booth. But the postcards kept coming – from places like China, Australia and Tupelo, Mississippi.

Their messages ranged from: I am secretly involved with my best friend’s wife. To: Everyone who knew me before 9-11 believes I’m dead.

Frank’s blog – PostSecret.com -continues to display the innermost secrets of all those who send him their postcards. If you plan on visiting the site you need to know that there are some very frank admissions with several being sexual in nature. Never the less, I think a visit to the site is worthwhile to get a better understanding of the hurts many people are carrying.

Here’s a sample of some of the most recent secrets.

If it hadn’t been for an unplanned pregnancy, my next attempt at ending life would have succeeded.

Tomorrow is my 24th birthday. It has taken that long for me to figure out who I am, and love myself. But I am finally getting there.

I’m obsessed with the fear that I will die while my husband is in Iraq and he’ll have no one to come home to.

I yelled at her for weeks about how wrong her abortion was and she still held my hand when I had one.

I pray over your package before I mail it to you. – eBay power seller.

Trick or Treat? I am haunted by the end of my first marriage and afraid this one is doomed too.

I strongly suspect that I use a lot more toilet paper than other people …. but I have no way of knowing.

I was one of those kids who always made fun of the ‘different’ kids. Now I teach the ‘different’ kids. My heart breaks every day. I’m so sorry for being a horrible person when I was younger. Eventually we grow up and realize we were wrong.

I secretly believe God lets people into Heaven based on how they treat animals.

After 38 years of using drugs I’m finally clean at the age of 50, and I’m so grateful.

My brother and sister make fun of me for not doing drugs.

My regular Wednesday morning guest on 98.5 Sonshine FM is Ross Clifford who is the Principal of Morling College in New South Wales and current President of the Baptist Union of Australia. Each week we chat about a range of issues relating to spirituality and belief.

We discussed the human need to confess our secrets during today’s segment and talked about what drives people to send their thoughts to Post Secret.

You can hear our conversations by clicking the play button on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

Would you send your secrets to Post Secret? Do have trusted friends with whom you can share your deep dark thoughts and secrets?

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MEN291008_1145.mp3]

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FAST for FOOD Explained

Fast_for_Food.jpgYesterday in my post Every 7 Seconds … I introduced FAST for FOOD an initiative of Compassion which is happening throughout November.

If you missed yesterday’s post can I encourage you to read through and decide if you’ll be part of this life saving event?

I’m especially passionate about doing something to help after seeing the extreme poverty and desperation of many people facing a very uncertain future in Haiti earlier this year.

Today I want to outline a little bit more of what Fast for Food is trying to accomplish.

The steps are outlined on the website as follows.

PRAY
“Before they call I will answer, while they are still speaking I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24

Download the 30 day FAST for FOOD Prayer Calendar for the month of November. (I’ll be posting each day’s entry for the calendar here on my blog so you can simply follow along by reading my daily posts.)

FAST
“When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4

Give up food for a day or more and feel the hunger pangs that millions experience for days on end.

GIVE
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice … Is it not to share your food with the hungry …” Isaiah 58:6-7

As you spend time in prayer and fasting, please bless those in desperate need by donating the money you would normally spend on food—or other activities that you choose to fast from—to Compassion’s Global Food Crisis Appeal.

SHARE
“…if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness and your night will become like the noonday.” Isaiah 58:10

Encourage your friends, family, colleagues and church members to join us in FAST for FOOD and see God move.

If you’re prepared to take part and make a difference for those in desperate need please let me know in the comments section of this post.



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