• Category Archives Articles

  • Hall of Famers

    Posted on by EagleWings Comment

    Hebrews 11:1-2 (NKJV)
    1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony.  
    33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions,
    34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.
    35 Women received their dead raised to life again. And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection.
    36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment.
    37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented–
    38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
    39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise,
    40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.

     

     

    English: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Mu...
    English: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Scan of the original photograph. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    Frank Thomas choked back tears, Joe Torre apologized for leaving people out of his speech and Tony La Russa said he felt uneasy.

    Being enshrined in the Hall of Fame can have those effects, even on the greats.

    Thomas, pitchers Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, and managers Bobby Cox, Torre and La Russa were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York Sunday, and all paid special tribute to their families before an adoring crowd of nearly 50,000.

    “I’m speechless. Thanks for having me in your club,” Thomas said, getting emotional as he remembered his late father. “Frank Sr., I know you’re watching. Without you, I know 100 per cent I wouldn’t be here in Cooperstown today. You always preached to me, ‘You can be someone special if you really work at it.’ I took that to heart, Pop.”

    Ever the diplomat as a manager, Torre somehow managed to assuage the most demanding of owners in George Steinbrenner, maintaining his coolness amid all the Bronx craziness while keeping all those egos in check after taking over in 1996. The result: 10 division titles, six AL pennants and four World Series triumphs in 12 years as he helped restore the luster to baseball’s most successful franchise and resurrected his own career after three firings.

    “Baseball is a game of life. It’s not perfect, but it feels like it is,” said the 74-year-old Torre, who apologized afterward for forgetting to include the Steinbrenner family in his speech. “That’s the magic of it. We are responsible for giving it the respect it deserves. Our sport is part of the American soul, and it’s ours to borrow — just for a while.”

    “If all of us who love baseball and are doing our jobs, then those who get the game from us will be as proud to be a part of it as we were. And we are. This game is a gift, and I am humbled, very humbled, to accept its greatest honor.”

    It is a wonderful feeling to be honored for your life’s work, or in this case play since baseball is after all a game. Nonetheless baseball is as American as apple pie so the saying goes.  Joe Torre in his acceptance speech expressed a deep appreciation for the game and humbly accepted the honor of being included among the elites of the game.

    Being accepted into the Baseball Hall of Fame is an honor reserved for very few of the many who have played the game before. Those who are honored in the hallowed halls of Cooperstown have shown and above average talent for the game. They have demonstrated spectacular performance on the ball field and from this day forward shall be enshrined forever among the greats of the game.

    As Joe Torre expressed in his remarks it gave him a sense of pride to pass on the game to the next generation and give them encouragement and a love of the game. He took his honor to heart.

    Being an example for others, and offering encouragement for those who come to the game after us is certainly something that should be remembered and having a Hall of Fame to honor these great men is certainly right.

    In our Christian walk we too have a record of the Hall of Famer’s found in Hebrews chapter 11. These are those who although they had obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, because God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us. The list is long of all those who are listed in God’s great Hall of Fame including David, Moses, Samson, Elijah, Joshua, Rahab, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Esau. And let us not forget Joseph, Noah and Abel. The list is too long to include everyone here but you can visit God’s Hall of Fame found in the pages of scripture.

    In order to walk among baseball’s finest you must take a trip to Cooperstown and visit the Hall of Fame, but to walk among the biblical elite on God’s Wall of fame you simply have to turn to scripture.

    Like Joe Torre emoted, these men, who have played the game already, have left a legacy for others to follow. They have set an example of what can be accomplished when you are fully dedicated to the game of baseball. So too have the heroes of our faith set forth an example for others to follow. Let us follow their examples and get in the game, perhaps we too will one day find ourselves in the hall of fame.

    Hebrews 12:1 (NKJV)

    1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

    Related articles

    This entry was posted in Articles Current Events Eagle Views and tagged

  • When Faced With The Choice, Who Would We Choose?

    Posted on by EagleWings Comment

    When the crowd is agitated, and corralled by political pandering and ideological propaganda, they unite in one voice to enslave themselves for a mere sense of self-gratification. If left to mob rule, the mob will always cry out for the release of the rebel rouser and the imprisonment of the peacemaker. They will even go so far as to elect and reelect a community organizer as their leader.

    Apparently history teaches that the wielder of the sword generates the greatest respect, while the minister of peace is silenced.


    This entry was posted in Articles

  • Science Discovers Biblical Oceans Buried Deep Under Earth’s Surface

    Posted on by EagleWings Comment

    Genesis 7:11-12 (NIV)
    11  In the six hundredth year of Noah‘s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month–on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.12  And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty     nights. 

    The public’s view that science and religion can’t work in collaboration is a misconception that stunts progress, according to a new survey of more than 10,000 Americans, scientists and evangelical Protestants. The study by Rice University also found that scientists and the public are surprisingly similar in their religious practices. The study found that nearly 50% of evangelicals believe that science and religion can work together and support one another. That contrasts with the fact that only 38% of Americans feel that science and religions can work in collaboration. This is not surprising because of the way science-religion relationships are portrayed in the news media. Most of what is seen in the news are stories about these two groups being at odds with each other. The news media likes to emphasize the controversial issues like teaching creationism in schools. Actual findings from the Rice study shows:

     

    • Nearly 60 percent of evangelical Protestants and 38 percent of all surveyed believe “scientists should be open to considering miracles in their theories or explanations.”
    •  27 percent of Americans feel that science and religion are in conflict.
    • Of those who feel science and religion are in conflict, 52 percent sided with religion.
    • 48 percent of evangelicals believe that science and religion can work in collaboration.
    • 22 percent of scientists think most religious people are hostile to science.
    • Nearly 20 percent of the general population think religious people are hostile to science.
    • Nearly 22 percent of the general population think scientists are hostile to religion.
    • Nearly 36 percent of scientists have no doubt about God’s existence.

