Life...

God's Unfailing Love

2010-11-09T12:54:00.000-08:00

This is from a good friend, Jan Antonsson, who has a website, The Glory Road...and what she writes IS glorious...She gave me permission to enter this writing on my blog

Given for the Saints of the World on Oct. 3, 2010
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever" (I Pet. 1:23).
Would you care to escape the bonds of tradition and orthodoxy and soar into the heavenlies with me while we contemplate the next move of God? This has been the topic of the on-line discussion forum recently. "Where do we go from here?" seems to be on a lot of people's minds these days. Some have felt led to withdraw from the world in search of a closer relationship with our Father; others have been drawn even deeper into the ministry of reaching the lost. No one speaks for God, of course, but we all are eager to know what comes next for us.
During a recent conversation with Harry Robert Fox, a man who has spent his life bringing the Gospel to the lost, including service as a missionary in Japan, the question came up about why, in spite of 150 years of effort by the American churches to convert the Japanese people to Christianity, so few Japanese have accepted the offer.
Harry concludes it is because of their core belief in the Shinto religion, which teaches them that the soil of Japan was created by their gods and they themselves sprang from the sexual union between their male god and female god. They believe their divinity makes them the superior beings on Earth. Because of that, they have no concept of sin, no fear of hell, and thus feel no need of a Savior. Yet, Harry says they have a shame based culture, the shame resulting from failure to live by the strict code of responsibility to their country. For that, which they consider an external problem, they turn to their Shinto religion for the occasional outward cleansing which they believe restores them to wholeness.
As I pondered this, it occurred to me that Christian missionaries, together with Christian teachers and preachers have primarily practiced the orthodox method of scaring people to Christ by preaching hell fire and damnation. This approach did not work in Japan. Though fear of hell often causes people elsewhere to go forward at the invitation hymn, the long term faithfulness of a person scared to Jesus is in question. Backsliding and a return to the world are common place occurrences.
We have heard from many who were traumatized by the experience, driven to repent by fear of hell after they die, but sadly, they were not given any information about the life saving and life giving love and grace of God which gives us the power and energy to live our lives on this earth. Only the Spirit can reveal these treasures, but they never encountered Him. Their Christian experience was mostly dismal self effort and flesh trying to control flesh.
God is often presented as a fire breathing dictator who has rigid rules about how to please Him, regulations which no one can really keep. This fear based religious experience just did not work on the Japanese, who are more invested in their identity as children of the divine, than in their behavior.
I got really excited in my spirit contemplating what would happen if God changed the program and began to lead pastors and missionaries to tell the lost that their destiny is to become children of God; Christ came to redeem and restore them as heirs to the divine promise, which is God Himself. Love rather than fear is a better tool for reaching the lost, I believe. Who wouldn't respond to an invitation from our this amazing Father of ours LOVES us unconditionally, EMPOWERS us to live an overcoming life, PROTECTS us from harm, HEALS us from our diseases, and the only one QUALIFIED to be called our BFF (Best Friend Forever)?
Jesus Christ is the most attractive person who ever lived, as attested to by the thousands who followed Him around from town to town no matter how far from home they had to walk. He healed the sick, opened the eyes of the blind, restored hearing to the deaf, delivered people afflicted with the demonic, whatever you think that may have been, and offered a new way to walk with God. Rather than serving Him out of fear, Jesus invited His listeners to call Him Abba (Daddy, in Hebrew). He invited men and women into the family of God.
Instead of being an "other" from us, Christ came to dwell within us by the Spirit. He poured Himself out on His waiting disciples on the Day of Pentecost and they, in turn, carried the Good News of the Kingdom throughout the known world, aided by Roman roads and the Greek language spoken throughout the Roman Empire.
Prophesied by most of the prophets, as well as Christ, in gory detail in Matt. 24, and Luke 21, the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord occurred in AD 70, when with God's authority, the Roman General Titus raged against Jerusalem with a fury that left few alive. The Christians there had heard Christ's warning about the end of the age (Matt. 24:1-34), and they fled Jerusalem at the first sign of trouble. Josephus reported that there were no Christians killed in the atrocities committed by the Romans during that dreadful time.
Christians who project this horrific time out into the future have overlooked Jesus' words: "Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all these things take place" (Matt. 24:34). Unless there are some extremely old Jews living somewhere undiscovered on the planet, these events have already happened. And Jesus said that these events would usher in the age to come, which is NOW.
Unfortunately, some overzealous pastors and preachers use these events to frighten people to come to Christ today. There's a whole lot of shaking going on in the world today, which many Christians fear mean that Armageddon is right around the corner. Were you able to send a CNN reporter back in time to interview the Jews who faced death by famine, plague, and Roman crucifixion during Titus' reign of terror, I'm sure they would tell you with wide eyed horror, that The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord had come! Remember that Jesus wept over Jerusalem lamenting that He longed to take them under His wings like a hen with her chickens, but they would not.
The First Century Jews had no concept of God as Father until Christ came along and told them so. They crucified Him for what they perceived as His arrogance, because to them, God was an other from them, someone to be in awe of, to worship, to obey, but rather difficult to love, I always thought while reading the Old Testament accounts of how He reacted when they disobeyed, which they did on a regular and recurring basis.
Christ came to show us our identity which is IN HIM. The Jews rejected Him, bringing down the wrath of God on Jerusalem in AD 70, when, by the hand of Titus, God closed down the Jewish religion as it had been practiced since He gave the plans for the tabernacle and the Law to Moses on Sinai. When they finally breached the walls of the city, the Romans were in a blood frenzy. They burned the temple to the ground so that there were no stones left standing on another, just as Jesus prophesied (Matt. 24:2).
The Age of the Law came crashing down because there was no longer any place to offer animal sacrifices demanded by the Law, nor any records left to prove the lineage necessary to maintain the priesthood. The only thing left standing today is part of the foundation wall, located below the temple mount. It used to be called the Wailing Wall, where faithful Jews went to pray, but it is now referred to as the Western Wall. Orthodox Jews still go there to pray, rocking back and forth as they read and pray the Torah.

In spite of the murder and mayhem during and after the siege of AD 70, Paul said that "All Israel will be saved" (Rom. 11:26). My NIV Study Bible producers deemed it prudent to make a footnote that said this means only believing Jews, but Paul didn't feel the need to say that because he knew God's heart, which he carefully laid out in Romans, chapters nine through eleven.
The Jews' only claim to God's promises and provision was their lineage from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their feeble and futile attempts to keep the Law. That sounds a lot like the Japanese when you think of it, who like the Jews, identify themselves as children of divine origin maintaining their integrity with ritual cleansing here and there.
The Japanese have the right idea, but the wrong god! Amazingly, we Christians really ARE of divine origin; God IS our Father and Christ IS our elder brother. Why don't we tell that to people we're trying to convert I wonder?
As Christians, our true identity is "In Christ," a phrase which occurs some 69 times in the New Testament. Why is it then, that Christianity has reverted to the Old Covenant and has insisted on relegating our relationship with God to our behavior and obedience to the doctrines of men?
As I said to Harry Fox, the truth that our IDENTITY in Christ is our Passport to God rather than our behavior, is the most exciting, energizing concept to apprehend me in a long, long time.
What if, instead of ranting about sin and hell, we brought the truly Good News to people who are floundering in this life? Most people in the world are not worried about hell and in fact, look at the hypocrisy practiced among some Christian leaders as proof that it's all a word game with no power in it. Nevertheless, like all the rest of us, they need help to cope with the vicissitudes of life.
God is wonderful! His steadfast love is from everlasting to everlasting, and while we're at it, He is not just the God of the righteous, but the God of the whole world (Jn. 3:17; I Jn. 2:2). He is the one, Paul insisted, "who consigned all men to disobedience that He may have mercy upon all!" (Rom. 11:32). He is the one who created Adam from the dust of the earth and breathed the breath (spirit) of life into his nostrils, giving him life and identity as a son of God (Gen. 2:7).
Jesus is Lord of all men (Acts 10:36; Rom. 10:12), because God's Spirit is in all men. Zechariah prophesied that God stretched out the heavens, put the bases of the earth in place, "AND formed the spirit of man inside him" (Zec. 12:1). "And the dust goes back to the earth as it was, and the spirit goes back to God who gave it" (Ec. 12:7). Isaiah declared that God created the heavens and the earth, and "gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it" (Isa. 45:5). God's spirit dwells in all men, whether they know Him YET or not.
The divine seed is within every man, waiting for the breath (Spirit) of God to activate it, much like a human egg, which must be impregnated by the sperm before it can over time become a baby. Spiritual birth is sometimes a lengthy process. Paul, who brought the impregnating Word to thousands of seeking hearts, felt the labor pangs as he waited: "My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you!" (Gal. 4:19).
To know Him, we must be born again, Jesus told Nicodemus (John 3:3), but haven't you ever wondered why religion has made this a result of man's works, rather than God's? In fact, John stated emphatically, "But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God; who were born, NOT of blood NOR of the will of the flesh NOR of the will of man, but of God" (John 1:12-13). Clearly, our sonship has nothing to do with man's efforts or actions. It is a God job from first to last!
The New Creation (birth) is a gift of God's will, His imperishable seed, which when germinated (activated), births within us the Christ. We are birthed from above by God's light, which "has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Cor. 4:6). This says to me that the "last Adam," who Paul said was made "a quickening spirit" is the One who calls men to Himself with this promise: "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven" (I Cor. 15:45-49). That verse always "raptures" me to the Throne of God!
Perhaps the New Move of God will be more one-on-one encounters with the Light rather than corporate endeavors. I appreciate so much men and women like Harry and Jeri Fox who have served as missionaries in far away places under very difficult circumstances. They go because God calls them to go and because they are burdened for the lost. They work under far from ideal conditions, do without so much that most of us feel we must have, live far away from family and friends, enduring privation and hardship, because God called them to share Christ with those who haven't met Him. I could never tell them how to do their work because I've never been in their shoes
I feel sure however, that they and the churches which support them, pray constantly for God's Light and unfailing Love to be displayed to the lost, with or without words. What they fervently desire is more souls to receive Christ. Whatever the next move of God is, I believe the efforts of man will take a back seat to the unstoppable power and ability of Almighty God, who created us from Himself, and who will not sleep nor slumber until He has filled every man, woman and child who has ever lived or ever will live, with His own Life and Spirit, revealed to us in Christ Jesus our Lord. "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness" (Lam. 3:22-23). Will you join me in saying, AMEN! Selah!
Jan Antonsson

Poets know...

2010-10-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

Many poets and those with "gentler hearts" have embraced the teaching of the salvation of all mankind through Jesus Chist. Anne Bronte is one of them. (A poem, not surprisingly left out of the anthologies of her poetry)

A Word to the Elect
You may rejoice to think yourselves secure;
You may be grateful for the gift divine -
That grace unsought, which made your black hearts pure,
And fits your earth-born souls in Heaven to shine.
But, is it sweet to look around, and view
Thousands excluded from that happiness
Which they deserve at least as much as you -
Their faults not greater, nor their virtues less?
And, wherefore should you love your God the more,
Because to you alone His smiles are given;
Because He chose to pass the many o'er,
And only bring the favoured few to Heaven?
And, wherefore should your hearts more grateful prove,
Because for ALL the Saviour did not die?
Is yours the God of justice and of love?
And are your bosoms warm with charity?
Say, does your heart expand to all mankind?
And, would you ever to your neighbour do -
The weak, the strong, the enlightened, and the blind -
As you would have your neighbour do to you?
And, when you, looking on your fellow-men,
Behold them doomed to endless misery,
How can you talk of joy and rapture then?-
May God withhold such cruel joy from me!
That none deserve eternal bliss I know;
Unmerited the grace in mercy given;
But none shall sink to everlasting woe,
That have not well deserved the wrath of Heaven. - - -

And oh! there lives within my heart
A hope, long nursed by me;
(And should its cheering ray depart,
How dark my soul would be!)
That as in Adam all have died,
In Christ shall all men live;
And ever round His throne abide,
Eternal praise to give.
That even the wicked shall at last
Be fitted for the skies;
And when their dreadful doom is past,
To life and light arise.
I ask not how remote the day,
Nor what the sinners' woe,
Before their dross is purged away;
Enough for me, to know
That when the cup of wrath is drained,
The metal purified,
They'll cling to what they once disdained,
And live by Him that died.

