Darkness or light

This picture of the horse just seems to draw you into it. By showing less of the horse you just want to look deeper and see what it is all about. Perhaps it is the contrast of the horse against the black background that has something to do with it. Christians are to stand out in a world of blackness as well. I like what Peter has to say in chapter two.


1 Peter 2:9-12 WEB (R)
(9) But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:
(10) who in time past were no people, but now are God's people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
(11) Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
(12) having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation.


Simple, when Christians practice what they purport to believe, they stand out in stark contrast to the worldliness around them. Like the picture, you tend not to look at the blackness (sin) anymore, but rather to look at the one being showcased in light. Question: Are you in the darkness or light?

Mixed messages

Mixed messages; our society is full of them. My wife and I have been watching Dr.Oz lately and I enjoy his "take" on things, even if he does "preach" sometimes. Then a commercial comes on and somebody is trying to get you to do something that is good for their bottom line and NOT NECESSARILY GOOD FOR YOUR WAISTLINE! Then Dr. Oz comes back on and then the guilt starts. I really wish they wouldn't put fast food commercials on in between health shows. Reminds me of this billboard!! They didn't have TV in Jesus' day, but that doesn't mean there were not mixed messages out there. This passage from Luke is an example.


Luke 16:13-17 Complete Apostles' Bible
(13) No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."
(14) Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were hearing all these things, and they were mocking Him.
(15) And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. Because that which is exalted among men is an abomination before God.
(16) The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone enters forcibly into it.
(17) And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.


A Pharisee who was really one at heart was a person who earned respect. This genuine "separated one" was a person dedicated to serving God wholeheartedly. There were those however, who did all the outward observances of the LAW correctly, but INSIDE they harbored evil. Again, MIXED MESSAGES! Jesus confronted those who did this time and time again and did not mix his message to them; hypocrites he often called them! In this passage they are likened to an abomination before God; OK, he didn't call them a hypocrite, but abomination isn't much better. God knows both your heart as well as mine and I pray that neither of us could ever be referred to in this way. Tomorrow, its going to be a little harder to visit Mickey D's for my Egg McMuffin and OJ. Maybe I'll go later and get a salad instead!!!

Gadgets come and go

Today I was presented with one possible future of the computer. Something we carry around in our pocket and use with any flat surface. Amazing! I wonder if it will be the ultimate evolution of the computer? Something tells me that computers of the future will be even more amazing than we could possibly imagine. But what if we knew our own future? Would we do things differently? Think of Jesus for a moment, He knew this Psalm and yet he went to the cross anyway.


Psalms 22:1-31 WEB (R)
(1) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning?
(2) My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don't answer; in the night season, and am not silent.
(3) But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel.
(4) Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them.
(5) They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed.
(6) But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people.
(7) All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying,
(8) "He trusts in Yahweh; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him."
(9) But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breasts.
(10) I was thrown on you from my mother's womb. You are my God since my mother bore me.
(11) Don't be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help.
(12) Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me.
(13) They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring.
(14) I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.
(15) My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death.
(16) For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.
(17) I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me.
(18) They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.
(19) But don't be far off, Yahweh. You are my help: hurry to help me.
(20) Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog.
(21) Save me from the lion's mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me.
(22) I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you.
(23) You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
(24) For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.
(25) Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him.
(26) The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever.
(27) All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you.
(28) For the kingdom is Yahweh's. He is the ruler over the nations.
(29) All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can't keep his soul alive.
(30) Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord.
(31) They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.

As fantastic as the little gadget in the picture may seem to us, it is in reality only a small thing. Jesus knew what his death would mean and the untold billions or perhaps trillions it would affect. The love of God for you and me has been proclaimed by HIS resurrection of Jesus and although it has been 2,000 years and counting, that message is still a force that is changing lives today. Gadgets come and go, but eternal life is literally forever!!

Thank you, Brittany for the picture!

A happier life

What struck me at first glance was the softness of the water. Somehow it conveys gentleness and blessing unrivaled in anything I have seen recently. Lives can be like that as well, as the first Psalm reveals.


