The Beautiful Beatitudes -the magna charta

I am reading a book called "The Life Of Christ" by Ralph M. Riggs. Here's an excerpt from it:

'First came the beautiful beatitudes which are considered the magna charta of the kingdom of God. These foundational utterances of the New Testament doctrine correspond to the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament. How different, however, from the "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not" of the former convenant. Here are the keys into the blessed realm where men reach the ultimate in righteousness and heart satisfaction and arrive at the place where God's blessing rests upon them. The qualities cited here are the very antithesis of what are generally considered desirable and legitimate pursuits in life. As Jesus declared later, "that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God" (Luke 16:15). Fundamentally also, "a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth" (Luke 12:15). Humility, meekness, mercifulness, purity of heart, loving and making peace, and being willing to be persecuted for righteousness' sake--these are listed by Christ as the highest objectives for human living.'

And there has not been a better example of these characteristics being lived out in human life than what we observe having been lived out in Christ's life!

Chevron profited $4.35 Billion in quarter.

I hardly ever follow financial news, so these numbers shock me. Chevron profited $4.35 billion in second quarter earnings, as reported on USAToday.com, which it turns out was actually a let down on Wall Street.

"Chevron (CVX) said Friday its second-quarter earnings soared to a new high, but that wasn't enough to satisfy investors whose expectations have been raised by the oil industry's recent run of eye-popping profit. The company's shares tumbled 3.5%. "

"The company said it earned $4.35 billion, or $1.97 a share, for the three months ended in June. That compared with net income of $3.68 billion, or $1.76 a share, at the same time last year. "

"It marks the company's largest three-month profit in its 127-year history, eclipsing earnings of $4.14 billion registered in last year's final quarter after energy prices spiked in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. "

I guess I just don't see it. That seems like an absurd amount of money to stick in the coffers at the expense of consumers. Good for the investors maybe, but I still just don't see it. We are talking BILLIONS not MILLIONS. The goal is to make money, but my goodness, this seems like an unreasonable amount to make in three months. I still think consumers are being raped at the gas pump, and I have hard time seeing it any other way.

Are we being raped?

USAToday Financial News Headline 28th July 2006:

ExxonMobil quarterly profit at $10.4B

Yesterday I traveled from the St. Louis area to Chicago's O'Hare Airport area. I haven't complained a whole lot about the rising cost of fuel, but I have joked a bit about thinking we were being raped at the pumps. But after seeing the today's headline in USAToday, I have this to say: America, we are being raped at the fuel pumps!

"Surging oil prices may be emptying the wallets of drivers topping off their gas tanks, but they're filling the coffers at ExxonMobil, which Thursday reported the second largest quarterly profit for a U.S. company."

$10.4 billion in profit???

That is a tremendous amount of money to make at the expense of America, who has been found guilty of hiring arsonists to burn their fuel consuming SUV's, so they could buy other fuel conserving vehicles.

I still hear the laughter that continues to echo off the hills in America as they made the trip from the pumps to the bank to deposit the money. Don't you hear it too? Wait what's that other sound? Might it be the outcry of America being raped at the pump?

Reading in Habbakkuk (How do you say that?!)

Last Sunday in Sunday School class we studied humility. One approach to studying humility was to examine its antonym, or the opposite of humility. In this case, pride would be the subject matter considered. Pride of life, or human pride, is anything that exalts itself above God and what He has done for us. It is self-exaltation. It portrays "Look what I have done." And we all know stories in the Bible where pride was the undoing of many a person -even death.

Well, this past week, I became aware of a scripture in Habbakkuk chapter two that I thought was interesting. In The Amplified Bible, verse four, we read:

"Look at the proud; his soul is not straight or right within him, but the [rigidly] just and the [uncompromisingly] righteous man shall live by his faith and in his faithfulness."

The King James version reads this way:

"Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith."

So we aren't guilty of taking things out of context we will acknowledge that the prophet was refering to those who were not heeding the warning of impending disaster at the hand of Israel's enemies, the Chaldeans. Instead they thought they could save themselves by their own methods -apart from God and His deliverance. It is a sickly soul, a soul without a right spirit, not fully submitted to God, an unrenewed mind, that thinks man can save himself. Hence, pride.

So leaving the context of the scripture we examined:

Apart from Christ, man cannot save themselves. Salvation and reconciliation only comes through one, and that is Jesus Christ. Christ is Salvation. Man can never be saved by being good enough, by being religious enough, or by knowing it all. It is a proud man that thinks anything other than his faith in Christ will get him anywhere in any area of his life. It is a proud man who does not acknowledge God in every aspect of his life. We are, we do, we have -because Christ has enabled us to.

