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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Friday, March 11, 2011
Sign’s! What type of signs are given to us today
Life is one big road with lots of signs.
So when you riding through the ruts, don't complicate your mind.
Flee from hate, mischief and jealousy.
Don't bury your thoughts, put your vision to reality.
Wake Up and
Live!
Bob Marley
Hypocrisy hunts us at every turn when we consider our modern approach
the reading of the signs of the future!
Enamored with the exactness of science and mathematics,
the glories of our achievements, and the inconsequential role of religion in the world, we as mankind
step forth with our heads held high moving into our future claiming we don not have the slightest need to understand anything
more than what is in the present and past before we plan the road ahead!
Then, we open our newspapers and see horoscopes,
we go to fortune tellers, we divine tea leaves, we use crystals,
we talk of mother nature, we talk of karma, psychic powers
and delude ourselves we are being scientific and that faith has no part in our journey through
life!
At least some do this, not all of us!
We want a sign to tell us where we are to go! We want a sign to give
us the impetus to push us past the reality into the faith of life.
This is not a new request, Jesus had people
as him for signs.
May years ago Jesus, the self proclaimed son of God, was asked for a sign. They said…
“Teacher,
we want to see a sign from you.”
What did he answer….
“A
wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah
was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth.”
Basically
my paraphrase is this (and Jesus would never say it this way... but here goes...)
“You nitwits, can’t you see what is in front of you! That’s
the only sign you need!”
But
they couldn’t see could they?
They failed to see the Son of God was with them.
He had done plenty signs, but they discarded them and wanted more! The bible was full of predictions of him, but the refused
to see it.
Are we as
blind as they were?
How much do we really accept what is written in our bible and how much do we push
aside and cover with traditionalism and religiosity because facing it is not “nice”.
Central to everything is Jesus, but around
him is a plethora of advice and direction we gladly ignore, don't we?
Just take the ten commandments. . .
How many of us
keep the Sabbath day holy?
We can excuse this as old ancient speak, but if God did it at creation, told us it is
best for us to do it, pointed out it is for us that he set up the rule, not for him, and if we reject it, we are the one’s
who get hurt aren’t we?
But we do it anyhow, right?
Then
what about Jesus?
The world mocks him and turns to horoscopes.
When will we learn?
The sign is that Jesus rose from the dead showing he was God. He showed that he did pay for all the selfish, nasty and
stupid things we do!
That’s the only
sign we need! Isn’t it?
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/signs_2.html#ixzz1GIX98Ddl
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Jesus and angels, and us...
The internet web defines
an “angel” as
1. spiritual being attendant upon God
2. A typically benevolent celestial being that acts as an intermediary
between heaven and earth
3. A guardian spirit or guiding influence.
Many of us have seen different movies and television series depicting angels. Roman
mythology is full of little fat flying human type people and there have been some great comedy’s based around the premise
that an angel in disguise is amongst us normal type of people.
The bible abounds with references
to these creatures, but doesn’t support the typical myth of a person with wings.
Gabriel is an angel who Daniel and Luke both refer to. Gabriel was the one sent to Mary to
tell he she would get pregnant by God’s Spirit. (Wow! That must have been weird!)
In Daniel, Jude and Revelations,
the Archangel Michael is mentioned. He fights against another awesome angel
called Satan. This angel actually was so powerful and contemptuous that he tried
to take over God’s role. (He failed and is still failing!)
What is the relationship of Jesus
and angels?
Well in the first chapter of a letter written to God’s people in ancient
times it says…
“After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at
the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited
is superior to theirs.”
Angels don’t sit on the right hand side of the father! (That’s the
position of power and reserved for the person closest to the reigning King).
Jesus does!
Jesus has a power that is superior to angels.
Considering that one angel
dispatched all the first born of the Egyptians and the first born of all their livestock as well, all in one evening, I guess
even one angel is not to be messed with!
Then the writer of Hebrews backs this statement up by saying
For to which of the angels did God ever say,
“You are my Son;
today I have become your Father”?
Or again,
“I
will be his Father,
and he will be my Son”?
6 And again, when
God brings his firstborn into the world, he says,
“Let
all God’s angels worship him.”
7 In
speaking of the angels he says,
“He makes his angels spirits,
and his servants
flames of fire.”
8 But about the Son he says,
“Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever;
a scepter of
justice will be the scepter of your kingdom.
