A View from the Nest

Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor

Insight from the Journey across the Sky

And the light goes on shining in the dark; it is not overcome by the dark. _{John 1:5 (BBE)}

Traveling East on the PA turnpike late Christmas Eve a strange thing happened. As I was approaching the city limits of Philadelphia the sky grew brighter and my visibility increased greatly. It was like the sun was starting to rise. The only problem was the clock read 1 AM, far too early for a sunrise. But the closer I got to the city the brighter the sky appeared. I was amazed at how much light was being refracted off the low cloud cover and the light intensity being reflected off the snow covered ground. I do not recall ever seeing anything like this before in my life and I was truly awestruck. In fact I had to double check the time to make absolutely sure it was only 1 AM.

Light is an amazing thing. It does not take a lot of light to illuminate the night. Prior to reaching Philadelphia I had logged over 200 miles of dark stretches of the PA turnpike. I drove past several cities and did not notice this daylight effect until reaching the outskirts of Philadelphia. I really do not understand the science behind this strange lighted nighttime sky but it was truly a remarkable experience.

Since it was Christmas morning I thought it was appropriate that the sky would be illuminated by a mysterious light. Astronomers will probably be able to explain to me how exactly the night sky appeared as if dawn was approaching and I would enjoy any knowledge that could be shed on this phenomenon. My little bit of research for this article did not uncover anything but I am sure there is an explanation.

Today the Christian church celebrates Epiphany, the story of the wise men coming to Jerusalem from the East to follow a light seen shining in the Eastern sky. They too were amazed at the bright light in the Eastern Sky and sought out the meaning of it. They traveled to Jerusalem for they knew that a King of Israel was born, and Jerusalem was the seat of government so that is where they went to inquire of the new kings birth. Herod called all the chief priests and scribes together to inquire of the scriptures as to were exactly this king was to be born. Wouldn’t it be nice if our own government leaders would take time to inquire of the scriptures to explain the times and seasons.

Now when the birth of Jesus took place in Beth-lehem of Judaea, in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, Where is the King of the Jews whose birth has now taken place? We have seen his star in the east and have come to give him worship. And when it came to the ears of Herod the king, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And he got together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, questioning them as to where the birth-place of the Christ would be. And they said to him, In Beth-lehem of Judaea; for so it is said in the writings of the prophet, You Beth-lehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the chiefs of Judah: out of you will come a ruler, who will be the keeper of my people Israel. _{Matthew 2:1-6}

Unlike the wise me I, on the other hand, was heading East to join family and friends for Christmas day. I was not in search of a King, nor was I following a star, but because of this nighttime illumination I was reminded of the real meaning of the season. God’s magnificent creation was proclaiming all over again that Jesus is the Light of the world, and He had come to illuminate the darkness. Anyone who follows after the Light will not stumble around in darkness but have the light of life. _{John 8:12 NKJV}

Have you seen the light? Has your life been illuminated by the light the shines in the darkness? Are you like the Wise men of old seeking the King whose star was seen shining in the Eastern sky? One day Jesus is going to come again and his coming will be like a light shining from East to West. Will you be ready when He appears?

Because as in a thunderstorm the bright light coming from the east is seen even in the west; so will be the coming of the Son of man. _{Matt 24:27 (BBE)}

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)}

Along for the journey

Today I hope you enjoy this guest post from Alan Allegra. If you enjoyed it or find it offensive or have any other comment be sure to let Alan know how you feel. From time to time I like to post articles from fellow authors at Faithwriters.com. We can learn a great deal if we take the time to read what others have to say. So without further delay on with this weeks quest article.

Is America a Christian Nation?

Religion and politics are the two most incendiary topics of conversation imaginable. Everything we think, say, and do is influenced by our view of God and government. President Obama’s observation that we are not a nation beholden to any particular religion has struck the match of ardor and ignited the debate over whether America is a Christian nation.