It is a humble man who acknowledges God's hand in every aspect of his life. It is humble man who gives thanks and praise to God in everything. It is a humble man who doesn't do anything apart from God's direction, strength, wisdom, and power. It is a humble man who knows it is by faith in Jesus Christ through grace we are saved. It is a humble man who is faithful in all things to God. A humble man will have an upright soul in him. The psalmist said in Psalms chapter fifty-one verse ten (KJV), "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." A spirit free from the pride of life.

Sight and Sound Theaters, Lancaster PA

June 7, Wednesday, was show day at the Sight and Sound Theatres in Lancaster PA. We had morning tickets for the Living Waters Theater to see the Psalms of David show, and late afternoon tickets for the Millenium Theater to see the Ruth show. The Ruth show featured live animals and was a musical about Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz. It was a very good production with lavish sets, costumes and props, which as I mentioned included animals of all kinds, big and small. They even had horses with riders running up and down the ailes right through where the people were seated. It was specatacular. But without focusing on that aspect the musical, the musical's content and the ideas presented about trusting God in our circumstances was very well done. In between the shows, we went to Fuddruckers to eat lunch.

We were asked not to take photos of either show, but apparantly someone sneaked this one in.

This is a photo of the Lion and the Lamb statue in front of the Millenium Theater.

This is a photo of a manger scene inside the Millenium Theater.

Reading in Haggai, this morning.

This morning, while reading in Haggai, it occurred to me that we are often like the Israelites in how we conduct our lives from time to time.

In Haggai chapter 1, the Lord is getting on to the people for tending to their own lives and not tending to God's business, or the business He had charged them with.

Uh oh!

The thing is, there were consequences for their choices and actions. Let's read and discover what was happening to them.

Haggai 1 (Amplified Bible)

vs 4 Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses while this house [of the Lord] lies in ruins?

vs 5 Now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways and set your mind on what has come to you.

vs 6 You have sown much, but you have reaped little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you do not have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages has earned them to put them in a bag with holes in it.

vs 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Consider your ways (your previous and present conduct) and how you have fared.

vs 8 Go up to the hill country and bring lumber and rebuild [My] house, and I will take pleasure in it and I will be glorified, says the Lord [by accepting it as done for My glory and by displaying My glory in it].

vs 9 You looked for much [harvest], and behold, it came to little; and even when you brought that home, I blew it away. Why? says the Lord of hosts. Because of My house, which lies waste while you yourselves run each man to his own house [eager to build and adorn it].

vs 10 Therefore the heavens above you [for your sake] withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its produce.

vs 11 And I have called for a drought upon the land and the hill country, upon the grain, the fresh wine, the oil, upon what the ground brings forth, upon men and cattle, and upon all the [wearisome] toil of [men's] hands."

Our text says they were sowing much, reaping little. Bringing home the harvest, only to watch it blow away. Earning wages, putting them into bags with holes in them. I see that as they were making the money, but God wasn't blessing that money for maximum provision in their lives. Their earnings were not staying with them long enough to bless them. Today, I would illustrate that as follows. I bring home my paycheck, I have more than the normal amount of car repairs, house repairs, I don't find things on sale at the store as often, my clothes wear out too fast and need replacing, you get the idea. I am getting nickel and dimed to the point where any extra money I might have had is consumed, plus some, on stuff that just seems to keep coming up or happening to me.

Well, this was happening to them because they were not tending to the commandment of God in their life. I am reminded of the scripture in Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you". (KJV) God blesses His people who put Him first.

Verse 12 (AMP) of our text says "...the people... ....listened to and obeyed the voice of the Lord their God... ....completely... ....and the people [reverently] feared and [worshipfully] turned to the Lord".

The second part of Joshua chapter 24 verse 23 reads, "...incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel". (KJV)

We need to live lives that are lived for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We need to make sure we are building the "Lord's house" in our lives and not our own. We need to make sure we are doing things that glorify our Lord, done for His glory. Christ's righteousness has already been imputed to those who believe in Him and His death on the cross, the power of His shed blood, and resurrection. We need to seek Him and be about the Master's business. Prosper spiritually in relationship with God and in glorifying Him and what He has given you will work harder for you.

More Pictures from Lancaster PA Area June 6 2006

I had heard of this town, but now I can say I have been here.



My wife's Pretzel that she made at the Intercourse Pretzel Factory.

The pretzel I made.

It's official!

A wonderful place to eat! Beats anything around here.

Who are the Amish People?

Ever wondered stuff like:

• Who are the Amish? Are they the same as the Pennsylvania Dutch?
• Why do they dress that way?
• What is the history of the Amish?
• The Amish seem stuck in history. Why don't they accept modern ideas and innovations?
• Do they speak English?
• What's an Amish wedding like?
• Do Amish children go to school?

Well, if you have then, this amish web page will certainly be informative.

