Fire sale

This picture made me think of the newscaster who informed me yesterday that the "crystal tower" of Robert Schuller's "Hour of Power" was up for sale because of financial problems.  Which, in turn made me think of this passage from the book of Acts...

Acts 5:1-12 (WEB)
1) But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession,

2) and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

3) But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

4) While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.”

5) Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard these things.

6) The young men arose and wrapped him up, and they carried him out and buried him.

7) About three hours later, his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in.

8) Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” She said, “Yes, for so much.”

9) But Peter asked her, “How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”

10) She fell down immediately at his feet, and died. The young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband.

11) Great fear came on the whole assembly, and on all who heard these things.

12) By the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. They were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.

Money is a strange thing; with it you have many "friends", without it, well... you have problems.  In the case of the situation of both the picture and the crystal tower, its obvious something "not so good" is happening.  When it comes to handling monies dedicated to God, we all should take a lesson from Acts 5 and BE VERY CAREFUL WHAT WE DO!!!  While there no longer are any apostles around, God is still watching what we do and some day we will have to account for our giving.  Hint: concentrate on pleasing God and not your own personal "WANTS" and you will probably do "OK".  If not, there probably will be a "fire sale" of the most unpleasant sort.

Surpise!!

Frankly, this picture was a bit of a surprise.  Most of the time a storm happens first and then... out comes the rainbow!  Yet, here they are together!!!  Life is sure full of surprises!!!  Here is a series of them from the book of Matthew!!!

Matthew 3:1-17 (WEB)
1) In those days, John the Baptizer came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,

2) “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!”

3) For this is he who was spoken of by Isaiah the prophet, saying, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.”

4) Now John himself wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.

5) Then people from Jerusalem, all of Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him.

6) They were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.

7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8) Therefore bring forth fruit worthy of repentance!

9) Don’t think to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

10) “Even now the axe lies at the root of the trees. Therefore, every tree that doesn’t bring forth good fruit is cut down, and cast into the fire.

11) I indeed baptize you in water for repentance, but he who comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit.

12) His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor. He will gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire.”

13) Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him.

14) But John would have hindered him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and you come to me?”

15) But Jesus, answering, said to him, “Allow it now, for this is the fitting way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed him.

16) Jesus, when he was baptized, went up directly from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to him. He saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming on him.

17) Behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

John was a surprise.  The Jews really didn't expect someone like him.  He just didn't preach about the LAW, he made people accountable.  For those who viewed the LAW as ceremony, John's personal appeal for change came as a surprise.  But the big surprise is in verse 14.  John was surprised that Jesus would be baptized.  What he didn't understand was that Jesus needed to do this because it showed the way for others to do the will of God (righteousness: being right and doing right).  Next, other surprises... the dove and the voice, giving testimony about Jesus.  Life is indeed full of surprises, not all of them good, but some, like these, wonderful serendipities.  Almost makes you want something to happen right away, doesn't it?

Another viewpoint

Rainbows have always fascinated me.  Such beautiful colors in the sky attract attention without fail.  Every time I look at one I see it from a different angle, but always.... up.  I wonder what it really would be like to look DOWN at one?  Although this picture doesn't exactly show this, it does make you think about it.  However, one day we may actually BE ABLE TO LOOK DOWN ON ONE.  Consider the following passage from the book of Revelation....

Revelation 21:1-4 (WEB)
1) I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more.

2) I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.

3) I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

4) He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain, any more. The first things have passed away.”

Being with God in the New Jerusalem will change things.  The world below will somehow see unimportant, but I am sure that if God chooses to retain something beautiful from the old world below a rainbow is a likely candidate.  Who knows?  I guess we will just have to wait and see; in the meantime, enjoy the color!  Its always worthwhile to take the time to consider the creations of God, especially if they are beautiful.

Seeing things differently...