Adam and Christ -

2010-09-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

In Romans 5:14, it reads, "...Adam...who is a type of Him who was to come.
Strange - how can Adam, with his sinful nature, be a type of Christ, the sinless One?
Well, in two ways:
First, each one identified with the transgressor(s):
Adam, with Eve
Jesus, with all mankind
Second, each one affected the entire race:
Adam - all mankind is born under sin, regardless
Jesus - all mankind is justified through Him, regardless.
:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us...
:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of Adam's offense, who is a type of Him who was to come.
:15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, MUCH MORE did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
For a beautiful picture of this wonderful work of God in Christ Jesus, read the whole of Romans 5...and rejoice that "..as through the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One, the many will be made righteous" (:19)
WOW!!!

A parable- read and be blessed...

2010-08-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

This is a story I read a number of years ago, written by Brennan Manning (truly a man who walks with his Lord!!!). It is beautiful - trust it will speak to your heart, your spirit, in a deep way...
The Parable of the Medicine Man
"Many years ago, in the little Mexican town of Hopi, a baby was born. The townspeople had awaited his nativity with much interest since his great-grandfather was Irish and his great-grandmother black, his grandfather was Mexican and his grandmother Creole, his father was half-Indian and his mother Spanish. The little baby had a very mixed ancestry and, consequently, a very funny colour - a mix of white and gold, caramel and coffee. Not knowing what to call him, his parents finally named him Willie. Shortly after birth, he suffered from polio, and was left partially paralyzed.
Willie learned early that children can be very cruel when they don't understand. At school, they laughed at his crazy colour, tweaked his burnt-orange hair, and sometimes kicked his gimpy leg. When the children played tug-of-war at the fiesta for the Virgin of the Assumption, his teammates suddenly let go so that only Willie was dragged through the slimy pool of mud. Later, in the wheelbarrow race, his partner dumped Willie into a pile of brambles with very sharp thorns.
That night, Willie's mother bathed him after she had picked out all the thorns, and rubbed his aching body with soothing aloe oil. As he fell asleep, she caressed him tenderly and told him once again, as she had so many times before, about the great El Shaddai and His love for little children, how they flocked to Him and never wanted to leave Him.
As the great day of the Virgin of Guadalupe's fiesta drew near, Willie worked hard to save money from his joy feeding Macho, the town donkey. On the night of the fiesta, he limped eagerly into the village square, where everyone had gathered for the celebration. His eye danced when he saw the cotton-candy stands, the pretty ladies in their swirling hoop skirts, the prancing horses on the merry-go-round, the men's sequined sombreros worn but once a year, the colourful clown in the zebra suit, dancing like a gazelle.
Willie was wandering about, debating whether to spend his meager savings on a tortilla or a tamale, when his eye caught sight of an old wooden wagon. An over-hanging sign read THE GREAT MEDICINE SHOW. As Willie cautiously approached, suddenly his heart rose in his throat. A tall, gaunt, angular man stepped up on the buckboard, extended his arms, and was about to speak. Just then he look straight at Willie. His face was weather-beaten, but his eyes! They were sad, but so piercing, and gentle, and kind. Willie's heart told him at once who this man was. "It is El Shaddai," cried Willie. The Medicine Man smiled. His face glowed like a sunburst, and his eyes danced merrily.
"Here, little brother," said the Medicine Man. He handed Willie a bottle filled with a bright orange liquid. "Rub 3 drops on your heart each night, and wonderful things will happen to you." Willie reached into his pocket, prepared to offer all that he had for this bottle, but the Medicine Man said, "What I have freely received I must freely give."
The Medicine Man sat down on the buckboard. Willie approached him and asked timidly, "Will the stuff in the bottle make my crooked leg straight, se�or, and make my blotches go away?"
The Medicine Man picked him up and sat him on his knee. Willie was scared now. He was afraid that when the Medicine Man saw his skin up close, he would laugh, like all the villagers, who had nicknamed him Speckled Trout.
Willie was not at all prepared for what happened next. The Medicine Man drew the boy's head against his own heart. It was so warm and peaceful there that Willie thought of the fireplace in the living room of the little house where he lived. Then he felt drops of rain on his head and looked up to see tears of compassion streaming from the Medicine Man's eyes. Willie thought at once of his mother. But even with her, he had never been loved like this before.
"Little brother, what is your name?"
"Willie." The boy's head never moved from the Medicine Man's heart, and he still clutched the bottle in his hand.
"My medicine is so powerful, Willie, that not only will it straighten your leg, but it will straighten all winding paths and all crooked hearts. Every valley of pain shall be filled, and ever mountain of pride leveled, and all mankind shall see the salvation of God."
He touched Willie's burnt-orange hair and kissed him lightly on the forehead. "Would you like to share my dinner with me, Willie?" In his whole life, no one had ever invited Willie to dinner; in fact, no one except his mother and father had ever asked him to share anything. Feelings that Willie had never known existed welled up in his heart. Everybody else had driven him deeper and deeper into his isolation. But the Medicine Man wanted to share his meal with him. Willie was beside himself with joy. He pulled all the money out of his pocket. "I'll buy dessert," he fairly shouted. "Lemon ices, cotton candy, and dandelion cookies."
They ate heartily. Willie talked excitedly, and the Medicine Man listened quietly. Willie spoke of his father and mother, how hard school was, how he wished he had a friend. Then he looked hard into the sad, gentle eyes, and grew bold enough to ask, "Would you be my friend, Senor?"
"I am your friend," answered the Medicine Man.
Without warning, a cold chill gripped Willie's heart. He had never had a friend. What if he didn't know how to be a friend? The Medicine Man was so generous and good, so kind and loving. Surely I will fail him, and then I will lose my only friend, thought Willie.
"Oh, Senor," he said through his fear, "please tell me what it means to be a friend! I want so much to learn."
"Do not let your heart be troubled, little brother. I will tell you the kind of friend I am, and then you can decide for yourself what kind you would like to be. Willie, if I speak to you with beautiful words that make you feel important, but do not love you, I am not your friend. If I share all my knowledge with you so that you understand all mysteries of the universe, but do not love you, I am no friend at all. If I give all my food to feed your family and take care of all your needs, but do not love you, I am not your friend.
"Little brother, I will always be patient with you. I will always be kind to you. I will never be jealous of your other friends. Even though I am the only son of my father, I will never put on airs with you. I will never be snobbish. I will never be rude to you. I will not befriend you to get what I can; I will not easily be moved to anger with you. I will not brood when you disappoint me. I will not rejoice when you do wrong things, but I will rejoice when you are true to yourself. There is no limit to my forgiveness of your faults, to my trust in you, to my hope in you, to my power to endure all the trials of friendship with you.
"Willie, listen closely now. I will never fail you. Prophecies will cease, tongues will fall silent, knowledge will pass away, but I will not forget you. I will never cease being your friend. Little brother, perhaps your memory is not so good. If you forget everything, do not forget this. There are 3 things that last in friendship - faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love."
Willie listened attentively. "That is so beautiful, Senor," he said, shaking his head. "But I'm afraid I could never be a friend like that. I am too weak, too ugly, too moody, too dumb."
"That's why I gave you my special elixir, little brother. Be sure to rub the 3 drops on your heart each night. The first drop is called forgiveness, the second is acceptance, and the third is joy. Do that and know that you are blessed." Then he smiled his warmest smile and departed.
Willie ran, skipped, jumped, and danced all the way home. When he arrived, he went to his room, closed the door, and knelt down beside his bed. He opened the bottle and began to rub in the first drop - forgiveness of others - on his heart. It was very painful, because the other children had hurt him deeply.
But soon, a wondrous thing happened: Willie had been so open to the Medicine Man's friendship that the drops of orange liquid didn't rest on his heart, they actually entered into his heart. What normally took years for the Spirit of the Medicine Man to accomplish in the ordinary heart, took place in Willie's open, child-like, transparent heart, in an instant. All anxiety about his leg, his blotches, everything, vanished. And Willie began to pray aloud:
"Oh, Senor, El Shaddai, my friend, do not leave me. You may ask anything of me. All I want is you. Just walk close beside me with your hand in my hand for friendship's sake, and for the joy of being together. Even if your were teasing me about healing my leg and my blotches, I don't care. I'll be so happy to be a speckled trout if only you will stay with me. I remember the one thing you said that mattered most�I love you, my friend. So anything you want, Senor. Only don't ever leave me. And don't let me ever leave you."
You see, after the Spirit of the Medicine Man had entered Willie's heart, it coursed through his whole being and opened his eyes to realize how empty life would be without his friend. That thought so staggered his mind, and appalled his heart, that Willie would never again be the same. But it also opened his eyes to see that in the depths of his heart he really had but one burning desire - not for the things that the Medicine Man had promised, but for the Medicine Man himself."
God bless always...
Joanne

This says it all!!!

2010-06-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

This does indeed SAY IT ALL:
"For FROM Him and THROUGH Him and to Him are ALL things. (For ALL [things] originate with Him and come from Him; ALL [things] live through Him, and ALL [things] center in and [tend to] consummate and to end in Him.) To Him be glory for the ages of the ages! Amen. Romans 11:36
Thank you, Lord, that You ARE Lord over ALL, and you shall gather ALL [in]to Christ, in the fullness of time. Eph. 1:10 ("In regard to an Administration of the fullness of the appointed times, to re-unite (!) ALL things under the Anointed One - the things in the heavens and the things in the earth - under Him." Lit. Greek version).
Hallelujah!!!

God is love!!!

2010-06-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, He IS love, and cannot be anything but love. There are other attributes, of course, but His essential essence is love.
However, the God whom so many preach and teach comes across as some kind of
sadist.
We are horrified when we hear of what man does to man - torture, abuse of the worst sort, murder - the list goes on. "How can anyone DO such things to another human being? To children? To the defenseless?"
And yet...and yet, listen to what these pious sorts have to say about this "God of love..." I quote:
Some even believe unbaptized babies and children would be among the hordes of evil human devils burning in hellfire forever. For instance, a quote from a 19th Century English Roman Catholic priest whose primary ministry was to children:
"Little child, if you go to hell there will be a devil at your side to strike you. He will go on striking you every minute for ever and ever without stopping.... How, then, will your body be after the devil has been striking it every moment for a hundred million of years without stopping? Perhaps at this moment, seven o'clock in he evening, a child is just going into hell. Tomorrow evening, at seven o'clock, go and knock at the gates of hell and ask what the child is doing.....Go in a week and ask what the child is doing; you will get the same answer, it is burning; Go in a year and asks the same answer comes it is burning. Go in a million of years and ask the same question, the answer is just the same--it is burning. So, if you go for ever and ever, you will always get the same answer--it is burning in the fire.... The little child is in the red hot oven...how it screams to come out..." I cannot go on, for my soul is overwhelmed with horror that there were those who would so torture a child, "in the name of truth."
But there is more - this from the "saintly" Jonathon Edwards (who continues to be much quoted and revered), in his sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God":
"The road to hell is paved with the skulls of unbaptized babies." And, "It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it throughout all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For ‘who knows the power of God's anger?’"
He also said in his sermon, The Eternity of Hell Torments (April 1739): "The view of the misery of the damned will double the ardour of the love and gratitude of the saints of heaven.
"The sight of hell torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever. . .Can the believing father in Heaven be happy with his unbelieving children in Hell. . . I tell you, yea! Such will be his sense of justice that it will increase rather than diminish his bliss."
Just one more demented view of God’s love and everlasting burnings:
"If my own mother were being carried to the mouth of hell, I would stand and applaud." This was said by a professor in a mainline denominational seminary, and he explained, "...hell will be ‘understandable,’ and the saved will rejoice in the misery of the unsaved, once the saved see the glory of Christ and the justice of God." From the book Four Views on Hell Zondervan, 1996, p. 48.
Surely, these men, and countless others before and after them, created a god after their own image and likeness. It was certainly not in any manner the image and likeness of which the scriptures speak, especially when they are translated properly.
(From Elwin Roach, The Pathfinder).
Surely these samples are enough to fill us with great sorrow. and horror, that there are those who would tell us this "monster" is a God of love!
My own thought is - deep down, most do not truly believe such. If they did, then...why are they not out roaming the streets, begging people to turn to Christ?! And if they are not doing so, and they still profess this kind of God, then - are they not hypocrites, or worse?
Having said all this, I also know that they cannot see the truth because God has not opened their hearts and ears to hear and see. And if He has continued to blind them, then - there is a Godly, and LOVING purpose in His so doing...until HIS time for each to see who He really is.
Ah, dear Father, open the eyes of all that they might see and know you, Love Himself!
Amen.

