I just finished reading an excellent book by David W. Bercot entitled, "Will The Real Heretics Please Stand Up; A New Look at Today's Evangelical Church in the Light of Early Christianity".
Mr. Bercot, like me, has a big interest in the so-called "Church Fathers" of the 1st and 2nd centuries. His reasoning is that since these Christians had a living link to Jesus and the Apostles that their testimony for how early Christianity operated is highly valuable. What he set out to do is to show just how far removed the modern Christian Evangelical movement is from early Christianity. What we discover is that even those who claim they are "conservative" would be considered spiritually weak in the early church. I particularly enjoyed the section on baptism and what it meant for them to "carry the cross".
Later in the book it discusses how Christianity became corrupted. Really it wasn't so much early apostate sects like the Gnostics or external persecution. The congregation had stood firm against these things for many years. But the church was broken when it disregarded Jesus' advice to be "no part of the world". When it sided with the Roman government it was all over. It was through that means that Satan weakened the congregations and then introduced moral corruption, foreign concepts and unbiblical ideas.
The only criticism I have of this book is that it skirts around the issue of the trinity doctrine. From my reading and research it is apparent that the early Christians believed that though the Father and the Son had the same essence or quality that they were seperate beings. The Father was greater than the Son, as Jesus had expressed. "When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome" by Richard Rubenstein does good job of showing how the trinity concept became the official doctrine of the Catholic Church.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Rock or Sand?
“Therefore everyone that hears these sayings of mine and does them will be likened to a discreet man, who built his house upon the rock-mass. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and lashed against that house, but it did not cave in, for it had been founded upon the rock-mass. Furthermore, everyone hearing these sayings of mine and not doing them will be likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain poured down and the floods came and the winds blew and struck against that house and it caved in, and its collapse was great.” Matthew 7:24-27
Last night I had the privilege to talk to a couple of sisters who are having great difficulties in their life. For them the rain has poured down, the flood is coming in, and the wind is howling at the door.
For one of these sisters the problem is a financial one and due to gross injustice in the world she is suffering. While it would be a mistake to say that she isn't anxious over her situation it would be wrong to say that she is fearful of the hurricane that is about to rip through her life. I admire her faith and when she tells me, "I'm not scared" I sincerely believe her.
Sadly she has been abandoned in her time of need by those who should be blood bound to take care of her. I think of David who was no stranger to adversity and I secretly wonder if there will ever come a time that finds us running around and living in caves like David - our house having turned on us. But should I really wonder when the Lord Jesus tells Christians to expect that very thing? "Indeed, a man’s enemies will be persons of his own household." (Matthew 10:36) As for David I doubt any of us could match the beauty of the lyrics to his song recorded at Psalm 27.
Today, in particular those who hope in Jehovah and those who follow the sayings of His son are being targeted by the accuser and his children on the earth. (Rev 12:10) But no one said that this Christian life would be easy. To the contrary our master Jesus asks us point blank at Matthew 20:10, "Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" He tells us, "pick up [your] torture stake day after day and follow me." (Luke 9:22,23) Following Jesus does not come without hardship and sometimes it may even mean that we have no place to lay down our head. (Luke 9:58)
But the storm of such tribulation can be met as courageously as Jesus met it. And though our house may shake a little bit in the driving wind and battering rain, and though we may startle at the crack of thunder we are confident when the morning star shines our house will still be standing; that is if our house is built on faith - faith in the Son and faith in the Father who sent him.
We are in a long-distance race "pursuing down toward the goal for the upward call of God by means of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:1) And as is true with physical marathon anyone who wishes to run such a spiritual race must build up endurance - not just in the short stretch but in the long haul. The scriptures constantly motivate us toward endurance as is found in James 1:2,3, "Consider it all joy, my brothers, when YOU meet with various trials, knowing as YOU do that this tested quality of YOUR faith works out endurance."
The Bible book of Revelation prophetically calls for a special time for endurance in the future. It speaks of a period when a worldwide government, symbolized by a seven headed wild beast, will put under compulsion all persons of the earth to receive its "mark" by submitting to its rule and rejecting the Kingdom of God. Regarding this the prophecy reads, "And it [the wild beast] puts under compulsion all persons, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they should give these a mark in their right hand or upon their forehead, and that nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name." - Revelation 13:16,17
This prophecy indicates tests and trials for all for those who will not worship this beast-like Government and will remain loyal to God's Kingdom. We can only imagine what financial hardships will come upon those who would are not able to participate in the day-to-day commerce of buying and selling. Revelation 14:9 therefore contains a call for endurance saying, "Here is where it means endurance for the holy ones, those who observe the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
Each day we are given opportunities to build this kind of endurance and faith. But too often we may find that we have spent a lot of time, perhaps all of our lives, building a hollow, lifeless faith - a sand foundation that can in no way last what is to come upon us. We may have built a beautiful sand castle. It looks impressive and yet when the waves wash ashore it instantly dissolves. If water has that effect how then will it be when the day of fire comes upon us? (2 Peter 3:5-7)
Going back to our starting scripture Matthew 7:24-27 our foundation is built on hearing and then doing the sayings of Jesus Christ. Paul says this same thing to the Corinthian congregation, "For no man can lay any other foundation than what is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood materials, hay, stubble, each one’s work will become manifest, for the day will show it up, because it will be revealed by means of fire; and the fire itself will prove what sort of work each one’s is. If anyone’s work that he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved; yet, if so, [it will be] as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-14)
The second sister I talked to is going through a difficult time in discovering that her foundation might not be as solid as she had once thought. I hesitate to put words in her mouth so I will speak of my own example as it is somewhat similar and in doing so I will attempt to be sensitive to those who read this. I was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses and was taught many wonderful Bible truths from an early age. I was excited by the resurrection hope and the thought of living forever in a paradise on Earth. I recognized a God of love who sent his own son to die for us. I was also given a Bible based moral code to live by and while I had my failings all and all I lived a life morally elevated from those around me. Too I was also raised with a set of works that was ingrained in me from an early age - most Witnesses can easily recite this recipe for everlasting life, that is, meeting attendance, field service, personal study, Bible reading, and prayer. I did all of those things - sometimes a lot and sometimes less and occasionally not at all.
The one thing I lacked was endurance. It was not uncommon for me to pioneer for many months and then quickly become irregular in service or I would have a spurt of meeting attendance and then suddenly become absent. I had a history of numerous failed Bible reading programs. (As a result I think I have probably read Genesis more than any other book of the Bible) My prayers were spotty, hit and miss, and normally relegated to times when I felt that I needed something, mostly material. It just didn't seem like I could maintain any one area let alone manage them all.
