tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23388627343416840642024-03-14T09:47:49.875+02:00Higher Thoughts of Nude RealitiesHigher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.comBlogger23125truetag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-65733370476713320872009-07-30T11:16:00.002+02:002011-02-21T08:15:04.656+02:00The presentThe Future of my Past<br /><br />I come from there<br />I wash my face in it in the morning<br />I dress myself with it's colour<br />It is who I am<br />Genetically mutated by my past<br />It is whom I take into the future<br />My past, pre-dispostions me<br />So that my future prejusdices me<br />It is who I am and it will cloud whom I become<br />I am forever changed, but keep being the same<br />The past formed me for a future just like this one<br />And it's called the present,<br />A gift from the past to the future.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-37142971067653308332009-07-15T10:48:00.001+02:002009-07-15T10:48:15.688+02:00Black and white part 1<p><object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" codebase="http://fpdownload.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=7,0,0,0" width="348" height="115" id="audioplayer" align="middle"> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <param name="movie" value="http://media.cellspin.net/flash/audioplayer/audioPlayer.swf" /> <param name="quality" value="high" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="FlashVars" value="configurationfile=http://media.cellspin.net/user/9d8a3a06a2/audioplayer/ext/65289/v2/configuration.xml&playlistfile=http://media.cellspin.net/user/9d8a3a06a2/audioplayer/ext/65289/getPlayData.php" /> <embed src="http://media.cellspin.net/flash/audioplayer/audioPlayer.swf" quality="high" FlashVars="configurationfile=http://media.cellspin.net/user/9d8a3a06a2/audioplayer/ext/65289/v2/configuration.xml&playlistfile=http://media.cellspin.net/user/9d8a3a06a2/audioplayer/ext/65289/getPlayData.php" width="348" height="115" name="audioplayer" align="middle" allowScriptAccess="always" wmode="transparent" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer/" ></embed></object></p><p></p><p>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.cellspin.net">www.cellspin.net</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-47705981422461723422009-06-12T10:35:00.001+02:002009-06-12T10:35:28.244+02:00Phases:<br /><br />So easily we look upon the times of our lives and refer to them as phases. There is the terrible two's, a phase when independence is tasted and suddenly what was a soft cuddly infant becomes a terrorist, that sabotages everything you atempt to do for them. <br /><br />Then there is the shy phase, the naked phase, the teenager phase and much later the midlife crises phase.<br /><br />Why do we call these times of change and self awareness phases? Like we just can't wait to get to the other side of this time. Write it off as a bad time?<br /><br />We are lothing these special moments, but instead we should celebrate them.<br /><br />I am going through a phase and so my family is going through this phase too. They want to get the other side of this time, but this it part of who I am becoming. This is not a phase, as much as going through puberty is not a phase, but a change after which you never can go back to how it was.<br /><br />Saying that you long for the time before the phase would be uttering nonsence. When you get born, you are endowed with a certain set of skills to transform - a little like evolution. You were always going to change, it is in your genes after all.<br /><br />So if the family wants you to return to what you were before the phase. It would be like trying to make the butterfly go back to being a worm.<br /><br />Phased? Let me know.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-48481127235587475652009-04-25T03:13:00.003+02:002009-04-25T03:13:56.962+02:00The reason for my life.<p><a href="http://www.cellspin.net/user/9d8a3a06a2/post/53431/"><img src="http://posts.cellspin.net.s3.amazonaws.com:80/posts/27830/2009/04/24/full_937732d28bd3f113b2ae6c5992fb325f.png"/></a></p><p></p><p>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.cellspin.net">www.cellspin.net</a></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-55493953987208318742009-03-02T10:52:00.008+02:002009-03-04T00:35:36.703+02:00Insignificance amongst the greats of the past<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_12f1yVyYHuI/SauohGViwXI/AAAAAAAAACc/phQHGBR8aYo/s1600-h/Minstry2.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308521872376381810" style="WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_12f1yVyYHuI/SauohGViwXI/AAAAAAAAACc/phQHGBR8aYo/s320/Minstry2.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><p align="left"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_12f1yVyYHuI/SaunIS6WRAI/AAAAAAAAACU/3ofayZz4yBs/s1600-h/Minstry1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5308520346743620610" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 269px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 293px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_12f1yVyYHuI/SaunIS6WRAI/AAAAAAAAACU/3ofayZz4yBs/s320/Minstry1.jpg" border="0" /></a></p><div align="left">My recent travels in the UK gave me a whole new view on my real place in this world. When facing a building that took 250 years to build, you start understanding how small you really are. </div><br /><div align="left">Today our expectations are that we could design and build all our dreams in a singular lifetime, but really good things take a a lot longer.Just take the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Minstry</span> in York. Every rock carved out of a solid slab to fit perfectly on the rock below it. In today's engineering world, everything is mass produced for as little as possible (the bricks we build with today are not custom sized for anything other than productivity) and we often dream of a standard like - all vehicles use the same size oil filter.</div><br /><div align="left">But the rocks on the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Minstry</span> and on so many other old historic buildings were each custom made just for the block below it. Unlike the song that used to be so popular in the 1980's and earlier with the words that say "...we are just another brick in the wall..." these stones are each unique and specially chiseled to fit just in that spot.</div><br /><div align="left">What makes this analogy even more of a trip is that the rock it is build of is perhaps millions of years old. If I had to determine the age of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Minstry</span> by its components it would be calculated to be millions of years old. A faulty rational that doesn't seem to bother any of the evolutionist cronies.</div><br /><div align="left">I walked into the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Minstry</span> and there I saw art that was handmade. Now remember that this art form is not into wood or metal that you could melt and pour into some form to assure the repetitive accuracy of the end product, but from rock. Hard rock that was slowly chipped away at till it reached perfection. Perfection was the only thing that was good enough for an altar in any of these great buildings of yesteryear. Mostly places of worship that stood the test of time. I imagined the work that went into every detail of those wonderful buildings and I wondered if I would have been able to do that which was before me.