Christ is victorious!

2010-05-31T19:59:00.000-07:00

Christ has been given power over "ALL flesh..." (John 17:2) This is the surety of the success of Christ's ultimate work.
Note John 6:39, which says, "Now this is the WILL of Him Who sent Me, that ALL which He has given Me, of it I should be losing nothing." CV
The questions are: "How much did God give to Christ?", and, "how much of what God had given Him will He lose?"
The answer to question 1 - "ALL flesh."
The answer to question 2 - "Nothing."
Amen!

ALL - what a glorious word!

2010-02-26T12:57:00.001-08:00

"ALL THINGS IN CHRIST..."
Question - how many things does "all things" include? EVERYTHING!!
"All" is a very large word, an all-encompassing word. There is nothing outside of "all". "All things" is without qualification.
"All" is "all" - and "all things" is EVERYTHING. NOTHING is left out; NOTHING is excluded. All" is all inclusive.
We cannot come up with a single thing that is not included in ALL!
In Romans 11:36, Paul sums up the preeminence of Christ (the aim of Father is to have Jesus Christ have that kind of position in ALL things) in three expressions:
"OF Him"
"THROUGH Him"
"TO Him"
"OF HIM" EVERYthing that exists - in the heavens, on earth, everything that has ever been created, past, present, future, is created BY and BECAUSE of Christ.
"THROUGH HIM" EVERYthing that lives, moves, breathes, operates, or exists, or functions in the universe, whether animate or inanimate, whether biological, chemical, spiritual, natural, or cosmological, ALL does so THROUGH CHRIST, who sovereignly upholds ALL things, determines their place, and keeps them in order.
"TO HIM" EVERYthing, no matter how far from God's thought it may be, no matter how chaotic things appear, is being directed, summoned up and gathered together INTO CHRIST.
As the Alpha, ALL things flow FROM Him.
As the Omega, ALL things flow TO Him.
Therefore, we speak of Jesus Christ having the preeminence in ALL things. Jesus is Lord over us individually, over the church corporately, and over all creation collectively.
Yes, CHRIST IS PREEMINENT - He is exalted above EVERY principality and power, rule and dominion, things visible and invisible, things past, present, future, things in the heavenlies (spirit), things on earth, things under the earth.
"ALL things are OF Him; ALL things are THROUGH Him, and ALL things are
TO Him..." Rom. 11:36
What more can we say...
(My thanks to several saints for much of this.)

Christ is victorious!

2010-01-23T14:02:00.000-08:00

Let EVERYTHING that has breath praise the Lord!" Psalm 150:6
What could be clearer?! This last verse of the last psalm points to the reconciliation and restoration of ALL!
Gregory of Nyasa wrote, "Such is the meaning of this final psalm, in which, after the complete abolition of sin, praise shall be rising to God, which praise shall contain (implied) our being incapable of turning to sin, when every created being shall be harmonized into one choir; and when, like a cymbal, the reasonable creation, and that which is now severed by sin, shall pour forth a pleasing strain, due to mutual harmony. Then comes the praise of every spirit forever abounding with increase into eternity."
And...
Scripture says, ALL condemned/ALL saved (1 Cor. 15:22). Religion says, ALL condemned/FEW saved. This doctrine supersedes God's words. Thus religion makes Adam more powerful than Christ. NOT SO!! Christ is the Saviour of the world! He is the Lamb who took away the sin of the world! It is CHRIST who is victorious, not sin, the devil, or man. God's ultimate purpose of "the reconciliation of mankind" will be accomplished. Amen!
ALL is of God...
It is GOD who saves...
It is God who calls...
It is God who designates...
It is God who purposes...
It is God who graces...
For those who say that God "desires" men to be saved, but each one must choose for himself, there is this to say: For Deity, "desire" is NOT a wish. God has always worked from the basis of "intent to achieve" that which He purposed. All the infinite resources of the Sovereign of the universe are employed to achieve that which lies at the epicentre of all that will be accomplished, every knee bowing and every tongue declaring (NOT confessing, as if to finally admit to it, just before being damned) to the glory of God the Father!
Amen!

Words - the wonder of words...

2009-11-25T13:50:00.000-08:00

Some while back, I wrote in my journal about words. When I came across the entry recently, thought it something I would like to share:
Words. Yes, Abba Father, I do enjoy words: what they mean, how to use them in speaking and writing. As I was pondering about that just now, it occurred to me that the reason I like words and feel they are important is because - YOU used words; YOU spoke them forth, and all was created...and Jesus is called the Word of God.
Yes, words ARE important, and words are meaningful...and words are special. I know that they can be used to deceive, to destroy, but...they are significant, and powerful for good, as well, for they relate to You.
Also, "...in Christ are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." The Greek word for treasure is "thesaurus" - and a thesaurus is a book of synonyms - words. Jesus is THE Word, and we are all variations (synonyms) of that Word.
Wow, what a thought.

A couple of words that have meanings that are interesting:
...The Greek for "religion" is - dread-speak. Surely it is!
...Amen. The root of "amen", "It is done, finished," is "trust". So when we say the word, Amen, we are saying, "It is done; trust Me."

Facts

2009-09-19T12:54:00.000-07:00

The other day, as was reading a writing about the subject of facts, and that God has placed thousands of facts in His scriptures, realized that such a definition of His words IS true. Not all things called "facts" are such, i.e, there was the time when it wss believed as a fact, that the earth was flat. In time, that "fact" was disproved. But when there is a fact in scripture, it IS a fact. No doubt about it. And what a joy to know that:
FACT - I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh (this body)I live by the faith OF Christ, who is loving me, and gave Himself for me. Oh my - what a fact! Gal. 2:20
FACT - I am a saint! Eph. 1:1, where that fact is declared.
FACT - I am justified! Rom. 5:1.
FACT - Christ IS my peace! Eph. 2:14
FACT - I have died to sin! Rom. 6:2
FACT - The love of God has been poured out (one translation says, "torrented out") within our hearts through the Holy Spirit given to us. Rom.5:5
FACT - In everything (!) I am enriched in Him. 1 Cor. 1:5
FACT - In Christ Jesus, I have become the wisdom of God, and the righteousness of God, and I have been sanctified and redeemed in/through Christ. 1 Cor. 1:30
Surely such facts are almost too glorious for us to fully comprehend - but, PTL, they are TRUE!! And these are just the beginning...
Oh, the unfathomed love of God...and not just for me, but for ALL His creation!

We shine with His light...

2009-08-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

What an exciting revelation this writing is - it would seem that John 1:4 is true, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." And so, today, we are that "light". How great, glorious, majestic, and wondrous is our God!

"The human body glows with visible light
The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day, scientists now reveal.
Maybe its not just symbolism that famous religious leaders and saints are drawn with a glow of light around their body.
Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels to which our naked eyes are sensitive. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light, which is thought to be a byproduct of biochemical reactions involving free radicals. [Perhaps it is the light of Christ in each one?]
(This visible light differs from the infrared radiation - an invisible form of light - that comes from body heat.)
To learn more about this faint visible light, scientists in Japan employed extraordinarily sensitive cameras capable of detecting single photons. Five healthy male volunteers in their 20s were placed bare-chested in front of the cameras in complete darkness in light-tight rooms for 20 minutes every three hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for three days.
The researchers found the body glow rose and fell over the day, with its lowest point at 10 a.m. and its peak at 4 p.m., dropping gradually after that. These findings suggest there is light emission linked to our body clocks, most likely due to how our metabolic rhythms fluctuate over the course of the day.
Faces glowed more than the rest of the body. This might be because faces are more tanned than the rest of the body, since they get more exposure to sunlight - the pigment behind skin color, melanin, has fluorescent components that could enhance the body's miniscule light production.
Since this faint light is linked with the body's metabolism, this finding suggests cameras that can spot the weak emissions could help spot medical conditions, said researcher Hitoshi Okamura, a circadian biologist at Kyoto University in Japan.
"If you can see the glimmer from the body's surface, you could see the whole body condition," said researcher Masaki Kobayashi, a biomedical photonics specialist at the Tohoku Institute of Technology in Sendai, Japan.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/liv...
http://www.livescience.com/...
(For illustrations, check out these web sites.)
Schematic illustration of experimental setup that found the human body, especially the face, emits visible light in small quantities that vary during the day.

And a friend sent along something that opens up even more of the wonders of our body and what it speaks to us of marvels of our God's creation:
"That's awesome and also confirms something else I had read which is that every atom emits an electrical charge. I also read that when the sperm penetrates the egg, there is an electrical sprark generated..."
Yes, truly, as He IS (now) so ARE we (now) in this world! Seed of His seed!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Gift of Wonder

2009-08-20T12:50:00.000-07:00

Wonder - the gift of our Abba Father. As this gentleman from a bygone era so beautifully puts it, it is a gift he ardently desired...and so it is with me. Ah, He has given me the "gift of wonder" - surely there is always more, for there is no end to His universe filled with an infinite number of things to "surprise me, amaze me, awe me...")
Yes, my prayer is that of Joshua Abraham Heschel...
The Grace of Wonder
Joshua Abraham Heschel
Dear Lord, grant me the grace of wonder. Surprise me, amaze me, awe me in every crevice of your universe. Delight me to see how your Christ plays in ten thousand places. . .to the Father through the features of men's faces. Each day enrapture me with your marvelous things without number. I do not ask to see the reason for it all; I ask only to share the wonder of it all.
Amen!

From wondering to wonder...

2009-08-01T13:32:00.000-07:00

The Concordance gives the following for "wonder": to show Self wonderful (God), a wonder, singular thing, miracle, astonishment, amazement, great astonishement, startling.
The thesaurus adds: awe, marvel, marvelous, reverence, stare open-mouthed...and more. The gist is, to wonder, or feel wonder, causes...wonder. Surely it is one of those words that is felt, experienced, and difficult to explain. Anyway, there have been some "wonders" that Father has impressed on me to note, to notice, and truly, they ARE wonderful [full of wonder].
Ah, the wonder of it, that my total history has been REwritten in Christ.
Ah, the wonder of it, that there was One who was willing to die for me, and for ALL men, Jesus Christ.
Ah, the wonder of it, that all - ALL - sin was removed, forgiven, on the cross of Christ. He is the Lamb who took away the sin of the world.
Ah, the wonder of it, that God, who is Love, loves all - those who love Him, those who do not love Him, those who do not believe in Him, those who hate Him. Yes, the wonder, almost unbelievable wonder, of such love, of such a God and Father. Just think, His love is unfailing, never ends, ageless, ceaseless, ever endures (in other words, it never gives up).
Ah, the wonder of it, that we "live, and move, and have our being in Him." And just think, that was addressed to the unbelieving Greeks!
Ah, the wonder of it, that I am being conformed to the image of Christ.
Ah, the wonder of it - just think, that "as He IS (now), so AM I in the world." Oh my, can we even begin to grasp such a wonder.
Ah, the wonder of it, that we have been (past tense!) blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenlies (the highest) in Christ.
Ah, the wonder of it, that we are (NOW) the temple of His Spirit. So when I read "How beautiful are Your dwelling places, O God," I rejoice with overflowing praise and thanksgiving that I am His dwelling place.
Ah, the wonder of it, that "I was crucified with Christ...and the life I now live in this flesh (body), it live by the faith of Christ..." By His faith!
Ah, the wonder of it, that we did not choose Him, but HE chose us - before the creation of the world, even of the universe. Therefore, I am His chosen one, His ordained one (not by man, but by God).
Ah, the wonder of it, that He has reconciled ALL to Himself in/through Christ. Hallelujah, we serve a gloriously victorious Saviour, who will have ALL saved (He is NOT a "wannabe" Saviour, who tried and failed because of the vaunted "free will" of man. NO, He will have HIS way. Amen).
Ah, the wonder of it - the marvels of the human body and how intricately and wondrously it is made. The more we learn, the more we stand in awe.
Ah, the wonder of it, that You are giving me eyes to see as You see.
Ah, the wonder of it, that the love of God has been "torrented" in our hearts by the holy Spirit. Poured out, like Niagara Falls!
Ah, the wonder of it, that we are enriched in every way, in Christ. EVERY way (our Father enriches us holistically!)
Ah, the wonder of it, that you call me Your beloved. Your love of/for me and Your choice of me constitute my worth, my identity. Oh my...
Ah, the wonder of it, that I actually DO have the mind of Christ.
Ah, the wonder of it, that in Christ, by His Spirit, I am His witness.
Ah, the wonder of it, that Christ IS my peace.
Ah, the wonder of it, that His perfect love casts out all my fear.
The list is, in one way, never-ending. I shall stop now, for the nonce, yet I am sure there will be more wonders to cause awe, amazement, reverence, astonishment, and...joy (not mentioned as a definition of wonder, but surely joy is entwined in the wonder we feel).
Praise You, Lord, and thank You for the gift of wonder, seeing all as in Christ.
Hallelujah.