And even when I was doing these things it was rather hollow and mechanical. The extent of my personal study was underlining a Watchtower magazine. My Bible reading was covering a prescribed amount of chapters each day and counting them down like a prison sentence. When I prayed to God I resorted to a standard set of clichés, saying the same things over and over again. My ministry activity was just passing out literature or quickly blasting through a thirty-second sermon without ever really getting to know my neighbor. And when I met together at Christian meetings I never used these opportunities for Christian fellowship. There too I missed opportunities to get to know my brothers and sisters and to demonstrate the love that was supposed to be the mark of true Christians (Hebrews 10:24,5; John 13:35)
Most of the time I just went through the motions and had fooled myself thinking that I as long as I was doing what was asked of me by an organization of men and fully relying on them that my future was secure. But the things that I was doing to build and demonstrate faith, while good and noble things, were just hay and stubble and sand. I did not have a foundation that would get me through even the smallest of life's problems, let alone the big things that shake us to our core.
One of those big things happened to me in 2004 and it resulted in my house not just giving way a bit but also completely collapsing. It feels weird to think of me then. As it is, I still remember anecdotally how it was for me and yet that person seems so foreign and strange. Was that really me who doubted the existence of God? Was that really me that flagrantly thumbed my nose at God's moral commands? My problem was when I lost my faith - I just didn't lose it a little - I lost every scrap of it. Sadly, a foundation that I had spent twenty-seven years building simply vanished overnight.
And yet here I am now by the grace (underserved kindness) of God assured of His love for me and determined to follow his commands and the words of His son, Jesus. My life has improved so much since then and in every way possible my spirituality has increased to levels I never knew. I don't blow my own horn for it was God who did the calling and the building up. As Paul put it, "You people are God's field under cultivation, God's building." (1 Corinthians 3:9) and again, "For YOU behold his calling of YOU, brothers, that not many wise in a fleshly way were called, not many powerful, not many of noble birth; but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put the wise men to shame; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put the strong things to shame; and God chose the ignoble things of the world and the things looked down upon, the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are, in order that no flesh might boast in the sight of God. But it is due to him that YOU are in union with Christ Jesus, who has become to us wisdom from God, also righteousness and sanctification and release by ransom; that it may be just as it is written: “He that boasts, let him boast in Jehovah.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)
Now in retrospect I can see why things went wrong for me. My faith was exclusively in imperfect men. I didn't listen to God who told me again and again and again at Psalms 146:3 "Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs." and yet it was in these noble men that I absolutely staked my salvation. It is so easy to become of follower of men because to some extent it relieves us of any obligation to answer for our own decisions. At 2 Corinthians 13:5 we are told to, Keep testing whether YOU are in the faith, keep proving what YOU yourselves are.. Unfortunately we can rely too much on others to prove to us "whether we are in the faith" and focus ourselves in "pleasing men". (Galatians 1:10) After all it is men who attempt to make us accountable to them, it is men that we can see, and sadly it is these men who can become an idol standing in the way and blocking our vision to "the spiritual realities not beheld" - these very men cutting us off from the "kingdom of the heavens" (Hebrews 11:1; Matthew 23:13) Here we are living the hour, "when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth." and yet we still are tempted worship through the physical people, places, and things as if Jesus never came to earth and showed us the better way. (John 4:21) And although Jesus Christ set us free from law we still seek to gain salvation by an extensive set of rules, codes, and structured systems of works. This can become a "yoke of slavery" that can prevent us from "walking by spirit" in the very same way it proved to be a fatal stumbling block for many Christians in the 1st century. (Galatians 5:1,16-18) All of this constitutes "a form of godly devotion" and yet it is completely powerless and ineffectual. (2 Timothy 3:5)
It is not uncommon upon making these realizations to ask a hard question, "Where should I should I go now?" I asked that question and I'm sure that I wasn't the first nor will I be the last. Some who discover that their system of worship may be flawed are quick to hastily exchange it for another system of worship that is even more flawed then the one they left behind. To me this is contrary to the words of our Lord, Jesus Christ and our obligation to those related to us in the faith.
I ask this, If I were to say, "I'm in the Truth", what would that mean to you? Well you may relate "the truth" to our organization, our religion. But "the truth" as presented in the Bible is none other than Jesus. For Jesus says at John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." We would be quite foolish to attempt to come to the Father through men or an organization when Jesus is the only way. And to say that we are "in the truth" should only mean one thing to us - that we are "in union with Christ" (Galatians 3:26-29)
Again we may ask the question, "Where should we go?" However in truth it is not really a question as to where to go as it is a question of to whom to go to. The apostle Peter answers thusly, "Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life" (John 6:68) How wonderful it is to come to know our Heavenly Father through His representative, Jesus! (John 5:43) How can one not be impressed with the qualities that Jesus displayed, in particular his love and his selflessnes? It was in these things that Jesus set the example and the path for us, such as it is written in 1 Peter 2:21 "In fact, to this [course] YOU were called, because even Christ suffered for YOU, leaving YOU a model for YOU to follow his steps closely. He committed no sin, nor was deception found in his mouth."
We recognize that the brotherhood that we love so much does not belong to a legal body or any men taking the lead among us; but rather it belongs to Christ who is the head of the congregation. (Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:12,13) Having affection for Jesus means taking care of those whom he loves and we show this by tenderly feeding and shepherding his little sheep. (John 21:15-17) Each and every occasion for gathering together as Christians provides us a beautiful opportunity to build each other’s faith, to encourage one another and "incite to love and fine works". (Hebrews 10:24,25) We strive to provide a good example of Godly conduct so that others can imitate our faith. (Hebrews 13:7) Doing so we build our own foundation by doing the words of Jesus and at the same time we help others to build a solid foundation of faith. Not that we as imperfect men become masters over the faith of others but our aim is to help others stand by means of their own faith. (2 Corinthians 1:24)
So for me I found that after going to the Father through Jesus I really had nowhere else that I needed to go. I was blessed to be in association with a group of people of who for the most part are generally interested in God and the Bible. I'm happy to attend the spiritual meetings and minister on their behalf and serve shoulder to shoulder with them as God's fellow workers in the ministry work. My hope is that in some small way I could serve them, to impart some spiritual gift, and to have a real "interchange of encouragement" through mutual expressions of faith. (Romans 1:11,12). There is an urgency in this because I realize there may come a time when I'm not able to. (John 16:2) In the meantime, I try my best to keep in mind Paul's words at Galatian 6:10, "Really, then, as long as we have time favorable for it, let us work what is good toward all, but especially toward those related to [us] in the faith."