</div><br /><div align="left">To understand me a little better I need to reveal that I am the kind of person that has very little fear in taking on something I have never done before. I watch extreme sports on TV and I find a force driving me to try it myself, but when I stood before these sculptures and pictured myself doing it, it brought a type of fear over me that I had never felt before. The person doing this work had to have the patience of a saint. Tirelessly, but never mindlessly, he had to chip and scratch away at the granite and marble. Big slabs of continuous stone with motif after motif on it. Portraits of different people who might have been men and woman of great esteem during this era of religious faith. And repeating intricate shapes flawlessly. Now working with marble or any rock, there are many small inconsistencies in these very hard materials and just think how long it must have taken one young man to produce such a fete of wonder. He might have had to work on it more than a year with his primitive tools and perhaps at the very end of this piece of work he loses his concentration and chips away a piece of rock that should still be part of the larger sculpture. What happened then. This was the fear I was feeling.I went to everyone and looked for the error, but found not one. I can only think that the young man started over. But that's okay, because he started on his work 4 lifetimes before the due date for the delivery of this magnificent building. </div><br /><div align="left">If I was to start such a venture in those days, it was my son's son's son's son that would be at the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">inaugurational</span> service and he would be the one to praise God in this magnificent building so fitting for service. A building that was the life's work of thousands of people over several generations. Families of workers, whose greatest fete was to have their sons carry on the work that they begun. The final completion of these churches was not witnessed by the layers of the foundation, but the completed product brought honour to all that lived their lives for its final blessing. A blessing of worship that would continue for many more generations than the 5 it took to erect it. </div><br /><div align="left">I stood inside these cathedrals and felt the presences of angels. Here was evidences of tears that was spilt form many for the lost souls of this world. Many a sinner became a saint on bended knee, within these pews and it was as if their prayers were still faintly echoing within those thick walls of stone. I could see how one would treasure such a building in your community. A place where there is so much beauty to behold, you might even forget about the pain you came there with, the reason you brought your prayer there. Surely if God was anywhere it had to be there.</div><br /><div align="left">As I was taking this all in, it occurred to me that in the same way, we are part of the generations of workers that build on the church of Christ. A building of the souls of people amongst whom God will dwell and where He will be worshiped. This church is the real McCoy, this church will forever stand. We have opportunity to be part of the workforce to build this ultimate building, that He calls - His church. And just like the young man, we would have to start over when we make a mistake. Herein is the patience of the saints that they labour on even though the rewards lay many generations into the future. And like the workers of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Minstry</span>, Peter, Paul and John who laid the foundations to this church, bare honour with all who labour for its completion. How great that day when God pitches up for the that great inaugural service, but until then we labour on.</div><div align="left"></div><div align="left"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_12f1yVyYHuI/SauohGViwXI/AAAAAAAAACc/phQHGBR8aYo/s1600-h/Minstry2.jpg"></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-18297018359595712762009-03-02T02:53:00.003+02:002009-03-02T11:46:23.796+02:00Another prelude to love is...Love between a man and a woman was said to be started by the god Eros. Also know as Cupid, he shoots his arrow into the eye of the person and this arrow finds its way down to the heart. The reason for the arrow, to give some sort of understanding of the pain that comes with love. I'm guessing that this is especially true for lost love. There has been accounts of people simply dying from a broken heart. The will to continue, without the love in their grasp, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">disappears</span> like the setting sun.<br /><br />Is love depended upon a receiving party or can it exist alone. I believe that love has to be shared to be <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">fulfilling</span>, but it is possible to love another without that love being answered completely.<br /><br />Love that exists in a shared environment and then is denied by one of the parties involved, becomes a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">tragedy</span>. It is here that betrayal and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">deceit</span> tear things <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">apart</span> till the only thing that is left, is the arrow stabbed through the heart. So great is the pain that is felt, one can hardly keep breathing. There is no cure and the pain can only be numbed when you numb everything, and that is essentially death. So frankly - <u>love is the most dangerous of things to experience</u>. Once you've been invaded by love, life as you knew it is over. Your new life has begun.<br /><br />For some crazy reason, so many lives that are changed in this fashion, end on the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">jagged</span> rocks below. The most precious gift of all gifts is simply abandoned or abused, taken for granted or betrayed. One can be betrayed in life on many fronts, but betrayed love leaves you with no recourse, no comeback, no stitches for the deep <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">lacerations</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">afflicted to your tender heart</span>. Many become vindictive, an attempt to answer their own pain with the pain they might be able to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">inflict</span>. Somewhere in their deepest Id they reason that the pain is connected to the object of their love. Take the object away and the pain will also go away, but, and this is a big BUT, what they don't understand is that the pain is there because the lover had the anti-serum for the pain that the arrow was inflicting. So the only real cure for the pain is to get the person to fall in love with you again.<br /><br />Substitute love is often used, but substitute love will always be less than <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">fulfilling</span>. Your heart is "<em>given away</em>", stabbed by Cupid's arrow and the love you receive can't be stored, because it leaks out.<br /><br />So there is no solution other than death? I'm not saying it. I know the God of the universe and He knows me. He is all powerful and in His hands, I know, lays healing. But like any cut on the body there will remain a scar. And as far as hearts go, they can't take too many cuts. You might say that God can do anything, but just remember that He was the One that made the heart this way!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-44267179301180927892009-02-27T01:40:00.002+02:002009-02-27T01:45:44.585+02:00Love is...This might be my greatest work yet. I struggle to bring this one in, but in it must come so come back to see it soon right here. <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Guaranteed</span> to alter the way you see many a thing, it did it for me and it'll do it to you. People I tell find something happening inside forever, changing.