Who Gets the Credit?

                                                                           by Dr. D. James Kennedy

“Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory…”
— Psalm 115:1 kjv

Chuck Swindoll once pointed out that President Reagan had this saying on a plaque on his desk: “There is no limit to what a man can do or where he can go if he doesn’t mind who gets the credit.”

In contrast, envy limits itself to that for which we will get the glory. Think of all the times the apostles argued among themselves over one thing—which of them was the greatest? Jesus rebuked them for that and told them that the greatest among them was the servant of all.

If anybody just sits on their God-given gifts because they are concerned that maybe people will not praise them, they are sinning. We should use the talents and opportunities God has gifted us with on a regular basis. If you’re concerned about who gets the credit, then remember what we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “… For Thine is…the glory.” What is the point of any of our accomplishments? The Psalmist tells us: “Not unto us, Oh Lord, not unto us, but unto Thy name give glory.” If we live free from the worry of who gets top billing, of who notices us, of how well we are doing by some worldly status criterion, we can do much more work for the Lord.

So whatever task you find at hand, do it with all your might. And do it for God’s glory and others’ good. God knows what you do, and He will repay you.

Father God, give us strength for today to serve You diligently, even if we aren’t always recognized for it here on earth. Thank You, Lord, You who sees all, for being a just God. Let everything we do be truly for Your glory…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
SERVE ANONYMOUSLY.

 

Worry

 WORRY -- assuming responsibilities GOD never intended me to have.

 

Who Am I To Do This, Lord?

“I will never l        eave you, nor forsake you.”      Hebrews 13:5

I think I have heard almost every excuse as to why people can’t share the Gospel with others. Moses made excuses to wriggle out of His task. He asked God, “Who am I to do this?”

Excuses are as old as the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve excused their sin, blaming someone else. But like Moses we have said, and I know that I have said, because I can hear myself echoing in these things: “Who am I that I should do this? Who am I that I should go into the ministry? Who am I that I should go to someone’s home and attempt to bring him out of the bondage of sin, into the light everlasting? I am not capable of doing this. I know how strong the power and bondage of Satan and his minions and cohorts are.”

No doubt Moses thought, “I tried before and I failed,” and he most certainly did. His attempt was a miserable failure. Perhaps you have thought the same. I have. I remember when I first tried here in Fort Lauderdale, and it was a miserable failure, and I was mortified by the attempt and determined that this obviously was something I was incapable of doing. “Who am I? I am obviously not cut out to do this sort of thing, to bring God’s people out of Egypt.” And the answer that God gives is very simple: “I will be with you, and that is the all sufficient reason.”

Lord, give me strength for today to do what is before me and to do it well. Guide me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah. Thank You, Lord, for Your vast kingdom and all the opportunities to serve…

A Brief History of Government

 A BRIEF HISTORY of GOVERNMENT by Bill Federer

The most common form of government in world history is kings. Their subjects did not vote.

The first well-recorded instance of millions of people living without a king was Ancient Israel’s Republic, circa 1,400 to 1,000 B.C., that initial 400-year period after they left Egypt.

The Bible does not give details, but each tribe and city chose their own elders, as Moses stated:

Exodus 18:21 "Thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens”; and

Deuteronomy 1:3–13 "Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes"; and

Deuteronomy 16:18–19 "Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates.”

Since the goal was to choose individuals that God wanted, one method of selection was “by lot.” Proverbs 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”

The Greek word for “lot” is “kleros,” from which the words clergy, cleric, and clerk come from.

Levite priests were chosen by lot to minister in the Temple, as Zechariah was, the father of John the Baptist. Acts 1:26 described how the apostles “drew lots” to determine who God wanted to replace Judas.”

“Kleros” were pieces of wood used for casting lots. Deciding offices by casting lots is where the word “allotment” comes from, and is the origin of the random selection process used to pick jurors from a jury pool in a trial.

In Ancient Athens, 480-323 B.C., instead of casting lots, each Greek citizen placed a pebble in one of two urns to indicate who was chosen. The Greek word for “pebble” was psēphos - (pronounced “say fos”) from which comes the word “vote.” The study of voting is called “psephology.”

Pebbles were replaced with citizens marking a name on small broken pieces of pottery.

Romans used marbles or little clay balls, which voters dropped into boxes. The word for little ball in Italian is “ballota,” in French “ballotte,” from which comes the word “ballot.”

Ancient India, around 920 A.D., used the Kudavolai system, where villagers wrote a candidate’s name on palm leaves which were put inside a mud pot.

In Russia’s Republic of Novgorod, 12th through 15 centuries, citizens gathered in the city square and shouted for their candidate.