    So it really comes as no surprise when a story about science matches up pretty well with religious teachings found in the bible. That is the case with the latest scientific discovery of vast oceans of water found beneath the earths surface.

    Geophysicists say they have discovered an immense water reservoir deep below the Earth’s surface—a find which Christian scientists say could be an affirmation of a verse in the biblical Great Flood account.

    On Thursday, researchers with Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico announced the discovery of a vast underground ocean several miles beneath the Earth’s surface. Though the scientists cannot immediately verify their claims, they remain confident about their conclusions.

    Water is part of Earth’s very definition as a planet. Clouds of water fill its atmosphere, oceans cover most of its surface, and groundwater is found everywhere underground. For the last century, geologists have traced the influence of water deeper and deeper into Earth’s interior. During the last year, whole oceans worth of water have been found in the mantle, hundreds of kilometers below the crust. And a paper in today’s issue of Science traces water’s influence all the way down to an important boundary inside the Earth, the top of the lower mantle.

    “Northwestern geophysicist Steve Jacobsen and University of New Mexico seismologist Brandon Schmandt have found deep pockets of magma located about 400 miles beneath North America, a likely signature of the presence of water at these depths,” explains a press release from Northwestern University.

    If the scientists’ calculations are correct, the amount of water beneath the Earth’s surface could dwarf the amount of water in our planet’s surface oceans.

    “If just one percent of the weight of mantle rock in the transition zone is H2O, that would be equal to nearly three times the amount of water in our oceans,” the press release states.

    The results of the study will help scientists understand Earth’s water cycle, and how plate tectonics moves water between the surface of the planet and interior reservoirs, researchers say.

    The Earth’s mantle is the hot, rocky layer between the planet’s core and crust. Scientists have long suspected that the mantle’s so-called transition zone, which sits between the upper and lower mantle layers 255 to 410 miles (410 to 660 kilometers) below Earth’s surface, could contain water trapped in rare minerals. However, direct evidence for this water has lacked, until now.

    To see if the transition zone really is a deep reservoir for water, researchers conducted experiments on water-rich ringwoodite, analyzed seismic waves traveling through the mantle beneath the United States, and studied numerical models. They discovered that downward-flowing mantle material is melting as it crosses the boundary between the transition zone and the lower mantle layer.

    “If we are seeing this melting, then there has to be this water in the transition zone,” said Brandon Schmandt, a seismologist at the University of New Mexico and co-author of the new study published today (June 12) in the journal Science. “The transition zone can hold a lot of water, and could potentially have the same amount of H2O [water] as all the world’s oceans.” (Melting is a way of getting rid of water, which is unstable under conditions in Earth’s lower mantle, the researchers said.)

    A complete explanation of the testing process and what laboratory experiments have produced can be found here

    According to Genesis 7:11, “the fountains of the great deep” were broken during the Great Flood, leading some Christians to believe that the underground ocean discovery sheds light on the biblical account. Brian Thomas, science writer for the Institute for Creation Research, told Christian News Network that the findings could potentially be related to the scriptural reference.

    “It is of course possible that water found below Earth’s crust could be what remains from the waters ‘of the great deep’ that burst as fountains to Earth’s surface to initiate Noah’s year-long Flood according to Genesis 7:11,” Thomas said. “I would not refer to this news as a ‘significant verification’ of the Genesis Flood since some may suggest other explanations for the water, but it is consistent with Scripture’s general reference to waters deep beneath the earth.”

    However, Thomas added, the very existence of water on Earth presents a problem for secular scientists.

    “Secularists faced a tough enough challenge in trying to explain how Earth’s ocean waters came from rock,” he noted. “They imagine hydrated minerals from space rocks collided to form Earth. But the heat from those collisions would have pushed out the water. Now they have to explain this newly discovered deep water, too.”

    The biblical account, Thomas continued, is much more consistent with the scientific evidence, since the Bible says God initially created the world as a watery sphere.

    “Unlike secular thinkers,” he stated, “biblical scientists do not arbitrarily discount miracles, being open to the possibility that God built Earth with water like He said.”

    Related articles

    This entry was posted in Articles Eagle Views and tagged

  • “Not Letting a Crisis Go to Waste” Led to a World War

    Posted on by EagleWings Comment

    History has a way of repeating itself,

    therefore it would do us all well to learn from it.

    After World War I, Germany‘s economy suffered from depression and a devaluation of their currency.

    On January 30, 1933, Adolph Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany by promising hope and universal healthcare. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? But wait there is more.

    Less than a month later, on February 27, 1933, a crisis occurred – the Reichstag, Germany’s Capitol Building, was suspiciously set on fire.

    Hitler was quick to use this crisis as an opportunity to seize emergency powers, suspend basic rights, and accuse his political opponents of conspiracy. Not wanting to let any crisis go to waste  Hitler’s propaganda machine leveraged it for political gain.