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-77292507494323561152009-02-27T01:21:00.003+02:002009-02-27T01:39:38.763+02:00Hey little birdOh little bird, how come you flew my way?<br />What was it you had to say?<br />Where to, were you on your way<br />When our eyes met this <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">sultry</span> day?<br />What did you see in their depths,<br />Did you see strength or was it weakness there beneath?<br />Could you see what I think, dream and believe?<br />I imagine you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">ve</span> been privy to many a scene.<br />Sat in a tree, watching people kiss and carve their names<br />With hearts committed to do the right thing.<br />Did you know their lives together would change everything?<br />Could you see their future from your perch?<br />How I wish I could fly where you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">ve</span> been.<br />See what you’<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">ve</span> seen.<br />Maybe I should keep the feathers from your wing,<br />Next to the Ice cream and the pepper thing.<br />See if they lead me in your ways.<br />See if they show me all of your days.<br />And see if they take me to a higher place<br />To know where I’m going and what trials I’m to face.<br />But then again – you never knew the last thing you’d ever see<br />was the whites of my eyes in the sight of me.<br />Are you some sort of make-shift offering<br />to the god of metal, glass, rubber and something rotating?<br />Sacrificed to a Higher power on a prayer and a wing.<br />For my sins and for my suffering.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-71656322064854855452009-02-15T23:14:00.005+02:002009-02-23T18:51:17.309+02:00Theology majors still in the minorsThis last weekend I went to listen to a pastor that now is Director of Ministry for our local church conference. He has spoken at conference meetings before and it was really good. It seemed that he was always bringing out topics that I had great interest in and enjoyed to find him put facts to my already held presuppositions.<br /><br />If anyone knows me they will know that what impresses me in a speaker is not their title, but their ability to carry over a heavenly message of truth in a simple understanding. I believe that truth is always simple and easy to understand. If you find yourself lost in a sermon, you probably are being confused. This is not your doing, but usually the doing of the preacher. His own confusion is carried over into his sermon. The Bible is a book with many layers to be understood, but just like Jesus' parables, they are all easy to understand when you look at them with innocent eyes. Therefor we need to become like children again. We need to let the Spirit open our understanding and not think that the preacher's inability to do what God called him to do is our problem.<br /><br />Well needless to say, this preacher missed so many points and brought me to one very clear understanding and that is that he had no clue.<br /><br />His expressed purpose was to assure the congregation that God is not judging you by your deeds, but by the life and blood of Christ. The message he was teaching was essentially true, but was also fraught with his, personally induced, trip-ups. He wanted to condemn perfectionism, but instead his points were weak and allowed for confrontation. It became clear that he himself is still struggling to completely grasp the fact that Salvation is the priceless gift of God through the acts of His Son. And since this gift is not something you send in the mail in response to an application for salvation or hand to only those who love you, but assessed to your character even though you are not receptive to it. It is because of this fact that the Spirit wrestles with you to realize in you what your reality is.<br /><br />Eternal death is only for those who insists on being judged by their own merit. Because that removes the Saviour from the picture. As long as the Saviour is allowed to do His work - He saves. After all, this is what Saviours do, they save. Now to fully get what happens on your behalf you need to understand that God the Father send His one and only child to do this very important super hero job. If He (Jesus) comes back empty handed or with only a few, then He was the wrong one to send and the Father who can not make a mistake, mistaken.<br /><br />So it ends up being very simple. If you think you are better that your neighbour and more worthy of being saved, well then, you are very lost. If you are amazed that God would save even someone like you and gladly accept what ever He does for you - you are saved.<br /><br /><br />(Eze 34:16) I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong; I will feed them with judgment.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-66823155775186681902009-02-13T14:04:00.003+02:002009-02-13T16:15:15.125+02:00F=maThe force at which two bodies meet are directly equivalent to the product of the density and size of those bodies.<br /><br />The force at which two minds meet could theoretically be formulated, with Newton's Law, as the size of the heart and the contents of the brain. Now given the right circumstances for such a meeting of the minds and hearts to occur, the impact could be very significant. This impact results in a change in the way the objects move from that point on.<br /><br />Force that my 6'3" body exerts on the surface of the earth is called my weight.<br />That force is really a measure of the potential impact that I could have on the earth and it in turn on me. The size of such an impact is really dependent on the rate at which the two object's relative movement changes. I fall to the earth from 20 meters in the sky and hit a rock - then I will come to an instantaneous stop and I would probably be exterminated, but if the air turns to water I would have a very slow deceleration and probably swim off unscathed.<br /><br />So actually measuring the impact that two people have on each other has many additional complications, but I believe that Newton still explains this phenomena.<br /><br />We speak about a heart, but also about someone that has heart. Having heart often makes people larger than life. So if I would equate that with the true size of a person then the depth of thought should be the measure of their density. So as the product of the volume and density of an object is equal to its mass so the heartful and thoughtful person will ultimately have greater inertia and less likely to be changed off course in the event of a collision with another. Two masses move along and their straight paths cross at a moment in time. The measure of their effect upon each other is relative to the direction of each object, the mass of that object and the speed of movement at the point of impact, which in turn is dependent on the possible acceleration of both or either object and the gravitational pull between the two objects.<br /><br />I believe, just as the Newton model predicts, that the impact that two persons have on each other is directly proportionate to their direction in which they are moving. This would be an explanation for the commonly observed phenomena of two very opposite persons having such a great impact upon each other. And just like a bullet that impregnates its victim so too the impact that causes marriage and consequent pain from two opposite moving masses meeting, changes both objects and sends them careening into a completely new direction or at the very least it would be new for one of the two.<br /><br />Now if this new found union isn't carefully steered, another such an impact could easily occur that once again could change the direction and speed of the combined masses or even dislodge the previous union to form a new combined mass.