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Getting somewhere requires effort, it takes
faith to push on, it's easy to screw up,
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Friday, March 9, 2012
Dates tell stories don’t they? Looking at historical evidence of Christians and Jews in the ancient near East, I discovered
an interesting fact.
The Jews of Zoar and the Christians of Zoar dated their lifespans
differently, over the same years.
Zoar is mentioned in the bible in Genesis
14:8.
It says, “Then the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah marched out. The kings of Admah, Zeboiim and Bela went with
them. Bela was also called Zoar. They lined up their armies for battle in the Valley of Siddim.”
Zoar
is on the southeastern shore of the Dead Sea. It’s name in the fourth to sixth centuries A.D. was Zoora and tombstones
from this period have been discovered in quantities.
The interesting thing is that Jews date themselves from the destruction of the Jewish temple 70 AD
(which is not surprising since that demolished the Jewish religious practice of the day), but Christian’s date
themselves from “years since Trajan’s establishment of the province
of Arabia (106 C.E.)”.
Emporer Trajan
died in 117AD and was a very successful ruler. The province Arabia Petraea was official considered roman after the roman road
“Via Traiana Nova” was built and coins minted in 115AD.
The difference in dating is interesting since these societies were intertwined.
Why
did the Christians choose this event is a question that flights across our minds as we look at these facts, isn’t
it?
While knowing is difficult,
we can look at the times and see what was happening!
Before Trajan was Nerva who served under Nero and we know Nero was known for burning Christians in Rome to light
the roads. A horrible man! Nerva’s predecessor was Domitian another nasty piece of work. Domitian hated Christians and Jews.
So until Trajan took the province of Arabia Petraea the Christians were never safe.
Dates tell stories don’t they?
Our modern life is interesting as well! We
in the western world date our lives according to the Julian calendar or the Gregorian calendar and the date of 0 B.C. / 0
A.D. is used to mean timing from the estimated year of Jesus Christ’s birth.
The really interesting thing is the change from B.C. to B.C.E that is used in modern
dating systems.
B.C. stood
for "Before Christ” and A.D. stood for the Latin phrase anno Domini,
which means "in the year of our Lord". Our dating system revolved around God! A.D. still does,
but the modern world is trying to set itself up as better than God and not needing God so they have recently introduced a
date system “before the Common Era” (B.C.E.) and the “Common Era” (C.E.),
which are exactly the same as B.C. and A.D. but apparently are supposed to have nothing to do with Christianity.
I chuckle since this is a ludicrous attempt!
What is the origin of this Common Era? The birth of Jesus (by the way the
date doesn’t reflect the actual estimated date Jesus was born since that is about 4 B.C)
People try so hard to remove God
from their lives don't they?
Why?
Sometimes they claim it is to respect
others, but that is ludicrous. When people respect each other, they treat each other right and respect each others beliefs,
even when they don’t agree with them.
No! Perhaps this is an attempt to make us as humans into gods ourselves. “We know” seems to be the modern
war cry. Many of us have no time for the thought that the universe has a greater being, than us as humans!
How silly is that?
We cannot even say what causes life to originate, or how the big bang occurred? We know all this wonderful complexity
around us came from expanding energy(they say) and cannot say how!
Do we have the
answers? No! So why make out we do?
Maybe we could entertain a thought of God!
Maybe God spoke? Maybe God orchestrated all life and even keeps it flowing in the correct paths? Maybe?
For me it’s not maybe since I have
a relationship with that God! For you, you need to determine that for yourself. I will respect that!
I only know this. . .I will have my death dated in A.D.
terms because as a Christian I have to point to the God of the universe in my life and death.
What will you put on your tombstone?With that rather weird thought, I will leave you to have a great
day! Be blessed!
http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-artifacts/inscriptions/ancient-gravestone-epitaphs-give-insight-into-early-jews-and-christians/ 4th century writings by Eusebius of Caesarea maintains that Jews and Christians were heavily persecuted toward the end of Domitian's reign.
Fri, March 9, 2012 | link
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Inviting the devil in! “Let’s party!”
We all enjoy getting together with friends and taking
time off to enjoy ourselves don’t we.