Wondering

2009-05-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

A question arose in my mind about John 15:5-7, which reads, "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, will bear abundant fruit, for without Me you can do nothing. Unless a man abides in Me, he will be cast aside like a branch which is withered, which they pick up and throw into the fire to be burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, whatever you ask shall be done for you..."
Abide has, to me, a sense of being able to move in and out (and that is one of its meanings). In Gal. 2:20, it reads, "I was crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ LIVES IN me..." If Christ is IN me, and we are ONE, then...there is no "moving in and out."
So, my thought is that the verse in John is "pre-Cross", while in Gal. 2:20 is "post-Cross". You can cut off a branch of a vine, but you don't cut a "limb" off of a body.
Also there, in John, Jesus says that "without Him we can do nothing," while in Christ, we are told that we can "do all things through Christ who strengthens us."
I know that the scripture in John is very precious to many Christians, and so any thoughts contrary to the standard understanding/belief are suspect. That is the wonderful thing about a blog - you can express your thoughts without people decrying your "spirituality".
Also, since it is Israel who is called the vine all through the OT, and the Christian is not so named, have long thought that this is specifically referring to Israel.
God knows, and so I rest in knowing that He will show me what is true.

Alleluia, Christ has risen!

2009-04-13T09:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, April 12, was the day that was chosen (by whom?) to be the day, in this year of 2009, to celebrate the resurrection of Christ. The cry goes out, "Alleluia, Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!"
As a matter of fact, He HAS risen, for which I give thanks and much praise.
As a joyous message, I sent that word (along with a beautiful picture, which I cannot add here) to many dear ones, along with the thought, "What more is there to say?" A friend (Eulene Moores - surely one who has the mind of Christ and is used by Him in so many ways) sent me a reminder that there IS more to say, and I have since appended it to my email: "He has raised us up (also), and made us sit together (in / with) Him in the Heavenlies in Christ Jesus....."
What an important word! YES, that is what makes His resurrection so wonderful, meaningful, joyous, and glorious to each one of us. In Him, WE have been raised up with/in Christ, and He has made us to sit with Him in the heavenly realm. Today! Not in some future "heaven", but NOW.
So I thank my dear friend for those words, words which lift us up, and resonate in our spirit!
I do love Jesus Christ! Amen.

The 23rd Psalm

2009-03-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

The other morning, Father took me to this psalm - so very familiar, and thus there was the temptation to think it had nothing new to say to me. Ah, the foolishness of such thinking...
The LORD is my Shepherd - and so HE is ALL that I need or want.
HE makes me to lie down in green pastures - green, full of life, food.
HE leads me beside still waters - peace, rest, quiet.
HE restores my soul - makes me whole, restored to/in HIM.
HE leads me in the paths of righteousness for HIS name's sake (not mine) - HE is my righteousness, so I am His gift to Himself.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear not (fear NO evil), for HE IS WITH ME in it all. We walk as one, He in me, and I in Him. Shadows are not reality (no matter how real they seem), and evil is swallowed up in His perfect love.
HIS rod and staff comfort me - NOT for punishment, but to guard me (the rod) and to protect me (the staff).
HE prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies - in HIM, there is no need to fear any enemies; there is peace, and rest, and pleasure because I am being fed by
HIM.
HE anoints my head with oil - the Holy Spirit is poured over me and into me, and over my mind...and my cup runs over - a picture of the baptism in and fullness of the Spirit.
SURELY (NO doubt) goodness and mercy (love and grace) follow (pursue) me ALL my days
AND
I dwell even NOW in the house of the Lord (whose house I am - HIS temple) always...for the eons.
The glorious word that came through this to me - ALL IS OF GOD!!!
Hallelujah...

ALL is of God!

2009-02-15T09:37:00.000-08:00

Another experience this past week is yet one more reminder of the fact - FACT - that truly ALL is of God. Ray Prinzing's devotion for this date makes it wonderfully succinct:
FEBRUARY 15
THIS IS NO ACCIDENT
"Even though at present you are temporarily harassed by all kinds of trials and temptations. This is no accident it happens to prove your faith, which is infinitely more valuable than gold, and gold, as you know, even though it is ultimately perishable, must be purified by fire. This proving of your faith is planned to result in praise and honour and glory in the day when Jesus Christ reveals Himself."
(I Peter 1:6-7, Phillips)
This is no accident. It is a HAPPENING that is PLANNED to prove your faith! The responsibility is Gods, according to His plan and purpose being wrought out in us, that we might be found to His praise. Let us not be so quick to look for secondary causes, and forget that God is working out all things after the counsel of His own will. Nor did He just allow it, nay, HE PLANNED IT. We need to know wherein we stand, and in Whom we believe, else we shall not be able to stand in the evil day. But knowing that whatever shall touch our lives in the days, months, years to come, is in the purpose of God, under His sovereign control, and that IT IS NO ACCIDENT, then we can rest in His power and sufficiency to bring us through victoriously. All our circumstances are not just casually permitted; they are planned in His love.
No wonder it is written, neither give place to the devil, (Eph. 3:27). You cannot be GOD-CONSCIOUS and devil-conscious at the same time. Since God is working in His elect to bring them to that place where the prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me, (John 14:30), it is obvious that all the place in our minds where we have given room to the negative must be purged, and Christ totally enthroned, so that He alone fills our being with His consciousness.
Predetermined counsel working, Tis the Fathers will for thee,
And no accident can happen, what He planned is what you see.
From our God all things receiving, single eye, in faith to stand,
Strengthened with the blest assurance, none can pluck us from His hand.

Once again, a word from this precious saint (now gone) gave a needed reminder of what is true - God is in control of ALL...
Our daughter-in-law,Amy, being a Chinese born in Malaysia, carries a Malaysian passport; every year she must file with U.S. Immigration for a re-entry permit, to keep her Green Card valid. A new ruling - she must now submit a biometric "exam"; unfortunately, she was notified of this 3 days after she and family returned to Malaysia last July. If she cannot get it done at a U.S. embassy in Kuala Lumpur, or some other country, she must travel back to the U.S. to have it done - a long and expensive trip. It cannot be done in KL, but is possible in Bangkok...
The source of my experience of travail was - she was sent papers, with a very important envelope (had a scanner tab, so would go to the right individual).
she must mail the biometric in that envelope! I could scan the papers, but not the scanner tab. So, needed to send that. The problem? For some reason, in recent years, mail to their address is very "iffy". I could send it Fed Ex (through the p.o., and would be guaranteed overnight), or Priority Mail, which was to take 4-6 days. I chose the latter, because of the $25 difference (Priority Mail was $27). Yes, money was the criterion; the inner conflict was, the it was U. S. mail, and so would pass into the hands of the Malaysian postal system. However, I trusted Abba Father, and knew HE was bigger than all parties involved.
However (and thus came the "glitch" in my mind), time passed, and no word from Amy that the envelope had arrived. I knew it would be no simple matter to have Immigration send along another one. I prayed, and Father said, "Be still, let go, and know that I am God. I am in control of everything." Sounds positive enough, but...I truly wanted a more "definite" word (although surely that was very "positive".) Anyway, days passed, and I would cry out - this wasn't a matter of something hurting me; rather, it involved another person.
Yesterday morning, early, thought to send a "mea culpa" email to Amy, but would wait until Father gave me the words. And, PTL, after several different writings from others, and words, there was peace. Yes, I KNEW He was/is in control - that was never in doubt; but...alas, for that "but". Anyway, every Saturday evening, I call the family in KL, and talk to the boys. After, I asked to speak to Amy. Started out by saying I was so sorry to be causing her trouble. When she asked why, I said that the envelope had not arrived. "Ah, Mom, it has - I received it yesterday and was going to send you an email." Well, I exploded with shouts of praise and thanksgiving; and yes, truly "everlasting JOY" was upon my head, so thankful for His faithfulness...and (as He has reminded me) He is never early, AND He is never late. Also, my loving Abba Father simply loved me through it all - no recriminations, or telling me how faithless I was. Incredible love.
Then this word from Ray Prinzing this morning, a timely reminder of what I knew/know to be true. Father even brought Job to mind. Although we know that the Adversary is the one God used to deal out the woes, Job only saw God in it all. Amen.
GOD IS IN CONTROL OF ALL.

A thought or two

2009-02-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

Often, when something unpleasant happens to a friend, or neighbour, the common response is that God "allowed it." Norman Grubb once wrote: "If and when disturbing things come to us or our neighbours, and we only say God 'allowed' it, we seem to imply a weakness in God, as if He is sorry about such things, but He cannot help it. NO! God causes; He ordains; He intends, but NOT He 'allows'".
Decided one day to check in the concordance to see if Norman were correct. "Allow" is used many times for man, but not for God. The only time there is something close is in Heb. 6:3, where it says, "And this we will do, if God permit." "Permit" sounds something like "allow", but has a different nuance. If you want to add a room to your home, the city will "allow" you to do it; but if you want to go through with it, you must obtain a "permit".
We do not have to apologize for God, or make excuses for Him. He has very definitely taken all responsibility for what has happened to His creation [after all, HE planned it all]. One place where we see this made clear, that God takes responsibility, is Romans 8:20, "For the creature [creation] was made subject to vanity [decay, futility, imperfection],not willingly [not by its own choice], but by reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope." Ah yes, all is of God, but always IN HOPE (expectation).
Hallelujah!
Something that happened to me a few days ago was an instance, to me, that ALL IS OF GOD. I was going out of the garage, using the back door [intending to feed the birds], when a gust of wind slammed the door on the middle finger of my left hand [PTL it was not the right hand). It hurt!!! I cannot describe the pain; I thanked God (yes, we are to thank Him IN all things, and FOR all things), crying at the same time because of the excruciating pain. As I walked to the bird feeder, a thought came to me (from my Abba Father, who is Love, Who gives me His thoughts) - it was a reminder that those who are being persecuted and tortured for Christ, experience such pain, over and over again. I was hit only once, not several times with rods, whips, chains, nor were my fingernails pulled out...or worse. Ah, it gave me a fresh, a real, understanding of what these people are put through. I volunteer at Voice of the Martyrs, and so hear of horrific things all the time; but may I say this severe blow to that small part of my body gave me a perspective, an awareness, I had not really known before.
God did NOT allow that - He did it. After all, is it not He who controls the "stormy winds"? Ps. 148:8 They "fulfill His will!" The pain eventually subsided, the finger was not broken (did turn a beautiful colour of purple), and I can use it, kind of (if am careful). Better every day...
Yes, it is an episode I would rather not repeat, but how thankful I am to know that there was a purpose in it all - a loving purpose.
Amen.