<br /><br />But from all of this hypothesis there is one thing sure, and that is, that none of the objects involved with such collisions will ever move or be the same there after. They will ultimately be forever changed.<br /><br />So the change that occurs in the human frailty is often dependent on which object has more mass and speed at the time of the impact. The product of the one who has more mass and speed would have the greater influence on the other's change. But even a very small directional change could over many years result in a very big difference.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-78120684167168362202009-02-12T12:22:00.009+02:002009-02-12T14:18:30.007+02:00Help Me Please<div align="center"><strong>Dear Lord, give me </strong></div><div align="center"><strong></strong></div><div align="center">Your eyes and help me to see in others what You see in them.</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Your heart and help me suffer with the suffering.</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Your ears and help me to hear people speak, so that I can hear what they fear.</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Your hands so that my touch would not only be skin deep.</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Your feet to go where I'll find Your lead, walking the paths You walked.</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Your arms and help me to carry the burdens of others as You carry me</div><div align="center">on Your out-stretched arms.<br />Your tong and help me to speak only of Your Glory.</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Your brow and help me to take the beating while still loving he who beats me.<br /></div><div align="center">Your mind and help me to be everything you want me to be. </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"><br /></div><div align="center">This I ask not in want, but in need, through the renewing of my mind.<br /></div><div align="center">Take hold of me - stretch me - break me - form me - but make me new, more like You.</div><p align="center"></p><div align="center">For Lord I am deaf, blind and dumn, </div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">My heart, feet and hands move none,<br /></div><div align="center">For my arms, mind and will are gone,</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">My Creator, Lord and Saviour You are ONE.</div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center"></div><div align="center">Now make me one</div><div align="center">with the Name of the Father, Spirit and Son.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-14029538624829828202009-02-02T14:23:00.009+02:002009-02-02T17:12:37.188+02:00The missionWhere ever we go, those that care and love us, come up with good plans for our future.<br /><br />Stay here! We miss you and without you nobody ever gets together anymore. You're always the one with the good ideas and the one who is able to get the crowds together. We seldom have fun anymore without you. Please stay here. There is such a need for people like you in this area. You can really earn big bucks if you came to stay here.<br /><br />This we hear in South Africa and this we hear in the USA and we heard it in Mozambique. Always the second approach after the initial - What? Why would you want to go there? Have you not been reading about the place in the news papers? What about your family? Don't you care about their safety? Everyone is leaving the place and you want to go there. What's wrong with you - do you have a death wish? First extreme sports and now this?<br /><br />The final plea is more from those who believe that they still own the right to order you to stay away. "You have to grow up now son. You have a daughter now and your first responsibility is to your child. You can't continue just doing as you please, you need to settle down and take your responsibilities more seriously. You're not going to be young forever you know."<br /><br />In no way would I ever presume to compare myself with Jesus, but in this instance I almost think there is a correlation between the experience He had in the desert and my experience now.<br /><br />First He was tempted with His immediate need to stuff Himself. Like Eve's temptation to try the fruit that would be good for taste and provide knowledge. I too am asked if I have considered the knowledge of the information out there. Eat of the fruit of knowledge and surely you would be changed. The promise to Eve was that she would be changed into a god. Like Jesus was told to look over all He could see and take it for Himself as a kingdom with a simple bow to His tempter. In the same way, I too am promised that I would have kingly status amongst my friends if only I stayed. ( Now for those of you that have said these thing to me, please don't be offended. Gleaning these little illustrations between my reality and my spirituality is what I am all about. So know that I am not implying that you might be the Devil even though I use your words to say just that.)<br /><br />Finally I am ordered to disregard the sacred words of the promise and follow the new teaching. For Eve it was the order to disregard the promised consequence of eating the fruit - "you'll surely not die". To Jesus it was - "surely You wouldn't even bump your toe if you only jump from the top", and to me the order is to not believe that He calls those He calls and that I should conform to the ways of this established society. I have no right to place my daughter in the hands of the One who gave her to me. I have to trust only that which is familiar and never seek out the unknown. I am to hold on in my own strength and not trust the illusion of a God that feeds the birds of the sky and clothes the flowers of the field, but rather to believe in a God that helps those that help themselves.<br /><br />For myself and all those that wonder about my sanity I write this: Men are often honoured with purple hearts and silver crosses for their acts of bravery. They ran back into the flames that enveloped a building to save a child, or they swam the rough seas to safe a drowning man. Recently a man was honoured in his death. He jumped onto a live grenade and protected his comrades in arms by shielding them from the explosion with his own body. We celebrate these men and woman and animals for their great courage, but to the lowly missionary that travels across the globe to take a message of hope and life to a village bound in its superstition, we have little respect. When they lose their lives we think only of the uselessness of their endeavor. The idea of them flying all the way out there to be the main course on the local menu the day after they arrive, seems like such a waste.<br /><br />I would like to put my whole endeavor in a different light. Often we watch movies where multiple men die in the process of saving only one. You watch because the theme is about bravery and courage, but if you were to do a simple mathematical equation you could easily see that it doesn't make sense. After all, all men have the same worth so why would you sacrifice 3 or 4 lives for just one?<br /><br />Jesus' equation made much more sense. One died so that many could live. Yet we keep watching how many give their lives to the purpose of saving only one. How do you feel about this? Is it not stupid? I believe it is not. Because it is always a worthwhile equation when <strong>free men</strong> freely give their lives so that <strong>bound men</strong> - no matter how many - could be <strong>free</strong>.