Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

At that time Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord gave the Amorites over to the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “Sun, stand still at Gibeon, and moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” And the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? The sun stopped in the midst of heaven and did not hurry to set for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since, when the Lord obeyed the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. _{Josh 10:12-14 (ESV)}

Take care then how you are living, not as unwise, but as wise; Making good use of the time, because the days are evil. _{Eph 5:15-16 (BBE)}

“There is an old tale of a village that bought a fancy tower clock. Some time after it was installed, a visitor to the town discovered that all the people were sleeping during the day and working at night. When he questioned them about this, they answered, “We have the most unique town in America. After we got our new clock, we began to notice that the sun kept rising earlier and earlier every morning. Finally the daytime hours were dark and the night hours were light. We are petitioning the President for special recognition as the only town in America with such a situation.”

As it turned out, of course, the new clock had been running slower and slower, all because sparrows were roosting inside it. The people allowed themselves to be controlled by this manmade device. The tyranny of the clock robs us of our enjoyment of life and sometimes makes us tyrants over others. Daily hassles become the norm “Hurry or we’ll be late! You’ve only got five minutes!” Is this the abundant life Christ offers?” _{Ruth Ann Ridley, “Learning to Live in the Limits,” Discipleship Journal (Jan/Feb 1983)}

Last night we turned our clocks ahead to accommodate Daylight saving time. I really do not fully understand why we mess with the clocks. I mean does the sun follow our foolish attempts at regulating time? Are our attempts to elongate our lives

changed by manipulating a clock? I mean- for real. Does our changing of the clocks have any affect on life at all? I know this for sure, when the clocks spring ahead one hour I sure could use the hour I lost sleeping. In the fall it is not so bad because turning them back an hour affords me an additional hour to sleep. I am well aware of the fact that there are more important things in life than sleeping, but it still does not change my point. I see no real benefit, nor detriment, to just leave the clocks alone and go with the flow. In fact some reporter somewhere, says the time we waste setting all our clocks back and forth has an adverse effect on the economy. I do not know about all that, but I sure do know it has an adverse effect on my body when it does not get enough rest. Can we not get along just fine by leaving the clocks alone? But what do I know, I do not get paid big bucks to make major life decisions so I will just turn my clock back and forth and deal with it.

Daylight saving time may not be a big deal but time is marching on. No attempts on our part can stop the clock totally. One could argue that Daylight saving time is a biblical mandate considering God made the sun stand still for one whole day after Joshua prayed. Now that my friends is real daylight savings time. At that time in Israeli history the Amorites gathered to

battle Gibeon which had made a peace treaty with Joshua. Coming to their rescue, Joshua prayed that the daylight would not falter until they were able to defeat the enemy. God honored that prayer. Our feeble attempts to replicate that miracle, results in, well, nothing really changing. We may feel better because we adjusted our clocks but in the end, time still marches on.

I do not know about you but my internal clock gets all mixed up during the spring ahead- fall back cycle. I no sooner get all set with the time shift in the fall then I have to readjust my eternal clock to the new time shift in the spring. Back and forth I go, resetting the old internal clock. Getting regulated to know just when it is time to arise from sleep and get about the day’s business. This constant setting and resetting seems to be more bother than it is worth. I fail to see any real benefit to all this time shifting.

“No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don’t know. Only the Father knows. Matt 24:36 (GW)

“Therefore, be alert, because you don’t know on what day your Lord will return. Matt 24:42 (GW)

As bothersome as it may be to readjust my internal clock, there is a more important clock ticking. God’s eternal clock measures how much time

remains until the end. At the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry, when asked when the end time would come, Jesus answered and said that no one knows that day or hour. He went on to say that you must be ready at all times because you do not know when it will be. God is surely keeping track of all things going on upon the earth. He is watching as the eternal clock is approaching the midnight hour. He and He alone is able to reset the clock to advance the time or delay His coming, but in no way do we have any control over the only clock that matters. Some of us may fall asleep before that time comes. Some of us reading this article may still be alive when He returns but all of us need to be ready, for we do not know when that time will be.

So, last night I reset my clock to give me an additional hour of sunlight this evening. If I am still around come fall I shall advance the clock an hour forward to regain the hour I lost. Perhaps I should pray like Joshua prayed, that time would just stand still until everyone had a chance to get saved. I think that may be something worth fighting for. Don’t you think? Resetting that clock may be of more importance than saving an hour of daylight.

Tick tock goes the eternal clock, Will you be ready when the alarm sounds?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

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Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”

A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

aster is the second most important candy-eating occasion of the year for Americans, who consumed 7 billion pounds of candy in 2001, according to the National Confectioner’s Association.

§In 2000, Americans spent nearly $1.9 billion on Easter candy, while Halloween sales were nearly $2 billion; Christmas, an estimated $1.4 billion; and Valentine’s Day, just over $1 billion.

§Ninety million chocolate Easter bunnies are produced each year.

§Chocolate bunnies should be eaten ears first, according to 76% of Americans. Five percent said bunnies should be eaten feet first, while 4% favored eating the tail first.

§Adults prefer milk chocolate (65%), to dark chocolate (27%)

hey are fanciful, often gold wrapped, usually elegantly packaged, full color presentations. From all appearances those chocolate creatures are a delightful treat to eat. On the surface these beauties are elegant and proud. Inside, however, they are an empty hollow shell.

do not know about you but I prefer solid chocolate rabbits over the hollow ones. I much prefer to bite into a solid milk chocolate bunny. I have been fooled in the past into purchasing what looked like a solid chocolate rabbit only to get home and find out it was not. One bite is all it took to know I had been deceived. Although it had the appearance of being solid, it did not pass the bite test. Of course I could have employed the pinch test at the store but that would have only left a broken bunny on the shelf where once stood a proud whole rabbit.