Words of Jesus

2009-01-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

Some years ago, I purchased a Lamsa translation of the Bible, based on the original Aramaic Peshitta. In it, Jesus' words on the cross, in Matt. 27:46 and Mark 15:34, are: "My God, My God, for this I was spared." (Luke makes no mention of these words of Jesus on the cross), rather than what is written in most other translations, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"
Lamsa writes that Jesus, in John 8:29, indicates His confidence that His Father would never leave Him alone: "And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him." Again, in John 16:32, it is written, "Indeed,the hour is coming, yes, has now come, that you will be scattered, each to his own place, and yet, I am NOT alone because the Father is with Me."
In Ps. 22:1 (which He is said to be quoting), in Lamsa we read, My God, My God, why hast Thou let Me to live?" (To fulfill His purpose in coming?)
It seems to me that there is some merit in the Lamsa translation, for Jesus knew His purpose in coming, and knew He had fulfilled all His Father had sent Him to do.
It has always been a provocative point for me (as are a number of those things we find written in scripture)...and so, it is included here.

To live is Christ...

2008-12-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

Some while ago, as I was waking up, the Lord brought to mind Paul's words, "To live is Christ, to die is gain." I had always understood that to mean that it is gain when we die physically (thus entering the "next dimension"). But now...I wonder. I asked the Lord, could the meaning be when we "die", i.e., experiencing death to something needing to go in my life now. Is such a dying, "gain"?
It is something to ponder...

Forgiveness...

2008-10-12T13:37:00.000-07:00

The thought came today about forgiveness, and all that it means, implies...Are we forgiven...or still unforgiven?
In the prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples (which was HOW to pray, NOT what to pray), He ends it (see Matt. 6:14,15) with these words: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."
I am not sure why so many Christians seem to latch on to this as something for today. It is no longer in effect. This was said BEFORE the cross. On the cross, Jesus took the sins of ALL - "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" John 1:20.
NOW, as Paul reminds us in Eph. 4:32, we are to "be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, JUST AS GOD IN CHRIST ALSO FORGAVE YOU." Past tense. Done!!
Again, in Col. 3:13 (and thus by the mouth of two witnesses),these words: "..bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has complaint against another, even as CHRIST FORGAVE YOU, so you must do."
One more after-the-cross word (the third of "2 or 3 witnesses")is in 2 Cor. 5;19, which reads "... God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, NOT IMPUTING THEIR TRESPASSES (SINS) TO THEM..."
These are the words of Christ, by/through His Spirit, to Paul, who was not taught by "flesh and blood," but by the Spirit of his Lord (Gal.1:11-12, 16-17).
Truly this IS the "good, glad, merry news that makes a man want to leap for joy!"

A parable

2008-09-09T14:05:00.000-07:00

I recently read a "parable" about pain in the thigh and leg - the pain that comes when the sciatia nerve is pinched (very uncomfortable - rather like a bad toothache in the legs). What was interesting was that, so say the Hebrews, it was this nerve that God touched on Jacob, that made him lame; from that time on, he had to "lean on his staff."
The point of the writing was that the Lord makes lame His sons in order to have them become overcomers...and we cannot overcome if we are leaning on our own strength. The natural power must be broken, made lame, so that we lean upon HIS power, HIS strength, with every step we take.
Jacob was emptied, made lame, at the ford of Jabbock, which means "to pour out, to empty."
And so, the Lord lames us in order that we be emptied of our own strength, and lean upon Him with EVERY step we take. HE is our "Staff", so to speak.
Yes, even pain has a message, a "parable", to open our understanding of the Lord's working in our lives.

Love others as myself

2008-08-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

The command says, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself"; but properly understood, it also says, "You shall love yourself in the right way." If anyone, then, refuses to learn from Christianity how to love himself in the right way, he cannot love his neighbour either.
Therefore, to love mysel in the right way and to love my neighbour correspond perfectly to one another; fundamentally, they are the same thing.
So many Christians say we are not to love ourselves; and yet, if I do not love myself (in the right way, of course), then how in the world can I possibly love my neighbour? The two ARE as one...
PTL!!!

Words of truth

2008-07-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

"See that in the literal crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth, God invades without

a single “if.” Not “if” you repent. Not “if” you learn. Not even “if” you believe. The Absence of the little word, “if” the uncontingent, invading nature of God’s grace, shows God to be the power and victorious Advocate of the entire race of human beings. This is Paul’s grasp of the name Emmanuel, God with us.

A mystery, the crucifixion is God’s war in our favor, the event of His powerful invading grace, uncontingent on the fulfilling of a single presupposition from our side. On the apocalyptic battlefield, Christ’s death is for those who are under the power of Sin, and that means for all of us. Paul can even say in Christ’s death, God is the one who rectifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5). Here is the power of God’s grace: that Christ did not die for the righteous, for the morally acceptable, for the noble of heart. Indeed, Paul even sees in the crucifixion that Christ did not die for those who believe. Neither Christian faith nor faith of any sort is a presupposition to God’s invading apocalypse of love in the crucifixion of the Messiah. On the contrary, the crucifixion is God’s invading apocalypse of love in the crucifixion of the Messiah. On the contrary, the crucifixion is God’s revelation of that gift of grace that not assuming or presupposing faith, calls faith into existence."

It always rejoices my heart to read such words, words of truth, words that tell us what God did, and for whom He did it. The operative words are "God" and "He". ALL is of Him - all we can do is say, "Thank You, Lord." Amen!

God's all-encompassing love!

2008-06-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

This quote from Karl Barth reminded me that God's plan of love and salvation really DOES include all! PTL!
"Has Christ been sacrificed only for our sins? Has He not, according to 1 John 2:2, been sacrificed for the whole world? Strange Christianity, whose most pressing anxiety seems to be that God's grace might prove to be all too free on this side; that hell, instead of being populated with so many people, might some day prove to be empty." Karl Barth
Wonderful - all summed up in a single paragraph...

Our assurance in Christ...

2008-05-25T14:03:00.000-07:00

As I was reading through some files, I came across ths quote (by a man, Jim Minker, who has a wonderful site, The Shovel...interesting, provocative, and devoted to the truth...the Truth, Christ Jesus, our Lord). Yes, there will be those who say it is wrong, deluding, etc. Perhaps the deception lies in the other direction, to those who refuse to believe what Jesus says, what scripture says, because it does not agree with presently held doctrine (and we all remember what Jesus said about the "doctrines of man"). No matter - I lay it out for others to read, to ponder, and (most important of all) ask the Holy Spirit what is the truth of the matter:
If being "in Christ" was merely a position or a belief held to then losing it would make all the sense in the world. However, being in union with Christ is exactly that: joined to God through Christ. It is the "I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me" ... rather than an agreed upon idea based upon the principle of Christ.
Don't you find it rather odd that we have to search the scriptures to find those random verses that SEEM to be calling the whole miracle of Christ into question? On the other hand, isn't it also odd that we think we have to search the scriptures to find those verses that give us an assurance of our "eternal security"? Perhaps all such searching is what we have learned according to the wisdom of the world, and not from Christ. :)
Until the next time...let us all rejoice and give thanks to Him who is our Lord, and in whom we live, and move, and have our being...

Various thoughts..

2008-05-03T13:42:00.000-07:00

From time to time, I read something that is special and resonates in my spirit. Not always original to me, but a word that is worthwhile passing along. And so this post is of such thoughts:

"The love of God is wider
Than the measure of man's mind,
and the heart of the Eternal
Is wonderfully kind."
Faber
This is just a small portion of that beautiful poem by Faber, which reminds us of the infinite love of our God whose love "is wider than the measure of man's mind," and who is truly "wonderfully kind."

Ah, Abba Father, the walls of my being are shaken...broken...
And you answered, dear Abba, and said, "You shall not break. I have painted your walls on My hands, and you are continually before Me. I have sent strength for you; I have commanded your strength."
And so, when I am weak, then is He strong...

A good word: The longer I spend in Your presence, Jesus, the more accustomed I grow to Your face, the less adulation I will need because I will have discovered for myself that You are Enough; and in the Presence, I will delight in the discovery of what it means to live by grace, and NOT by performance. For You say: "You belong to Me, and NO one will tear you from My hand."
Yes, in Him, I am in a safe place. I am loved...His beloved.

Isn't this remarkable insight coming from such a young child:
When asked his definition of love, 4 year old Billy replied, "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."
Yes - and so, because we are our Abba Father's beloved, we know our names are safe in His mouth.

One last thought (for this post): Salvation is as wide as the fall! Yes, SALVATION IS AS WIDE AS THE FALL...
And ALL creation is safe with Him.

What kind of theology...

2008-04-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

A most interesting writing came across my email this morning, written by a man named Rich Nathan...and his title was "Life Boat Theology vs. Ark Theology." Surely a provocative title...and his premise resonated in my spirit.
His rationale came from his illustration of "the difference between the narrow focus of contemporary American evangelicalism and the big focus of the Bible."
The first name (title) came from how D.L. Moody, the great 19th century evangelist, described his calling; he said that he essentially understood the world as being like an ocean liner that hit an iceberg, and God had told him that his job was to "pull as many drowning people out of the water as he could."
As Rich Nathan notes, that was what Moody felt was his calling, and he would not argue with Mr. Moody. But such a theology - a "life boat" theology - claims that the only thing that matters is evangelism, pulling out as many people out of the water as you can...which has been a blessing and a curse for contemporary evangelism.
"On the one hand," writes Rich Nathan, "it has created an evangelistic urgency. And it is evangelical churches that are growing because of this passion. On the other hand, by narrowing the focus simply upon getting people to say the Sinner’s Prayer, we have had almost nothing to say about whole slices of life."
He goes on to offer an alternative theology - Ark Theology. For Noah’s Ark not only saved people, through/by it, but God’s other creatures were preserved as well. God made a covenant with Noah and his descendants that was not only with humanity; in Genesis 9:10, we read these words: "...and with every living creature that was with you - the birds, the livestock, and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you - every living creature on earth." And He gave the rainbow that was not just an everlasting sign between God and people; we read in Gen. 9:12, 15, and 17, that it was a sign of the covenant that He was making "between Me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come (:12)" He assures them that He shall remember this all-encompassing covenant, and never again will waters come to cover and destroy the earth. And the sign of that covenant between Him and ALL life on earth would be the rainbow.
And so he proposes the Ark Theology: "...that God intends to restore all of creation, every realm, every creature, every part. Or as Abraham Kuypur, the great Dutch theologian and politician, said nearly 100 years ago, 'There is not a square inch of the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is sovereign over all, does not cry, Mine!'"
Thus we have:
Life Boat Theology: Jesus wants to be Lord of your life.
Ark Theology: Jesus is Lord over the universe.
Now that is something to shout about! A victorious Christ!!!
Amen...

A trustworthy statement

2008-03-29T14:11:00.000-07:00

"You cannot live the Christian life.
Jesus did not live the Christian life.
NONE of us can live the Christian life.
And if Jesus did not live the Christian life, what makes you think you can?
God the Father lives the Christian life. How does God the Father live the Christian life? He doesn't. He IS the Christian life. He IS the highest life. He IS the wellspring, the Source, the first motion, and the fountainhead of the Christian life.
The Father indwelt His Son here on earth for 33 years. He lived the Christian life inside Jesus. It was the Father's life, and His life alone, which lived the Christian life...which lived the Christian life - and His life alone - inside your Lord. It is the Father's life, and His life alone, that ever lives the Christan life. It is the Father's life, and His alone, which lives the Christian life in you..."
Surely such a truth is a freeing one, oh, Abba. Peace comes. No more struggle, no more trying. You, Abba Father, are living out in me, in each of us, such a life. So simple, so "organic", for you to do. Free from "do's" and "don't' s".
FREE TO LIVE!