Psalms 1:1-6 WEB (R)
(1) Blessed is the man who doesn't walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers;
(2) but his delight is in Yahweh's law. On his law he meditates day and night.
(3) He will be like a tree planted by the streams of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also does not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.
(4) The wicked are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
(5) Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
(6) For Yahweh knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish.


Why? What causes the difference? The answer is simple, God's word is what is best for us. Naturally, those who think about it constantly would tend to follow it and receive blessings from God. Who wouldn't want blessing, except someone exceptionally wicked. The end result of a life will be its judgment by God; either eternal life or death. I think most people would want life, but people will do what they want. As for me, I like the idea of being blessed by God forever. Sounds like a happier life, now and hereafter.

Cold hard truth

I guess I have been in Florida too long; I can't really remember the feeling of the numbing coldness of winter. But this picture reminded me of that harsh cold reality; that winter, although beautiful can be a very trying time. Sometimes you just have to come to grips with hard truth and this passage from the book of Matthew presents a very hard one indeed.


Matthew 13:47-50 Complete Apostles' Bible
(47) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet having been cast into the sea, and gathering some of every kind,
(48) which, when it was filled, they pulled up on the shore; and sitting down, they collected the good into vessels, but the rotten they threw out.
(49) Thus it shall be at the end of the age: the angels shall go forth and separate the evil from among the righteous,
(50) and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."


Not everyone is going to make it into heaven. This is cold, hard truth. Destruction awaits those whose lives have rejected God. Anyway, the picture is beautiful, even if I won't get to experience the freezing cold anytime soon. I might complain some, but still in January I will be one happy camper here in the sunshine state.

Fatherhood, patience and limits.

Those of you who are parents will appreciate this picture! Children can be a burden at times; they do things like hold onto your ears and wet on you. But you love them, even when they are really, really bad. They will try your patience, test your limits and generally think that the world revolves around them. Jesus tells a parable (an Earthly story, with a heavenly meaning) that has meaning even to this day. He says...


Mark 12:1-11 Complete Apostles' Bible
(1) Then He began to speak to them with parables: "A man planted a vineyard and set a fence around it, dug a wine vat and built a tower. And he leased it to farmers, and went on a journey.
(2) And at harvest-time he sent a servant to the farmers, in order that he might receive his part from the fruit of the vineyard.
(3) And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
(4) Again he sent them another servant, and that one they wounded in the head with stones, and they sent him away shamefully treated.
(5) And again he sent another, and that one they killed, and so with many others, beating some and killing others.
(6) Therefore still having one son, his beloved, he even sent him to them last, saying, 'They will respect my son.'
(7) "But those farmers said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.'
(8) "And taking him they killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
(9) Therefore what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and will destroy the farmers, and give the vineyard to others.
(10) Have you not even read this Scripture: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone.
(11) This was the LORD's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?"

See also Isaiah 5:1-7

The "man" is our heavenly father, the "vineyard" is the nation of Israel and the stone is Jesus. The farmers of the vineyard are those who rejected Jesus in his day and the "others" are the Gentiles (us). As the parable indicates, the father has been patient and put up with a lot, BUT THERE ARE LIMITS! Who knows their exact time when he will say "enough"; only the father. Who knows when judgment begins, once again, only the father. But rest assured, God will straighten everything out someday and it will involve more than just putting his baby down or changing that soiled shirt. Don't worry about, just obey what the "chief cornerstone" (Jesus) would have you to do. No problem!

A blank page

How can you prove the absence of something? To definitively assert that something (or someone) does not exist when you lack complete knowledge of a subject is foolish! The Bible is quite plain on the subject, as this passage from the 14TH Psalms says.

Psalms 14:1-3 WEB (R)
(1) The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good.
(2) Yahweh looked down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who did understand, who did seek after God.
(3) They have all gone aside. They have together become corrupt. There is none who does good, no, not one.

At least the agnostic is honest enough to say "I don't know". Consider the complexity of the universe or perhaps even our own bodies and it is extremely difficult to believe these things happened by mere chance. When you honestly look at yourself and the world around you, any explanation of origins will ultimately yield a bland page. To continue to assert this belief after seeing the truth just reveals how illogical and corrupt a mind can be. Its no wonder Paul quoted from the 14TH Psalms in the book of Romans (3:10 ff.).