Last night I had the privilege to talk to a couple of sisters who are having great difficulties in their life. For them the rain has poured down, the flood is coming in, and the wind is howling at the door.
For one of these sisters the problem is a financial one and due to gross injustice in the world she is suffering. While it would be a mistake to say that she isn't anxious over her situation it would be wrong to say that she is fearful of the hurricane that is about to rip through her life. I admire her faith and when she tells me, "I'm not scared" I sincerely believe her.
Sadly she has been abandoned in her time of need by those who should be blood bound to take care of her. I think of David who was no stranger to adversity and I secretly wonder if there will ever come a time that finds us running around and living in caves like David - our house having turned on us. But should I really wonder when the Lord Jesus tells Christians to expect that very thing? "Indeed, a man’s enemies will be persons of his own household." (Matthew 10:36) As for David I doubt any of us could match the beauty of the lyrics to his song recorded at Psalm 27.
"Jehovah is my light and my salvation.
Of whom shall I be in fear?
Jehovah is the stronghold of my life.
Of whom shall I be in dread?
...
In case my own father and my own mother did leave me,
Even Jehovah himself would take me up.
...
Hope in Jehovah; be courageous and let your heart be strong.
Yes, hope in Jehovah."
Of whom shall I be in fear?
Jehovah is the stronghold of my life.
Of whom shall I be in dread?
...
In case my own father and my own mother did leave me,
Even Jehovah himself would take me up.
...
Hope in Jehovah; be courageous and let your heart be strong.
Yes, hope in Jehovah."
Today, in particular those who hope in Jehovah and those who follow the sayings of His son are being targeted by the accuser and his children on the earth. (Rev 12:10) But no one said that this Christian life would be easy. To the contrary our master Jesus asks us point blank at Matthew 20:10, "Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" He tells us, "pick up [your] torture stake day after day and follow me." (Luke 9:22,23) Following Jesus does not come without hardship and sometimes it may even mean that we have no place to lay down our head. (Luke 9:58)
But the storm of such tribulation can be met as courageously as Jesus met it. And though our house may shake a little bit in the driving wind and battering rain, and though we may startle at the crack of thunder we are confident when the morning star shines our house will still be standing; that is if our house is built on faith - faith in the Son and faith in the Father who sent him.
We are in a long-distance race "pursuing down toward the goal for the upward call of God by means of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:1) And as is true with physical marathon anyone who wishes to run such a spiritual race must build up endurance - not just in the short stretch but in the long haul. The scriptures constantly motivate us toward endurance as is found in James 1:2,3, "Consider it all joy, my brothers, when YOU meet with various trials, knowing as YOU do that this tested quality of YOUR faith works out endurance."
The Bible book of Revelation prophetically calls for a special time for endurance in the future. It speaks of a period when a worldwide government, symbolized by a seven headed wild beast, will put under compulsion all persons of the earth to receive its "mark" by submitting to its rule and rejecting the Kingdom of God. Regarding this the prophecy reads, "And it [the wild beast] puts under compulsion all persons, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free and the slaves, that they should give these a mark in their right hand or upon their forehead, and that nobody might be able to buy or sell except a person having the mark, the name of the wild beast or the number of its name." - Revelation 13:16,17
This prophecy indicates tests and trials for all for those who will not worship this beast-like Government and will remain loyal to God's Kingdom. We can only imagine what financial hardships will come upon those who would are not able to participate in the day-to-day commerce of buying and selling. Revelation 14:9 therefore contains a call for endurance saying, "Here is where it means endurance for the holy ones, those who observe the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.”
Each day we are given opportunities to build this kind of endurance and faith. But too often we may find that we have spent a lot of time, perhaps all of our lives, building a hollow, lifeless faith - a sand foundation that can in no way last what is to come upon us. We may have built a beautiful sand castle. It looks impressive and yet when the waves wash ashore it instantly dissolves. If water has that effect how then will it be when the day of fire comes upon us? (2 Peter 3:5-7)
Going back to our starting scripture Matthew 7:24-27 our foundation is built on hearing and then doing the sayings of Jesus Christ. Paul says this same thing to the Corinthian congregation, "For no man can lay any other foundation than what is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood materials, hay, stubble, each one’s work will become manifest, for the day will show it up, because it will be revealed by means of fire; and the fire itself will prove what sort of work each one’s is. If anyone’s work that he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved; yet, if so, [it will be] as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-14)
The second sister I talked to is going through a difficult time in discovering that her foundation might not be as solid as she had once thought. I hesitate to put words in her mouth so I will speak of my own example as it is somewhat similar and in doing so I will attempt to be sensitive to those who read this. I was raised as one of Jehovah's Witnesses and was taught many wonderful Bible truths from an early age. I was excited by the resurrection hope and the thought of living forever in a paradise on Earth. I recognized a God of love who sent his own son to die for us. I was also given a Bible based moral code to live by and while I had my failings all and all I lived a life morally elevated from those around me. Too I was also raised with a set of works that was ingrained in me from an early age - most Witnesses can easily recite this recipe for everlasting life, that is, meeting attendance, field service, personal study, Bible reading, and prayer. I did all of those things - sometimes a lot and sometimes less and occasionally not at all.
The one thing I lacked was endurance. It was not uncommon for me to pioneer for many months and then quickly become irregular in service or I would have a spurt of meeting attendance and then suddenly become absent. I had a history of numerous failed Bible reading programs. (As a result I think I have probably read Genesis more than any other book of the Bible) My prayers were spotty, hit and miss, and normally relegated to times when I felt that I needed something, mostly material. It just didn't seem like I could maintain any one area let alone manage them all.
And even when I was doing these things it was rather hollow and mechanical. The extent of my personal study was underlining a Watchtower magazine. My Bible reading was covering a prescribed amount of chapters each day and counting them down like a prison sentence. When I prayed to God I resorted to a standard set of clichés, saying the same things over and over again. My ministry activity was just passing out literature or quickly blasting through a thirty-second sermon without ever really getting to know my neighbor. And when I met together at Christian meetings I never used these opportunities for Christian fellowship. There too I missed opportunities to get to know my brothers and sisters and to demonstrate the love that was supposed to be the mark of true Christians (Hebrews 10:24,5; John 13:35)
Most of the time I just went through the motions and had fooled myself thinking that I as long as I was doing what was asked of me by an organization of men and fully relying on them that my future was secure. But the things that I was doing to build and demonstrate faith, while good and noble things, were just hay and stubble and sand. I did not have a foundation that would get me through even the smallest of life's problems, let alone the big things that shake us to our core.