    He ordered mass arrests followed by executions, even ordering his SS and Gestapo secret police to murder rivals, as during the Night of the Long Knives.  On the dawn of a new election in America Obama sent his IRS hit men to obstruct his political rivals.

    Hitler confiscated guns, forced old German military leaders to retire, and swayed the public with mesmerizing speeches. He was a great orator and could move a crowd with great speeches. Just speeches, just words or the soothing song of the siren of death? He spoke of great things while plotting the destruction of many lives. He came preaching peace and safety only to reign over sudden and utter destruction.

    Using diplomatic intimidation, deception, and Blitzkrieg ‘lightning’ attacks, Hitler’s National Socialist Workers’ Party proceeded to take control of:

    Austria, The Sudeten Region, Bohemia, Moravia, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, Belgium, Holland, France, Monaco, Greece, The Channel Island (UK), Czechoslovakia, the Baltic states, Serbia, Italy, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Finland, Croatia and more. He was leading Germany to total world dominance.

    The National Socialist Workers Party operated over 1,200 concentration camps where an estimated 4,251,500 people lost their lives. Today in America more than 1200 abortion clinics operate around the clock killing millions of innocent lives yet unborn. This is a modern-day holocaust. Lives considered not worthy to live are being snuffed out as the world  turns a blind eye.

    Church leaders who spoke out in opposition to Hitler were arrested and executed. As it was then it is still today, religious leaders who are vocal about their opposition to todays genocide are often arrested and prosecuted. We have not yet gotten to the place where those who oppose America’s holocaust are killed, that day may soon arrive.

    Something had to be done to stop this madness. Who or what was going to intervene on behalf of all the lives lost during Hitler’s bloody rampage?

    nullIn his D-Day Orders, JUNE 6, 1944, Supreme Allied Commander General Dwight Eisenhower sent nearly 100,000 Allied troops marching across Europe to defeat Hitler’s National Socialist Workers Party:

    “You are about to embark upon a great crusade… The eyes of the world are upon you.
    The hopes and prayers of liberty loving people everywhere march with you…

    You will bring about…the elimination of Nazi tyranny over the oppressed peoples of Europe…
    Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well-trained, well equipped and battle hardened, he will fight savagely…

    And let us all beseech the blessings of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking.”

     

    Over 160,000 troops from America, Britain, Canada, free France, Poland, and other nations landed along a 50-mile stretch of the Normandy coast of France.

    It was the largest amphibious invasion force in world history, supported by 5,000 ships with 195,700 navy personnel and 13,000 aircraft.

    America heard the news from a transatlantic radio-telephone hookup from Supreme Headquarters to all major press services and broadcasting networks in the U.S.

    A dramatic 10-second pause preceded it.  Colonel R. Ernest Dupuy, General Eisenhower’s public relations officer spoke:

    “This is Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force.  The text of Communique No. 1 will be released to the press and radio of the United Nations in ten seconds.”

    The seconds were counted off… “One, two, three…:”

    “Under the command of General Eisenhower,” Dupuy read slowly, “Allied naval forces, supported by strong air forces, began landing Allied armies this morning on the northern coast of France…”

    An extremely rare ringing of the Liberty Bell was heard across the country on national radio as Philadelphia Mayor Barnard Samuel tapped it with a rubber mallet and proclaimed, “Let it proclaim liberty throughout the land, and the return of liberty throughout the world.”

    In the larger cities, people flocked to cathedrals and synagogues. Across rural farmlands, they stopped what they were doing and headed to church.

    The invasion did not happen speedily, and it was not without great loss of life.  Americans were already making great sacrifices and mourning their dead, but they were about to be sent reeling with news of corpse strewn beaches a world away.

    Today, 70 years ago, the sea along the heavily fortified beaches of Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno, Sword and Pointe du Hoc ran red with the blood of almost 9,000 killed or wounded. All that bloodshed led to a major turning point in World War II. The blood of those brave men who stormed those beaches that fateful day in 1944 would soon bring to end the brutal dictatorship of Adolf Hitler and his Third Reich.

    Eleven months after D-Day, the war in Europe ended with an Allied victory on May 8, 1945.

    As more than 700 WWII veterans die each day, it’s likely this will be the last time many will get to mark this anniversary; the last time their story will be heard.
    Related articles
    Enhanced by Zemanta

    This entry was posted in Articles Current Events Eagle Views and tagged

  • VA More Concerned with Removing Religious Symbols From Chapels then Healing Vets

    Posted on by EagleWings 2 Comments

    See on Scoop.it – Eagle Views

    The Department of Veterans Affairs may be embroiled in a healthcare scandal — the severity of which led to the resignation of VA head Eric Shinseki — but pockets of the VA health system seem to be focused not on improving healthcare for veterans,…

    EagleWings‘s insight:

    With the sorry state that the VA is in they need all the prayer they can get, but once again the PC police as struck with a vengeance against Christ and his followers. Not wanting to offend the small minority who might take offense to seeing Jesus on a cross or a statue of Mary, the VA as put in place regulations that shield the small but vocal minority who may cry foul.

     

    I am really growing weary of these cry babies whining everywhere they go and complaining about religious symbols in places of worship. If you do not want to be confronted with the cross then stay out of the church and the chapel. But if you enter a church or a chapel right-minded individuals would expect to find Christ there.