Wrong!  Its not the results, its the condition!!!  Getting drunk is stupidity, plain and simple.  Of course you do stupid things when inebriated!!! Why get drunk at all?  Maybe you just want to spend all your money, or act like a fool, or say something you will regret later.  Perhaps its the allure of throwing up or the terrible feeling of a hangover.  Who wouldn't want these things in their life?  Yet, people have and will get plastered and call it "fun".  Makes absolutely no sense to me at all!!!  Reality is, however, that some people will never learn no matter how many examples are before them.  Here is an instance of this from the Old Testament.

Daniel 5:1-31 (WEB)


1) Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

2) Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink from them.

3) Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them.

4) They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.

5) In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man’s hand, and wrote over against the lampstand on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote.

6) Then the king’s face was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his thighs were loosened, and his knees struck one against another.

7) The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whoever shall read this writing, and show me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

8) Then came in all the king’s wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation.

9) Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his face was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed.

10) Now the queen by reason of the words of the king and his lords came into the banquet house: the queen spoke and said, O king, live forever; don’t let your thoughts trouble you, nor let your face be changed.

11) There is a man in your kingdom, in whom is the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of your father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, were found in him; and the king Nebuchadnezzar your father, the king, I say, your father, made him master of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and soothsayers;

12) because an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of dark sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.

13) Then was Daniel brought in before the king. The king spoke and said to Daniel, Are you that Daniel, who are of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Judah?

14) I have heard of you, that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you.

15) Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known to me its interpretation; but they could not show the interpretation of the thing.

16) But I have heard of you, that you can give interpretations, and dissolve doubts; now if you can read the writing, and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about your neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.

17) Then Daniel answered before the king, Let your gifts be to yourself, and give your rewards to another; nevertheless I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation.

18) You, king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom, and greatness, and glory, and majesty:

19) and because of the greatness that he gave him, all the peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him: whom he would he killed, and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he raised up, and whom he would he put down.

20) But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him:

21) and he was driven from the sons of men, and his heart was made like the animals’, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys; he was fed with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of the sky; until he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and that he sets up over it whomever he will.

22) You, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this,

23) but have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them; and you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which don’t see, nor hear, nor know; and the God in whose hand your breath is, and whose are all your ways, you have not glorified.

24) Then was the part of the hand sent from before him, and this writing was inscribed.

25) This is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.

26) This is the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God has numbered your kingdom, and brought it to an end;

27) TEKEL; you are weighed in the balances, and are found wanting.

28) PERES; your kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.

29) Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a chain of gold about his neck, and made proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30) In that night Belshazzar the Chaldean King was slain.

31) Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

Belshazzar saw his father eat grass and lose his senses for seven years and didn't learn a thing!!!  How sad!!!!  After some wine tasting he made the decision to drink from the vessels from the Jewish temple.... bad move.  God showed him the "handwriting on the wall" and then removed him from power.  I wonder if he would have stayed in power if it had not been for the drink???  I guess we will never know, but NOT DRINKING would probably been a good idea.  The world may seem fine WHILE YOU ARE DRUNK, but sooner or later you WILL COME BACK TO REALITY and chances are you will wish things looked a little different.  Humm, there just might be a lesson here about respecting God and yourself...

A reflection is worth a thousand words

Reverse image photography; way cool!!!  Unlike some other technology out there, this one seems simple... take a picture near a lake and the resultant mirror image adds beauty to the scence by its mere reflection.  Yet, the complexity it adds is both elegant and beautiful and its reverse nature is intriguing.  To me, its like the book of Ephesians as the things of this world and those of the next are merged by a reflection of one against another.  Paul says...

Ephesians 1:3-23 (WEB)


3) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ;

4) even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love;

5) having predestined us for adoption as children through Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his desire,

6) to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he freely bestowed favor on us in the Beloved,

7) in whom we have our redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

8) which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence,

9) making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in him

10) to an administration of the fullness of the times, to sum up all things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things on the earth, in him;

11) in whom also we were assigned an inheritance, having been foreordained according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his will;

12) to the end that we should be to the praise of his glory, we who had before hoped in Christ:

13) in whom you also, having heard the word of the truth, the Good News of your salvation—in whom, having also believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise,

14) who is a pledge of our inheritance, to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of his glory.

