In 1962, a garbage dump fire spread to an open vein of coal. At first, local authorities hoped it would just burn itself out. There were roads to pave, schools to build, parks to name. They reasoned that it wouldn't be able to maintain itself underground, and the problem would just solve itself.
Others believed that action was required to save their community from an impending threat, but no one wanted to spend the time and money to fight an enemy they didn't really believe in.
Time passed, and out of sight quickly became out of mind for most people. When they were warned of the danger, many refused to believe the fire was still burning. They would look at the cost of thousands of dollars, shake their heads, and go on about their business. Until the monster broke through.
Poisonous gases from the ongoing underground fire began to seep up into the water table – and basements. Underground vacancies left when coal was consumed began to collapse, taking roads and houses into the depths. Finger pointing and lawsuits followed, but no solution could be found. Centralia, Pennsylvania was no longer a safe place to live, and the federal government began to foreclose homes and businesses, forcing out life-long residents. $42 million dollars was spent (not counting attorneys fees) buying those properties, yet the fight still goes on. There are still (in 2010) a handful of holdouts, squatting in homes they no longer own, watching the end of their town.
There were plenty of warnings. In the beginning there were options and solutions, but a point of no return was reached, and after that, all that they had built was lost to the fire.
Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
Be sure what you are investing in can come through THIS fire!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Through the Fire
In 1962, a garbage dump fire spread to an open vein of coal. At first, local authorities hoped it would just burn itself out. There were roads to pave, schools to build, parks to name. They reasoned that it wouldn't be able to maintain itself underground, and the problem would just solve itself.
Others believed that action was required to save their community from an impending threat, but no one wanted to spend the time and money to fight an enemy they didn't really believe in.
Time passed, and out of sight quickly became out of mind for most people. When they were warned of the danger, many refused to believe the fire was still burning. They would look at the cost of thousands of dollars, shake their heads, and go on about their business. Until the monster broke through.
Poisonous gases from the ongoing underground fire began to seep up into the water table – and basements. Underground vacancies left when coal was consumed began to collapse, taking roads and houses into the depths. Finger pointing and lawsuits followed, but no solution could be found. Centralia, Pennsylvania was no longer a safe place to live, and the federal government began to foreclose homes and businesses, forcing out life-long residents. $42 million dollars was spent (not counting attorneys fees) buying those properties, yet the fight still goes on. There are still (in 2010) a handful of holdouts, squatting in homes they no longer own, watching the end of their town.
There were plenty of warnings. In the beginning there were options and solutions, but a point of no return was reached, and after that, all that they had built was lost to the fire. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
Be sure what you are investing in can come through THIS fire!
Others believed that action was required to save their community from an impending threat, but no one wanted to spend the time and money to fight an enemy they didn't really believe in.
Time passed, and out of sight quickly became out of mind for most people. When they were warned of the danger, many refused to believe the fire was still burning. They would look at the cost of thousands of dollars, shake their heads, and go on about their business. Until the monster broke through.
Poisonous gases from the ongoing underground fire began to seep up into the water table – and basements. Underground vacancies left when coal was consumed began to collapse, taking roads and houses into the depths. Finger pointing and lawsuits followed, but no solution could be found. Centralia, Pennsylvania was no longer a safe place to live, and the federal government began to foreclose homes and businesses, forcing out life-long residents. $42 million dollars was spent (not counting attorneys fees) buying those properties, yet the fight still goes on. There are still (in 2010) a handful of holdouts, squatting in homes they no longer own, watching the end of their town.
There were plenty of warnings. In the beginning there were options and solutions, but a point of no return was reached, and after that, all that they had built was lost to the fire. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw-- each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:12-15)
Be sure what you are investing in can come through THIS fire!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Difference in $40k classic and $40 junk
Perfected in love.
It didn't look like much, just an old rusted frame with fenders. But he bought it, and began the mammoth job of restoration. He stripped it down to get off all the rust. He scoured the country getting parts, carefully testing and shaping each one to fit. His original investment paled in comparison to the money and time now being poured in.
Anyone who happened to see it during this process thought “What a waste of time! This won't ever become what he's planning.” But he kept laboring on, building and burnishing. He'd go on for hours, telling anyone who would listen about his plans and dreams for this car.
One year passed, then two. There were times the task seemed never-ending, impossible. Would this “sows ear” never become the silk purse of his dream? Then one day, everything came together. Motor and transmission, once clogged and worthless, purred like a kitten. The soiled and torn interior was replaced with gleaming beauty. Sad sagging fenders were now high and tight. The faded paint was long hidden under layer after layer of glowing brightness. What had been valued cheaply had now become priceless, and those naysayers? Their open-mouthed admiration quickly became envy and desire, as his small investment was turned into tremendous value.