Let me clarify that there is no such thing as a Christian nation. A Christian, by definition, is an individual follower of Christ. No nation can be “a” Christian, although we understand that those who debate the question mean our law is based on Christian (or “Judeo-Christian”) principles. Without floundering in a sea of theology, let’s just say that the principles in discussion predate Christianity and Judaism. They were incarnated in the very womb of Creation.

Some tell us we need to “embrace universal principles that emphasize our common humanity and promote greater understanding and appreciation of different cultures.” This sounds well and good and politically correct, but is it practical or possible?

The Book of Judges is a horror story right out of a Gothic novel, except it’s all true. It honestly and almost matter-of-factly documents scenes of rape, murder, dismemberment, unbridled lust, idolatry, robbery, economies of truth, betrayal, assassination, warfare, torture, suicide, filicide, and other best-seller fodder. The key verse and epilogue are identical summaries of the culture of the time: “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, 21:25). In other words, every person followed the dictates of their common humanity, unfettered by government standards.

If we are to appreciate different cultures, then we need to embrace them uncritically lest we offend. We were wrong to interfere with Nazis, and must appreciate Holocaust deniers. Beheading and terror are innate to some cultures, and we need their cooperation to make this a better global village. Forced abortion is practiced by a country with over 20% of the world’s population. Genocide rules in many countries, and a caste system in others wears a heavy boot that keeps the people crushed and oppressed. So we wonder: Whose principles of common humanity should we embrace and cooperate with?

A cursory consideration verifies God’s view of common humanity: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Jeremiah reminds us, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (17:9). God ordained human government, based on His righteous character, to rein in man’s evil: “For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Romans 13:4).

Are there “good” common principles of humanity and culture that we can embrace? There are values that are shared by humans that manifest themselves in almost every culture, such as private property and the right to life. But these are not beliefs that evolved or sprang up from the fertile soil of man’s own heart. “Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them” (Romans 2:14, 15). God has written His standards in every heart, and we either live by them or make excuses to go our own way.

Founding Fathers [VHS],

The Federalist Papers

Founding Faith: How Our Founding Fathers Forged a Radical New Approach to Religious Liberty

It is historical fact that the founding fathers based the nation’s laws on the Bible. They were not all Christians or Jews but recognized the wisdom of having a righteous standard of law, a law that respects life and encourages true freedom.

Alan Allegra, Executive Administrative Assistant of Faith Church in Allentown, Pa. More devotionals at http://www.faithefc.com/includes/Alan-Devotionals.htm. More articles at Lifestyles Over 50: http://www.lifestylesover50.com/ and the Morning Call: www.mcall.com. Available for writing.

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com <a href=”http://www.faithwriters.com“>CHRISTIAN WRITERS</a>

In*au`gu*ra"tion\, n. [L. inauguratio a beginning: cf. F. inauguration.]

1. The act of inuagurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.

2. The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.; as, the inauguration of a new system, a new condition, etc.

_{Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.}

Near Sheep Gate in Jerusalem was a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It had five porches. Under these porches a large number of sick people—people who were blind, lame, or paralyzed—used to lie. One man, who had been sick for 38 years, was lying there. Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had been sick for a long time. So Jesus asked the man, “Would you like to get well?” The sick man answered Jesus, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.” Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.” The man immediately became well, picked up his cot, and walked. John 5:2-9 (GW)

The Pool of Bethesda was located on the eastern side of the city near the Fortress of Antonia. The name Bethesda means "house of mercy."

 

The water source was a nearby spring. Recent archaeological discoveries have confirmed the Biblical account, that there were five porches and the fifth one divided the rectangular pool into two separate compartments. Josephus wrote about the Pool of the Sheep-market.

http://www.bible-history.com/sketches/ancient/pool-bethesda.html

There is a loud cry of discrimination and inequality being heralded throughout our land. There are those who may feel like this crippled man, that there is no one looking out for them, there is no one to give them a hand out, there is no one to help them attain their goals. So here they sit and wait and complain about being discriminated against.