15) For this cause I also, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which is among you, and the love which you have toward all the saints,

16) don’t cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers,

17) that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him;

18) having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling, and what are the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,

19) and what is the exceeding greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to that working of the strength of his might

20) which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenly places,

21) far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.

22) He put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things for the assembly,

23) which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

To be able to comprehend the eternal nature, plan and power of Jesus of Nazareth in the context of heavenly realms is fantastic.  For, like the picture, we have a dim reflection (here on Earth) of the true reality of heaven.  Magnificent, truly magnificent!!!!  Although not a simple as a picture, yet I think I can grasp the concept a little and the picture it creates in my mind is worth a thousand words.  Oh yes, and colorful, too!!!!

Attitude!

Just a picture of a moose, but a moose with an attitude!  You can see it in the eyes, they seem to say: "You talkin to me"? This big guy can go where he wants, do what he wants and just doesn't want to be bothered by YOU.  Attitude is especially evident when it comes to money.  What does it take to get you to spend it?  What do you buy and WHY?  Here is one example from the New Testament:

2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (WEB)


1) Moreover, brothers, we make known to you the grace of God which has been given in the assemblies of Macedonia;

2) how that in much proof of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded to the riches of their liberality.

3) For according to their power, I testify, yes and beyond their power, they gave of their own accord,

4) begging us with much entreaty to receive this grace and the fellowship in the service to the saints.

5) This was not as we had hoped, but first they gave their own selves to the Lord, and to us through the will of God.

6) So we urged Titus, that as he made a beginning before, so he would also complete in you this grace.

7) But as you abound in everything, in faith, utterance, knowledge, all earnestness, and in your love to us, see that you also abound in this grace.

8) I speak not by way of commandment, but as proving through the earnestness of others the sincerity also of your love.

9) For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might become rich.

10) I give a judgment in this: for this is expedient for you, who were the first to start a year ago, not only to do, but also to be willing.

11) But now complete the doing also, that as there was the readiness to be willing, so there may be the completion also out of your ability.

12) For if the readiness is there, it is acceptable according to what you have, not according to what you don’t have.

13) For this is not that others may be eased and you distressed,

14) but for equality. Your abundance at this present time supplies their lack, that their abundance also may become a supply for your lack; that there may be equality.

15) As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.”

Fellow Christians were hungry; there was a REAL NEED.  Even though these people were great givers, yet they were in need themselves.  Says a great deal about them, doesn't it?  There has so much fraud over the years, that to even bring up giving makes us all a little Leary, but the fact remains that generosity is a Christian characteristic and should remain one.  So, the next time you are asked to help some worthwhile endeavor, don't be like the moose; just help the best you can, period.

Problems, problems and solutions...

Huh?  How can this be?  At first this does present a problem, but if you think about it, this is really no problem at all.  This reminds me of the current controversy about the end of the world (supposed to happen at 6 pm today).  Jesus said that no one would know the time or the hour of the judgment, but someone is again putting a date on it.  Like the passage below, it is a problem for some...

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (WEB)


13) But we don’t want you to be ignorant, brothers, concerning those who have fallen asleep, so that you don’t grieve like the rest, who have no hope.

14) For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus.

15) For this we tell you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left to the coming of the Lord, will in no way precede those who have fallen asleep.

16) For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with God’s trumpet. The dead in Christ will rise first,

17) then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. So we will be with the Lord forever.

18) Therefore comfort one another with these words.

Context: There were those in the first century who were telling Christians that the resurrection had already occurred, so that all was lost.  So, Paul responds with these comments.  If the end is here, so what?  If you are a Christian, you are prepared, if you are not, its too late and you are doomed.  Worrying will do you no good, only action will.  Quick, read Acts chapter two and do something about it; problem solved.  As far as the picture puzzle is concerned... the last person took the basket and the egg.  So much for problems.