Transformation (metamorphosis)

2008-03-21T11:33:00.000-07:00

The wonder of it - we are being transformed (metamorphosed) into the same likeness as Christ!
These translations of 2 Cor. 3:18 are glorious reminders of what is going on...right now!
And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued [believe present tense is more accurate here] to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
II Corinthians 3:18 (Amplified)
...and I really like the Arthur Way translation of this: "All of us, with face unveiled, gazing on the mirrored glory of our Lord, are hourly being transformed into the same likeness from a mere reflected glory into an inherent glory, as may well be, since it proceeds from the Lord, the Spirit." II Cor. 3:18
One more, from Conybeare: "...and we all, while with face unveiled we behold in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are ourselves transformed continually [the tense is present!] into the same likeness; and the glory which shines upon us is [now being] reflected by us, even as it proceeds from the Lord, the Spirit."
Do we really believe what we are being told here? If so, then surely it will make a difference in how we view our life in Christ, and HIS work in us (yes, it is HIS work, not our efforts. A God business, PTL). No more striving, but, rather resting in His work IN us, AS us.

The meaning of words

2008-03-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me that since Jesus did not speak English, what was He saying, what word was He using, when He is said to say, "Hell", an English word.
Well, one of those was Gehenna, which was a burning garbage dump, in Jerusalem, where refuse of all kinds was burned, including the bodies of criminals (which, of course, no self-respecting Jew would want for his end). It didn't burn "forever", for today, Gehenna is a lovely park...you can even have a picnic there, or go for a stroll.
The other word He used was Hades, which means, simply, "unseen", the place where all who die, go. No burning, eternal torture - simply, unseen. (In the OT, the word is Sheol - again, the unseen, the grave.)
The final word, spoken by Peter, was Tartarus, which he gleaned from mythology...where angels were "reserved for judgment."
Interestingly enough, Paul, who had his teaching from the ascended Christ, never once uses any of those words.
Food for thought for those who prefer to think of "sinners" (whom Jesus called "the lost") being tormented for eternity (another word it would be wise to check out as to its meaning in scripture).
How thankful I am tht Jesus Christ is the Saviour of ALL - that He truly IS a Saviour, and not just a Saviour who wanted to save, or hoped He would be able to save...who had to confess to His Father that He had failed...
In Is. 53:11, we read, "He shall see the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied..." How could such a think be? Because, praise God, He knew that He would draw ALL to Himself: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth [and He was, on the cross]. will draw ALL unto Me..." John 12:32, 33.
I rejoice in that day when ALL shall know this, and the "glory of the LORD shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea." Amen.

What we shall be

2008-03-05T19:18:00.000-08:00

The other day, was pondering who we are, and what we shall become...and it occurred to me that when Jesus said to the servants who had fulfilled their jobs well, "Well done, thou good and perfect servants," He was talking to servants.
It is NOT so with us! To us, who are His sons (gender is not issue), God says, "You are My beloved son, in whom I am well pleased."
Ah yes, a son, and not a servant.
To those who would point out that we are slaves of Christ, I would clarify and say, We are sons of God, and His slaves to men.
Amen!

From the past - but still for today

2008-02-16T11:41:00.000-08:00

Sharing thoughts
Today, I came across a piece of free verse that has blessed me more than once over the years. It is called:
Redemption and Creation...
Is man sorry first,
and then forgiven,
or forgiven first
and then sorry?

If he is sorry first,
then God forgives His friends,
but if he is forgiven first,
then God forgives His enemies.
We don't need a God
who forgives His friends.

Did Christ die before
or after Adam fell?
In time, after Adam fell,
but in eternity, before Adam fell.
In the mind of God
Adam was forgiven first
and then created.

This is what the"good news"of man's redemption is all about.
He was redeemed first
and then created!...
I am not forgiven becauseI repent.
I repent because I am all all ready forgiven!
2 Cor. 5:19 Amen
Tuesday, March 14, 2006 (as with the following, an entry from a former blog).

Sharing thoughts: March 2006
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away." --Henry David Thoreau
Familiar, of course, but a reminder that the crowd is often wrong. Jesus never listened to the majority, and so...besides, a crowd can so easily turn into a mob!
This speaks to me, for I do seem to "hear a different drummer" - for example, when it comes to what is important to me, especially in matters of faith (have been called a heretic because I believe that Jesus Christ is indeed the Savoiour of ALL men). There are other areas as well, but that (for me) is the primary focus.
I believe abortion is wrong - that people are more important than animals.
Also, forgiveness - for the believer, it is not an option, it is a must. It does not depend on feelings; it does not mean the one forgiven is right. It is, simply, something that I am constrained to do by the love of Christ in me. He forgave me, He forgave ALL. We are to do the same. I realize that for one who is not a believer, a Christian, forgiveness is probably not possible - it is He in us that enables us to do so.
Amen.

A few questions

2008-02-10T20:16:00.000-08:00

Here are a few questions (from 250 in all) that will help to clarify God's plan of salvation as set forth in the Holy Bible, so that when questions are asked, correct answers can be given. To those holding a limited view of God's plan of salvation, they are truly Questions Without Answers, but, to those who rely on God's Word, the answers become apparent as His truth is revealed to them. The questions were written by A. C. Thomas and appeared in a book by E. H. Lake, entitled "The Key to Truth".

Now the Questions:

As we are required to love our enemies, may we not safely infer that God loves His enemies? (Matt. 5:44)
If God loves His enemies, will He punish them more than will be for their good?
Would endless punishment be for the good of any being?
As God loves His friends, if He loves His enemies also, are not all mankind the objects of His love?
If God loves those only who love Him, what better is He than the sinner? (Luke 6:32-33)
As "love thinketh no evil," can God design the ultimate evil of a single soul? (1 Cor. 13:5)
As "love worketh no ill," can God inflict, or cause, or allow to be inflicted, an endless ill? (Rom. 13:10)
As we are forbidden to be overcome by evil, can we safely suppose that God will be overcome by evil? (Rom. 12:21)
Would not the infliction of endless punishment prove that God HAD been overcome by evil?
If man does wrong in returning evil for evil, would not God do wrong if He was to do the same?
Would not endless punishment be the return of evil for evil?
As we are commanded "to overcome evil with good," may we not safely infer that God will do the same? (Rom. 12:21)
Would the infliction of endless punishment be overcoming evil with good?
If God hates the sinner, does the sinner do wrong in hating Him?
Is God a changeable being? (James 1:17)
If God loves His enemies now, will he not always love them?
Is it just for God to be "kind to the evil and unthankful," in their present life? (Luke 6:35)
Would it be unjust for God to be kind to all men in a future state?
If all men justly deserve endless punishment, will not those who are saved, be saved unjustly?
If God "will by no means clear the guilty," by what means can just punishment be evaded? (Ex. 34:7)

These are truly provocative questions...and the author of the above is exactly right; when we do not see God's "ultimate intention," then they are unanswerable.

But when we do see Him who is Lord of all, Lover of all, Saviour of all, Blesser of all, then the answer to each question is...obvious. PTL that the day is coming, in HIS time, when all shall see Him as what He has declared Himself to be - Saviour of the world, and All in all. Amen.

A new year

2008-01-23T11:33:00.001-08:00

A new year, as man counts time - not sure it makes much difference to God, especially all the fuss that is made, plus the plethora of "New Year's resolutions." It would seem that the important thing is our commitment, our walk in Christ - the rest is, to me, for the world.
Yesterday is past - gone forever, buried (so to speak) in God. Tomorrow is not yet here - and in one sense, it never really comes, since as soon as it does arrive, it is today. And today is the only day, time, that truly matters - it is all we have, it is where we live. How I thank Father for today, and for the knowledge of His unconditional love for ALL His creation, and for the blessed awareness of His presence...always, no matter where I am.
Not "happy new year," but, "happy new day in Him."

Our view of God...

2007-12-12T13:12:00.000-08:00

It is interesting, when people come together, and you hear how they view God. For those who see Him as God Almighty, ever faithful and true to His words (Jesus is the Saviour of ALL men; Jesus came to take away the sin of the world; He is not willing that any should perish, and more), it rejoices my heart. When there are those who say, instead, that He desires that all will be saved, if only they will choose Him as Saviour (otherwise they are doomed to eternal torment), making Him out a liar, I am saddened. I do not argue, for it is not up to me to try and convince anyone. He revealed the glories of His plan of the ages, by His Spirit, and it is the only way we come to know anything. As He has said to me, "What do you have/know that was not given to you?" The answer, nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, I know Him as Lord and Saviour because HE drew me; being dead in trespasses and sins, I wouldn't, couldn't, make any such "decisions for Christ." (Sorry, Billy Graham, but that is not scriptural.) Enough for now. PTL for the freedom, in a blog, to be able to speak/write what is in my heart, resonating in my spirit. And PTL for the Father's love for ALL His creation. Yes, all shall come...each in his own order. Hallelujah!

Mrs. Magillacutty Goes to Hell and Back...

2007-12-10T09:30:00.000-08:00

This is a story written by a dear friend, who has given me permission to share it. Once you have read it, I trust you will see why I thought it worth adding here...and what fun it is to read (as well as be instructed thereby)...

Mrs. Magillacutty Goes to Hell and Back
by Jan Antonsson

Sept. 4, 2006
Neosho, MO

This short story is dedicated with love to
Bob and Mary Blattner, who took us to Israel twice!

