So this week we have been asked to depict the word ANT by Jennifer at O.W.P.C.
You can see how others portrayed the concept by clicking the underlined link above.
I came at it from two directions:
First is our common perspective.
Here I am looking at all the little ants below….
Delft square from the rooftop of the Nieuwe Kerk
And here is the world from an ants perspective.
It has been a few days since we looked at the Book Of Romans together. You might recall that we were studying verse two where Paul remarked that he was a preacher of, “the gospel he (God) promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures” Romans 1:2
If you have missed our previous conversation you can find it at THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.
In our conversation so far we have established that the Gospel was given in pieces-parts to men and women in the Old Testament. It was preached by increments until the birth of Jesus revealed “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”. John 1:29
We could go on for a long time about all the little portions of Messianic promise that were given through the Old Testament period, but our purpose here is not to study the Old Testament but the Book Of Romans. I don’t want to belabor the point. I really just want to show that Paul was not preaching a new message just an old Message that was being tied together and fulfilled through one man, Jesus Christ.
Before we move on though I do want to share one more passage of Old Testament Scripture which is going to be very important to us as we move through the rest of Romans. That is the passage of Scripture from Isaiah which reveals Messiah as the suffering servant.
In Isaiah 53 we read,
Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
4 Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression[a] and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.[b]
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes[c] his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life[d] and be satisfied[e];
by his knowledge[f] my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,[g]
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,[h]
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.
This Old Testament prophecy is a picture of Jesus. Throughout Romans Paul is going to explain exactly how this prophecy played out through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Let’s move on to find out more!
This week Cee has asked us to have fun with the colors ORANGE & GREEN.
Click on the underlined link above to see what other orange and green things people displayed.
Here are my Orangy-green things:
Toy Town Fall Fest 2015
The Forest near Torc Waterfall in Killarney
Dutch buildings near the Zeiduer-Zee
I am coming back into the blogging world after a brief Sabbath. I am beginning this week of writing by sharing a piece of my world with all of you using my friend Cee’s forum.
Every week Cee asks five questions that connect people across the blogosphere together. You can see how all Cee’s contributors answered by clicking HERE.
My own answers are written between the bold questions below.
What type of popular candy you do not like to get?
I am NOT A FAN of black licorice. My daughter often likes to trick me when we go to the movies. She will get me a box of Raisinets and herself a box of Good N Plenty. While I am not looking she will slip a few Good N Plentys in with my chocolate raisins and in the dark I often don’t recognize the difference until the hateful tasting objects are in my mouth.
What do you feel is the most enjoyable way to spend $500?
I think a weekend away at a hotel with a great view and a hot tub is the best way to spend $500.00. Maybe I am just craving a vacation.
Where do you eat breakfast?
At home usually at the dining table. Sometimes in front of the TV watching the morning news.
Would you rather ride one of the worlds longest zip lines or bungee jump one of the highest in the world? This will come with a 5-day all expense vacation.
Longest Zip line. Bungees are out. I cannot bear the thought of falling all that way before bouncing back up. I think 5 days in the mountains would be a lot of fun. If this happened then I would change my answer to question number two and I would spend the $500.00 on books.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I am grateful for a wonderful weekend of ministry. Saturday was Special Touch, a wedding and load in for the Cashman’s. Sunday Jonathan and Brittany Cashman ministered in three services at Cornerstone Church.
This week I am looking forward to ministering at the local Visiting Nurses Dayhab and then catching up on all the admin I have been missing.
This week I take you back to Fruitland’s Museum for another of my other oddball photos
Suit of Armor, Fruitlands Museum
Check out more oddball designs at Cee’s Site By Clicking Here.
Hey there folks! Here is a new challenge for all my Sunday readers. Every Sunday I will post one quip or quote that struck me during the week. You can join along in the quipping and quoting. Here is what to do.
Publish a post of your own, using one quip or quote that grabbed you during the week. You can add a picture to it if you like or even photograph the quote from it’s source.
Link back to my post
You can include the Pastor Wrinkle’s Q& Q photo in your post if you think my mug worthy of your blog.
“The opposite of a slave is not a free man. It’s a worshiper. The one who is most free is the one who turns the work of his hand into sacrament, into offering.” Mark, Buchanan, The Rest Of God
This week Cee has challenged us to bring out THE PATTERNS in life. My three patterned black & white photos are below. But you can find a whole lot more by going to Cee’s site. Just click the underlined link above.
Art is the imposing of a pattern on experience, and our aesthetic enjoyment is recognition of the pattern.