9
You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness;
therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions
by anointing you with the oil of joy.”
10 He also says,
“In
the beginning, Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
11 They will perish, but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
12 You will roll them up like a robe;
like a garment they will be changed.
But you remain the same,
and your years will never end.”
13 To which of the angels did God ever say,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet”?
14 Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit
salvation?
So the writer quotes Hebrew writings about Jesus and points out they have never been said about any
angel, nor would they.
No angel is a son of Father God,
has all the angels worshipping his birth,
has a throne
in heaven,
laid out the worlds
foundations or
is allowed to sit at God’s right hand.
That is reserved for Jesus!
Jesus
then dies to reserve for us the right to become part of this inheritance!
We inherit from a kings kid! Not
any king or any kid. We are inheriting from the person who makes and sustains our universe
and the gift we get holds for eternity (longer time than our minds can comprehend).
Isn’t that amazing!
Jesus loves you and me!
Jesus
sent angels to be spirirts to look after us (ministering spirits)!
Isn’t that more amazing!
Great
thought for today isn’t it?
Thu, March 10, 2011 | link
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The “God” particle
The Higgs boson
is a hypothetical massive elementary particle predicted to exist by the Standard Model of particle physics…
The Higgs boson is the only Standard Model
particle that has not been observed in particle physics experiments…
The Higgs boson is often referred
to as "the God particle" by the media, after the title of Leon Lederman's book, The God Particle: If the
Universe Is the Answer, What Is the Question?.
This particle was probably not well named!
Scientists don’t really all like this name "God" particle because it gives a simple
component or concept a weight that is disproportionate to what it promises to deliver!
Even if it is found, it may not be able to truely deliver on the promise that the
media has hyped it up to be.
Much of the reason that this particle was named this way, comes from a biblical
reference in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2, where in referencing Father God it says
“in
these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made
the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining
all things by his powerful word.”
It is a true fact that we don’t know from science
who built the universe, because that is the job of religion not science!
So, when we take a look at the
Christian beliefs regarding the universe, we find that Jesus is referred to as the one that created the universe.
In
a strange way Jesus creates the matter from which he is later born!
He is the amazing origin of the universe and
in so doing, (whether we approve of Charles Darwins theories or not, whether we reject evolution or not) the one who
owns and started everything is Jesus!
Crazy thought? Perhaps…but perhaps it is also true!
Perhaps Jesus is the originator of the Higgs field ,and so by derivation the Higgs particle or “God”
particle.
Whether this is true or not, attempting to find out the answer is costing
the human race billions!
About nine billion USD from what we are told. We have build a huge machine called
the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), which is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator.
This is to try and find this “God” particle.
The
interesting thing is that if it does, all that we get is another component that explains to us how Jesus did it!
The
fact that it holds everything together, again points to Jesus because the bible says “The
Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful
word.”
When I see this text, I cannot avoid thinking that scientists will perhaps
come to the point that they realize that vibrating energy is a source of everything. That is how sound is generated and
I do believe God’s reference to "word" will be a simple analogy of a very complex subject. A subject put in
place for the simple human brains of the ancient world to understand and communicate to others. To communicate it to us today!
God is amazing!
Is it not amazing that despite years of very sophisticated discovery,
we are still only pulling at small threads of the fabric of knowledge.
While pulling at these threads we
continually see God’s word has within it’s theological (and not scientific) structure, these little gems of recognition
for our discoveries. Then they point us back to Jesus almost every time!
So today, as we walk around,
and talk around, let’s remember everything we see, do, hear, smell, or touch is there because
Jesus sustains it.
Perhaps it is because the true “God” person underlies
all of life?
Have a great day!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Experience and vitality…strength for any task Experience
… as a general concept comprises knowledge of or skill in or observation of some thing or some event gained through
involvement in or exposure to that thing or event
Vitality … exuberant physical strength
or mental vigor
Faced with complex situations, or difficult decisions, or life tasks that just seem to be
hugely overwhelming, we as people often gather together in teams to address the problems.
In our families it could be a father and son, or mother and daughter, or combinations.
In the workplace it will be a gathering of staff that could include managers and workers of
different skills.
I spend a lot of my life running big complex teams
and I have noticed one important factor, that people tend to choose others like themselves to try and overcome the
problems. Churches are no different!