One of those big things happened to me in 2004 and it resulted in my house not just giving way a bit but also completely collapsing. It feels weird to think of me then. As it is, I still remember anecdotally how it was for me and yet that person seems so foreign and strange. Was that really me who doubted the existence of God? Was that really me that flagrantly thumbed my nose at God's moral commands? My problem was when I lost my faith - I just didn't lose it a little - I lost every scrap of it. Sadly, a foundation that I had spent twenty-seven years building simply vanished overnight.
And yet here I am now by the grace (underserved kindness) of God assured of His love for me and determined to follow his commands and the words of His son, Jesus. My life has improved so much since then and in every way possible my spirituality has increased to levels I never knew. I don't blow my own horn for it was God who did the calling and the building up. As Paul put it, "You people are God's field under cultivation, God's building." (1 Corinthians 3:9) and again, "For YOU behold his calling of YOU, brothers, that not many wise in a fleshly way were called, not many powerful, not many of noble birth; but God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put the wise men to shame; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put the strong things to shame; and God chose the ignoble things of the world and the things looked down upon, the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are, in order that no flesh might boast in the sight of God. But it is due to him that YOU are in union with Christ Jesus, who has become to us wisdom from God, also righteousness and sanctification and release by ransom; that it may be just as it is written: “He that boasts, let him boast in Jehovah.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)
Now in retrospect I can see why things went wrong for me. My faith was exclusively in imperfect men. I didn't listen to God who told me again and again and again at Psalms 146:3 "Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs." and yet it was in these noble men that I absolutely staked my salvation. It is so easy to become of follower of men because to some extent it relieves us of any obligation to answer for our own decisions. At 2 Corinthians 13:5 we are told to, Keep testing whether YOU are in the faith, keep proving what YOU yourselves are.. Unfortunately we can rely too much on others to prove to us "whether we are in the faith" and focus ourselves in "pleasing men". (Galatians 1:10) After all it is men who attempt to make us accountable to them, it is men that we can see, and sadly it is these men who can become an idol standing in the way and blocking our vision to "the spiritual realities not beheld" - these very men cutting us off from the "kingdom of the heavens" (Hebrews 11:1; Matthew 23:13) Here we are living the hour, "when the true worshipers will worship the Father with spirit and truth." and yet we still are tempted worship through the physical people, places, and things as if Jesus never came to earth and showed us the better way. (John 4:21) And although Jesus Christ set us free from law we still seek to gain salvation by an extensive set of rules, codes, and structured systems of works. This can become a "yoke of slavery" that can prevent us from "walking by spirit" in the very same way it proved to be a fatal stumbling block for many Christians in the 1st century. (Galatians 5:1,16-18) All of this constitutes "a form of godly devotion" and yet it is completely powerless and ineffectual. (2 Timothy 3:5)
It is not uncommon upon making these realizations to ask a hard question, "Where should I should I go now?" I asked that question and I'm sure that I wasn't the first nor will I be the last. Some who discover that their system of worship may be flawed are quick to hastily exchange it for another system of worship that is even more flawed then the one they left behind. To me this is contrary to the words of our Lord, Jesus Christ and our obligation to those related to us in the faith.
I ask this, If I were to say, "I'm in the Truth", what would that mean to you? Well you may relate "the truth" to our organization, our religion. But "the truth" as presented in the Bible is none other than Jesus. For Jesus says at John 14:6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." We would be quite foolish to attempt to come to the Father through men or an organization when Jesus is the only way. And to say that we are "in the truth" should only mean one thing to us - that we are "in union with Christ" (Galatians 3:26-29)
Again we may ask the question, "Where should we go?" However in truth it is not really a question as to where to go as it is a question of to whom to go to. The apostle Peter answers thusly, "Lord, whom shall we go away to? You have sayings of everlasting life" (John 6:68) How wonderful it is to come to know our Heavenly Father through His representative, Jesus! (John 5:43) How can one not be impressed with the qualities that Jesus displayed, in particular his love and his selflessnes? It was in these things that Jesus set the example and the path for us, such as it is written in 1 Peter 2:21 "In fact, to this [course] YOU were called, because even Christ suffered for YOU, leaving YOU a model for YOU to follow his steps closely. He committed no sin, nor was deception found in his mouth."
We recognize that the brotherhood that we love so much does not belong to a legal body or any men taking the lead among us; but rather it belongs to Christ who is the head of the congregation. (Colossians 1:18; 1 Corinthians 1:12,13) Having affection for Jesus means taking care of those whom he loves and we show this by tenderly feeding and shepherding his little sheep. (John 21:15-17) Each and every occasion for gathering together as Christians provides us a beautiful opportunity to build each other’s faith, to encourage one another and "incite to love and fine works". (Hebrews 10:24,25) We strive to provide a good example of Godly conduct so that others can imitate our faith. (Hebrews 13:7) Doing so we build our own foundation by doing the words of Jesus and at the same time we help others to build a solid foundation of faith. Not that we as imperfect men become masters over the faith of others but our aim is to help others stand by means of their own faith. (2 Corinthians 1:24)
So for me I found that after going to the Father through Jesus I really had nowhere else that I needed to go. I was blessed to be in association with a group of people of who for the most part are generally interested in God and the Bible. I'm happy to attend the spiritual meetings and minister on their behalf and serve shoulder to shoulder with them as God's fellow workers in the ministry work. My hope is that in some small way I could serve them, to impart some spiritual gift, and to have a real "interchange of encouragement" through mutual expressions of faith. (Romans 1:11,12). There is an urgency in this because I realize there may come a time when I'm not able to. (John 16:2) In the meantime, I try my best to keep in mind Paul's words at Galatian 6:10, "Really, then, as long as we have time favorable for it, let us work what is good toward all, but especially toward those related to [us] in the faith."
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Under the knife, the chisel, the file, the drill ...