Ida Mae Magillacutty was bored,

and so she did what she always did when she had nothing else to do. She signed on to the Internet and logged on to a Poker Game site, where she had an account. She told herself as usual, that she'd only play long enough to win back what she had lost, IF she lost anything. She never bet much, but this evening, she couldn't lose. Winning hand after hand after hand added money to her account, until she had the unbelievable amount of $400 in her bankroll. This was making her as nervous as losing usually did, because that's a lot of money. What would her friends at the Third Baptist Church think of her now?
The slightly wicked thought crossed her mind that maybe one of them was playing in this very game. Who would know? She smiled, remembering the old joke that Catholics don't recognize Protestants; Protestants don't recognize the Pope, and Baptists don't recognize each other in Liquor Stores or Online Poker Games. Chuckling to herself at how easily she dodged that bullet of guilt, she looked at the cards she'd just been dealt for the new hand. Ida Mae gasped out loud when she saw she was holding 4 Aces! Four Aces, how rare is that?
The Aces on the screen actually caused her hand to shake slightly as she clutched the computer mouse. She worried, "Oh my, what shall I do now?" She got up and hugged her kitty Miss Priss, who purred contentedly, but offered no advice. She stroked her other kitty's head, but Taffy had nothing to say either because she was having, well you guessed it, "a cat nap." Ida Mae picked up her half drunk cup of tea and gulped it down, trying to think what to do next. "If I bid right away, they'll know I have Aces," she reasoned, since bluffing was a skill she hadn't learned, and she was so new to the game, she was sure the other players had guessed her good fortune. Good thing they couldn't see her, because she was decidedly NOT wearing a poker face.
She decided to just bide her time and play along, making small bets, to let the pot get bigger. Another player must have had a good hand, because he or she kept bidding it up. "Surely, nothing would beat 4 Aces, would it?" she worried. She looked it up in her "Beginner's Guide to Poker," and was relieved to see that she did have a winning hand. So, when it came her turn to play next, she bet her entire pot, $400 big ones. She was so nervous, she could scarcely breathe. The guy or gal who had been betting the most called her hand, but when she revealed the 4 Aces, she was the winner of the entire pot, $5,000!
That was an enormous amount of money, and Ida Mae knew she had to stop right then! She elected to take her money and run. She logged off, turned off the computer, and sat there stunned for a minute. After making herself another cup of tea, into which she put a drop or three of brandy, she had a terrible thought: "My God, I'm a gambler. Horrors, what if someone finds out?" And right after that, a worse thought hit her, "Does this mean I'm going to hell?" Her friends from church were VERY big on hell, not to mention her boss, Miss Upchurch, who seemed to think that any infraction of the rules would send you there in a quick hurry. This was horrible!
Ida Mae wasn't sure what she thought about hell, but she surely didn't want to become known as a gambler. It would get her tossed out of church and probably fired from her job as well. Worse, what would God think of her? What to do? What to do?
She hardly slept that night, dreaming she was tossing and turning on a huge poker table with green baize covering, surrounded by poker chips; the devil was lurking nearby, pitchfork in hand, grinning and saying, "Come on down. The weather's fine down here, Ida Mae honey. You're mine now." She woke up with a start, covered in sweat, trembling from head to foot. She had to deal with this like a good Christian should, but how?
Perhaps God took pity upon her; yes, let's just say that. What happened was that the next day, when she went to work, she saw a flier on her desk, faxed to her by the Pastor of her church, Rev. Gooddeeds. It was an announcement of a trip to Israel the church was sponsoring, and offering a discount on the trip to the first 10 people who signed up. Would you believe that her $5,000 winnings would be just enough, with a little spending money left over? "Wow," she thought, "This is just what I need. Maybe if I go to the 'holy land' God will forgive me for this terrible thing I have done." So, she called up Pastor Gooddeeds and told him to count her in. She was among the first 10 who called and thus qualified for the discount.
That decisive action eased her guilt over the gambling for quite a few weeks, but then when the war started between Israel and Lebanon, she was terrified. Who knew that bombs could reach all the way from Lebanon to the Sea of Galilee? Or maybe even further? Maybe this was God's way to punish her. What if she was killed in Israel, and then went to hell anyway as judgment for the sin of gambling? "Oh horrors, this is awful!" she moaned, but she'd already paid her money, and couldn't back out. And the worst part was she couldn't tell anybody what was troubling her.
One good thing was that Mrs. Goodie and Miss Percy, her friends from church had signed up for the trip as well, so if she died, she wouldn't be alone. Finally the trip was upon them. She packed carefully, only taking what she wouldn't miss if a bomb blew up her bags.
Much to her surprise, the flight over was long, but uneventful. She couldn't sleep on the plane, however, and was really punchy when they arrived in Tel Aviv. She and her two friends finally got through customs, and after some rude questions and much bag and purse searching by the Israeli officials, they boarded the bus to take them to their hotel.
Because of the bombing in Northern Israel, the tour guide explained they'd be starting the trip in Jerusalem and hopefully, the war would be over in time for them to visit Mount Carmel and the Northern part of the Sea of Galilee. He assured them that the Israeli Defense Force was competent, diligent, and perfectly able to keep them safe. He added, "No terrorists are going to keep us from living our lives or you from seeing our beautiful country." It sounded good and Ida Mae was reassured, slightly.
They stayed the night at the Jerusalem Hilton Hotel. No bombs were forthcoming; the food was excellent; the beds soft, and tired from the trip, Ida Mae and her two companions slept very well indeed.
The next morning, after a marvelous buffet breakfast featuring Israeli produce, including a zillion kinds of olives, many types of breads and rolls, cereal, yogurt, eggs, smoked fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, and lots of coffee, they boarded the bus for the Old City of Jerusalem. Ida Mae and her friends loved all the items for sale and the vendors hawking their wares. It was sort of like a Walmart outside, she thought, because you could buy almost anything from padded bras, to fresh spices, bread, clothes, shoes, luggage, and souvenirs, most of them made of olive wood.
They had lunch there at a little outdoor deli. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was fine. After walking the stations of the cross, and visiting several holy shrines, they finally boarded the bus to go back to the hotel.
Driving along through the streets of Jerusalem was an exercise in repentance and faith, for never had Ida Mae seen such wild and reckless driving. The little cars whizzed along so close to the bus that she was sure they'd be crushed under its wheels. At one point, at an intersection, the bus driver opened the door and the Israeli guide began to shout and gesture at another bus which was blocking their way. He spoke Arabic, which she didn't understand, but from the gestures and smoke pouring out his ears, she was sure a fight would ensue. The fracas passed as quickly as it began, and they drove on peacefully.
When they passed through what looked like another urban neighborhood, their guide stood up, turned on his mike, and announced, "Well, now you can tell your friends back home that you've been to hell and back. This is Gehenna." Ida Mae didn't understand what he meant and so she stuck up her hand and asked.
"Oh," he explained, "Gehenna is the Greek word for the Valley of Ben Hinnom, where we are right now. It's what your American Bibles refer to as 'hell,' but in the time of Christ, it really was the city dump where the garbage was incinerated. The fire was kept burning day and night."
Ida Mae was stunned, because if hell was where the bad people (probably the gamblers) went when they died, how could this be hell? "Why didn't Pastor Gooddeeds tell us about this? Doesn't He know?"
She stuck up her hand again and asked, "You mean THIS is hell?"
"Yes, ma'am," the guide answered with a wicked grin on his face. "This is 'hell.' You're driving through it. Now you can say you've been to hell and back."
He laughed out loud at his joke, but Ida Mae was confused and more than a little angry. She felt duped, relieved too, but boy did this raise a lot of questions.
She thought of nothing else as they drove back to the hotel, enjoyed a delicious dinner buffet, and then prepared for bed. She couldn't talk to her friends about this because they didn't know any more than she did, and they were as afraid of hell as she was. After they fell asleep, she got out of bed, put on her clothes, and went down to the hotel lobby where she found a comfortable seat hidden behind a plastic palm tree. She whispered, "Lord what happened today?"
She was hoping He would show up in person like He did at Christmas, but this time, she heard His voice in her mind's ear.
"Ida Mae, do you really think I failed in my mission on earth?"
Not knowing exactly what He meant, she asked, "Which one?"
"Taking away the sins of the world."
"Oh, no, Lord. You couldn't fail," she stammered.
"Then why are you so afraid you'll go to hell when you die? Didn't I die for your sins?"
"Yes, You did, Lord, and we all appreciate it so much, but well, I keep sinning, like that gambling stuff, and the brandy and all that. And sometimes, I don't really want to go to church, but I do it because I'm afraid You'll be mad at me if I don't. For sure, the Pastor will."
"Ida Mae, do you think that my blood is a sufficient antidote for your sins? Or, did I waste my time and yours on the cross?"
"Of course You didn't; I mean Your blood is sufficient to take away sins, but what if I keep on sinning?"
"Then my blood keeps on taking away the sin, but you know what the real problem is Ida Mae?"
She shook her head "No."
"The problem is," the Lord continued, "that you don't know that I'm the one who keeps you from sinning from the inside out. When you depend on yourself, you will always fail, but I can't fail. Can you trust me?"
Ida Mae feared this might be a trick question, because if she said she did trust Him, and kept on sinning, then she had lied to God, but if she said she didn't trust Him, then she had insulted God to His face.
She put her head in her hands and began to cry softly, "I don't know, Lord. I don't seem to be able to do anything very well by myself."
"That's the point exactly," the Lord said, and though she couldn't see Him, she knew He had a smile on His face. "I love you; I died for you; I live in you, and I am going to personally see to it that you make it to heaven when you die, which by the way, isn't going to happen on this trip."
"But why have You let Pastors scare us to death with hell?" she protested.
When He didn't answer, she knew that the conversation was over. She would liked to have that question answered, but really, she had the best answer of all, which is that Christ died for her sins; hell was a literal place on earth, not something she had to fear after she died, and that made her very happy, and Christ Himself had promised to bring her safely to heaven when she did die.
Ida Mae went back to her room with a smile on her face, put on her night gown and crawled into bed for the best night's sleep she could ever remember.
The next morning, she told her friends, "It's a beautiful day to see Israel. Let's enjoy this trip and not worry about bombs or sin or hell, for God is going to take care of us now and forever. Amen."

The End

And all the people said, "Amen!"

Jan and Lenny Antonsson
The Glory Road

Ahhhhh

2007-12-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

In an old Union Life magazine, I came across another way of looking at "Ahhhh...", by a Bruce Willis...
"In the early days of the charismatic, house-churches, we sang a song that used the word, "Ah!":
Ah! Lord God. Ah! Lord God,
Behold, You have made heaven and earth
By Your great power and outstretched arm.
There is nothing too hard for You,
There is nothing too hard for You.
Whatever happened to the Ah!...
When a botanist looks at a flower, he describes its many parts: petals, stem, stamen, etc., often using Latin words which confuse the amateur.
When an ornithologist studies a bird, he does a similar thing, thus blinding the uninitiated with science. When a theologian ponders the nature of God, he, too, uses technical jargon, outdoing the botanist by employing both Greek and Latin!
When a child, or the childlike, sees a flower, a bird...sees God, what is his response? Often it just cannot be expressed in eloquent words. So the ultimate "word" comes naturally into play..."Ah!" Or could it be "Oh!", or "Oooh!"
Once we lose our sense of speechless awe and wonderment at God and the things of God, we rapidly descend into the institutionalized habit of having to explain everything, thus paradoxically making it more obscure, deadly!
Lord, help us to avoid this malady, and never tire of expressing, "Ah!...Lord God!"
How true it is. But have found something even sadder - using today's slang to describe the wonders of Father's creation. There was someone who, upon returning from Grand Canyon, said, "It was really neat!" Neat? Not stupendous, or glorious, or awesome, or magnificent, or...the countless other adjectives that we use to try and put into words the wonder of that place...No. simply, "Neat!"
Alas, alas...

AH - At Home

2007-12-08T14:40:00.000-08:00

What a delightful and touching discovery...
AH...not a sigh of relief, but an acronym for "At Home".
Home is where the heart is.
Home is a place of welcoming love, non-judgmental acceptance, kisses, and hospitality - elements that produnce a profound sense of belonging.
Such is not always the case in our own homes - for some, home is exactly the opposite of this description. Sad...but we rejoice that, in Christ, this description almost fits (I say almost, because in Him, the "home" is even better. Wonderfully better).
"Make your in Me, and I make Mine in you..." John 15:4
"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word [and His word is not difficult]. My Father will love him [PTL, He surely does!!], and We shall come to him, and make Our home with him."
Now isn't that joyous "glad tidings"!

Sharing thoughts...

2007-12-04T14:27:00.000-08:00

Sharing thoughts

This is something from a previous blog. It had some thoughts that wanted to share, and so...decided I would copy and past this one here. Worth repeating... Anyway, a friend sent me to a site where I could hear the music, and see the words, to a wonderful song about God's love. It is a bit long, so will share the last verse [and refrain], which says it all:
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
It goes beyond the highest star,
And reaches to the lowest hell;
The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
God gave His Son to win;
His erring child He reconciled,
And pardoned from his sin.

O love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall forevermore endure
The saints and angels song.

Recently, I watched a video, Agent of Grace, about Dietrich Bonhoeffer...it is a stirring reminder of cost of discipleship, and the peace and joy, in the midst of suffering Toward the end of the movie, shortly before his execution, he says these words: "... after the war, Christians will speak a new language, one which was relevant to the rest of the world, a language that would be powerful, and often shocking, because it would say to the world that God has declared peace with men." Glorious words, prophetic words, of our God and Father, Saviour and Lord, who is working ALL things after the counsel of HIS will...which is the salvation of all. Amen.

Interesting...

2007-12-02T14:01:00.000-08:00

Interesting is the term I used to describe something I read today in a Letter to the Editor. It went as follows:
"We are coming into a new season. The celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ (sic). To some, Lord and Saviour, sent by God to save ALL (emphasis mind) from our fallen state. This free gift is for you and for me. Let us remember: Jesus is the reason for the season.
Saw this on a bulletin board this morning, and it got my attention. Author unknown.
Suppose I live my life for God, and believe in heaven and hell.
Suppose you live your life apart from God and do not consider heaven and hell.
Suppose we both die.
Suppose you were correct, and there is no heaen or hell. What have I lost?
Suppose I was correct, and there is a God, and heaven and hell. What have you lost?"
What struck me as interesting is his first statement that Jesus was sent to be the Saviour of all - but somehow the all is overlooked in the following list of "Suppose..." (not his words, but, apparently, he agreed with them).
I rejoice that Jesus Christ is indeed the Saviour of ALL!! Not a "wannabe" Saviour; not a "Gee, I wish I could have saved all" kind of Saviour, but, glory to God, SAVIOUR OF ALL!!!
"As in Adam all are dying, even so in Christ are all being made alive, each in his own order" Not all at once, but in His timing and in His way.
Once I asked Father why it was that all His own people, anyway, did not see His glorious plan of the ages - and even became angry when such a possibility was mentioned. His response was a question to me: "What do you have that was not revealed to you?" Ah, yes - any truth I have has been the gift of Him, by the Spirit of revelation.
And so...in HIS time, in HIS way, according to HIS plan, all shall be known. Amen.