After Easter mark-downs can be found on the broken chocolate rabbits even before the holiday buying season ends. The chocolate still tastes as good as it did when it was in the form of a full standing rabbit, but since it now resembles a pile of chocolate flakes, it lost some of its value. Although the chocolate did not loose any flavor it was no longer pretty to look at.

Hollow rabbits outsell solid rabbits primarily because of the cost. You can get a gigantic 12 inch rabbit for about half the price of a much smaller solid one. Children would love the fact that they have this huge chocolate rabbit to eat, when in reality the amount of actual chocolate in that 12 inch rabbit is less than half of the smaller sized version.

Outwardly these proud rabbits stand tall, but apply just a little amount of pressure and they will crumble. There is no real substance to them. They are of little value when faced with just the slightest bit of pressure. By contrast their solid shelf-mates can withstand tremendous pressure. Have you ever tried biting the head off a solid rabbit?

Solid or Hollow which do you prefer?

ur church worship could be looked at from the viewpoint of solid or hollow. Are we worshipping with our whole hearts, souls, mind, spirit, and strength, or is it more of an outward show to win favorable ratings from onlookers?

“In the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem. He carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace. Whenever the king went to the Lord’s temple, the guards bore the shields, and afterward they returned them to the guardroom (2 Chronicles 12:9-11).”

he gold was gone. It was replaced with bronze. Although it had an appearance of gold it wasn’t. Bronze is far cheaper to produce than gold and thus less valuable. Although stripped of all the gold, the king made a show of worship anyway. If anyone came to steal these bronze shields would they get anything of value when compared to the golden shields that had been there? Are we “taking away” anything of value from our worship services, any golden nuggets?

Be careful not to let anyone rob you {of this faith} through a shallow and misleading philosophy. Such a person follows human traditions and the world’s way of doing things rather than following Christ. _{Cola 2:8 (GW)}

All across our land many church houses are filled with bronze where once stood gold. What once was solid biblical preaching has been replaced with hollow messages of self-improvement. These messengers appear to preach solid biblical counsel yet their teachings contain no substance. Unable to offer the solid meat of God’s word, they are left with only hollow arguments to the world’s ills. These solid looking brass shields, though golden in appearance, lack the value of pure gold.

It may be milk and it may be chocolate but is it solid? What is your worship made of? Will it stand up under pressure?What is behind that golden appearance? Is it solid or simply hollow? Can you worship when times are rough? Has the enemy come in and taken all the value out of your salvation experience and left you with just a semblance of true worship?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”

A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! _{Psalms 34:8 (NKJV)}

Whenever I rent a DVD I have to sit through the upcoming preview section of the disk. Perhaps I am just not technical enough to figure out how to bypass them but in any event I patiently sit through these short snippets of upcoming releases. Many times after seeing these previews I make a note to go see or rent the offering being presented.

Perhaps it is a new action adventure movie or a comedy. Maybe it is the latest sequel to a series. Perhaps it is just a remake of an older story being retold. Whatever the case, these trailers are meant to do one thing and one thing only, make you want to see the film being advertised.

Coming soon to a theater near you, these advertisements can be seen everywhere, most often during a favorite TV program. The advertisers feel that if you are watching the television program then perhaps you would also like the new film coming soon.

All advertising does is arouse someone’s appetite for more of what they are offering. For example NBC recently aired the remake of the Knight Rider television series from the 80’s, with a newly designed KITT. It had all the makings of a sequel. During the program NBC ran an ad spot offering a chance to win your very own KITT, Knight Rider Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang. Who wouldn’t want to have a KITT to park in their driveway? I mean, what an appealing idea. Here is your very own KITT. All you have to do is sign onto a web site, and answer a few questions from the program, for your chance to win one of four Ford cars being offered by the program.

I wanted one! That would be cool! To think I could have one for my very own! Thus the power of advertising worked on

me. I did not however go to the web site to take a chance on winning the car because chances, and I, just do not seem to live in the same neighborhoods. In any event the result of the advertisement made me want to get one.

I had anticipated the airing of the new Knight Rider program for weeks because NBC would run their sneak peak trailer during most of their prime time programming. They wanted to make sure that enough people anticipated the airing that they would have a huge audience when the time came for the actual program to be aired. I do not know how many tuned in for that 2 hour premier but I was at least one.

One of the sponsors of the program was the new movie ‘Vantage Point’. A movie starring Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, and William Hurt. An action adventure movie in which the President gets shot. And then the plot twists and turns depending on how you look at things from your vantage point. Anyway I went to see this film.

The point of all this is to say that there is a lot to be said for these sneak peeks. We find them everywhere in our society. Try before you buy, free sample, and the aforementioned movie and television program trailers. This tool has been around for a long time.

Newspapers and magazines have upcoming features in them as well. They are all meant to get you to look forward to an upcoming event or article or series. The previews are written in such a way to make you want to get more information, or buy the item, or attend the event. Sneak peeks therefore are proven to be successful.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants–things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, _{Revelation 1:1 (NKJV)}

The apostle John had a sneak peek of upcoming events after he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. During this time he was given a vision of heaven and of things to come. God showed John a sneak peek, a preview. During this time John recorded for us, all that he had seen and heard.

Just like any great movie trailer Revelation is full of imagery and drama. An action adventure just waiting for world wide release, coming soon to a town and city near you. Full of action, mystery, horror, excitement, drama, and violence, I would expect the motion picture association to rate the film ‘M’ for mature audiences only. Good versus evil, right triumphs over wrong. God wins, the devil looses. What a great story!
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