How do you compare?

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A few days ago I was talking to someone with whom I had worked, and they finished the conversation with the phrase, ‘Until next time!’ This indicated that we would be back the next week to do our task all over again. Our task will have to be repeated week on week.

Many tasks are like that. I am hopeless at gardening and our lawn is full of weeds. This means that when it is mown it looks lush and green but give it three or four days and the weeds can readily be seen again and the task of mowing must be performed again. It is the same with painting our homes, they all look lovely until next door paints theirs and shows up that our house was not quite as brilliantly white as we thought it was.

Is God brutal?

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Many people today think that God was brutal and ugly in the Old Testament and that thankfully, Jesus arrived on the scene in the New Testament to rescue His reputation. Getting our attitudes about God straight is very important. It is tough to love and follow a ruthless God with His power and abuse in His relationships. It is bad enough that some people have dads like that, let alone a Father in heaven who perpetuates the problem.

So, here is the good news. Take a deep breath. We do not need to feel that way about God anymore! When the real God stands up in the Old Testament, His actions and attitudes consistently exhibit an unusual depth of grace in the face of deep offences against Him and His law.

Do you struggle to do what is right at times?

 

Mar 14:36  And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Are you struggling to do something the Lord has asked you to do? Take a look at what the Lord Jesus did for you!

Are you thinking about cleaning up your life?

 

Around the House

It's funny but true that most of us like to get things cleaned up regularly. Maybe some of us leave it a little longer than others but eventually, we feel the need to get into action. It might be washing the car, tidying the garden or cleaning the house.

The East Sussex Maze

 

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‘Did you hear about’ the Christian farmer in East Sussex who spent years planting and pruning thousands of willow trees to create a Bible verse that can be read on from the sky? Peter Gunner, who is 63, has been at it from the 1990s on his farm near Whitesmith, East Sussex, where he lives with his wife, with the appropriate name Faith.  He chose John chapter 14 verse 6 to patiently cultivate. The willow trees spell out words spoken in answer to Thomas’s question, ‘How can we know the way’, Jesus replies, ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’. As well as a message, his carefully spaced trees form a maze. Peter and faith had help from friends to plant the ‘many thousands’ of willow trees.

 

The maze has been used by friends and members of their local church and although Peter and Faith knew that their maze was well set out, it was only after a number of years they were shown a picture of it taken from above from a helicopter. Peter said that every time he sees a plane going over, he offers up a little prayer that people will see the verse!

 

So, close up it’s a maze with people trying hard to find their way through, but from above it’s an easily read message. Sometimes people find Bible truth like that, but if they move their standpoint, all becomes clear. For instance, take the person of Jesus Christ. From an earthly point of view, many people try to understand Him and what He said, and in doing so they have difficulties and have to discount so much of what the Bible states that He did and said – it’s a maze. They, having pared away what they don’t want, they have cut their own way through the maze to produce a teacher Who, for instance, taught the golden rule – ‘do unto others as you would have them do unto you’, etc. 

Bridging the Gap

One aspect of history that always captures my interest is the story of the Titanic. If there was ever an enduring picture of a disastrous end, it is the story of the Titanic. The Titanic had a great start. It was the greatest ship ever built and had all the latest security features. It was said of the Titanic that "God could not sink her!"  The whole world knew about this man-made wonder, and still do today, and yet she sailed for only 5 days. However, the Titanic was doomed as it left for New York. This is because normal shipping practices were disregarded and this eventually led to tragedy. All the warnings and words of wisdom were ignored.  Captain Edward John Smith, remembered for his stoicism and fortitude in the face of adversity, sadly is remembered more for his failure to reach the destination of New York"

One of the fads of 1970s America was the motorcycle jump. This trend reached its high (and low) point on September 8, 1974. Thousands of spectators gathered around the Snake River Canyon in Idaho to see if Evel Knievel could jump across the chasm in a specially designed “sky cycle.” In the end, however, it was unsuccessful. Knievel made it only part of the way across the gulf before his parachute deployed and he dropped to the canyon floor below. Some spectators asked, “How far across the canyon did he get?” But that wasn’t the point. He didn’t make it all the way across, so he fell short of his goal.

Big Brother is watching!

 

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In this busy world, where so many prying eyes are frequently upon us, it is difficult to escape the surveillance that we are so often under. Transactions carried out, using our credit cards, mean that we can be easily tracked and our movements monitored. CCTV cameras are everywhere and with sites like Google Earth, very little remains secret; complete strangers can visit our homes and move down our streets, undetected. "Big Brother Is Watching!"