     

    There are a million and one places you can go if you want to avoid any mention of Christ, but if you venture into a CHRISTIAN facility you will be presented with a CHRISTIAN MESSAGE in word and symbol. and if that offends you then do not attend such places.

     

    Why are there chapels in VA hospitals you may ask? Because many vets and families of vets like having a place to go pray to their Lord. If you are not of the Christian faith and want to have a place where you too can go to pray to your god or goddess get to work on setting up a place of your own or perhaps even ask the Chaplin nicely if he/she will allow you to use the chapel and he/she may even VOLUNTEER to cover-up any offensive  symbol, but REQUIRING Christians to remove symbols of their faith is not INCLUSIVE and COMPASSIONATE nor is it TOLERANT.

     

     

    See on www.theblaze.com

    Enhanced by Zemanta

    This entry was posted in Articles Current Events Eagle Views and tagged

  • America is going to “pot” literally.

    Posted on by EagleWings Comment

    See on Scoop.it – Eagle Views

    “Reflecting growing national acceptance of cannabis, a bipartisan coalition of House members voted early Friday to restrict the Drug Enforcement Administration from using funds to go after…

    EagleWings‘s insight:

    You would think that there is absolutely nothing else to do in this world but to try to figure out ways to promote drug addiction. I guess our political leaders have figured out that a doped up society will keep voting these imbeciles back into office.

     

    When will this insanity end?

     

    Beam me up there is no intelligent life left on this planet.

     

    Eagle Out!

    See on www.youtube.com


    This entry was posted in Articles

  • Michelle Obama tells lawmakers to keep their hands off her school lunch program

    Posted on by EagleWings Comment

    See on Scoop.it – Eagle Views

    First lady Michelle Obama on Tuesday chided congressional Republicans for attempting to roll back her school lunch standards, calling the effort “unacceptable” and accusing lawmakers of playing politics with the health of young students.

    EagleWings‘s insight:

    If you like your lunch program you can not keep it but do not try to take away Michele’s school lunch program. Your child’s lunch can be tossed into the nearest waste bin but you better not lay a hand on Michele’s bag lunch program. If you happen to like your school lunch, and you want to keep it, you can not since Michele knows what is best for all students everywhere. Michele has become the SCHOOL LUNCH MONITOR and she is going to be checking out every child’s lunch to see if it meets her standards.

     

    Now her kids on the other hand are treated to chef prepared meals every day at the Sidwell Friends school her daughters attend. No one is going to be allowed to touch her kids meals, but yours is up for grabs.

     

    You see folks if you like something and the government thinks that you should not have it, they will make sure you can not have it and if you try to take it back you are told to keep your hands off.

     

    There is not a government program that is EVER cancelled but you can be sure that if you like your health insurance, or your child likes his or her lunch, that will be cancelled. None of the elites will have any of their stuff cancelled or confiscated, since they are a privileged class. Only the commoner among us most be told what they can or  can not have, or what their child can or can not eat. The elite will do anything they darn well please and don’t you dare try to tell them no.

     

    So shut up and eat whatever it is the government shovels out for you. And if it does not taste very good consider the source, the party in power’s mascot is after all a jackass.

     

    Now that is the way I see it what say you?

    See on www.washingtontimes.com

    Related articles
    Enhanced by Zemanta

    This entry was posted in Articles Current Events Eagle Views and tagged

  • Unions, employers square off over ObamaCare costs in collective bargaining

    Posted on by EagleWings Comment

    See on Scoop.it – Eagle Views

    Disputes between unions and employers over paying for new costs associated with the Affordable Care Act are roiling labor talks nationwide.

    EagleWings‘s insight:

    In Philadelphia, disagreement over how much workers should contribute to such health-plan cost increases has stalled talks between the region’s transit system and its main union representing 5,000 workers as they try to renegotiate a contract that expired in March.

     

    Roughly 2,000 housekeepers, waiters and others at nine of 10 downtown Las Vegas casinos voted this month to go on strike June 1 if they don’t reach agreements on a series of issues, the thorniest of which involve new ACA-related cost increases, according to the Unite Here union.

     

    Flight attendants at Alaska Airlines voted down a tentative contract agreement with management in February, in part because it didn’t provide enough protection against a possible surge in ACA-related costs, union members said. They are still without a new contract.

     

    Labor experts on both sides say the law doesn’t take into account that health benefits have been negotiated by employers and unions over decades, and that rewriting plans to meet new requirements can affect wages and other labor terms. Oh boohoo. Those of us in the private sector who are non-union had health care plans we liked as well and were promised that if we liked our healthcare plan we could keep it. We couldn’t and neither can you. But we did not want it you all did.

     

    “It’s been a challenge for even some of the stronger unions to maintain the quality health plans that they have offered over the years,” said Daniel Murphy, an attorney in New York who represents employers in labor talks. Hey tell us in the non-union world that. We all know this all too well.

     

    Among the earliest supporters of the health-care law, unions have unsuccessfully tried to win concessions from the Obama administration on some issues now involved in the labor talks.

     

    Oh yes let us not forget that these very same labor unions were all in favor of Obamacare and fought to have it enacted. Now they are seeing the error of their ways and I am sure they are going to cry foul loud enough and promise to withhold enough financial support that Obama and the Dems will come through with some sort of taxpayer bailout, to cover the increased costs being imposed on them by the very party they support.

