And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
Been a long, hard week...but a good one, work being good but demanding a bit physically as I've been hired to fill a gap long needing to be addressed. It should slow down soon but it will be a week or two before I post with any regularity.
Yesterday was one of those moments that, in today's hustle, could easily be passed over without a second glance. I was dealing with a customer who was deaf, frustrated because those they have been dealing with up to this point had no patience for communicating with them as a person, demanding that the deaf customer write out their requests.
When my people introduced me to them the day before yesterday, I used what little---very little---sign language I knew to introduce myself...an action that seemed to have had a profound effect on the customer as I was informed that they eagerly were waiting to see me during my inspection the following day.
When next we met, there was a patient flurry of signing going on as my memory was slowly jogged, the customer expressing their needs to me as best they could. After that, the conversation turned to my tattoos, where I got them (actually built the machine myself, then proceeded to see if it worked---a long story...sigh...), who was the girl (thankfully, it bears a striking resemblance to my wife but I wouldn't meet her for another 10 years) and where did I learn signing. I found out that they were brethren in Christ and that, since they started dealing with my company, they had been praying to God for a long time for someone they can communicate with in the corporate office, especially because of the difficulty of dealing with our field reps.
Long story short...we both were overwhelmed at the Providential magnitude of the moment...I was quite shaken, the situation draining me from digging up long lost skills, the physical demands of my inspections that day adding to it and the teaching environment I was in with my entourage adding even more---I was literally vibrating from it all and it took many minutes to regain my thoughts for the rest of the day's work.
As I drove back home later that day, I wept, realizing there are few times we are given glimpses of His Hand at work in our lives and in the lives of those around us, and I'm betting quite frankly, there are more moments like this for us to see, but our own tunnel vision blocks the view, like blinders on a plow horse. I was the answer to the earnest prayers of another, the blundering sign language a sign of hope to the eyes of one whose ears were shut long ago to the warp and woof of this world.
Now, more than ever, I believe those tears being wiped from our eyes on that Great Day of His appearing, will be the tears of missed opportunities and the blinded eyes and deafened ears of those of us in the thirty and sixty fold crowd.
And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.---(Revelation 21:4)
But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.---(Mat 13:23)
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation.
But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Yes, the collector book says $5-12 but I like my modifications---and---they are far better than the ones I did as a 10-year-old 40 years ago to ones that are worth $3K now...
Go thy way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God now accepteth thy works.
Let thy garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.
Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun.
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.
Transformers and stop motion photography...too cool...
UPDATE: ...just so you don't go traipsing all over the web and eBay trying to hunt down a General Lee Decepticon (like I did...sigh...), check this out...
...I understand that there are those who do not wish to pay their customs fees and duties, while at the same time supping at the trough of their respective governments. I also understand that there are those out there who are willing to help them not render unto Caesar their due taxes, tariffs and other fees.
I am neither.
It wasn't a gift, it didn't cost less than $20...pay your taxes, period.
And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of strangers? Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.---(Matthew 17:24-27)
Then went the Pharisees, and took counsel how they might entangle him in his talk. And they sent out unto him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, Master, we know that thou art true, and teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou for any man: for thou regardest not the person of men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not? But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye hypocrites? Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.---(Matthew 22:15-21)
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour. Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.---(Romans 13:1-8)
Been selling off some of my models to meet the bills, being a salaried employee also means having to wait some time before that first check comes. There are no regrets, having long ago accepted what Corrie Ten Boom said about material things;
"Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open."
Besides, it's makes it easier to see the models that do have greater sentimental value and would be lost in the pile of lesser ones...
The prophet in his day is fully accepted of God and totally rejected by men.
Years back, Dr. Gregory Mantle was right when he said, "No man can be fully accepted until he is totally rejected." The prophet of the Lord is aware of both these experiences. They are his "brand name."
The group, challenged by the prophet because they are smug and comfortably insulated from a perishing world in their warm but untested theology, is not likely to vote him "Man of the year" when he refers to them as habituates of the synagogue of Satan!
The prophet comes to set up that which is upset. His work is to call into line those who are out of line! He is unpopular because he opposes the popular in morality and spirituality. In a day of faceless politicians and voiceless preachers, there is not a more urgent national need than that we cry to God for a prophet! The function of the prophet, as Austin-Sparks once said, "has almost always been that of recovery."
The prophet is God's detective seeking for a lost treasure. The degree of his effectiveness is determined by his measure of unpopularity. Compromise is not known to him.