We are about to inaugurate a leader who made us cry YES WE CAN but then says NO YOU CAN’T. Our new leader seems to think that the government has the cure, while simultaneously ignoring the huge pool of opportunity sitting right before us. He promises that all can drink from the public pool of funds collected from those who have been healed by the pool’s waters of opportunity, yet he does not offer to lift anyone into the pool to actually be healed.

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And behave to your fellow men just as you would have them behave to you.  Luke 6:31 (WEY)

Image by ShadoWalker Photography via Flickr

Countless truces and ceasefire agreements have been made and broken in the never ending struggle between Hamas and Israel. Each one pointing the finger at the other for the reason the hostilities have not ceased. They started it would be the cry from each side.

 

"This year alone, Hamas, which expressly calls for the obliteration of Israel, has launched approximately 3,000 rockets and mortar bombs into Israeli

civilian centers, always for the purpose of killing and maiming

Israelis if possible, and terrifying those who are not actually hit. In the last week or so, Hamas has fired some 200 rockets and bombs into Israeli communities." Source:http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/12/30/the_suffering_that_hamas_causes/

The world cries for peace in the middle east and yet one of the two parties involved in the peacemaking process vows to annihilate the other party involved. Passive watchfulness does not protect a citizenry from violent, lawless attacks on innocent civilians. Sitting by and watching bombs fall on your cities and towns does nothing to stop violence or render peace.

"Under these circumstances – circumstances which would have continued without end had the Israelis failed to act – it seems clear that the Israeli military response was not merely a necessary one. It was, regrettably, the only one left." Source:http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/12/30/the_suffering_that_hamas_causes/

"Hamas uses Palestinian civilians as human shields, utilizing homes, schools and community centers as launching pads, content in the knowledge that if innocent Palestinian civilians are caught in the cross-fire, it will be Israel that is criticized. This amounts to a sort of Daily Double of human rights violations: the use of innocent Palestinians as human shields for the infliction of violence upon innocent Israelis.

It is Hamas that perfected the use of the suicide bomb, by which young Palestinians were induced to kill themselves so that Israelis could also be killed. It is somehow apt that Hamas should be forever associated with the suicide bomb, for in a larger sense Hamas has proved to be an instrument of the demise of Palestinians in Gaza.

Hamas’s persistent call for the annihilation of Israel through jihad, its unequivocal rejection of any peace with Israel under any circumstances, its seizure of Gaza through a coup d’etat, its repression of women and freedom of expression, and its embrace of Iran have all disgusted the international community, which will have little to do with it. Hamas has likewise repelled numerous Arab governments, which might otherwise have been expected to dip into their ample reserves of petrodollars to provide much-needed aid and foreign investment to Gaza, but which have steered clear of it." Source:http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/12/30/the_suffering_that_hamas_causes/

If you do not wish to be stung
then do not stir up a hornet’s nest.

And yet we hear from some that Israel’s response to these senseless terrorist attacks is too extreme. What should Israel do? Should they start shooting off 3000 rockets back at the Gaza strip and kill innocent people like Hamas terrorists do? Is that the measured response the world wants Israel to engage in? Or should they just continue to sit back and watch as more and more rockets are launched into their cities and more innocent Israeli lives are lost? Would it be more palatable to the world if Israel would just surrender their nation to these terrorists?

I for one stand firmly with Israel in this conflict. I believe they should do everything they can to guard and protect Israeli lives and safeguard their borders from terrorists. At the same time Israel is doing everything it can to surgically strike at terrorist targets, but because, as the Boston Globe states, these cowards hide behind civilian populations, it is extremely difficult to wage a fair fight when one side continues to play hide and seek behind women and children.

The only way to maintain peace in Israel is when Hamas quits firing rockets. Until then Hamas has waged war with Israel and therefore they shall reap what they have sown. They shall have it done unto them as they have done unto Israel. I shall continue to stand with Israel as they attempt to root out the radical Hamas elements from amongst the Gazan citizenry and thereby return peace to the area. Until then let us pray that more innocent life is not lost during this war on terror.

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