Yet
,what I have also discovered is that this is generally not a good approach!
People with experience
tend to choose people with experience and since experience generally increases with age, the aged gather around them
the aged.
Similarly,
but perhaps to a lesser degree those that have vitality, who are generally the young since they are agile
in body and mind, tend to want others around them that are the same!
True synergy is when
these two groups respect each other enough to work with each other. The best mix is when experience
and vitality mix in a slightly uncomfortable ratio.
As Christians,
this is true of decisions we need to make as a group.
When the decision is all experienced mature
Christians, the result tends to be a stodgy out of date type of resolution!
When it is a group of young immature
Christian, the decision has legs and will gain traction, but often lacks the depth to follow Holy Spirits leading well and
can compromise on key biblical guidelines.
When we apply the rigour of experience and vitality in a Christian group, and then place
upon the decision making a key honest appraisal of “what would Jesus do here?” then the group is powerful.
What does that mean for me today?
It means I need to try and be sure in my own life I don’t favour experience or vitality in decisions
and that I sprinkle my own personal evaluation with a consideration of both, taming the powerful one of the pair, and enabling
the lesser.
Then, I apply the key question to my decisions “What would Jesus
do here?”, pray, and act in the way that the spirit leads and my God given brain directs.
That’s the way to be successful isn’t it?
Tue, March 8, 2011 | link
Monday, March 7, 2011
Prophets, prophecies and what is the latest trend?
Prophecy
- A prediction of a future event that is believed to reveal the will of a deity.
- A prediction that something will occur in the future.
Prophet
- Someone who foretells or predicts what is to come; such as, a weather prophet or prophets of doom.
- A spokesperson of some doctrine, cause, or movement.
Definitions from http://wordinfo.info/unit/3015/ip:5/il:Q
"Computers, in the future,
may weigh more than 1.5 tons." —Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949.
"This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered
as a means of communication. The device is, inherently, of no value." —Western Union internal memo, 1876.
Prophecies are not something that the average person
can do well! The above quotes show how wrong some people are! That is over a span of less than two hundred
years, what happens over thousands of years?
When we look at
ancient prophecies, and when we find that they actually came right as predicted thousands of years after the fact we are wow’d.!
It
is wonderful to see that some of these amazing truths came true.
One of the most amazing is this one written
somewhere between 3500 and 2500 years ago and predicts in fine detail the death of Jesus and the reason
for it.
It is Psalm 22: 1-31 (NIRV) and I will just quote a piece of it, verses 16-20
16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
The
rest of this psalm gives Jesus’ emotional state at the time of his death. It is a vivid depiction of
the events that occurred so much later!
Prophecy generally had two applications, the first being the immediate
application at the time of its writing and the second being it’s ultimate fulfillment in the time of
Jesus Christ or later.
It is interesting that the letter written to the Hebrews and
recorded for us in the bible starts with these words:
In the past God spoke
to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days
he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.
Paul is making the point that out of the prophets of the past, there is none greater
than God’s own son Jesus.
What does this mean for us?
Well
what is prophecy used for?
Prophecy is a prediction of a future event that
is believed to reveal the will of a deity where the event generally occurs in the future. It is a tool to
enable decision making. Ancient kings used to go to oracles to find out future events so they could plan better.
What Paul is saying is the ultimate prophet has already come and given us all we need to plan eternity
for ourselves and all we need to do is make the right decisions based on what he has already told us!
Are we doing that?
Are we making the right decisions each day based on what Jesus told us?
I hope
to do that today, what about you?
Mon, March 7, 2011 | link
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Rift in Evil
By Ken
X Briggs - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size:
6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. |
Credit cards are acceptable on sites having Ken's books: 
:)
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| Ken's book covers are displayed below. . . | |  This
suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly
hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help,
this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles
when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the
media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to
justice?
| | | | | To purchase Kiara's Pursuer ebook
@ $1.99 kindle version click here, To contact the author contact Author@KenXBriggs.com | | | | | | | | The town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman
to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy. A horrific mining accident results in Joshua
Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible
situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening?
What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to
the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused
young woman in the center of this plot? Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible
and invisible world shows opposing forces at work. Will there be a rift in evil? Will they be able to stop the
evil in time? | | - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect
Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size: 6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available
from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. Chapters | | | | |
| Frugal Eating Advice |
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May you be blessed today!
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