Yesterday I had my dentist appointment to remove two very, very bad teeth. The oral surgery went well enough - the worst part being the numerous numbing shots in my gums and the roof of my mouth. My wisdom tooth came out rather quickly. It came in about five years ago and broke off at the gum line. The doctor then went to work on my abcessed tooth. I felt a little pain so we went with another round of shots that left me slackjawed. It took alot of work to get out the tooth out. I left with two prescriptions for pain medicine and my disgusting, corrupted teeth in a little envelope. It wasn't a bad experience and the dentist was nice enough - I would definately go there again but let's hope I don't have to!
Monday, February 20, 2006
New Bible
I've decided to read the Christian-Greek Scriptures through again. (As opposed to my normal routine of reading Revelation over and over and over again.) I read a nice suggestion in the past to read-through using different Bible translations so on Friday at the book store I took some time to check out a couple versions. In particular I looked at a parallel Bible that contained two very popular versions of the Bible, the New International Version (NIV) as well as the "The Message" paraphrase. Since we are currently studying Galatians I read through it in both versions.
The Message Bible was incredibly loose in how it rendered things and was greatly coloured by the translators bias. For instance when Paul enumerates the works of the flesh in Galatians chapter 5, "The Message Bible" subsituted, "repetitive, loveless, cheap sex;" for fornication. Instead of reflecting the Spirit of God the Message Bible reflects the spirit of the world, the improper idea that sex outside of marriage is ok so long as the couple loves each other. Sadly The Message Bible is extremely popular today, especially among young people.
I settled on the NIV translation which seems to be pretty good although I don't like how God's name is removed from the Hebrew Scriptures. Right now I really looking forward to going through the scriptures again. Last night in Matthew I was just absolutely floored by the beauty of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. I was really encouraged by verses 10-12 of chapter 5.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
The Message Bible was incredibly loose in how it rendered things and was greatly coloured by the translators bias. For instance when Paul enumerates the works of the flesh in Galatians chapter 5, "The Message Bible" subsituted, "repetitive, loveless, cheap sex;" for fornication. Instead of reflecting the Spirit of God the Message Bible reflects the spirit of the world, the improper idea that sex outside of marriage is ok so long as the couple loves each other. Sadly The Message Bible is extremely popular today, especially among young people.
I settled on the NIV translation which seems to be pretty good although I don't like how God's name is removed from the Hebrew Scriptures. Right now I really looking forward to going through the scriptures again. Last night in Matthew I was just absolutely floored by the beauty of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. I was really encouraged by verses 10-12 of chapter 5.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.
Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."
Friday, February 17, 2006
Rough Night
Romans 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written: “For your sake we are being put to death all day long, we have been accounted as sheep for slaughtering.” 37 To the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through him that loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers 39 nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Abcessed Tooth = No iMac
About six months ago I was eating a sandwich at Quizno's and chunk of my tooth broke out. (The bread was really, really hard.) Since then little ugly brown bits have continued to come out until I now have half of a tooth. A few months back I had this awful dull feeling that was nauseating - I gave it a couple days while I debated going to the dentist. The pain went away and cancelled my appointment. Well now the pain is back 100-fold. Last Friday greeted me an intense stabbing feeling on one of my molars.
I went to dentist tonight for the first time in 6 years and I got an x-ray that determined that my tooth was horribly abcessed and that I would need a root canal. I declined the root canal - heard to many awful things about them. So now I'm up for oral surgery in a week or so. In the meantime I've got antibiotics for the infection and vicodin for the blinding pain.
So I guess this means no new iMac for my sorry self.
Sorry for sounding so pathetic and loopy ...
... must be the vicodin kicking in. smiley face. winky emoticon.
I went to dentist tonight for the first time in 6 years and I got an x-ray that determined that my tooth was horribly abcessed and that I would need a root canal. I declined the root canal - heard to many awful things about them. So now I'm up for oral surgery in a week or so. In the meantime I've got antibiotics for the infection and vicodin for the blinding pain.
So I guess this means no new iMac for my sorry self.
Sorry for sounding so pathetic and loopy ...
... must be the vicodin kicking in. smiley face. winky emoticon.
A Pale Horse
A CNN news article Bird flu 'could take 142m lives' summarized a report entitled Global Macroeconomic Consequences of Pandemic Influenza by Sydney Australia's Lowry Institute. Therein it suggests a mild pandemic could kill 1.4 million people while a "worst case" pandemic would take 142 million lives, dwarfing the Spanish Flu of 1918.
Now the question is this a legimate assessment or fear-mongering? Time will tell.
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice as of thunder: "Come!" ... And I saw, and, look! a pale horse; and the one seated upon it had the name Death. And Hades was closely following him. And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill ... with deadly plague." - Revelation 6:1,8
"He that bears witness of these things says, 'Yes; I am coming quickly.'"
"Amen! Come, Lord Jesus." - Revelation 22:20
Now the question is this a legimate assessment or fear-mongering? Time will tell.
"And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say with a voice as of thunder: "Come!" ... And I saw, and, look! a pale horse; and the one seated upon it had the name Death. And Hades was closely following him. And authority was given them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill ... with deadly plague." - Revelation 6:1,8
"He that bears witness of these things says, 'Yes; I am coming quickly.'"
"Amen! Come, Lord Jesus." - Revelation 22:20
Monday, February 13, 2006
A Week In Photos
Sorry for the slow load times ..
Cliche Photo #1.
Mina is a tiger. (Even gasoline wouldn't take the face paint off.)
Can you dig it?
Waiting in line for the bus.
Mina's "dinner" at the California Grill. (California Grill is quite possibly the only 4-star restaurant where you can colour on the table cloth.)
Riding on the Caroussel.
Cliche Photo #2.
Eating ice cream.
Visiting the UK.
Our English cottage.
Poor man's LOMO.
Cliche Photo #1.
Mina is a tiger. (Even gasoline wouldn't take the face paint off.)
Can you dig it?
Waiting in line for the bus.
Mina's "dinner" at the California Grill. (California Grill is quite possibly the only 4-star restaurant where you can colour on the table cloth.)
Riding on the Caroussel.
Cliche Photo #2.
Eating ice cream.
Visiting the UK.
Our English cottage.