<br /><br />So if you heard of 35 children in a foreign country bound, chained to their circumstances, and you were asked to go there to fetch them and bring them home - would you not go? You as a free man or woman, given these circumstance, would you find reason to pass on the other side of the road? I'll bet you that most of you reading this post would believe that they would go if asked.<br /><br />Now let us raise the stakes. If you'd be asked to go and there was a possibility that you might die while doing this rescue mission would you still go? Put it in perspective. Do you have any guarantees on life. I mean, you could die in your shower (slip and fall), die in your car on the way to work (just ask my friend Claire @ mymemoirofyou.blogspot.com) or even die in your sleep (heart or brain clot). So death or life is not really in your power, but what is in your power is to go or to stay. Now to fully appreciate this situation you need to add the fact that it is not your boss telling you to go, nor your general, or even your parents, but it is God the Lord of all that is, that is asking you to go. Now put that into the equation. Would you go now? He who holds life and death in His hands asks you to go and retrieve 35 children. Now this mission might take a bit of time, may be that it would take the rest of your life. Are you still wanting to go, did you have other plans then? O! You want to do more than just save only 35 children - then complete this question: Why do you celebrate when a movie character succeeds in extracting a singular individual after sacrificing several of his fellow men in action and in the odd case,that draws a few tears, loses his own life almost in the very end? All he did was save that one person. It is because the human spirit is always touched by the heroic selfless action of another person. We also like the lead person to do fantastic acts that distinguishes that person from the ones that try to prevent him from succeeding with his mission. In realistic terms we can also see that the supernatural aspects of any person are revealed when, they that are free, chooses to go set free, they that are bound.<br /><br />I have accepted such an opportunity. I plan on serving 35 orphans with my knowledge, energy, problem solving skills and my leadership. And as God is my leader I will strive to succeed in saving 35 lives by introducing them to my loving Father and showing them what it means to have faith enough to go where He leads. Setting free 35 more to go to set free many that are not free.<br /><br />These orhans are located on the eastern boarder of a Southern African country called Zimbabwe. They live in a village called Murange and they need our help. They will die, but it will be better if they die free and if we could schedule such terminating events far in the future. So if you want to walk on the same side as the suffering then drop us a note.<br /><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KudssJKRBB0&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KudssJKRBB0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/micVfJJ-b48&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/micVfJJ-b48&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-40356517253253896622008-09-10T11:21:00.003+02:002008-09-10T16:25:28.013+02:00The Slow FadeThere is much to be said for the lives we live. They are intermingled with right and wrong, truth and error. What was once black and white becomes shades of grey.<br /><br />Does God see this and find us wanting for living mediocre lives? Does He wonder why we are lackluster in our zest to honor Him with our daily activities? Is He sad that the choices we make are so powerless and faithless when we daily claim Him as our God (the omnipotent God we say He is)?<br /><br />I say no! He is not disappointed in our inability to walk the straight and narrow. He is not questioning His own sanity for letting such a powerless generation live. We are the sheep of His flock, but we look like hell. Tattered and torn as life's wolves has snapped and ripped at us. He is not!<br /><br />I repeat, He is not disappointed, because He is our loving Father who knows our hearts from before our days and He knows our ways and He knew us on the Cross of Calvary. It was for days like these and ways like these that He suffered and died. He is the Shepherd, and we are the weak. He is God, and we are mere mortals that need Him so. His desire is that not one go lost, yes, not one who is in His fold.<br /><br />The Shepherd doesn't blame the sheep for leaving the fold. None who He shepherds over will go lost. If the wolves gets hold of them, it is He who protects. It is He who is the One, the chosen One to stand in the breach, and it was He who did it 2000 years ago. He knows my ways before I go, and He will not let me fall away.<br /><br />Though my days may be dark, it is when they are the darkest that light reveals itself the clearest. All the darkness in the world can not erase the light of one candle, so how could the powerless sin in my life erase the Light of the world. Never I tell you, because He SAVES and we are the saved. Trust in your Redeemer always, even when your resistance crumbles; trust that at the end of it all, it is He who will pull you out of the pit to take you back home.<br /><br />For God so loved the world that He gave Himself for its salvation, so that anyone who trusts in Him will not go lost.<br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/n-8SYA6rfbs&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/n-8SYA6rfbs&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />This video does not make my point except that the fruitless lives we live is a slow fade. We don't lose our way in a moment and when we see our distance traveled from the Father's will we are not lost, because the Shepherd knows exactly where we are. He will guide us back when we want to fade no-more. We are His and there is no-way He'll let us go when we want to be in His arms. The price He paid was too high to not seek its reward. No-one buys a jewel for a great price and then discards it. Neither will He!Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-1525006953518851562008-09-01T22:01:00.000+02:002008-09-01T22:27:46.535+02:00The More<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/T1ge9YlEtxw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/T1ge9YlEtxw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-71681900823070462222008-08-29T23:03:00.006+02:002008-08-30T00:11:51.884+02:00Little Is MuchThis song is one of the first songs I ever shared with my new born daughter. Now, I didn't let grass grow under my feet. These words, set to these melodies, were there the first moment Esme entered our home. These songs calmed her and are still special to the two of us.<br /><br />"Little is much when God is in it" has two meanings and both are beautiful.<br /><br />This is applicable to something like a seed, but in the form of a human life, it is much more. See - if God is physically <strong><em>inside</em></strong> of something, like a baby or an adult too, then the little person could not be considered little since it would be infinite with God (who is infinite) inside. He makes His kingdom in the hearts of his children. So any 1<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">xInfinite</span>=Infinite. Mathematically sound thought.<br /><br />If God is <strong><em>into</em></strong> something, like a human, He could make that person prosper infinitely. Just like when Jesus turned a few fish and loaves of bread into a feast for thousands, so could God make the small and weak into great and strong. If you let God in charge of a life, He would make much of it, especially with little at hand. But the hands that form each inside the womb, long to transform us into His image again.