Pictures from Lancaster Pennsylvania area

Pictures taken June 5 while visiting Lancaster PA.

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Lots of buggies out here in Amish Country.

Typical Amish farm. No electric. All horse powered.

Strasburg Railroad

John the Baptist's Witness

Reading in the Amplified Bible from John chapter 1:

v7 This man came to witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it [adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it] through him.

v29 The next day John saw Jesus coming to him and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world!

v32 John gave further evidence, saying, I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and it dwelt on Him [never to depart].

v34 And I have seen [that happen--I actually did see it] and my testimony is that this is the Son of God!

v35 Again the next day John was standing with two of his disciples,

v36 And he looked at Jesus as He walked along, and said, Look! There is the Lamb of God!

v37 The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Him.

Hell, Michigan has it's big day on 6-6-06.

The town of Hell, Michigan is getting it's spot in the limelight today. They have special t-shirts and activities going on.

You can read more here on CNN.

RoadsideAmerica.com has a writeup to.

Personally, I question: "Wouldn't the real 6-6-6 have occured 2000 years ago?"

But then, they wouldn't have known about the mark of the Beast since John wouldn't have received the revelation yet... But then they weren't even recording time on the calender like we are now, didn't our calendar system came later?

Driving through Pennsylvania on Sunday June 4 2006

Okay, I will admit it, I like driving through the tunnels in Pennsylvania! There are several of them and most of them aren't very short.

This is a picture inside the Kittatinny Mountain tunnel, just before the Blue Mountain Tunnel.

My wife was getting on to me for not stopping at the different Starbucks we passed on the way. But then we discovered the Service Plaza's on the turnpike have Starbucks in them. Whew hoo!!

It is hard to see, but the Starbucks logo is on the left front door of the Turnpike Service Building. If you click on the picture you would probably be able to see it in the larger fullsize image.

Busch Stadium

Picture taken from the exit lane on I-55 to I-70 eastbound, on June 3, 2006, 8:54am.

Zoomed in on the middle of the above picture.

Iran law requires Jews wear yellow, Christians wear red.

Two articles were published on YNetNews.com
one called Exiles: Iran Jews to wear yellow ribbons,
the other Iran weighing 'national uniform' for all.

In the first one...

"Iranian expatriates reveal that ‘National Uniform Law’ authorized by Iranian parliament includes clause obligating Iranian Jews to wear yellow ribbon; Christians, other minority members to wear colored ribbons as well."

Read the full story here.

Apparantly Jews would wear yellow, Christians would wear red, Islamic Iranians would be required to wear more traditional Islamic dress, ...you get the picture.

Hitler required Jews to be adorned with yellow before he started killing them.

Hmmm....

The thing is though, on the 'net there is a disagreement about whether this is really true or not, whether there really is a law like this. I did hear a short blurb about it on the christian radio SRN news today. That is how I became aware of this. But I didn't catch all of what they said about it.

Canada's National Post originally stirred the pot with it's reporting of this story. The New York Post Online had a story as well.

Missouri Redneck's Deer Stand

Missouri Redneck's Deer Stand

What God did for us.

What God did on our behalf for believers, through Christ's death on the cross.

Colossians 2:15-15 (NIV)

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."

Guilt can no longer work against believers. Satan the accuser, the source of guilt, was defeated by Christ when Christ died on the cross, when Christ shed His blood, when Christ was gloriously raised from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit. Christ carried our guilt to the cross. He stood in for us and paid the price that was required for our guilt. Our faith in Christ becomes our basis for righteousness. Righteousness is imputed to us when we believe in Jesus.

Romans 10:4 (NIV)

"Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)

"God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Christ personally defeated Satan when Satan tempted him in the wilderness. For our benefit, on our behalf as believers, when Christ gave His life on the Cross, Christ defeated Satan once and for all.

Guilt and condemnation no longer defeats us like it did prior to Christ's death and resurrection. In Christ, the accuser's weapon of guilt has been nullified. It has been made useless. Publicly, the powers of darkness were disarmed from being able to use guilt as a weapon. Christ has made a public spectacle of these powers, celebrating their defeat by what He accomplished on the cross. Jesus did not do this for himself, He was already perfectly righteous. No, He did it for us, the sinners, the unrighteous, the unholy, the lost and unsaved. Christ defeated Satan for us. Do our lives reflect that victory, that triumph of Christ over Satan? Is it demonstrated by how we live, worship, love God and those around us?

2 Corinthians 2: 14 (NIV)

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him."

The victory has been won, Satan is a defeated foe. Jesus won. He triumphed. It is our job here on earth to enforce that victory in our lives. Jesus has given us a robe of righteousness. We stand not condemned. We have authority as believers on this earth. Let us enforce the victory that Jesus obtained on the cross.