Poor man's LOMO.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
World War III
I woke up thinking on the upcoming world war, particularly how it is commonly felt by Jehovah's Witnesses that a nuclear World War III is Biblically impossible. The reasoning used is that such a war would mean the entire destruction of humanity and the earth and this would contradict what the Bible says about the longevity of the inhabited earth. (Isaiah 45:18; Ecclesiastes 1:4; Psalm 37:29)
This morning I fired up the Watchtower library CD-ROM to find where such a line of reasoning had its origins. It was surprising to discover that the Watchtower publications seem to have acknowledged the possibility of a third World War, even a nuclear one. In the 6/8/81 Awake! article, "Hope of Escaping World Destruction" the following was said "Will this nationalistic "pushing" match result in World War III? Possibly." Additionally the article acknowledged the Bible didn't specify whether an arms race would touch off World War III.
Perhaps the confusion then comes from the Reasoning book that presumes that a nuclear world war would equal the eradication of humanity and the earth. Under the subheading "Earth: Will planet Earth be destroyed in a nuclear war?" The question is raised: "Is there a possibility that, since the nations show little regard for God's purpose, they might completely ruin the earth for habitation anyway?" In answer the book says, "The nuclear power developed by the nations is fear inspiring to men. But billions of stars employ nuclear power on a scale that is beyond our ability to comprehend. Who created and controls all these heavenly bodies? Can He not prevent the nations from using their nuclear weapons in a way that would hinder his purpose? That God would do this is illustrated by his destroying the military power of Egypt when Pharaoh sought to stop the deliverance of Israel."
Such reasoning though is rooted in the old Cold War mentality of MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction). MAD was a component of the arms race between the US and the old Soviet Union that maintained a tense state of peace through the idea that if one country used nuclear weapons the other would quickly respond with equal force ensuring the mutual destruction of both. It was basically a "Mexican Standoff" stalemate with both countries pointing a loaded gun at the other. Commenting on the devastating affects of any such war a Soviet Union booklet stated, "The Soviet Union holds that nuclear war would be a universal disaster, and that it would most probably mean the end of civilization. It may lead to the destruction of all mankind"
However now in the 21st-century nuclear weapons are moving from being simply a deterrent to an active part of the modern military arsenal. Many of the larger cold war nuclear missiles systems have been dismantled and phased out in favor of the development of smaller, tactical nuclear devices. A BBC News article "Mini-nukes on US agenda" said "A new form of warfare is coming. It is the extension into the nuclear field of the highly accurate conventional bombs and missiles already in use."
Plans are already on the boards to use such nuclear devices immediately against Iran. The August 1, 2005 issue of the American Conservative commented, "The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons."
So all that stands between humanity and a nuclear war is another domestic terrorist attack. The likelihood of another terrorist attack was recently expressed by counterterrorist expert Juval Aviv. When asked "Do you believe another terrorist attack is likely on American soil?", Mr. Aviv answered, "I predict, based primarily on information that is floating in Europe and the Middle East, that an event is imminent and around the corner here in the United States. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could happen in the next few months. Ninety days at the most." (U.S. Terror Attack - 'Ninety Days at Most' - FoxNews.com) As it presently stands nuclear war is only a matter of time.
What does the future hold? Well God's Word predicted unparalleled time of great tribulation that will soon come upon the earth. This tribulation will be so bad that if it was not cut short humanity would not survive. "for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short." (Matthew 24:21,22)
Additionally Revelation 11:18 says that God's Kingdom, "will bring to ruin those ruining the earth" In that time in what way will humans be "ruining the earth"? Is it through pollution and environmental ruin as has been often stated? It appears to me that this scripture is specifically speaking of earth being ruined through violence. It is important to keep in mind that much of Revelation finds parallel in other parts of the inspired Bible. So we can compare Revelation 11:18 to Genesis chapter 6:11,12 which states the "And the earth came to be ruined in the sight of the true God and the earth became filled with violence. So God saw the earth and, look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the earth." Notice now the result in verse 13, "After that God said to Noah: "The end of all flesh has come before me, because the earth is full of violence as a result of them; and here I am bringing them to ruin together with the earth."
The days of Noah are directly comparable to the days leading up to Christ's coming.(Matthew 24:37,38) It would not be unreasonable to assume that the earth may be filled with violence just as in the days of Noah. Indeed a comparison or Revelation 11:18 to Genesis 6 give evidence that this will be the case. Jesus' words in Matthew 24:6 give indication that a period of wars will come before the time of the end. He says, "You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet."
Looking at the news it appears as if things are definitely heading toward a period that has been termed, "The Clash of Civilizations". The conflict between Islam and the West is strengthening and increased war and violence loom on the horizon. World War III appears to be right around the corner - or perhaps in retrospect it may have already started.
What can we do? I like how Jesus expresses it at Luke 21:34-36:
"But pay attention to yourselves that YOUR hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon YOU as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth. Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that YOU may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man."
Seriously give consideration to this. For instance how often have you prayed that you and your family will be delivered from the coming tribulations? How often have you heard someone in the congregation pray that we make escape these things? If your answer is, "not very often" or "never" then we really need to note that this scripture says that we should be making supplication "all the time".
This morning I fired up the Watchtower library CD-ROM to find where such a line of reasoning had its origins. It was surprising to discover that the Watchtower publications seem to have acknowledged the possibility of a third World War, even a nuclear one. In the 6/8/81 Awake! article, "Hope of Escaping World Destruction" the following was said "Will this nationalistic "pushing" match result in World War III? Possibly." Additionally the article acknowledged the Bible didn't specify whether an arms race would touch off World War III.
Perhaps the confusion then comes from the Reasoning book that presumes that a nuclear world war would equal the eradication of humanity and the earth. Under the subheading "Earth: Will planet Earth be destroyed in a nuclear war?" The question is raised: "Is there a possibility that, since the nations show little regard for God's purpose, they might completely ruin the earth for habitation anyway?" In answer the book says, "The nuclear power developed by the nations is fear inspiring to men. But billions of stars employ nuclear power on a scale that is beyond our ability to comprehend. Who created and controls all these heavenly bodies? Can He not prevent the nations from using their nuclear weapons in a way that would hinder his purpose? That God would do this is illustrated by his destroying the military power of Egypt when Pharaoh sought to stop the deliverance of Israel."
Such reasoning though is rooted in the old Cold War mentality of MAD (Mutual Assured Destruction). MAD was a component of the arms race between the US and the old Soviet Union that maintained a tense state of peace through the idea that if one country used nuclear weapons the other would quickly respond with equal force ensuring the mutual destruction of both. It was basically a "Mexican Standoff" stalemate with both countries pointing a loaded gun at the other. Commenting on the devastating affects of any such war a Soviet Union booklet stated, "The Soviet Union holds that nuclear war would be a universal disaster, and that it would most probably mean the end of civilization. It may lead to the destruction of all mankind"
However now in the 21st-century nuclear weapons are moving from being simply a deterrent to an active part of the modern military arsenal. Many of the larger cold war nuclear missiles systems have been dismantled and phased out in favor of the development of smaller, tactical nuclear devices. A BBC News article "Mini-nukes on US agenda" said "A new form of warfare is coming. It is the extension into the nuclear field of the highly accurate conventional bombs and missiles already in use."