Nothing wrong with that!
In fact, we need to have depressuring
times and provided we do not do selfish, ignorant, nasty things and stick within God’s guidelines there is nothing wrong
with that.
Unfortunately, there
is always that cold realization that we need to get on with the tasks of life and at some point we need to move on.
Some people don’t! Some
people let selfishness reign in their lives and true to the evil inherent in it, it starts by intruding a little,
a foot in the door if you like.
Maybe it starts with abusing alchohol! This is a selfish activity in that by lowering our
inhibitions, we start to mistreat others or ourselves. If it’s ourselves, others laugh and enjoy our stupidity, if it’s
others . . .
Sometime this is not
enough and we chase other highs like drugs, street and pharmaceutical.
Today there is a news headline “Tori’s mom bought drugs at home
of child’s killer”
A mom literally
spent time buying drugs from the person who they believe killed her daughter.
What a sorry state!
How far we fall as people when
we let the devil, that evil influencer of our lives start to entice us into selfishness. How many kids have difficulties because
mom couldn’t lay off alchohol or drugs when pregnant? How many pregnancies occur because of selfish desires rather that
true loving and long term relationships?
The number of divorces and unmarried people is increasing. Why? Selfishness is at least part of the reason.
Psalm 119:36 says “Turn
my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain.”
We as Christians need to look to God’s guidelines and learn to love ourselves
and others!
God does!
He also promises to forgive us the selfish, nasty and ignorant things we have done that cause pain and he promises
to make our lives clean. We can be victorius over these intrusions in our life.
Not always will the physical urges end together with the repentance,
but, with the help of loving Christian friends, we can overcome these and link into a caring and loving community that is directed
by God himself. This is not a community where we ignore others, but one where we extend ourselves past our comfort zones to
help and assist. Then, out of God’s heart, power erupts into our lives and those selfless acts give us joy, energy and
self satisfaction. It does this in a way that is in excess of any selfish activities attempts to satisfy.
True satisfaction comes in selfless
actions.
Let's close the door to the devil and open it to God?
How about trying it today and perhaps you will see this for yourself
as God connects with and empowers you!
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/toris-mom-bought-drugs-at-home-of-childs-killer-141876593.html
Thu, March 8, 2012 | link
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Selfishness, a global disaster I
was reading a news headline today that says;
It
starts off with the statement “A former
Victoria resident who was convicted in 2009 for knowingly exposing women to HIV says HIV-positive criminals are victims of
systemic discrimination in BC prisons.”
This guy was so selfish, that he considered his own pleasure before other’s lives.
Selfishness abounds around
our lives doesn’t it?
All around us people are too busy to stop and
help. Whether it be a motorist alongside the road, or cleaning
up a mess due to the coffee machine overflow in a public area.
“Not me!” is the
thought.
“I am too
busy, have too much to do, or it doesn’t involve me!
Guess why we have national debt?
Individuals not willing to live
within their means have voted into power the people who lead the country who are also not willing to live within our countries
means!
Hence the debt crisis! Selfishness!
In our families, teens don’t
want to do family activities, because they want to have time all to themselves to do what they want. They talk of “mroom”
when it is provided for by the parents.
“Mine” is a war cry that
starts with babies simplistic shrieks, and many people seem to never grow up!
Yet, in the midst of this, Christian values are radicle!
We are asked by God to love God,
then others as ourselves!
That’s simple, but radicle!
Loving God means pushing back on our selfish desires, making sure we take others and our planet into consideration.
Yesterday, I walked past the kitchen in the company where I work and a guy walks out
the kitchen door to tell me there is something wrong. Coffee is spilling out over a pot onto the floor. Instead of dealing
with it, he simply accosted the next passer-by to point out the fact. (At least he did that!)
That was me that he encountered on my way to a work meeting.
My only thought was pity for the man
as I went in got some paper towels, cleaned up, packed them around the pot and then rushed off to the meeting.
He was missing out on a service opportunity!
I have learned the joy of the service, care and love
that is part of a Christian life attitude.
It is enabling, assisting and enriching.