The first use of paper ballots in America was in church. The Massachusetts Bay Colony used paper ballots in 1629 to select a pastor for the Salem Church.

Since the goal was God’s will, instead casting lots, church members fasted and prayed, then cast their ballots, thus participating in having God’s will be done through them.

The belief was, that God had preordained someone to be their pastor and church members were simply to recognize the one God had chosen.

Being chosen by God was called being “the elect.” First Peter 1:1-2 “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect.”

Paul wrote in Colossians 3:12 “As the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies”; and Second Timothy 2:10: “I endure all things for the elect's sakes.”

Mark 13:20 described the last days: “And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.”

The process of putting down the name of God’s “elect” was called an “election.”

Quote from President Coolidge

 "The whole system of American Government rests on the ballot box" President Calvin Coolidge

The Root of a Tree

 Led By Even the Root of a Tree by Dr. D. James Kennedy

“…for He who has mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water He shall guide them.” Isaiah 49:10

How important it is and how blessed we are to follow God’s guidance for our lives. You may remember the story of Peter Marshall who was the Chaplain of the Senate some years ago. His life story was made into the film A Man Called Peter.

If you recall, as a young man in Scotland, not really knowing what God would have him to do, he was walking across a moor one day and there was dense fog. He could hardly see the ground at all, and then suddenly he tripped and fell flat on his face. When he started to push himself up, one of his hands went right over the edge of the cliff that he would have been looking down into if he could have seen. Then as the fog cleared a little bit he saw, indeed, that he was right on the very edge of a deep precipice that would most certainly have cost him his life if he hadn’t tripped over the root of a tree.

He was convinced that in this circumstance God was guiding him and later brought him to America, to Columbia Seminary, where I also studied some time later. Finally, Peter Marshall felt led to the high position of the Chaplaincy of the Senate of the United States.

The Lord guides the steps of the righteous—in this case, it was literally so. We need not fear the future, but only entrust our future to Him.

Dear Father, give us strength for today to seek after You with our whole heart. Thank You that You are sovereign. Help us to not be like a parked car, waiting to be steered. Instead, help us to trust in Your guidance and to put it into practice…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE FOLLOW

HIM WHEREVER HE LEAD

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By GOD'S Strength

 

Faith vs. Unbelief

“And without faith it is impossible to please God…”
—Hebrews 11:6

One great philosopher said that the greatest theme in all of history, which makes every other theme seem insignificant, is the great contest that has gone on from time immemorial between faith and unbelief. All conflicts in the world are really just variations of this big war.

This contest even happens at a small level each day. For example, you get up in the morning, get dressed, go out, and you meet someone. What do they say? They say, “How are you today?” Faith says, “I am redeemed, saved, justified, and sanctified. I am on my way to Paradise. I am fantastic.” But unbelief says, “Oh, pretty good, thank you.” But faith knows the answer. “God is doing wonderful things. He is not even finished with me yet. The greatest is yet to come.”

So faith and unbelief begin their war every day in your life. Unbelief might try to make us go back to bed for fear of the day that lies before us. But faith realizes that we can do all things through Christ. Paul tells Timothy to stand firm. He tells him, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7).

The writer of Hebrews noted that without faith, it is impossible to please God. In this life, unbelief will rob us of many spiritual riches God wants to bestow on us. May He grant us faith to trust Him in all things.

Dear Lord, increase our faith. Give us strength for today to see who You are and what You have done in Christ. Forgive our unbelief. Lord, we do believe—help our unbelief…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE BELIEVE
HIM AND HIS PROMISES.

Prayer for Epiphany

 Prayers for Epiphany:

O God of light and peace,

whose glory, shining in the child of Bethlehem,

still draws the nations to yourself:

dispel the darkness that shrouds our path,

that we may come

to kneel before Christ in true worship,

offer him our hearts and souls,

and return from his presence to live as he has taught. Amen.

God of revelation,

as we gather in praise for the gracious mystery of your Son,

we remember the many needs of your church and your world.

Guide us on the path of salvation, O God,

that the radiance and power of your Holy Spirit

working in the world

will gather together all peoples and nations in one community

to offer you worship and proclaim your splendor. Amen.

Radiant Morning Star,

you are both guidance and mystery,

Visit our rest with disturbing dreams,

and our journeys with strange companions.

Grace us with the hospitality

to open our hearts and homes

to visitors filled with unfamiliar wisdom

bearing profound and unusual gifts. Amen.

Bright Morning Star,

your light has come,

and the birth of Jesus

has overwhelmed us with joy.

Like the magi of long ago,

may we be drawn to you

and offer you such gifts as we are able. Amen.