     

    What started this whole health care debate in the first place was the  legacy costs of union healthcare plans being provided by the unions, many of which operate in the public sector. State run health plans were causing state budgets to bust so the thought of Obamacare was to shift the  cost of these public sector union contracted healthcare costs to taxpayers to pay in the form of subsidies. The states would then dump their legacy costs into the OBAMACARE exchanges and avoid the costs of health care.

     

    However they were planning on the plans to be the same lavish plans they were offering their employees not these bloated  mandated care plans being forced on them by Obamacare.

     

    If you lie down with dogs you are going to get up with fleas. Let this be a lesson to all. You can not make deals with the devil and expect to come out a winner in the end.

    See on www.foxnews.com

    Related articles
    Enhanced by Zemanta

    This entry was posted in Articles Current Events Eagle Views and tagged

  • Hiding in Plain Sight

    Posted on by EagleWings 2 Comments

    Luke 24:13-16 (GW)
    On the same day, two of Jesus’ disciples were going to a village called Emmaus. It was about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking to each other about everything that had happened. While they were talking, Jesus approached them and began walking with them. Although they saw him, they didn’t recognize him.

    How could it be that two people were walking along the highway with Jesus and did not recognize him? He was right there with them, walking with them and talking to them. He was even explaining the scriptures to them as they walked along the road and yet they could not see him for who he was.

    The whole time he was walking with them he was explaining the scriptures to them and they were excited in their spirits. They were getting encouragement in the midst of their sadness. They had just witnessed the death of their beloved leader, the one they thought was sure to deliver them from the heavy yoke of the Roman Empire, but instead they watched him die. All their hopes and aspirations where shattered as Jesus gave up his spirit on the Roman cross. Their plans were dashed on the rocks of Golgotha as Jesus’ blood was spilt. They could not imagine how it could be God’s will for all this to happen. They were devastated and heavy-hearted by the entire course of events.

    They watched as Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons, surely they thought that he could smite the enemy and gain his freedom. None of what they hoped for took place, leaving them feeling alone and bewildered and questioning their own faith. Perhaps they thought it was all a lie.

    This is where we take up the story, as two of Jesus’ disciples where making they way from Jerusalem to Emmaus they were joined by a stranger. They were surprised that this stranger did not know what had happened in Jerusalem just three days earlier. They retold the story of Jesus’ trial and conviction by the Jewish leaders of the day. They even told how Mary and Martha had gone to the tomb only to find it empty. They were basically living in the past. Their emotions and minds were stuck on good Friday. They had not yet arrived to the glorious realization of the  third day. They had yet to embrace the truism of Jesus’ resurrection.

    When bad things happen to us many of us get stuck in the past, or get hampered by the events that have happened to us yesterday that we are unable to embrace the newness of life that comes each new day. We can not travel down life’s highway while continually looking in the rearview mirror. We have to focus on the present and have hope for the future.

    It is the enemies plan to discourage and weaken our resolves by constantly badgering us and bombarding us with negative thoughts and inflicting our lives with  chaos and calamity. There is nothing more important to the devil then to derail our faith in a risen Lord. He wants us to believe that God is dead and we are on our own. He wants us to believe that Jesus has forsaken us and left us to handle things down here without any help or intervention from him. The enemy of life is constantly asking us where is God?

    These disciples, although they had spent three years with Jesus, had not fully grasped the message Jesus was trying to tell them. He had told them repeatedly that he had to die in order for them to live. He told them the reason he came was to be the sacrifice for Adam’s sin. They did not understand what he was teaching them. This is why they could not see Jesus. They did not really believe that he was going to rise from the dead like he said he would.

    There are many today, and quite frankly many in the church, who are just like these two disciples. They are going through the daily life without any acknowledgement that Jesus is right there with them. They are walking along life’s highway without ever stopping to ponder if Jesus walks the road beside them. Too many I feel believe that Jesus left them to figure out their own paths to righteousness and salvation. Too many I fear have forgotten the promise Jesus made while he was still with his disciples. He told them plainly that he would never leave them nor forsake them but would be with them even until the end of the age.

    Jesus is alive and he is wanting to walk with you and fellowship with you. Are we too blind to see him hiding in plain sight? It wasn’t until the disciples invited Jesus to come home with them and to have a fellowship dinner with them that their eyes were opened to see Jesus. At that moment he disappeared from their sight.

    Luke 24:28-31 (GW)
    When they came near the village where they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. They urged him, “Stay with us! It’s getting late, and the day is almost over.” So he went to stay with them. While he was at the table with them, he took bread and blessed it. He broke the bread and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he vanished from their sight.

    After their eyes were opened they remarked how their spirits were stirred within them as Jesus was teaching them from the word of God. Although they knew in their hearts that what Jesus was saying was true, they were not able to fully grasp it until they invited Jesus to their home and they ate with him.

    Many ask where God is when things go wrong, and I have to wonder if he isn’t right there beside them the entire time and they simply fail to recognize him. You see these two disciples knew the scriptures, they had read about Jesus in the scriptures, they even knew that what Jesus was saying was true, but they had not yet invited Jesus into their inner most place, into the home of their heart. They had not actually took the time to sit with Jesus and have real fellowship with him.