Plans are already on the boards to use such nuclear devices immediately against Iran. The August 1, 2005 issue of the American Conservative commented, "The Pentagon, acting under instructions from Vice President Dick Cheney's office, has tasked the United States Strategic Command (STRATCOM) with drawing up a contingency plan to be employed in response to another 9/11-type terrorist attack on the United States. The plan includes a large-scale air assault on Iran employing both conventional and tactical nuclear weapons."
So all that stands between humanity and a nuclear war is another domestic terrorist attack. The likelihood of another terrorist attack was recently expressed by counterterrorist expert Juval Aviv. When asked "Do you believe another terrorist attack is likely on American soil?", Mr. Aviv answered, "I predict, based primarily on information that is floating in Europe and the Middle East, that an event is imminent and around the corner here in the United States. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, or it could happen in the next few months. Ninety days at the most." (U.S. Terror Attack - 'Ninety Days at Most' - FoxNews.com) As it presently stands nuclear war is only a matter of time.
What does the future hold? Well God's Word predicted unparalleled time of great tribulation that will soon come upon the earth. This tribulation will be so bad that if it was not cut short humanity would not survive. "for then there will be great tribulation such as has not occurred since the world's beginning until now, no, nor will occur again. In fact, unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved; but on account of the chosen ones those days will be cut short." (Matthew 24:21,22)
Additionally Revelation 11:18 says that God's Kingdom, "will bring to ruin those ruining the earth" In that time in what way will humans be "ruining the earth"? Is it through pollution and environmental ruin as has been often stated? It appears to me that this scripture is specifically speaking of earth being ruined through violence. It is important to keep in mind that much of Revelation finds parallel in other parts of the inspired Bible. So we can compare Revelation 11:18 to Genesis chapter 6:11,12 which states the "And the earth came to be ruined in the sight of the true God and the earth became filled with violence. So God saw the earth and, look! it was ruined, because all flesh had ruined its way on the earth." Notice now the result in verse 13, "After that God said to Noah: "The end of all flesh has come before me, because the earth is full of violence as a result of them; and here I am bringing them to ruin together with the earth."
The days of Noah are directly comparable to the days leading up to Christ's coming.(Matthew 24:37,38) It would not be unreasonable to assume that the earth may be filled with violence just as in the days of Noah. Indeed a comparison or Revelation 11:18 to Genesis 6 give evidence that this will be the case. Jesus' words in Matthew 24:6 give indication that a period of wars will come before the time of the end. He says, "You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars; see that you are not terrified. For these things must take place, but the end is not yet."
Looking at the news it appears as if things are definitely heading toward a period that has been termed, "The Clash of Civilizations". The conflict between Islam and the West is strengthening and increased war and violence loom on the horizon. World War III appears to be right around the corner - or perhaps in retrospect it may have already started.
What can we do? I like how Jesus expresses it at Luke 21:34-36:
"But pay attention to yourselves that YOUR hearts never become weighed down with overeating and heavy drinking and anxieties of life, and suddenly that day be instantly upon YOU as a snare. For it will come in upon all those dwelling upon the face of all the earth. Keep awake, then, all the time making supplication that YOU may succeed in escaping all these things that are destined to occur, and in standing before the Son of man."
Seriously give consideration to this. For instance how often have you prayed that you and your family will be delivered from the coming tribulations? How often have you heard someone in the congregation pray that we make escape these things? If your answer is, "not very often" or "never" then we really need to note that this scripture says that we should be making supplication "all the time".
Saturday, February 11, 2006
There and Back Again
We had our return flight today in the afternoon and it is good to be home. I missed associating with my friends quite a bit so it was excellent to jump right back in with a nice discussion on Galatians today. Galatians 2:6-9 gave me something to think about, how as sons of Abraham we are needing to imitate the faith of Abraham. I don't feel that I given enough attention to the example of Abraham.
Our trip was nice. The weather was usually chilly in the morning but pleasant in the afternoon. At first seven days seemed a bit drawn out but as the week progressed our touring pace dropped to more a relaxing jaunt. Highlights for me included an excellent dinner at California Grill, drinking and eating 'round the world at Epcot, and riding Expedition Everest at the Animal Kingdom over and over and over and over again.
California Grill is billed as market cuisine and I'm still unsure about what that means. They had a brand new menu when we went on Wednesday. We started the meal with cocktails while we ate the Quadruple Cheese Flat Bread with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Basil Pesto. For the first course Rebekah had Roasted Pumpkin Soup with pumpkin seed pesto and spiced creme fraiche. I don't really like pumpkin but I thought that it was pretty nice and little sweet. I ordered the usual sushi sampler as my first course. As always California Grill had great sushi. For the main course Rebekah got the Oak-fired Beef Filet with Potato and Gorgonzola Pave, Blue Lake beans, and Tamarind Barbecue Sauce. I ordered the Black Grouper with olive oil wrapped potatoes, piperade, merguez sausage and crispy rock shrimp. My grouper was crispy and excellent - all good except for the sausage, it was way too spicy and overpowering for how delicate the fish was. For desert we split Heirloom Apple Tart - Braeburn Apple and Brown Butter Tart - with autumn spiced-apple cider ice cream and caramel sauce. We were able to watch fireworks while dined which is always an added bonus.
Photo pictorial is forthcoming ...
Our trip was nice. The weather was usually chilly in the morning but pleasant in the afternoon. At first seven days seemed a bit drawn out but as the week progressed our touring pace dropped to more a relaxing jaunt. Highlights for me included an excellent dinner at California Grill, drinking and eating 'round the world at Epcot, and riding Expedition Everest at the Animal Kingdom over and over and over and over again.
