Pages

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

How to get the best deal on an all inclusive package

2011-22-February   
When it comes to all inclusive vacations, this is the question most people want the answer to: 'When should I book to get the best deal?'

To clarify, 'all inclusive' in this case refers to a package with flight, hotel, food, and drinks and 99% of the time it's to Cuba, Mexico, or the Dominican, AKA the Big 3 of all inclusive traveling. Some people like to throw around the term 'all inclusive' when referring to a flight and hotel (only) package to Vegas or Hawaii or other destinations. To most people though (at least in Canada), the term all inclusive involves food and drinks.

I think it's important to understand exactly what your options are when looking for an all inclusive package. It may seem like there's an overwhelming variety of places to search and scour, but in reality there's really only 2 worlds of prices available to us Canadians.

World #1 - The Canadian Tour Operators(ie: Sunwing, Transat Holidays, Nolitours, WestjetVacations, etc)

If you've ever searched for an all inclusive vacation on a Canadian based site like RedTag, SellOffVacations, ITravel2000, Escapes, FlightCentre, or FlightNetwork you were searching for prices from the Canadian tour operators. To save my fingers from some typing, I'm going to refer to them as the CTO's from this point on.

Monday, October 7, 2013

葡萄树,风树与耶稣的比喻

1)后院的葡萄今年已经是第三个年头了。忽然发现有一个枝子上长了一些细小的豆豆在上面。绿绿的,不仔细看都看不见。妻说:是花;我有一种预感:那些就是葡萄。几个星期以后,妻去了中国,那些绿色的小豆豆越变越大,当他们有绿豆大小的时候,我就在电话里肯定的告诉妻:我们家的葡萄结果了。

2)麦特是我的邻居,他家有颗巨大的沉香树(也叫风树,根据树的特征判定,未经专家考证。),除了树根和部分主干在他家外,其他部分都长到了我的院子里了。夏天有它来遮凉,整个driveway和半个屋顶都可以受益;冬天叶子落了以后也不挡阳光,中午的时候,整个客厅洒满金色。只是每年秋季,遍地的落叶和断枝,扫不尽,清不完。

3)约翰福音15:5 主耶稣说:“我是葡萄树,你们是枝子。常在我里面的,我也常在他里面,这人就多结果子;因为离了我,你们就不能做什么。”

于是,这里就产生一个问题:在教会里,我们有牧师,执事会,小组,信徒。是不是可以这样讲:信徒需要与小组相连,团结在小组长周围;小组长要与执事会相连,团结在执事会主席和牧师周围,牧者带领整个教会,与耶稣基督相连。好像叶子要与小枝相连,小枝子们要与粗枝子相连,粗枝子要与大枝子相连,大枝子再与树干相连。主耶稣的养分由树干通过粗枝子传给细枝子,再传给叶子。好像很逻辑。

但麦特家折断的树枝让我产生疑问:大枝子断了,小枝子就没选择的要死掉。主耶稣是这这个意思吗?

我们再查考主耶稣所说的:“我是葡萄树,你们是枝子。” 我又到后院仔细观察葡萄树,于是恍然大悟:原来葡萄树的枝叶是直接与树干相连的,根本就没有粗枝与细枝之分。主耶稣是要我们直接与祂相连,而教会就是普天下基督徒聚会的地方。这样也就不存在粗枝子断了,小枝子和叶子就死了。圣经上的话一点一划都不能改变,真的是千真万确呀。