    It isn’t until we accept the scriptures are true, and acknowledge that Jesus is indeed raised from the dead, and confess with our mouth that Jesus is indeed Lord will be able to see him as he truly is; alive and well.

    The minds of these two were clouded by their own expectations of who Jesus was and what his mission was. They had formed their own opinions and ideas how Jesus was going to bring about his kingdom. Although Jesus told them plainly they were not able to get past their own wants and desires. They were seeking to see things turn out the way they thought it should, and not the way Jesus told them it would.

    Now let us not get sanctimonious and think that we are somehow better than these two. How many times have you wanted something so badly that you were disappointed when it did not turn out the way you wanted and actually blamed God for failing to answer your prayers? How many times have you wandered off the straight and narrow path of righteousness taught by the scriptures and found yourself in a bad place but still wanted God to bless you right where you were without any wish to return to where you took the detour?

    Come on be honest, how many times have you entered into the sanctuary of a church and come away feeling empty? You went expecting God to do something for you but you never really took the time to spend some quality time alone with Jesus in fellowship and the reading of His word. How can Jesus show himself to you if you refuse to accept his word as the bread of life, his very body, his essence is found within the pages of scripture. This is what Jesus taught the two disciples as they were traveling the road from Jerusalem. He taught them that the whole of scripture  tells us about Jesus. He is hidden in plain sight throughout all of earth’s history, and HIS STORY is told on the pages of scripture.

    Preaching alone is not going to get you to recognize Jesus unless you are willing to accept the truth of the gospel and acknowledge that Jesus is the word and that word became flesh and walked among us. He is risen, he does not still hang on a cross or lie in a tomb. Jesus is alive and well and every time you take the time to read about Him in the holy book you become more and more like him until you too can see him exactly as he is.

    Jesus is here now. Can you see him? Do you expect to see him? Do you even want to see him? Are you still clinging to the failures of the past or are you ready to move forward with a new life in  Christ? The chose is yours. Jesus is waiting right there beside you, why not invite him home with you?

    Until next time. Good day!

    Image.gifThis is a view from the nest. What say you?

    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

    Image.jpg

     

     

    This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.

    Related articles
    Enhanced by Zemanta

    This entry was posted in Articles Eagle Views Insights on Scripture and tagged

  • The Real Story of Noah Dispels the Myth of Environmentalism

    Posted on by EagleWings 4 Comments

    Romans 8:20-21 (NIV)
    20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
    21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

    Genesis 3:17 (HCSB)
    17 And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you.

     

    How do we save the planet?

    By saving humankind from the curse of sin and death.  Not by environmentalism.

    The entire creation was cursed by Adam’s sin and as such it can not be saved until the remnants of Adam’s sin is erased from the earth.  Jesus’s birth, death and resurrection set in place the foundation for this eventual redemption of the world, but it is not complete until everything has been made subject to Jesus Christ. This will happen when he returns to set up his kingdom. The continued laboring and sweating to produce a ‘good crop’ will continue until the earth is cleansed of all unrighteousness.

    It is true that man is the reason the environment in which we live is a mess. It is sinful man who has subjected the earth to God’s curse, but it is not through environmentalism that this curse will be reversed but through the redemption of humanity. No amount of environmental efforts is able to reverse God’s curse, only by receiving God’s blessing can the curse be reversed, and that only comes through salvation in Christ.

    You see had Adam and Eve not introduced sin into the world at the beginning, but lived their life in obedience to God, the earth would be the paradise that environmentalists are always dreaming of. But since the environmental movement does not take into account God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ, their remedies are worse than the cause. They believe that if you end humanity from the earth then all will be well.

    That has been tried before and yet the problems still persist.

    Genesis 6:5-7 (GW)
    5 The LORD saw how evil humans had become on the earth. All day long their deepest thoughts were nothing but evil.
    6 The LORD was sorry that he had made humans on the earth, and he was heartbroken.
    7 So he said, “I will wipe off the face of the earth these humans that I created. I will wipe out not only humans, but also domestic animals, crawling animals, and birds. I’m sorry that I made them.”

    God who created the whole of creation looked down upon the earth and saw nothing but corruption. He saw how evil humankind had become. He saw how mortals were constantly plotting evil intentions in their hearts. And God planned to cleanse the earth of the entire human population, to end the lives of all that He created. After all He was the creator and he could do what he wanted with that creation.

    I am afraid that many today see God as this evil tyrant who is only looking for a reason to wipe us all out. And if we are not careful to fully understand the true story of Noah then we too could come away with the same picture of God. To be fair if God really wanted to end humankind all he had to do was prevent Adam and Eve from procreation and it all would have ended before it began, but that was not his overall plan, which we will see as we continue to look at the true story of Noah.

    In the latest movie adaption of the Noah story there are several huge problems. For one, its characterization of Noah is very troubling. In this movie, Noah is willing to murder three men to try to save the life of an animal that had been severely wounded. To this Hollywood Noah, animal life was far more important than human life. He didn’t really try to save the life of a young woman whom Ham tried to save. Moreover, if Noah’s daughter-in-law gave birth to a girl, Noah said, “From the moment of her birth I will cut her down.” Throughout the second half of the film, Noah is obsessed with making sure all of humanity is wiped out so that the “innocents” (read: animals) can live peacefully in a new post-flood Eden. This I am afraid is the position of many environmentalists who see HUMANS as a plight on the earth and animals as innocent victims of civilization. However when God created the earth he said that there was no one to tend to it and thus he created man to tend to the earth and take charge of it. The earth was created for man and man was not created for planet earth.