<br /><br />In both cases it applied to my daughter and we prayed this song, as the blessing it is, over her life.<br /><br /><br /><br /><object height="344" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/CQmZy8qaMMg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/CQmZy8qaMMg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />Today I see this truth in and around me, but now as much as ever I pray that God will make the little in my life - much!Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-81238075571521021792008-08-27T23:48:00.005+02:002008-08-27T23:59:01.845+02:00Nude RealityI figured I'd post a nude reality of myself. With all this nudeness going on at this blogspot a nude photo of my higher thought would be a<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXMeJ3MooI/AAAAAAAAABg/ywY7NfUKKgA/s1600-h/IMG_0033.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239318559931015810" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXMeJ3MooI/AAAAAAAAABg/ywY7NfUKKgA/s320/IMG_0033.JPG" border="0" /></a>ppropriate.<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXMeYhtttI/AAAAAAAAABo/bvzL-NoJyBE/s1600-h/Here%27s+looking+at+you+Babe.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239318563867440850" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXMeYhtttI/AAAAAAAAABo/bvzL-NoJyBE/s320/Here%27s+looking+at+you+Babe.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Is this too vain?Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-10718817951639298802008-08-27T22:43:00.010+02:002008-08-28T00:12:35.015+02:00Behold the Beauty<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXQj-aFr9I/AAAAAAAAAB0/AgY_XvcwqKk/s1600-h/Come+on+let%27s+ride.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239323057981861842" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXQj-aFr9I/AAAAAAAAAB0/AgY_XvcwqKk/s320/Come+on+let%27s+ride.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAlrfgVnI/AAAAAAAAABA/KFuVHv-nZcQ/s1600-h/Embrace+Beauty.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239305495078000242" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAlrfgVnI/AAAAAAAAABA/KFuVHv-nZcQ/s320/Embrace+Beauty.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAl-Z6KjI/AAAAAAAAABI/PnBoiOLh9zs/s1600-h/Concerned+Beauty.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239305500154800690" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAl-Z6KjI/AAAAAAAAABI/PnBoiOLh9zs/s320/Concerned+Beauty.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAlcQNMTI/AAAAAAAAAA4/d5HbJN0fqKo/s1600-h/De-scribe+Beauty.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239305490987299122" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAlcQNMTI/AAAAAAAAAA4/d5HbJN0fqKo/s320/De-scribe+Beauty.JPG" border="0" /></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAlwCYotI/AAAAAAAAABQ/spP805IEkos/s1600-h/Innocent+Beauty.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239305496298037970" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAlwCYotI/AAAAAAAAABQ/spP805IEkos/s320/Innocent+Beauty.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAmG5WgpI/AAAAAAAAABY/UxnmectbwHg/s1600-h/Nude+Beauty.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239305502434165394" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLXAmG5WgpI/AAAAAAAAABY/UxnmectbwHg/s320/Nude+Beauty.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9iWmuvVI/AAAAAAAAAAg/WShyNcXn9GU/s1600-h/Beauty+rides.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239302139396668754" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9iWmuvVI/AAAAAAAAAAg/WShyNcXn9GU/s320/Beauty+rides.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Beauty and the Beast<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9M3dcFCI/AAAAAAAAAAY/_fJ2jPlQJOU/s1600-h/Beauty+and+the+Beast.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239301770258945058" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9M3dcFCI/AAAAAAAAAAY/_fJ2jPlQJOU/s320/Beauty+and+the+Beast.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9iroeMfI/AAAAAAAAAAo/uZi608zyLDk/s1600-h/IMG_0196.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239302145041117682" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9iroeMfI/AAAAAAAAAAo/uZi608zyLDk/s320/IMG_0196.JPG" border="0" /></a></div><br /><div align="left"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239302142546671650" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9iiVv-CI/AAAAAAAAAAw/Ylhiteg37lY/s320/Tearful+beauty.JPG" border="0" /></div><br /><div align="left"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9iroeMfI/AAAAAAAAAAo/uZi608zyLDk/s1600-h/IMG_0196.JPG"></a></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_1OllIeaAXQU/SLW9iroeMfI/AAAAAAAAAAo/uZi608zyLDk/s1600-h/IMG_0196.JPG"></a></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><br /><div align="left"></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify">There isn't much to be said here. You can see for yourself that Beauty is in the eye of this beholder. She is the word to me and she completes the idea. When she cries I stare, I can't get enough of what I see, even though I cry within. When she laughs I feel her laughter's radiance on my skin. She is mine and I am hers. She will be beauty and strength when I am weak and old. She is my life.<br /></div><br /><div align="justify">This is what people will remember when I have left. “He had a beautiful daughter that could hang the moon.” Surely goodness and mercy has already overflowed my soul, surely God has blessed me beyond measure? Should I ever wonder, she will remind me of how God smiled upon me when He gave me her to love. If imperfect man could love his child this much – how much more does a perfect God love her? But she is easy to love. Could He love me? And the answer comes through overwhelmingly loud and clear – YES! – He shows it every time she raps her arms around me. His love for me is evident every time she wants me over all the world. I am hers and she is mine and we are His and He is ours.</div></div>Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-80679445123679777562008-08-26T01:09:00.001+02:002008-08-26T13:31:22.128+02:00A time in my life. (Ecclesiastes)It is said that there is a time for everything,<br />A time to sow and a time to reap,<br />A time for birth and a time for death,<br />A time to kiss and a time to refrain,<br />A time for silence and a time to talk.<br /><br />This is the time to say what is on my mind.<br />The wiser you are, the more you worry and<br />The more you know, the more it hurts.<br />The time to love comes and goes freely.<br />Where then shall you find the time to be happy.<br /><br />The more we think we know the less we know.<br />The more we want to know the less we understand.<br />The future is God’s and He alone knows what it holds.<br />The best thing we can do is to find happiness in what we do.<br />What will happen is up to God and His righteousness.<br /><br />There seems only one thing that is sure.<br />Love God and honor Him.<br />Be always in awe of Him.<br />Remember, He is bigger than you and he is in Heaven.<br />So pick your fights carefully.<br /><br />Enjoy the fruits of your hard work.<br />For it is a gift from God.<br />Be content with what you have,<br />Because others will always have more<br />And you will never be happy.<br /><br />Don’t take yourself too seriously.<br />Let your wisdom be simple,<br />And let your foolishness be in Love.<br />Your life is now and not tomorrow.<br />So live it don’t just plan for it.Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-35709013907983069162008-08-25T23:46:00.003+02:002008-08-25T23:54:35.675+02:00If Angels Only Knew(Once again this was my impression of a Steven Curtis Chapman song. Here too was never any reconciling done between the song and my version. He inspires me to write and I used his ideas to form my own.)