It steps up to help and build more friends that we can imagine. It helps the world improve and enables a little light
into people’s lives each day. It is an opportunity and gift, that, when given freely, gives back!
How about trying it out today?
I’m sure at some time you will find an opportunity, after all, there are so many
selfish people around that they ensure we get the best opportunities by rejecting them themselves!
Have a great day!
Wed, March 7, 2012 | link
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Beginning and starts, what makes them? Ever considered where beginnings come from?
It seems
a trite question doesn’t it?
But, is it?
Let’s start with our lives?
We define them as starting at the moment of birth, but that is not true and we know it.
They start far earlier! Even earlier than that sperm swimming up
to that ovary. We even talk about “when I was a twinkle in my father’s eye” in jest, that is part
truth.
When our Dad saw our lovely Mom and decided she was the one he wanted
to mate with, was that the beginning?
Or, was it perhaps with their own birth?
If we look at that as the start, we drive our origins back to origin
of man don't we?
Then the
bible points out we are made from dust of the earth, so we go back to the origin of the materials that make us and
our world up.
Then, if
we are to believe science, that beginning then goes back into energy emitted from a point in space time.
So we have to ask where that came from and now we get to a point we cannot answer without religion.
Perhaps that’s the reason
we arbitrary take the start of our life to be our birth. It is a neat simple explanation that saves a whole lot of deep
thinking, and we like clean simple thoughts, even if they are only part true! Perhaps we should think deeper about cultural
boundaries (but that’s another discussion).
What about ends?
If
we take our life’s end, we immediately have ambiguity.
None of us
has died and come back again (except Jesus) so no-one has clarity of that event. We as Christians know there
is a judgement and eternity in another form of life, but details here are even a little hazy.
So, we define the end of life as “death”!
It’s an easy definition.
For
a person in a roadside accident, the definition is less clear and put in terms of lack of things, rather than anything
else; Lack of pulse, lack of brainwaves, lack of oxygen.
Even that seems mildly arbitrary
because we have had people die in ice cold water conditions, only to be revived after all of these signs are missing.
Starts and ends are hard
to track without event markers aren’t they?
That’s why we look for them to provide meaning and context to life.
So how about God the Fathers start and end markers to Jesus ministry.
What were they?
For me it’s all tied up in the voice of God
speaking to people around those events.
The words “This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him." are
the start markers!
Let’s see
when they occurred. . .
START MARKER 1
Matthew 3:13-17 Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan River. He wanted to be baptized by John. 14
But John tried to stop him. He told Jesus, "I need to be baptized by you. So why do you come to me?"
15 Jesus replied, "Let
it be this way for now. It is right for us to do this. It carries out God's holy plan." Then John agreed.
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized,
he came up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened. Jesus saw the Spirit of God coming down on him like a dove.
17
A voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him.”
Here God the father speaks audibly to those around Jesus as he
submits to a symbolic ceremony that we are all as Christians expected to undergo as we get to know Jesus and accept Father
God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.
Notice
how all aspects of God are present at this start, at the baptism.
START MARKER 2
Matthew 17:4-6 After six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John the
brother of James with him. He led them up a high mountain. They were all alone. 2 There in front of them his appearance
was changed. His face shone like the sun. His clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then Moses and Elijah
appeared in front of them. Moses and Elijah were talking with Jesus.
4 Peter said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us
to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters. One will be for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."
5 While Peter was still speaking, a bright cloud surrounded them. A voice from the cloud said, "This
is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!"
What is also interesting is that three extra words are added in
this repeated statement. God does not add words except for a purpose.
“Listen to him!”
What Jesus then does and says is important!
It was so important that
people throughout the intervening years up until today have died to make sure that people can “listen to him!”
END MARKER
Jesus ends off his life with
a statement that is an end marker. It goes like this. . .
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
So you must go and make disciples of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And you can be sure that I am always with you, to the very end."
– Matthew 28:18-20
These
are words of future direction, encouragement and mission!
We are to live our lives so that
others will watch us, want to have what we have, and so also learn to live their lives following Jesus.
(That’s
discipleship, not just admitting Jesus is God!).