California Grill is billed as market cuisine and I'm still unsure about what that means. They had a brand new menu when we went on Wednesday. We started the meal with cocktails while we ate the Quadruple Cheese Flat Bread with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Basil Pesto. For the first course Rebekah had Roasted Pumpkin Soup with pumpkin seed pesto and spiced creme fraiche. I don't really like pumpkin but I thought that it was pretty nice and little sweet. I ordered the usual sushi sampler as my first course. As always California Grill had great sushi. For the main course Rebekah got the Oak-fired Beef Filet with Potato and Gorgonzola Pave, Blue Lake beans, and Tamarind Barbecue Sauce. I ordered the Black Grouper with olive oil wrapped potatoes, piperade, merguez sausage and crispy rock shrimp. My grouper was crispy and excellent - all good except for the sausage, it was way too spicy and overpowering for how delicate the fish was. For desert we split Heirloom Apple Tart - Braeburn Apple and Brown Butter Tart - with autumn spiced-apple cider ice cream and caramel sauce. We were able to watch fireworks while dined which is always an added bonus.
Photo pictorial is forthcoming ...
Thursday, February 02, 2006
Sick as a dog but looking forward to vacation.
Tuesday night I started getting a runny nose which I initially chaulked up to allergies. Then Wednesday it got worse which tells me I have a cold. Today I woke up and I was congested. That usually means I'm on the mend. So hopefully I will be well when our vacation starts on Saturday. I just hope that I haven't passed anything on to Rebekah or Mina.
Rebekah and I will be going on vacation on Saturday. It has been somewhat of a last minute affair - usually we plan months in advance. These past few weeks have been a lot of scrapping by money-wise in order to make it. Of course I'm looking forward to going on vacation but secretly I have mixed feelings. Like I feel as if I'm trying to squeeze out one last hurrah before the world ends. But it is difficult and stressful to live always in panic mode and I hope I can be forgiven for desiring to get a week's relief. Maybe?
So we are going on vacation and in preperation I'm doing one of my favorite things in the world - Making T-Shirts. Rebekah lamented the fact that she would never find a "Carousel of Progress" t-shirt so I decided that I would try to make her one. Unfortunately I could only find a really grainy image of the ride poster I wanted to use so I decided to try to draw a copy of the poster in Illustrator. I was quite pleased with how it turned out. You can take a look at the copy on my art blog. Not a perfect replica by any means but close enough.
Work has been rough because our NAS server is broken. It kept freezing up during backups and then pretty much everything else. I thought I might try to reinstall everything back to the factory settings. The difficulty is that this device does not have a CD-ROM drive. We had to do a factory reinstall over the network which was a long drawn out convoluted process. I spent all day on the phone with Pat from Dell. We got the server back up and running and I was happy; but my happiness didn't last long. The server started freezing up again so the assumption now is that it is hardware related. So today Dell is sending out a technician with pretty much a replacement part for everything because no one has any ideas as to what is wrong with it. Fun stuff to do right before a vacation when you are already trying to catch up on everything else.
--
While doing research on Nimrod and Babel I happened to run across a web site that literally made me step back and say, "Whoa!". I had thought that the term "paradise earth" was exclusively used by JWs to describe the coming new earth. However it is also used by fomer UN assistant secretary general Robert Mullar to describe his concept of a future world united under a world government like the UN (United Nations) and an interfaith religion like the URI (United Religions Iniaitive). You can read more about his goals at one of his web-sites, www.paradiseearth.us. It almost seems like Satan's objective in the final part of the days is to set up a counterfeit kingdom and faux paradise earth. Time will tell. Regardless, we must be absolutely vigilant and not be deceived, no matter how desirable or good that any such counterfeit kingdom may seem to be. (Genesis 3:6) The real paradise earth will not come from human governments but from Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
Scriptures to consider:
Psalms 146:3 "Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs."
John 18:36 "Jesus answered: “My kingdom is no part of this world. If my kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be delivered up to the Jews. But, as it is, my kingdom is not from this source."
1 Thessalonians 5:3 "Whenever it is that they are saying: “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape."
Rebekah and I will be going on vacation on Saturday. It has been somewhat of a last minute affair - usually we plan months in advance. These past few weeks have been a lot of scrapping by money-wise in order to make it. Of course I'm looking forward to going on vacation but secretly I have mixed feelings. Like I feel as if I'm trying to squeeze out one last hurrah before the world ends. But it is difficult and stressful to live always in panic mode and I hope I can be forgiven for desiring to get a week's relief. Maybe?
So we are going on vacation and in preperation I'm doing one of my favorite things in the world - Making T-Shirts. Rebekah lamented the fact that she would never find a "Carousel of Progress" t-shirt so I decided that I would try to make her one. Unfortunately I could only find a really grainy image of the ride poster I wanted to use so I decided to try to draw a copy of the poster in Illustrator. I was quite pleased with how it turned out. You can take a look at the copy on my art blog. Not a perfect replica by any means but close enough.
Work has been rough because our NAS server is broken. It kept freezing up during backups and then pretty much everything else. I thought I might try to reinstall everything back to the factory settings. The difficulty is that this device does not have a CD-ROM drive. We had to do a factory reinstall over the network which was a long drawn out convoluted process. I spent all day on the phone with Pat from Dell. We got the server back up and running and I was happy; but my happiness didn't last long. The server started freezing up again so the assumption now is that it is hardware related. So today Dell is sending out a technician with pretty much a replacement part for everything because no one has any ideas as to what is wrong with it. Fun stuff to do right before a vacation when you are already trying to catch up on everything else.
--
While doing research on Nimrod and Babel I happened to run across a web site that literally made me step back and say, "Whoa!". I had thought that the term "paradise earth" was exclusively used by JWs to describe the coming new earth. However it is also used by fomer UN assistant secretary general Robert Mullar to describe his concept of a future world united under a world government like the UN (United Nations) and an interfaith religion like the URI (United Religions Iniaitive). You can read more about his goals at one of his web-sites, www.paradiseearth.us. It almost seems like Satan's objective in the final part of the days is to set up a counterfeit kingdom and faux paradise earth. Time will tell. Regardless, we must be absolutely vigilant and not be deceived, no matter how desirable or good that any such counterfeit kingdom may seem to be. (Genesis 3:6) The real paradise earth will not come from human governments but from Jesus and the Kingdom of God.
Scriptures to consider:
Psalms 146:3 "Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs."
John 18:36 "Jesus answered: “My kingdom is no part of this world. If my kingdom were part of this world, my attendants would have fought that I should not be delivered up to the Jews. But, as it is, my kingdom is not from this source."
1 Thessalonians 5:3 "Whenever it is that they are saying: “Peace and security!” then sudden destruction is to be instantly upon them just as the pang of distress upon a pregnant woman; and they will by no means escape."
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