-He has no price tags. -He is totally "otherworldly." -He is unquestionably controversial and unpardonably hostile. -He marches to another drummer! -He breathes the rarefied air of inspiration. -He is a "seer" who comes to lead the blind. -He lives in the heights of God and comes into the valley with a "thus saith the Lord." -He shares some of the foreknowledge of God and so is aware of impending judgment. -He lives in "splendid isolation." -He is forthright and outright, but he claims no birthright. -His message is "repent, be reconciled to God or else...!" -His prophecies are parried. -His truth brings torment, but his voice is never void. -He is the villain of today and the hero of tomorrow. -He is excommunicated while alive and exalted when dead! -He is dishonored with epithets when breathing and honored with epitaphs when dead. -He is a schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, but few "make the grade" in his class. -He is friendless while living and famous when dead. -He is against the establishment in ministry; then he is established as a saint by posterity. -He eats daily the bread of affliction while he ministers, but he feeds the Bread of Life to those who listen. -He walks before men for days but has walked before God for years. -He is a scourge to the nation before he is scourged by the nation. -He announces, pronounces, and denounces! -He has a heart like a volcano and his words are as fire. -He talks to men about God. -He carries the lamp of truth amongst heretics while he is lampooned by men. -He faces God before he faces men, but he is self-effacing. -He hides with God in the secret place, but he has nothing to hide in the marketplace. -He is naturally sensitive but supernaturally spiritual. -He has passion, purpose and pugnacity. -He is ordained of God but disdained by men.
Our national need at this hour is not that the dollar recover its strength, or that we save face over the Watergate affair, or that we find the answer to the ecology problem. We need a God-sent prophet!
I am bombarded with talk or letters about the coming shortages in our national life: bread, fuel, energy. I read between the lines from people not practiced in scaring folk. They feel that the "seven years of plenty" are over for us. The "seven years of famine" are ahead. But the greatest famine of all in this nation at this given moment is a FAMINE OF THE HEARING OF THE WORDS OF GOD (Amos 8:11).
Millions have been spent on evangelism in the last twenty-five years. Hundreds of gospel messages streak through the air over the nation every day. Crusades have been held; healing meetings have made a vital contribution. "Come-outers" have "come out" and settled, too, without a nation-shaking revival. Organizers we have. Skilled preachers abound. Multi-million dollar Christian organizations straddle the nation. BUT where, oh where, is the prophet? Where are the incandescent men fresh from the holy place? Where is the Moses to plead in fasting before the holiness of the Lord for our moldy morality, our political perfidy, and sour and sick spirituality?
GOD'S MEN ARE IN HIDING UNTIL THE DAY OF THEIR SHOWINGFORTH.
They will come. The prophet is violated during his ministry, but he is vindicated by history.
There is a terrible vacuum in evangelical Christianity today. The missing person in our ranks is the prophet. The man with a terrible earnestness. The man totally otherworldly. The man rejected by other men, even other good men, because they consider him too austere, too severely committed, too negative and unsociable.
-Let him be as plain as John the Baptist. -Let him for a season be a voice crying in the wilderness of modern theology and stagnant "churchianity." -Let him be as selfless as Paul the apostle. -Let him, too, say and live, "This ONE thing I do." -Let him reject ecclesiastical favors. -Let him be self-abasing, non self-seeking, non self-projecting, non self- righteous, non self-glorying, non self-promoting. -Let him say nothing that will draw men to himself but only that which will move men to God. -Let him come daily from the throne room of a holy God, the place where he has received the order of the day. -Let him, under God, unstop the ears of the millions who are deaf through the clatter of shekels milked from this hour of material mesmerism. -Let him cry with a voice this century has not heard because he has seen a vision no man in this century has seen.
God send us this Moses to lead us from the wilderness of crass materialism, where the rattlesnakes of lust bite us and where enlightened men, totally blind spiritually, lead us to an ever-nearing Armageddon.
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory?
While they are not a true operating coupler and should be reserved for service in consists that are not regularly broken up, they are an attractive, low cost, fairly easy to install alternative to those rather huge but faithful Rapido type couplers that have been around for over 40 years. Their short coming is that they have to be lifted over each other for coupling/uncoupling, making them impractical for regular switching of cars. For the money though, the improvement on looks is hard to beat, as evidenced by the pilots of these two Bachmann DD40AXs...
I used to be in the Christian Music industry and one thing I can attest to is that they only get two out of three right...it is music and it is an industry but it certainly works hard to be anything but Christian. In light of my experience I rarely jump on a new group's band wagon and, in this case, am only posting the one video as it is a powerful, bare knuckles picture of the Prince of the power of the air.