Jesus closes the loop pointing out we need to be baptized as he did, in the name of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
God expects us to follow on and do
what he has shown us at the expense of Jesus’ life. That cost should motivate us to obey.
Lastly we need to understand this end is a
fuzzy end. . .because Jesus may have left Earth, but Holy
Spirit is here with us now and will be to the very end!
Today as we start and finish activities, let’s remember, nothing really starts and
ends without God’s intervention in some form.
We are immersed in the flow of life tracking against the lines of life that God has laid out. We are part of
the fabric of space time, knitted together by Jesus before the world began and that will continue to exist after the substance
of this life of ours stops. It will continue to exist after the universe is no more!
We are eternal beings, living in a temporary home under the loving direction of the
eternal Father, who defines the starts and ends while giving us limitless gifts and opportunities. What we do with it, is
of our own choosing however!
Now
that’s a thought for today isn’t it?
Tue, March 6, 2012 | link
Monday, March 5, 2012
Overwhelming the odds, and succeeding in failure. . . “Success is not measured by what you accomplish,
but by the opposition you have encountered, and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming
odds.”
Orison Swett Marden
Too many tasks for
the day and then they start to go wrong!
Time gets absorbed and the need of others becomes a pressure that threatens to overwhelm.
Ever had that feeling of hopelessness,
as if there is no way out?
There
are different ways of dealing with this, and of these, they all can be divided into two categories. Ways
where we trust the true God to help, and those where we try to do it ourselves
and manipulate our circumstances humanly.
It’s the manipulation one that really causes the
pain! I can think of many examples that are modern but I
want to draw our minds back to an ancient one.
Let me set the scene. . .
The
country was in economic decline with no way out. There had been a drought for three years and the people who were to lead
the country in determining God’s favour and who were friends of the rulers wife (close friends), were a bunch of priests
of their national god, Baal.
The
king was in this predicament because a prophet of the true God called Elijah, speaking for God, told them that the country
would be in drought until God through Elijah said it would stop.
The King Ahab hated Elijah and had been looking for him for three years. Meanwhile his Baal priests were proving
ineffective in fixing the situation. Elijah has a country hunting him down so he couldn’t have felt very secure either.
Then the two meet and Elijah challenges
the Baal priests, one man against 450 tp met this challenge. . .
"I'm the only one of the Lord's prophets left. But Baal has 450 prophets. Get two bulls
for us. Let Baal's prophets choose one for themselves. Let them cut it into pieces. Then let them put it on the wood. But
don't let them set fire to it. I'll prepare the other bull. I'll put it on the wood. But I won't set fire to it. Then you
pray to your god. And I'll pray to the Lord. The god who answers by sending fire down is the one and only God." –
1 Kings 18 NIRV.
Think of how the day that was unfolding. These Baal
priests were ineffective and now they were having their powers tested. They knew they were in trouble but couldn’t back
down.
Then things get worse. .
.
Elijah spoke to
the prophets of Baal. He said, "Choose one of the bulls. There are many of you. So prepare your bull first. Pray to your
god. But don't light the fire."
So they prepared the bull they had been given.
They prayed to Baal from morning until noon. "Baal! Answer us!"
they shouted. But there wasn't any reply. No one answered. Then they danced around the altar they had made.
At noon Elijah began to tease them. "Shout
louder!" he said. "I'm sure Baal is a god! Perhaps he has too much to think about. Or maybe he has gone to the toilet.
Or perhaps he's away on a trip. Maybe he's sleeping. You might have to wake him up."
So they shouted louder. They cut themselves with
swords and spears until their blood flowed. That's what they usually did when things really looked hopeless. It was now past
noon. The prophets of Baal continued to prophesy with all their might. They did it until the time came to offer the evening
sacrifice. But there wasn't any reply. No one answered. No one paid any attention.
Instead of turning to the true God
(the action Christians call “repenting”) they decided to try and manipulate a god who was incapable of assisting
them. They tried manipulating their circumstances by even cutting themselves. What did this do?
Nothing! Cutting ourselves is a futile activity and only damages
ourselves further.
Then, the taunts
came, making the day even worse!