<br /><br />Angels only wish they knew what we know.<br />Angels will never know how it feels when you give your heart to God for the first time<br />Angels will never know how it feels when Your heart that is broken in two is mended by the love of the Father.<br />And angels will never know how it feels to walk in the light after a lifetime in the night.<br />And angels will never know how it feels to have Jesus’ blood flow over their lives and wash their sins away.<br /><br />Angels will never know the grateful heart that is yours when your sin is no more<br />And they will never know the love that we have for the Father<br />And the gift of His Son and the love we have for that Son, Jesus,<br />Because He paid our rightful sentence upon a cross.<br /><br />They will never understand our gratitude for the life that was started in us through the Spirit of God.<br />And Angels will only see the power He works through us as we battle our greatest war inside of us.<br /><br />Angels are always going to stand in amazement of God’s people living their lives in victory even though Satan claims the victory.<br /><br />Father, Son, and Holy Spirit work as one and in everyone to keep the Angels wishing they knew what we know.Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-30117154724148552182008-08-25T23:31:00.003+02:002008-08-25T23:45:35.285+02:00The Last Day( The idea of this prayer is not my own. After listening to Steven Curtis Chapman sing a song with this idea, I wrote the poem. I have never reconciled the poem with his song. I wrote this after the first time hearing the song. He is an awesome writer and this was what his song said to my heart.)<br /><br />If this should be my last day here on earth<br />I would want to live it with reckless abandonment<br />No consideration of who I am or what I am<br />With no care about what others think of me.<br />I would not do the job I do today,<br />But I would want to do a task that would have lasting consequences.<br /><br />If this should be my last day here on earth<br />I would want to live for You, Jesus<br />Considering who You are and what You are<br />Only caring about what others think of You<br />I would do the job You called me to<br />And do the task that brings lasting consequences for me<br /><br />If this should be my last day here on earth<br />I would want to touch their lives<br />I would want to make a difference in their day<br />No more selfishness in how I give<br />I would like to “Give them my last day”<br /><br />So dear God, help me to live every day<br />As if it is my last day<br />Recklessly abandoning my ways<br />And gratefully adopting Your ways<br />Forever giving my days away so that when I give my life away I could receive it!<br /><br />If this should be my last day here on earth<br />It would be my first day in Your Kingdom.<br /><br />Oh God, dear God<br />Let your kingdom come<br />In these last days here on earth.Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-37822864601755965492008-08-07T05:51:00.002+02:002008-08-07T05:56:14.566+02:00TravelSitting at the airport waiting for my flight north to Europe and then off to the States, I decided to experiment with my newly acquired hobby. I would find some sort of meaning out of all this useless behavior. I would apply some higher thought to all this and follow the trail that inspiration takes me on.<br /><br />What would the Nude Reality be here in this spacious monstrosity called an airport?<br /><br />People hustling here and there, some rushing and others trying to absorb time with movements so slow you might not realize they’re moving at all. Calls over the intercom -"Could passenger so-and-so please report at gate..." is for those who get lost in action. Clearly the pace of the one in front of you is inversely proportionate to how late you are.<br /><br />As I move to gate A12, two young ladies pass me in the opposite direction, questioning each other on how it could have been possible for them to have missed their boarding time. They seemed young and inexperienced, and I wondered if they realized that their luggage probably didn't have the same confusion and made it just fine. That will leave their possessions lonesome at an airport other than the one they will be finding themselves at. This mistake might be more significant than either of them realize.<br /><br />This sadly common occurrence reminds me of our last flight out of here. Matthew was kind enough to record a final trial before that momentous flight.<br /><br />Strange how life mimics spiritual lessons. In fact, to me it becomes increasingly clear that the many life lessons Jesus taught, he taught out of his own common experience. Life's like that - to not see God actively engaged in it is to go through the motions with the clutch disengaged.<br /><br />At this pre-board trial passports and visas were confirmed. Many had their bags packed for the journey to eternity, but only a select group would actually travel the distance - mostly the ones that came without baggage. You see - at this trial Jesus separates the sheep from the goats (that's code for the citizens from the aliens). The criteria seem simple. Were you engaged in the task laid before you, or was that brand new clutch plate burnt? Did you feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit those in need? Because when you travel in gear, you do these things to Jesus when you do them to the least of men.<br /><br />The Bible tells us that first the dead in Christ will be raised to witness that glorious moment and see the Lord of lords triumphant return on the clouds of heaven. They will rise and meet Him in the air. With bodies made new and perfect, they will be their best when they meet up with their Savior.<br /><br />Alive in Christ means dead to the world, but not disengaged from the world. Alive in Christ is to be actively engaged in the world. To be light where there is darkness and love there where there is none.<br /><br />After several flights and layovers, I am on the last leg of my journey, a short flight to Medford where my brother will fetch me for the 1h30 drive to Roseburg. There I will participate in a trial. Right and wrong, guilt and innocence will be judged, and rewards will be given. In my case, I am dependent upon the skills of a lawyer and the discernment of a judge, both of which are simply sinful and human.<br /><br />In the trial of the future I have the testimony of my Friend and the love of my Father. (You know how they say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder? Well, innocence is in the blood of the Lamb.) The Man they called Emmanuel, the one who died for my guilt, stands before the Father and testifies that I am with Him. When the Judge loves you from the first moment he laid eyes on you, you can trust His judgment will have no error. Here is no fallibility at play; here each one will get his just reward.Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-1216260294394817682008-08-04T05:35:00.002+02:002008-08-04T05:37:50.110+02:00HopeRecently someone raised the question whether hope could be switched on at will. Was it a science or something? Especially after I claimed that when you find yourself hopeless you should simply acquire it by hoping.<br /><br />Good question. I should not be allowed to be flippant about such a scarce commodity in today’s modern life.<br /><br />I decided to do a little etymological study on the word hope. I suspected that there would be some higher thoughts to be gleaned from this topic.<br /><br />This is the result.