--Reproduced from Revised Common Lectionary Prayers copyright © 2002 Consultation on Common Texts admin. Augsburg Fortress. (https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//prayers.php?id=59)

Lengthy but Interesting

 

Epiphany--Christ's Manifestation to the World!; Celestial Prophecies & the History of the 12 Days of Christmas

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"Epiphany" is a Greek word meaning "appearance" or "manifestation," celebrating Christ's "manifestation" to the world, as foretold in Isaiah 49:6: "I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth." Epiphany commemorates the Wise Men, who were gentiles, visiting the infant Jesus, resulting in some cultures calling it Three Kings Day. "Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, 'Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.'" Matthew, chapter 2 ... continue reading ... Download as PDF ...

MIRACULOUS MILESTONES in Science, Medicine & Innovation - And the Faith of Those Who Achieved Them

Bible commentators describe the wise men coming from Persia/Babylonia, where centuries earlier Daniel had been a key leader, known for studying the fulfillment of prophecies, specifically when Jews would go back to rebuild Jerusalem:

"In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans ... I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years."

In c.445 BC, Daniel also gave his detailed prophecy of "seventy weeks" or seventy seven-year periods, regarding the coming of the Messiah:

"Seventy weeks are determined for your people and for your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sins, to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the command to restore and build Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublesome times. And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself." (Daniel 9:24-27)

Epiphany also commemorates Jesus being revealed to the world as the anointed Messiah at his baptism in the Jordan River, as recorded in John 1:29-34: "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world ... that he should be made manifest to Israel ... And John bare record, saying ... He that sent me ... said ... Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."

The timing of Epiphany in 2020 was near the Great Conjunction of the planets Jupiter and Saturn.

The Winter Solstice, December 21, 2020, with these two planets being the closest they had been in 800 years, created a combined bright light that was unmistakably visible in the night sky. This unusual celestial event stirred anticipation that the world may be entering the prophesied end times and the final "week " of Daniel's prophecy. (Daniel 9:20-27)

Astronomer Johannes Kepler, speculated that such a conjunction might possibly have been the Star of Bethlehem which the gentile Wise Men saw. Kepler wrote in 1614: "This star is not of the ordinary run of comets or new stars ... The Magi were of Chaldea, where was born astrology, of which this is a dictum: Great conjunctions of planets in cardinal points ... signify a universal change of affairs ... Granted, then, that the new star of the Magi was first seen not only at the same time as Saturn and Jupiter were beheld each in the other's vicinity, namely June of BC 7, but also in the same part of the sky as the planets ... What else could the Chaldeans conclude from their ... rules of their art, but that some event of the greatest moment was imminent? ... Nor do I doubt but that God would have condescended to cater to the credulity of the Chaldeans (Kepleri opera omnia, IV p. 347.)

BethlehemStar.com explains that Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion made it possible to determine the position of planets and stars in the past. In September 3 B.C., at the time of the Jewish New Year, Rosh ha-Shanah, magi in the East would have observed Jupiter, the Planet of Kings, coming into conjunction with Regulus, the Star of Kings.

Observing the sky from the Earth's elliptical orbit around the Sun, Jupiter then reversed its course to go around Regulus in a retrograde motion. This happened not once, not twice, but three times in the next several months, all occurring within the constellation of Leo - the Lion, which is at the feet of the next rising constellation of Virgo - the Virgin. Then, June 2 B.C., Jupiter came into conjunction with Venus - the Mother Planet, and the combine light would have appeared as one star, brighter than anyone had ever seen before. By December 2 B.C., the magi, looking south from Jerusalem, would have seen Jupiter hanging over Bethlehem.

Jupiter was considered the King Planet as its mass is two and a half times greater than all the other planets in the Solar System combined. Ancients associated it with the Supreme God. Saturn has darker associations, leading some to speculate that the conjunction of Jupiter's orbit overtaking Saturn's orbit is symbolic of the kingdom of darkness being revealed, but then being defeated by the appearance of the Kingdom of God.

Epiphany is celebrated on January 6th, which in Eastern Europe was considered the holiest day of the season. Western Europe, though, celebrated December 25th, the birth of Christ, as the holiest day of the season.

As Eastern and Western Europe could not agree on which day was the holiest, it was decided at the Council of Tours in 567 AD, to make all 12 days from DECEMBER 25 to JANUARY 6 "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

The days were called "holy days," which later came to be pronounced "holidays." The Council of Tours also returned the beginning of the year back to the ancient date of March 1st.