    Genesis 2:4-8 (GW)
    4 This is the account of heaven and earth when they were created, at the time when the LORD God made earth and heaven.
    5 Wild bushes and plants were not on the earth yet because the LORD God hadn’t sent rain on the earth. Also, there was no one to farm the land.
    6 Instead, underground water would come up from the earth and water the entire surface of the ground.
    7 Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.
    8 The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. That’s where he put the man whom he had formed.

    Genesis 2:15 (GW)
    15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to farm the land and to take care of it.

    As previously stated the entire creation has become subject to a curse because of Adam’s sin but at the same time humans are also under that same curse. Therefore to be exact the entire creation has become corrupted by the first sin of Adam. Therefore none is innocent. However that is not exactly how God saw things.

    Genesis 6:9 states that Noah “was a just man, perfect in his generation. Noah walked with God.” He was faithful to do everything God had commanded him to do (Genesis 6:22). God said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). In the book of Ezekiel, Noah is identified as a righteous man and is placed in the same context as Job and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20). Peter called Noah a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Noah also appears in the “Faith Hall of Fame” chapter—Hebrews 11:7 states, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

    You see despite all the evil that was taking place upon the earth there was goodness represented by Noah. God called him righteous in his generation. Would God call you righteous in our generation? Could it be said of you that you were faithful to do everything God had commanded you to do?

    I thought it was important to note that scripture records the birth of Noah and states that his name meant relief.

    Genesis 5:28-29 (GW)
    28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he became the father of a son.
    29 He named him Noah [Relief], and said, “This child will bring us relief from the work and painful labor of our hands since the LORD has cursed the ground.”

     

    The people of that time knew that the earth was cursed and believed  that relief would come one day. When Noah was born he was  given the name which in Hebrew meant relief with hope that Noah would bring relief to all this toilsome labor. In a way relief did come through Noah but not exactly like we might think.

    Genesis 7:1-4 (GW)
    1 The LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ship with your whole family because I have seen that you alone are righteous among the people of today.
    2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal (a male and a female of each) and one pair of every kind of unclean animal (a male and a female).
    3 Also, take seven pairs of every kind of bird (a male and a female of each) to preserve animal life all over the earth after the flood.
    4 In seven days I will send rain to the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. I will wipe off the face of the earth every living creature that I have made.”

     

    God set out to wipe the earth clean of every living thing, animals included, with the exception of those Noah took with him on the ark. The ark was the only place of safety to be found, and had God not told Noah to build it there would have been no hope for anyone or anything. You see God was not without mercy. He was not going to completely annihilate all that he created, he had a plan of escape from his wrath, the only thing Noah had to do was listen and obey, which is exactly what he did.

    You notice the animals came to Noah for safety and he took them in. There is no mention of other people coming to Noah to be saved.

    Genesis 7:6-10 (GW)
    6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came to the earth.
    7 Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives went into the ship to escape the floodwaters.
    8 Clean and unclean animals, birds, and creatures that crawl on the ground
    9 came to Noah to go into the ship in pairs (a male and female of each) as God had commanded Noah.

    10 Seven days later the flood came on the earth.

    Genesis 7:15-16 (GW)
    15 A pair of every living, breathing animal came to Noah to go into the ship.
    16 A male and a female of every animal went in as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD closed the door behind them.

    God shut the door and did not allow anyone or anything else on board. The time had come. Judgment day had arrived.

    Noah spent a great deal of time building this huge boat, in front of his countrymen, in plain sight, and yet only Noah and his family actually got on the boat. It had not rained prior to this and where Noah was building his boat there was no body of water so it made no sense to build this huge boat in the middle of dry land. The people of Noah’s day were oblivious to what was going on around them because they have come to believe that they were in control of their own destinies and did not have the fear of the Lord within their hearts. They had no knowledge of God’s righteousness or wrath. They had grown cold toward the things of God, that is all but Noah who God said was the only one righteous in his entire generation. Scripture gives us a deeper understanding of what happened in those days when we read:

    Matthew 24:36-39 (GW)
    36 “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.
    37 “When the Son of Man comes again, it will be exactly like the days of Noah.
    38 In the days before the flood, people were eating, drinking, and getting married until the day that Noah went into the ship.
    39 They were not aware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.

    You see there is coming another judgment day from God and as in times past many will be unaware of their own impending doom. Oh there will not be a world-wide flood but there is a coming judgment. Will you be ready? Will you be found righteous and worthy to escape God’s wrath? Have you boarded the ark of salvation prepared for you by God through Jesus Christ?

    1 Peter 3:18-22 (GW)
    18 This is true because Christ suffered for our sins once. He was an innocent person, but he suffered for guilty people so that he could bring you to God. His body was put to death, but he was brought to life through his spirit.
    19 In it he also went to proclaim his victory to the spirits kept in prison.
    20 They are like those who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah when God waited patiently while Noah built the ship. In this ship a few people—eight in all—were saved by water.
    21 Baptism, which is like that water, now saves you. Baptism doesn’t save by removing dirt from the body. Rather, baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience. It saves you through Jesus Christ, who came back from death to life.
    22 Christ has gone to heaven where he has the highest place that God gives. Angels, rulers, and powers have been placed under his authority.