(Inspired from reading Derek Prince's writings on spiritual warfare)

Model Airplane Flight Video

Now, really, think about it.

Isn't it just amazing that a heavy piece of metal can float in the water? That's what a big ship or vessel is.

And isn't it just as amazing that man can build a metal monstrosity that can soar through the air defying gravity? Or is it more amazing that we will get into these airborn machines and leave the safety of having sand between our toes and shade trees above our heads?

Some guys built a model airplane. What a hobby, particularly at the scale they did it.

Here are the specs that were in the email forward.

• Actually has 8 "real turbines" at about $1500 each!
• It took over 2 years to build.
• It has a wing span of about 22 feet and takes multiple pilots, as there are so many things to control.
• Do you think they were nervous during the maiden flight?
• It's unbelievable that someone would make this --- all real turbines!
• Check out the movie link below to see the first flight.

Don't know what is fact or fiction, but the video link below will speak for itself.

http://www.mcgirt.net/RC/VIDEOS/Giant_B52/B52_flight2.wmv

(This email forward was courtesy of my father-in-law.)

Da Vinci Code

I bought a little book co-authored by Lee Strobel called "Exploring The Da Vinci Code" from a local book store. It is a pocket sized book. I thought it could stand in as the cliff notes version of the book written by (ahem, plagiarized?) by Brown. The book store charged two more dollars for it then I could have gotten it for online, but I guess that is the cost of shopping locally. In case you are wondering it was $4.99 plus tax.

I didn't read the *fiction* novel "The Da Vinci Code". Never will.

Can't imagine I would watch the movie either.

Anyway, I took the book to work and laid it on my desk, out in the open, to be seen by all. I worked this weekend and thought I might get to glance through it while waiting on the computer to process. Didn't happen. But then it occurred to me that maybe I should leave it on the desk. Maybe someone where I work is reading/watching the DVC and might have some questions or might want to actually read Strobel's book.

It has turned out to be a conversation piece.

One person I talked to talked about a lot of different things concerning the DVC, God, religion, the Holy Spirit, and being born again. In the end, when I asked them if they thought they would go to heaven if something happened to them today or tomorrow, they admitted they really didn't know.

Another person told me they read the DVC book, asked if I had, which I hadn't, but I offered Stobel's book to them if they wanted to read it. I think this person just might borrow it before it is over with.

1 John 4 (The Amplified Bible)

1 BELOVED, DO not put faith in every spirit, but prove (test) the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God; for many false prophets have gone forth into the world.

2 By this you may know (perceive and recognize) the Spirit of God: every spirit which acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [actually] has become man and has come in the flesh is of God [has God for its source];

3 And every spirit which does not acknowledge and confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh [but would annul, destroy, sever, disunite Him] is not of God [does not proceed from Him]. This [nonconfession] is the [spirit] of the antichrist, [of] which you heard that it was coming, and now it is already in the world.

The Spider's Web

My pastor forwarded this one:

THE SPIDER'S WEB

During the War, a US marine was separated from his unit. The fighting had been intense, and in the smoke and the crossfire he had lost touch with his comrades.

Alone in the hills, he could hear enemy soldiers coming in his direction. Scrambling for cover, he found his way up a high ridge to several small caves in the rock. Quickly he crawled inside one of the caves. Although safe for the moment, he realized that once the enemy soldiers looking for him swept up the ridge, they would quickly search all the caves and he would be killed.

As he waited, he prayed, "Lord, if it be your will, please protect me. Whatever your will though, I love you and trust you. Amen."

After praying, he lay quietly listening to the enemy begin to draw close. He thought, "Well, I guess the Lord isn't going to help me out of this one.." Then he saw a spider begin to build a web over the front of his cave.

As he watched, listening to the enemy searching for him all the while, the spider layered strand after strand of web across the opening of the cave.

"Ha, he thought. "What I need is a brick wall and what the Lord has sent me is a spider web.
God does have a sense of humor."

As the enemy drew closer he watched from the darkness of his hideout and could see them searching one cave after another. As they came to his, he got ready to make his last stand. To his amazement, however, after glancing in the direction of his cave, they moved on. Suddenly, he realized that with the spider web over the entrance, his cave looked as if no one had entered for quite a while. "Lord, forgive me," prayed the young man. "I had forgotten that in you a spider's web is stronger than a brick wall."

Where is the Great Christian Storehouse?

On El Borak's Myopia, he has offered an opinion on tithing, that I thought was interesting. So I am sharing it here in case you don't follow El B's blog.

The Church is not a business

"In the stern tones of a bill collector, the letters sent to nearly half the members of the Holy Tabernacle Church of God in Christ Apostolic offered its members a worldly choice: Pay up or get kicked out.

Alfreda Moore, the church's executive secretary, had written to more than 200 congregrants..." (more)...