This is what happens when we ignore God as we get into difficulties. Turning to the true God for help and admitting they were out of control, and
that they couldn’t make any headway in the day would have been wise, but they were not wise!
Following our desires for self-satisfaction and letting the god’s
and desires of this world overwhelm and rule us, is not wise either.
Only the true God can help!
Elijah was under no less pressure. He was one man facing 450! The king was against
him, it says at the start of this encounter “So Ahab went to where Elijah was. When he
saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you? You are always stirring up trouble in Israel."
When an absolute dictator who has the control of life and death
finds a person troublesome, they are in trouble.
Here Elijah is facing an angry upset hoard, led by an angry mean dictator and behind it all is an angry woman who
wants him dead (the kings wife Jezebel).
In that situation, I think we would consider it a bad day that was getting worse every second.
Yet Elijah does not!
When we know God is with us we should be able to face overwhelming odds and stand tall
and strong. If we have screwed up and are not doing the
right things, repenting is the right way to go, because God has said he will always forgive us!
Then, even if seconds ago we were against God, we can now stand
tall in God’s protection. Like any of those Baal prophets could have walked over to Elijah and said they acknowledge
God and wanted to follow him.
They
didn’t!
This is their fate.
. .
Then Elijah
said to all of the people, "Come here to me." So they went to him. He rebuilt the altar of the Lord. It had been
destroyed. Elijah got 12 stones. There was one for each tribe in the family line of Jacob. The Lord's message had come to
Jacob. It had said, "Your name will be Israel." Elijah used the stones to build an altar in honor of the Lord. He
dug a ditch around it. The ditch was large enough to hold 13 quarts of seeds. He arranged the wood for the fire. He cut the
bull into pieces. He placed the pieces on the wood. Then he said to some of the people, "Fill
four large jars with water. Pour it on the offering and the wood." So they did. "Do it again,"
he said. So they did it again. "Do it a third time," he ordered. And they did it
the third time. The water ran down around the altar. It even filled the ditch.
This was not what people expected! Then the prophet Elijah
stepped forward. He prayed, amazingly. . . The fire of the Lord came down. It burned up the sacrifice. It burned up the wood and the stones and
the soil. It even licked up the water in the ditch.
All of the people saw it. Then they fell down flat with their faces toward the ground. They
cried out, "The Lord is the one and only God! The Lord is the one and only God!"
Then Elijah commanded them, "Grab hold of
the prophets of Baal. Don't let a single one of them get away!"
So they grabbed them. Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon
Valley. There he had them put to death.
Those who tried to manipulate their day without the
power of God on their side found themselves dead.
Elijah, who should have had no chance of success, found that God produced a way out of the situation that nobody could have predicted.
That’s the God I love!
That’s the God who helps me in similar circumstances!
That’s how we should all respond to overcoming our overwhelming difficulties.
I do pray you are not facing
these tough times, but if you are, my prayer is that you would turn to the God of this universe for help and trust him even when it seems there is no way out. Talk to true Christian believers for help on how to connect with
God and you may be surprised at the results.
Have a wonderful day overcoming obstacles!
God bless you!
Mon, March 5, 2012 | link
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If you want to see a short blog describing a perspective on what I believe click here
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Rift in Evil
By Ken
X Briggs - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size:
6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. |
Credit cards are acceptable on sites having Ken's books: 
:)
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| Ken's book covers are displayed below. . . | |  This
suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly
hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help,
this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles
when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the
media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to
justice?
| | | | | To purchase Kiara's Pursuer ebook
@ $1.99 kindle version click here, To contact the author contact Author@KenXBriggs.com | | | | | | | | The town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman
to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy. A horrific mining accident results in Joshua
Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible
situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening?
What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to
the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused
young woman in the center of this plot? Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible
and invisible world shows opposing forces at work. Will there be a rift in evil? Will they be able to stop the
evil in time? | | - Published: September, 2010
- Format: Perfect
Bound Softcover(B/W)
- Pages: 208
Size: 6x9 - ISBN: 9781450250894
Available
from Barnes and Noble, Amazon, iUniverse. Chapters | | | | |
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May you be blessed today!
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