Prior to the invention of clocks, watches and digital devices, people all over the world looked to the position of the sun, moon and stars as a kind of clock in the sky. Ancient peoples, for millennia, based their calendars on the position moon, whose lunar cycles incrementally shifted throughout the seasons, serving as an enormous generational calendar.

Remnants of March being the first month of the year can be seen in the old Roman Latin names of months: September, October, November, and December. "Sept" is Latin for seven; "Oct" is Latin for eight (ie. octagon=eight sided); "Nov" is Latin for nine; and "Dec" is Latin for ten (ie. decimal=divisible by ten).

As the Roman Empire expanded and conquered more nations, these lunar calendars were difficult to reconcile with each other. In 45 BC, Roman Emperor Julius Caesar became, in a sense, the first globalist. He wanted a unified calendar for the entire Roman Empire.

Caesar made January 1st the beginning of the year, leading some Christian leaders to consider it a pagan date.

Julius Caesar introduced the solar-based "Julian Calendar," with 365 days, and an extra "leap day" at the end of February every 4th year. Rome's old fifth month, Quintilis, was renamed after Julius Caesar, being called "July." As it only had 30 days, Caesar took a day from the old end of the year, February, and added it to July, giving the month 31 days.

The next emperor, Augustus Caesar, renamed the old sixth month, Sextilis, after himself, calling it "August." He also took a day from the old end of the year, February, was added to August, giving that month 31 days, and leaving February with only 28 days. Augustus Caesar also wanted a world-wide tracking system to monitor and tax everyone under his control -- an empire-wide census. Luke 21:1-3 "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city."

For the first three centuries of Christianity, followers of Christ were persecuted throughout the Roman Empire in ten major persecutions. Finally, Emperor Constantine ended the persecutions in 313 AD, and effectively made Christianity the recognized religion of the Empire. Just as Julius Caesar unified the Roman Empire with the Julian Calendar, Constantine proposed at the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD to use the calendar to help unify the "Christian" Roman Empire.

The most important events in the Christian calendar were Christ's Death, Burial and Resurrection. Christ's crucifixion as the Passover Lamb occurred on the Jewish Feast of Passover; His being in the grave occurred on the Feast of Unleavened Bread; and His Resurrection occurred on the Feast of First Fruits, or as it was later called, Easter.

The Apostle Paul wrote in First Corinthians 5:7-8 "For even Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." First Corinthians 15:20 "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."

Constantine wanted a common date to celebrate Easter, and insisted the date be on a Sunday in the Roman solar calendar. This effectively ended the original method of determining the date, which was by asking Jewish rabbis each year when the Passover Feast was to be observed based on the Hebrew lunar calendar - traditionally beginning the evening of 14th day of Nissan.

Constantine's act was a defining moment in the split between what had been a predominately Jewish Christian Church -- as Jesus and his disciples were Jewish -- and the emerging Gentile Christian Church. The new method of determining the date of Easter was the first Sunday after the first paschal full moon falling on or after the Spring Equinox.

Tables were compiled with the future dates of Easter, but over time a slight discrepancy became evident. "Equinox" is a solar calendar term: "equi" = "equal" and "nox" = "night." Thus "equinox" is when the daytime and nighttime are of equal duration. It occurs once in the Spring around March 20 and once in the Autumn around September 22. In the year 325 AD, Easter was on March 21. During the Middle Ages, France celebrated its New Year Day on Easter. Other countries began their New Year on Christmas, December 25, and still others on Annunciation Day, March 25.

How the Birth of Jesus affected the Calendar (DVD)

By 1582, it became clear that the Julian Calendar was slightly inaccurate, by about 11 minutes per year, resulting in the compiled tables having the date of Easter ten days ahead of the Spring Equinox, and even further from its origins in the Jewish Passover.

In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII decided to revise the calendar by eliminating ten days. He set a leap year every 4th year with a minor adjustment. There is NO leap year in years divisible by 100, but not by 400. Thus, there is NO leap days in 1700, 1800, 1900, 2100. Yet there ARE leap days in the years 1600, 2000, 2400. It sounds complicated, but it is so accurate that the Gregorian Calendar is the most internationally used calendar today.

Pope Gregory's "Gregorian Calendar" also returned the beginning of the new year BACK to Julius Caesar's January 1st date. As England was an Anglican Protestant country, it reluctantly postponed adopting the more accurate Catholic Gregorian Calendar.

Most of Protestant Europe did not adopt the Gregorian Calendar for nearly two centuries. This gave rise to some interesting record keeping. For example: ships would leave Protestant England on one date according to the Julian Calendar, called "Old Style" and arrive in Catholic Europe at an earlier date, as much of Europe was using the Gregorian Calendar, called "New Style."