We’ve been walking the Romans Road one small step at a time. We’ve gotten to verse two in chapter one and that has sent us careening back through the Old Testament to see how the gospel was preached before Jesus was even born. As Paul says it is…
the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
If you have missed any of the discussion it can be found on
So far we have talked about God preaching the gospel a little in Genesis and about Moses revealing that the Messiah would be a game-changing prophet like himself. Yet, another prophetic contemporary of Moses added a very important piece to the Messianic puzzle.
You may recall a man named Balaam from the Book of Numbers. Balaam was not a game-changer like Moses. Truth be told, as prophets go he was not very faithful. Actually he only worked part time for God. He also worked part time for the enemies of Israel and full time for his own self interests. Still God gave him a pretty important piece of the Messianic prophecy. It is spoken in Numbers chapter 24.
Balaam had been hired by a general, named Balak, to curse Israel. Instead Balaam was forced by God to bless Israel at every turn much to Balak’s chagrin. In his fourth blessing of Israel Balaam shares this foresight.
“I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.
A star will come out of Jacob;
a scepter will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,
the skulls[b] of[c] all the people of Sheth.[d]
18 Edom will be conquered;
Seir, his enemy, will be conquered,
but Israel will grow strong.
19 A ruler will come out of Jacob
and destroy the survivors of the city.”
It is important to note Balaam was not a Jewish prophet. He came from the area around Babylon. It is thought that his prophecies returned to that place, after his death in a battle against the Israelites, some years later. Further, it is thought that certain magicians probably referred to these prophecies thousands of years later when a certain star rose over the land of Israel. Following that star those very magicians made history when they approached a certain king of Israel proclaiming…
Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. Ma. 2:2
This means that even in the Old Testament God was preparing the Gentiles for the message of the gospel that would be preached through Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, thousands of years later.
Just as an aside, there is a whole portion of this prophecy that was not fulfilled with Jesus’ first coming. This means it will be fulfilled with His second coming. Also interesting to note that star, “The Star of Bethlehem”, may just have made another appearance over the Earth. If so what does that mean?
In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Victory.”
Here are just a few reminders of victory from my family album.
Where there is unity there is always victory.
The important thing in life is not victory but combat; it is not to have vanquished but to have fought well.
Me before the Rocky Stairs
Me after the Rocky Stairs, but I made it!
We cannot destroy kindred: our chains stretch a little sometimes, but they never break. ~Marquise de Sévigné
My office has a seasonal issue with stink bugs. The thing that stinks the most about stink bugs is not that they stink. They are aggressive little suckers.
Tonight I was sitting in my office minding my own business writing a blog when suddenly I was under attack. I ducked his first dive bomb attack but the menacing little drone was on a mission. He just kept coming. Suddenly I was out of my chair swatting at the thing with a packet full of prayer requests.
Mr. Stink bug was undeterred by my warning salvo. He circled around at the entrance to my office door and made a stink-bug -line for my face. I held up my prayer shield and swatted. Prayer requests flew willy-nilly out of the packet as the bug connected with my weapon of mass destruction. When all the prayer requests had settled to the office floor like autumn leaves I found my tiny enemy wounded and trying to limp as fast as he could out of my sites.
“Oh no you don’t!” I cried and with three swift swats I dispatched the little terrorist to whatever hell bugs go to.
Satisfied I shut out the lights to my office and headed home.
On the ride home Holy Spirit began to talk to me, “You shouldn’t have killed the bug.”
“Oh come on Lord. It was a bug!” Was my swift retort.
“This isn’t about the bug. It is about your attitude.” He said.
The Mary Chapin Carpenter song started playing in my head almost instantly.
Then God said, “You always want to be the windshield. You want to be the Louisville Slugger. You always want to come out on top. How does that fit with my words ‘in humility esteem others greater than yourself.’ or ‘If a man strikes you on one cheek turn to him the other also’ ?”
As I have been meditating on that tonight the question comes to mind, “What if Jesus had insisted on being the windshield? What if he had called 10,000 angels to His side instead of going to the cross? Where would we bugs be then?”
Of course Jesus didn’t do that. He gave up his windshield moment to become the bug. He bore his cross. He calls us to bear ours.
I hope you understand this post isn’t really about bugs. It’s about those moments in life when we have the power to win but using the power is simply the wrong thing to do. It’s about those moments when we have the opportunity to be the windshield but God calls us to be the bug instead.
Jesus’ cross looked like a loss.
Your cross will look the same.
Jesus could have done something to get rid of His cross.
Chances are God is going to give you the same opportunity to get rid of yours.
In that moment as you consider your cross just remember, sometimes we need to lose a little to gain a lot. Sometimes we have to be the bug.
Lillie-Put 