<br /><br />Hope is a common translation for some interesting ideas. Looking at some of the older languages like Hebrew, we find that hope is a <em>cord especially derived from that which binds together</em>. The hope thought is also illustrated as <em>something hoped for, confidence, or even a pool of water.</em><br /><br />Hope could be <em>patience, trust, assurance, refuge, boldness, surety, scrutiny, expectation and just waiting</em>.<br /><br />In Greek there is a <em>waiting in expectation with confident pleasure</em>.<br /><br />Being hopeless is being without anything that makes it worth going on. No hope of any expected pleasure. No assurance or confidence that the dawning of the next day would bring a brighter tomorrow. Exactly the point! – you might say – this is why people commit suicide.<br /><br />This might be partially true, but in allowing yourself to go into such a state you need to completely deny your Savior and His ever nearing return. The time thereof no one knows so it could be tomorrow, but since you gave up today, you wouldn’t get to see that, tomorrow.<br /><br />Hope is like a race. More so like a time trial. There is nobody but you on the field; you race against the clock. You fall, but you get up, because others may have fallen too and since you will only know your final position in the race once all contenders are done, it simply doesn’t make sense to convince yourself halfway that you will not win the race. Why did you enter if you didn’t have hope that you might do well? This is a rhetorical question. We all enter after all, because this is the race of life and no one gets to stand on the side lines.<br /><br />I believe you are born with hope. This is why the baby doesn’t give up during the birth. His DNA compels him to seek a brighter future outside where there is more risk, but also greater rewards. All parents have great hopes for their children and therefore instill a sense of a brighter tomorrow. What you are not born with is the knowledge of the end, but God tells us what the end looks like. We choose to accept His version, or we believe there is no triumphant end where our sorrows get conquered by joy and we consequently become hopeless. <br /><br />Hope is like a pool of water in a dry and barren desert. We don’t stop our journey toward it when we thirst for drink and have the oasis in sight. Hope is a lifeline when you are washed out to sea. No one simply lets the rope go when it is in their grasp. When others are but a stretch away do you not grab hold of safety?<br /><br />Hope is a refuge from the evils of this world, and though my body is put upon a stake I have hope in The One who overcame death and calls me to follow in faith. But don’t think for a moment that this is like giving up. Oh, no, this is the ultimate walk of faith, and faith cultivates hope, and hope sets the soul free to love relentlessly. A love that will not give in and will suffer to the greatest extreme for those who depend upon it. Dying to self is never suicide, but instead it is the most worthwhile attempt to grab hold of life, for the promise of such a life is an eternal one. Giving up on your unbending self will and taking up the will of your Savior Jesus Christ will not only give you hope, but also life abundantly.<br /><br />Hopeless, are you? Then it is because you have no faith and your action will bear no resemblance to love. Love doesn’t give up. Love is eternal. Love doesn’t keep a record of wrongs, but is ever hoping and never hopeless. Love conquers the heart, and when it breaks, love is the glue that mends it again.<br /><br />Giving up on life is not only foolish, but simply evil. And the ruler of evil has caught you in his snare and convinced you that you’ll be a hero when you make it your last stand to die for yourself. You are so mistaken, because Christ already died for you, and His death was enough to give you life eternal.Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2338862734341684064.post-7660069019066792602008-07-30T23:20:00.002+02:002008-07-31T22:43:24.788+02:00SuicideAct of desperation or the ultimate rebellion?<br /><br />Feeling of utter desperation often clouds the mind. It brings a darkness over the soul that takes a stranglehold over the being so that all other possibilities seem exhausted and the body has no other path than the one that is, as to say, leading to the gallows.<br /><br />But is this really what happens to the average Joe Blow <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Suicider</span>? I would contend that it is not, and that though the feelings are desperate, the act is contrived and carefully executed to cause the greatest impact.<br /><br />A friend of mine recently committed suicide in his garage. Why there and why then? What is the act? Is it desperation? Or is it a rebellious act against society, family, friends, company? Or is it just an expression of unbending self will?<br /><br />Many see this as the act of a person that has lost all hope, but how could you lose hope? It is something that cannot be lost when you have it, and if it is gone, you only have to... I dare not say it... hope. It requires no effort. Hope is simply something you have or give up for thoughts of hopelessness.<br /><br />Suicide is a depressed mind's way to get back at all. It is very little masochistic and very much sadistic.<br /><br />This friend of mine has (or is it 'had'?) 2 kids and one on the way. Whom was he hurting? Surely I <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">wouldn</span>’t infer that he was trying to hurt the unborn baby! There is a Bible passage that says that (my version) …the greatest heroes die for those they love…<br /><br />So yes, I do say that this still very young man saw his most triumphant moment in his own death. How perverted you might think this logic is, is ultimately irrelevant when you consider that he committed suicide when he was so! responsible for being the father of three kids. His congested mind needed fresh air, and he would have done well to step out and get some of that before he stepped back in and took his own life. You see, he had committed the act long before the deed and saw the end without him in it.<br /><br />This was not an act of desperation – in fact, I will tell you what desperation looks like in death. A South African friend fired workers building a house for him. They later came back and murdered him. During this most terrible and vile act he dragged his head through burglar bars (this is a burglar deterrent in some countries) which tore his ears off his head - to try to get away.<br /><br />So – the leisure 2 liter sedan running in a non-ventilated garage with you in the front seat dreaming before the air quality so pollutes your blood that the brain checks out simply does not qualify for desperate.<br /><br />When people jump from a hundred story building because that’s the only place where there is not fire consuming them then that is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">desperational</span> (a new word in the English language), but standing in the fresh air and having the sun in your face and then jumping is cold, cruel and calculating. It simply is the ultimate rebellion against those who love you or even hate you.<br /><br />Selfishly you go into a peace of not knowing, when those you left behind now have your burden to carry above and beyond their own, because you simply took extended vacation from life.<br /><br />Was your life hard? Well, the ones you leave behind are the heroes, because they not only carry their own mishaps and failures, but now because you’re not there, they have to deal with your share too.<br /><br />What a way to make your hurt last for generations to come.Higher Thoughtshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10580355871582398921noreply@blogger.com3