    But just as in Noah’s day there will be many who will not believe and even scoff at the very notion that there is a righteous God ready to mete out justice for all who live ungodly lives. In fact they will not only scoff at but actually promote godlessness through their actions and teach others to do the same. They will actually rejoice in their ungodliness as if to show that there is no God and they can do what they please. Basically history repeating itself.

    2 Peter 2:1-10 (GW)
    1 False prophets were among God’s people {in the past}, as false teachers will be among you. They will secretly bring in their own destructive teachings. They will deny the Lord, who has bought them, and they will bring themselves swift destruction.
    2 Many people will follow them in their sexual freedom and will cause others to dishonor the way of truth.
    3 In their greed they will use good-sounding arguments to exploit you. The verdict against them from long ago is still in force, and their destruction is not asleep.
    4 God didn’t spare angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, where he has secured them with chains of darkness and is holding them for judgment.
    5  God didn’t spare the ancient world either. He brought the flood on the world of ungodly people, but he protected Noah and seven other people. Noah was his messenger who told people about the kind of life that has God’s approval.
    6 God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes. He made those cities an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them.
    7 Yet, God rescued Lot, a man who had his approval. Lot was distressed by the lifestyle of people who had no principles and lived in sexual freedom.
    8 Although he was a man who had God’s approval, he lived among the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each day was like torture to him as he saw and heard the immoral things that people did.
    9 Since the Lord did all this, he knows how to rescue godly people when they are tested. He also knows how to hold immoral people for punishment on the day of judgment.
    10 This is especially true of those who follow their corrupt nature along the path of impure desires and who despise the Lord’s authority. These false teachers are bold and arrogant. They aren’t afraid to insult the {Lord’s} glory.

    2 Peter 2:13-19 (GW)
    13 …These false teachers are stains and blemishes. They take pleasure in holding wild parties in broad daylight. They especially enjoy deceiving you while they eat with you.
    14 They’re always looking for an adulterous woman. They can’t stop looking for sin as they seduce people who aren’t sure of what they believe. Their minds are focused on their greed. They are cursed.
    15 These false teachers have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Balaam, son of Beor. Balaam loved what his wrongdoing earned him.
    16 But he was convicted for his evil. A donkey, which normally can’t talk, spoke with a human voice and wouldn’t allow the prophet to continue his insanity.
    17 These false teachers are dried-up springs. They are a mist blown around by a storm. Gloomy darkness has been kept for them.
    18  They arrogantly use nonsense to seduce people by appealing to their sexual desires, especially to sexual freedom. They seduce people who have just escaped from those who live in error.
    19  They promise these people freedom, but they themselves are slaves to corruption. A person is a slave to whatever he gives in to.

    2 Peter 3:3-7 (GW)
    3 First, you must understand this: In the last days people who follow their own desires will appear. These disrespectful people will ridicule {God’s promise}
    4 by saying, “What’s happened to his promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died, everything continues as it did from the beginning of the world.”
    5  They are deliberately ignoring one fact: Because of God’s word, heaven and earth existed a long time ago. The earth {appeared} out of water and was kept alive by water.
    6 Water also flooded and destroyed that world.
    7 By God’s word, the present heaven and earth are designated to be burned. They are being kept until the day ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

    2 Peter 3:10-13 (GW)
    10 The day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day heaven will pass away with a roaring sound. Everything that makes up the universe will burn and be destroyed. The earth and everything that people have done on it will be exposed.
    11 All these things will be destroyed in this way. So think of the kind of holy and godly lives you must live
    12 as you look forward to the day of God and eagerly wait for it to come. When that day comes, heaven will be on fire and will be destroyed. Everything that makes up the universe will burn and melt.
    13 But we look forward to what God has promised—a new heaven and a new earth—a place where everything that has God’s approval lives.

     

    You see the real story of Noah is not just about a flood and a big boat, but about righteousness and judgment. There is a God who created all this and who has a stake in how it all turns out. This same God formed the world by his say so and is the same God who flooded the earth at his command. This same God could have completely wiped out the entire course of humanity but instead chose to safe a few souls, that is 8 in all along with every living creature that lived upon the earth. He showed mercy in the midst of great destruction. He showed compassion while witnessing constant evil taking place on the earth he created, by people created in his reputation.

    God takes no delight in the punishment of the wicked, he would rather they all would come to him for salvation. He would prefer if everyone gets on board the ark of safety to avoid the coming judgment. But being God he knows not all will come to him to be saved, in fact many more will reject his offer and continue to live according to what their earthly desires dictate.

    The story of Noah should be a somber warning to all those who think God does not care about what happens here on earth. To those who think he is an absentee landowner need to think again because there is coming another flood of judgment and only those who are safely on board the ark will be saved. Are you on board? Or are you like many others poking fun at the Noah’s of today who are building arks of safety for their families while all around them are people busy doing their own thing totally unaware of an all-seeing God keeping watch over his creation? It is not too late to get on board, but one day it will be too late for the door will be closed. How long do you think you can tread water?

     

    Image.gifThis is a view from the nest. What say you?

    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

    Image.jpg

     

    This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.

    Related articles
    Enhanced by Zemanta

    This entry was posted in Articles Current Events Eagle Views and tagged