Their other song is typically veiled, with no direct references to God, Jesus or the exclusiveness of the Gospel Message. How well I remember a Stryper tune that could just as easily be sung to a prom queen in the backseat of her date's car. As with other groups in the past, I'll wait this out to see what kind of fruit falls from the tree, before I go recommending them to anyone.
The sad truth is that most Christians are as celebrity oriented as their unsaved neighbor...the mere mention of God and the fact that the music doesn't contain a vocabulary that could peel wallpaper seem to be the only qualifications for CCM sainthood nowadays.
O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!
I received a formal offer on the job I've been posting about lately...salaried positions being a new thing to me, I never knew they had to be formally offered. A true Joseph moment, I've gone from being under 3 managers to supervising over 150 people, half of them managers themselves.
DUDE!!!!...I can't believe I'm shopping for a briefcase...
A company car is included...an Accord or Civic most likely, not a private railroad car or limo...sigh...but hey, they pay for the gas and the upkeep.
I wonder how fast an Accord goes on the Interstate?
I suspect they'd take a dim view of me having runners go ahead of my chariot shouting, "Bow the knee, bow the knee...!"
I wonder what an $8 cup of coffee tastes like...and just what is a triple latte mocha with a shot of caramel anyway?
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. He is ever merciful, and lendeth; and his seed is blessed.
Depart from evil, and do good; and dwell for evermore. For the LORD loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints; they are preserved for ever: but the seed of the wicked shall be cut off. The righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell therein for ever. The mouth of the righteous speaketh wisdom, and his tongue talketh of judgment. The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.
The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him. The LORD will not leave him in his hand, nor condemn him when he is judged.
Wait on the LORD, and keep his way, and he shall exalt thee to inherit the land: when the wicked are cut off, thou shalt see it. I have seen the wicked in great power, and spreading himself like a green bay tree. Yet he passed away, and, lo, he was not: yea, I sought him, but he could not be found.
Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off. But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble. And the LORD shall help them, and deliver them: he shall deliver them from the wicked, and save them, because they trust in him.
Just a Believer who happens to model trains on a very tight budget, providing a place to showcase my own model work as well as the work of others, regardless of type. Considerations for posting are always welcome. Please check out the modeling links I've put together as well...
Less than God could not have borne your sin so as to put it away; but the infinitely glorious Son of God did actually stoop to become a sin-bearer. I wonder how I can talk of it as I do.
It is a truth scarcely to be declared in words. It wants flame and blood and tears with which to tell this story of an offended God, the Heaven-Maker and the Earth-Creator, stooping from his glory that he might save the reptiles which had dared to insult his honor and to rebel against his glory; and, becoming one of them, to suffer for them, that without violation of his law he might have pity upon the offending things — things so inconsiderable that if he had stamped them all out, as men burn a nest of wasps, there had been no loss to the universe. But he had pity on them, and became one of them, and bare their sins. Oh, love ye him; adore ye him; let your souls climb up to the right hand of the majesty above, this morning, and there bow down in lowliest reverence and adoring affection, that he, the God over all, whom you had offended, should his own self bear our sins.
Though thus God over all, he became a man like unto ourselves; a body was prepared for him, and that body, mark you, not prepared alone, and made like to man but not of man. No, he was not otherwise fashioned than ourselves, he came into the world as we also come, born of a woman, a child of a mother, to hang upon a woman’s breast; not merely like to man, but man, born in the pedigree of manhood, and so bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, yet without a taint of sin. And he, in that double nature but united person, was Jesus, Son of God and Son of the Virgin; he it was who “bare our sins in his own body on the tree.”
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Death For Sin, And Death To Sin," delivered November 16, 1873.
Men, protect your daughters....
“Picture this: Some 17 year old snot nosed punk comes over to take out your daughter, and you say, 'No you aren't worthy of her.' (Immediately everyone is up in arms over your 'judgmental' and 'harsh' position, and for 'breaking your daughter’s heart.') Ok, so let's put it another way now: You have a beautiful, brand new $200,000 Ferrari Testarossa in front of your house, and a snot nosed 17 year old punk comes over to take it for a spin. Would you hand him the keys? See, what your problem is, is that you value a car more than your daughter. Men, protect your daughters!”
My sole purpose for this blog is to lift up the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified on a no nonsense, no ad platform showcasing my work and the work of other modelers, and to practice my hobby with the world behind me, the Cross before me and Kingdom of God in sight. All Scripture is quoted from the King James Version of the Bible as I have found on my own that there is none more faithful to the original languages. Unless otherwise noted, all text and photographs are mine. Old ads and product reviews are respectfully posted in good faith that any copyright privileges are not being infringed upon, with no intent to profit or disparage in any way and will be removed upon request of their respective holders.
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