Another example is that England's William Shakespeare and Spain's Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote of La Mancha. They died on the same date, April 23, 1616, but when the differences between England's Julian Calendar and Spain's Gregorian Calendar are removed, Cervantes actually died ten days before Shakespeare.

In 1752, England and its colonies finally adopted the Gregorian Calendar, but by that time there was an 11 day discrepancy between the "Old Style" (OS) and the "New Style" (NS). When America finally adjusted its calendar, the day after September 2, 1752 (Old Style), became September 14, 1752 (New Style). There were reportedly accounts of confusion and rioting.

As countries of Western Europe, particularly Portuguese, Spanish, French, Dutch and English, began to trade and establish colonies around the world, the Gregorian Calendar came into international use around the globe.

MIRACULOUS MILESTONES in Science, Medicine & Innovation - And the Faith of Those Who Achieved Them

All dates in the world are either BC "Before Christ" or AD "Anno Domini" -- meaning in the Year of the Lord's Reign. In the late 19th century and early 20th centuries, secularists in academia popularized the use of BCE - "Before Common Era" and CE "Common Era." The futile nature of their effort is displayed with the question: When did the recording of time change from Before Common Era to Common Era? The answer is, the birth of Christ. In their attempt to ignore Christ they are, nonetheless, forced to acknowledge Him.

England's Henry VIII made the Anglican Church the country's established denomination in 1534. As in other nations, the government proceeded to impose state-approved beliefs, demanding uniformity of doctrine and services, thus restricting the freedoms of conscience, speech, and expression.

During this time, Christian dissenters, nonconformists, separatists, such as Puritans, Presbyterians, Quakers, Anabaptists, and Catholics, fled from England to other European countries, or to the colonies in America. Jews were expelled from England in 1290 by Edward I and not allowed back in till Oliver Cromwell in 1657.

Dissenters who remained in England practiced their faith in secret, sometimes suffering the intolerance judges in court, open government persecution, and even martyrdom.

In 1625, a type of Sunday school catechism song came into use to teach children Christian doctrine, titled "In Those Twelve Days," where a spiritual meaning was assigned to each day.

IN THOSE TWELVE DAYS (1625) Chorus: In those twelve days, and in those twelve days, let us be glad, For God of his power hath all things made. 1. What is that which is but one? What is that which is but one? We have but one God alone In Heaven above sits on his throne. Chorus 2. What are they which are but two? What are they which are but two? Two Testaments, as we are told, The one is New and the other Old. Chorus 3. What are they that are but three? What are they that are but three? Three persons in the Trinity, The Father, Son, and Ghost Holy. Chorus 4. What are they that are but four? What are they that are but four? Four Gospels written true, John, Luke, Mark, and Matthew. Chorus 5. What are they that are but five? What are they that are but five? Five senses we have to tell, God grant us grace to use them well. Chorus 6. What are they that are but six? What are they that are but six? Six ages this world shall last, Five of them are gone and past. Chorus 7. What are they that are but seven? What are they that are but seven? Seven days in the week have we, Six to work and the seventh holy. Chorus 8. What are they that are but eight? What are they that are but eight? Eight beatitudes are given, Use them well and go to Heaven. Chorus 9. What are they that are but nine? What are they that are but nine? Nine degrees of Angels high Which praise God continually. Chorus 10. What are they that are but ten? What are they that are but ten? Ten Commandments God hath given, Keep them right and go to Heaven. Chorus 11. What are they that are but eleven? What are they that are but eleven? Eleven thousand virgins did partake And suffered death for Jesus' sake. Chorus 12. What are they that are but twelve? What are they that are but twelve? Twelve Apostles Christ did chuse To preach the Gospel to the Jews. Chorus

Though it cannot be proven, the song, "In Those Twelve Days," is thought by many to have been the precursor to the English folk song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas," first printed in London in 1780, in the children's book, Mirth without Mischief. An explanation of the song's possible meanings are: My True Love = God Himself 1. Partridge = Jesus Christ (A partridge will feign injury to decoy predators from helpless nestlings - "He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities." Isaiah 53:5) Pear Tree = Cross 2. Turtle Doves = Old & New Testaments 3. French Hens = Faith, Hope & Love 4. Calling Birds = Four Gospels 5. Golden Rings = Pentateuch-First 5 Books of Bible 6. Geese A-Laying = Six Days of Creation 7. Swans a-Swimming = Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit 8, Maids A-Milking = Eight Beatitudes 9. Ladies Dancing = Nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit 10. Lords A-Leaping = Ten Commandments 11. Pipers Piping = Eleven Faithful Apostles 12. Drummers = Twelve Points in Apostles Creed