Glorious news!

2007-11-05T12:48:00.000-08:00

What more glorious news could there be to the human race than to know that God is great, He is glorious, He is majestic, AND, He is love, mercy, peace, life, and joy to each and every one in His creation. All at once? No, for scripture tells us that while "ALL are dying in Christ, and ALL are being made alive (zöe - God's life) in Christ," it shall be "each man in his own order." I Corinthians 15:22-23a. What a joy to know this, and be blessed with how some have been able to put it into words so succinctly...

JACQUES ELLUL, FAMOUS FRENCH PHILOSOPHER, WRITER (1912-1994)

(Universalism, Ultimate Reconciliation, Universal Reconciliation, Apocatastasis, The Larger Hope, The Greater Faith, The Doctrine of Inclusion, Restoration of All, The Victorious Gospel of Jesus Christ)

"Am I a pessimist? Not at all. I am convinced that the history of the human race, no matter how tragic, will ultimately lead to the Kingdom of God .

I am convinced that all the works of humankind will be reintegrated in the work of God; and that each of us, no matter how sinful, will ultimately be saved. Salvation is universal because the love of God encompasses all.

If God is God, and if God is love, nothing is outside the love of God.

A place like hell is thus inconceivable. The difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is not one of salvation. Salvation is given by grace to everyone. Christians are simply those charged by God with a special mission. The meaning of being a Christian is not working at your own little salvation, but changing human history.

It is inconceivable that the God who gives Himself in His Son to save us, should have created some people ordained to evil and damnation. There can only be one predestination to salvation. In and through Jesus Christ, all people are predestined to be saved.

Our free choice is ruled out in this regard. God wants free people, except in relation to this last and definitive decision. We are not free to decide and choose to be damned." "Being saved or lost does not depend on our own free decision. An explicit confession of Jesus Christ is not the condition for salvation. Salvation is always for everyone, by grace. All people are included in the grace of God. A theology of grace implies universal salvation."

JACQUES ELLUL (1912-1994)

Professor at the University of Bordeaux

Until God calls, we do not hear, and do not know of this wonderful salvation He has provided; when He calls, then...we respond, and Christ comes into our life, and then we know...In time, His time, all will be called, and then God will be All IN all. 1 Cor. 15:28 Amen!

Incidentally, it would be helpful to remember that Jesus did not speak English...the word "hell" is an English word, and has taken on a meaning never meant in scripture...

Truth...or hype...

2007-10-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

"Would you like some facts suggesting that humans are not responsible for the current very small change in temperature? Most of the global temperature increase of the last 100 years occurred before most of the man-made CO2 was produced. Of human-produced Carbon Dioxide (CO2), human impact on global temperature may be as little as 1% of that one degree increase. CO2 in the atmosphere is thought to be the biggest contributor to temperature change, yet do the enviro-police mention the truth that 97% of atmospheric CO2 is from volcanoes? Its known that sunspot activity is one of the larger influencers of global temp changes. Do you recall that some 30 years ago we were told global temperatures had actually been dropping since 1945, and scientists warned of "another Ice-Age"? Temps are cyclic overtime as many periods of warmer/colder temps are noted in historic literature and maps." (Much information is available... try going to "The Global Warming Deception", filmed by the BBC...among other things.)

It would seem that many people would rather believe the worst, no matter the lack of facts, than consider why there has been such fear mongering. From "Ice Age" (up until the 1970s) to, now, "global warming - and severe consequences." Even here, it might be wise to "follow the money," as they say.

As with ALL things, I see God in control - as He has been from the beginning - of EVERYthing! Man is fickle, and looks for reasons to fear, to cause fear, to empower himself. Amazing - the vast majority (even of Christians) fall in line with such thinking. Enough said...

The treasure in us!!!

2007-10-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yes, the treasure - TREASURE - IS in us. We are TREASURE BOXES!!!
2 Cor. 4:7 says, "...we have this treasure in earthen vessels..."
Col. 2:3 says, "In whom (Christ) are hid all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge..."; and the Amp. Version has, "In Him, all the tresures of [divine]wisdom [of comprehensive insight into the ways and purposes of God]and [all the riches of spiritual knowledge and enlightenment are stored up and hidden]"
Since we are ONE W. CHRIST, then we have that treasure IN us...
The word "treasure" is the Gr. "thesauros", and our word [of each of us] is in this thesaurus.
A thesaurus = a lexicon, treasury, storehouse; a book which contains words and all their various meanings, shades of meanings, nuances.
Therefore, each of us is a "word" in that "treasury". We live out [express] all the ways that our word can be expressed.

Hard things

2007-09-22T11:26:00.000-07:00

War, any war, is ugly - and there has never been a war in which there hasn't been a number of people against it. There is loss of life, terrible loss...and yet...and yet, sometimes a war must be fought (at least as long as we are in a fallen world, there will be "wars, and rumours of war") - and so there are many who feel that the war in Iraq was one of those wars, that must be fought.

In this country, there are strong opinions on both sides, which, sadly, are being handled and manifested in a terribly ugly way (yes, another kind of "war", and just as "ugly"). What is interesting is this piece from a writing about the war in Iraq, written by a man who has been there, watching, hearing what the military there are saying, and doing. I share this portion of his article:

"The fight isn't only shared by the Americans and the Iraqis. Ten days ago, the Marne Division assumed control of the Wasit Province. Camp Delta, the base our troops operate from, which is home to American, Georgian (from the nation not our beautiful home-state), El Salvadoran, Kazakh, Polish, and Romanian units. Beginning this month, an entire brigade with three battalions from the country of Georgia will deploy to Iraq and help us conduct combat operations.

The Georgians asked to join the fight, and their government has given them no restrictions other than to treat them like every other tactical brigade. In the fifth year of this war, a country whose military is only four years old, is stepping up and joining the fight.

Just this weekend, I met a 37-year old specialist from Sweden who joined our Army because he believes the United States is "the best country in the world." [Would that those blessed to be born here and experience the wonders of what this land has to offer, agreed with this man, instead of expressing hatred and anger against it.] Once a Swedish journalist heard about him, she flew to Iraq to tell his story. Not only does this soldier receive fan mail, but many Swedish men want to join the United States Army because of his contributions to freedom. After this deployment, he wants to become an officer or join the Special Forces. His belief in American ideals moves me."

Along with everyone else, I pray for the end of this war, a successful end, where the Iraqi people will have the opportunity to begin to experience the freedoms we have here. A hard battle - but then, anyone who knows American history, knows the horror, the length of that war, the battle against those who did not want the Revolution to succeed, in order to have this United States of America. I rest in knowing that no matter how it all seems to be playing out, it IS part of the plan and counsel of Almighty God, who will have HIS way, and end up with a creation even better than at the beginning. Do I understand? No, but I do trust! In the end, all will be His, for Jesus Christ IS the Saviour of ALL men. Each and every one. Glory to God!

A wonderful word

2007-09-07T13:40:00.000-07:00

There is a truly glorious word in Greek that speaks of the completeness of Christ's work on the Cross. It is: Tetelestai. Tetelestai is a Greek word meaning 'paid in full'. Back in Bible times, when someone paid off his bill in the marketplace, he would run through the streets shouting "tetelestai, tetelestai, my debt is paid in full!"
When Jesus was on the cross, His last words were, "It is finished," or, in the Greek, 'tetelstai', meaning the debt is paid. In FULL!. He was referring to the debt for our sins. Jesus paid the debt for our sins in full on the cross. Totally!!! Always, for all time!
Mankind owes a debt for our sins that we can never repay. We can never outweigh the good with the bad. But the Good News is that we don't have to. Jesus paid the full debt. Not one whit left undone!!!
By the way, back in the 1600s, when the Bible was being translated in England, the common people understood that word, gospel, to be "the good, glad, merry news that makes a man fairly leap for joy!" Oh that we would hear that same expression these days. Alas, more often than not, the "good" news is presented as bad news. Poor God (a minister once actually said that) - He would like to have His own way, but...man's will is stronger.
PTL that is NOT true. God is God, and He is having HIS way - He shall have ALL saved (which is why Jesus Christ is called the "Saviour of the WORLD.")
Amen

As always. LIFE!!

2007-07-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

It has been many moons since I last wrote anything - the computer went away for over 2 months. Now it is back, all is well (pretty much), and I can, once again, write some thoughts.
Much has been learned, as Father has taken me through some times of learning - learning to wait, learning to be ever more flexible (discovered I was a bit more rigid than realized); and finding His love, strength, and leading never fail. Painful? Of course, at times - but worth it.

Knowing Him is more than simply quoting Scripture and "going to church" (I put that phrase in quotes, since, to me, it is impossible to "go to church." As Charles Schulz put it, how can we "go to" what we ARE). It's actually living the Word (Christ) as His in us life unfolds day to day.
We are the apple of His eye; and even though we have been bruised by a fall. He stopped what He was doing, and picked us up on a hill called Calvary, and paid in full for our "damaged" fruit.
And, hallelujah, we are no longer "damaged" - we are now new creations in Christ, HIS workmanship, and He is fulfilling His will in our lives. Whatever the cost - and, of course, that can hurt...but only as long as is needful to form Christ in us.
AMEN!!!

What do we think of God?

2007-04-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

What do we think God is like? It matters, for our view of God affects our theology, and our theology affects our view of God.
Andrew Jukes summed it up in this manner: "For our views of God re-act upon ourselves. By an eternal law, we must more or less be changed into the likeness of the God we worship. If we think Him hard, we become hard. If we think Him careless of men's bodies and souls, we shall be careless also. If we think Him love, we shall reflect something of His loving-kindness."
Malcolm Smith did an interesting survey - he asked quite a few people what they thought of God. A few said powerful, the rest said Judge - and not one said Love.
A sad commentary on how Christians think of Him...GOD is love!!! That is His essence. All the rest are attributes, and all are resting on the foundation of love. They do not come into action unless Love says, "Yes."
What a difference it makes, knowing HE is love, in how we treat, look at, others.
Amen!

A beautiful day...

2007-04-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

PTL and...was able to make the connection easily, and arrive at this destination. Ah, miracles still happen!
It is a beautiful day here, with the sun shining, and pleasant temperatures. Yes, it is wonderful. What saddens me is the news that someone decided to kill 20+ young people at Virginia Tech. I think, Father, why would anyone do that - what kind of hatred boiled up inside this man and caused him to want to murder?
I do not understand, but I do trust, and believe...Scripture makes it clear that it is HE who rules in the affairs of man (read Daniel 4 - even applied to Nebuchadnezzar, surely an evil rules). The Lord does not explain - and Jesus never made excuses for or tried to explain what His Father did, was doing, and would do.
Therefore, in the face of this evil, and of all the evil in the world, I stand fast, knowing that evil will be with us only UNTIL such time as it has wrought whatever the Lord had in mind for it to accomplish, and then...it shall be taken out, and "the glory of the LORD will cover the earth as the water covers the sea," and the end shall be even more wondrous than the beginning. Amen!!

Life

2007-04-15T15:58:00.000-07:00

It would seem that the blog I had before (it is out there somewhere) has experienced some "plastic surgery" - without a by-your-leave, I am now with google's blog system. Is it more exotic, with more options? Of course. Was I completely satisfied with the earlier, "archaic" arrangement? Oh yes. However, the Lord opens opportunities for me to adjust to change - and guess that if I want to include some of what is over in that "other blog", can have people go there still (yes, it DOES exist) and read what I wrote...and then, if interested, they can come here. Maybe it will work that way. Who knows.
Anyway, I had planned a short and sweet, and wonderfully delightful, one-liner on the other blog, but...shall simply include it here: "Jesus Christ is God's kiss on the nose of the world!" Now isn't that something to make you smile, and rejoice?!!!