I didn't look like much. Beat up. Ravaged by sin. Cast on the junk heap of life. But He valued me, paid my debt, and went to work to transform me. Lots of times I doubted I would ever be what He was working toward. In many ways, I'm not there yet. Restoration is on-going. Frustration with failure in parts I thought had long since been perfected. But He keeps fixing, shaping, polishing. “One day,” He says, “one day, you'll be perfect. Those naysayers out there, they'll see what I saw back there in the junk yard. They'll be amazed at what you've become, and so will you.”
When the time comes to put a value on my life (and yours), it will be what He has done that will stand out as precious, making what was originally considered worthless now priceless. Nobody makes Him do it. He does it for fun – and love. Does He get His money's worth? The open-mouthed admiration of a cynical world seeing the result of love poured out without reservation is music to His ears.
Therefore, my beloved, ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Phil 2:12-14
It didn't look like much, just an old rusted frame with fenders. But he bought it, and began the mammoth job of restoration. He stripped it down to get off all the rust. He scoured the country getting parts, carefully testing and shaping each one to fit. His original investment paled in comparison to the money and time now being poured in.
Anyone who happened to see it during this process thought “What a waste of time! This won't ever become what he's planning.” But he kept laboring on, building and burnishing. He'd go on for hours, telling anyone who would listen about his plans and dreams for this car.
One year passed, then two. There were times the task seemed never-ending, impossible. Would this “sows ear” never become the silk purse of his dream? Then one day, everything came together. Motor and transmission, once clogged and worthless, purred like a kitten. The soiled and torn interior was replaced with gleaming beauty. Sad sagging fenders were now high and tight. The faded paint was long hidden under layer after layer of glowing brightness. What had been valued cheaply had now become priceless, and those naysayers? Their open-mouthed admiration quickly became envy and desire, as his small investment was turned into tremendous value.
I didn't look like much. Beat up. Ravaged by sin. Cast on the junk heap of life. But He valued me, paid my debt, and went to work to transform me. Lots of times I doubted I would ever be what He was working toward. In many ways, I'm not there yet. Restoration is on-going. Frustration with failure in parts I thought had long since been perfected. But He keeps fixing, shaping, polishing. “One day,” He says, “one day, you'll be perfect. Those naysayers out there, they'll see what I saw back there in the junk yard. They'll be amazed at what you've become, and so will you.”
When the time comes to put a value on my life (and yours), it will be what He has done that will stand out as precious, making what was originally considered worthless now priceless. Nobody makes Him do it. He does it for fun – and love. Does He get His money's worth? The open-mouthed admiration of a cynical world seeing the result of love poured out without reservation is music to His ears.
Therefore, my beloved, ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Phil 2:12-14
Friday, October 23, 2009
The earliest scale was probably just a rope or string hung from a peg, and used to compare relative weights. “So what?” you're thinking. I'm glad you asked, since we are always eager for participation from our readers!
The word up there in the title of this column, “Selah”, is found over 70 times in the Psalms and Habakkuk, usually with a footnote saying that it's suspected meaning is some sort of musical information, but nobody knows for sure. Me? I'm suspicious that something repeated so many times is not mere choral direction, and that God put it there on purpose.
Selah is from a Hebrew root word meaning “to suspend, weigh”, as in “weigh in the balance”, or “judge”.
Reading the Psalms, I get the feeling that it's placed there for emphasis. “Ponder what was just said. Think about it. Consider. Measure this against what you know.”
You ever read something, then put it down and be unable to remember even a little bit of it? That's OK with a magazine article, or the TV guide or something, but too often we do that with our Bible readings. It's kind of like yard-mowing. With our riding mower, you have to engage the blade, or you're just going for a ride. The grass-cutting power is available, the time is being spent, the potential for accomplishment is there, but nothing comes of it. Just letting our eyes pass over the Scripture without being involved with it is just as much a waste of time and energy. Actually, it's more of a waste, because it gives the Devil an opportunity to steal the Word away before it can take root.
“So what can I do about it?” Well, I'm glad you asked, since God gives us what we need to know.
... his delight is in the LORD's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalms 1:2-3 HCSB)
Meditate on the Word. Think about it, pick it up and look at it from all sides. Imagine how it could be put to use in your daily trials and joys. Remember how God has done great things . Get engaged with it, and you'll be doing “Selah”.
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable--if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise--dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8 HCSB)
The word up there in the title of this column, “Selah”, is found over 70 times in the Psalms and Habakkuk, usually with a footnote saying that it's suspected meaning is some sort of musical information, but nobody knows for sure. Me? I'm suspicious that something repeated so many times is not mere choral direction, and that God put it there on purpose.
Selah is from a Hebrew root word meaning “to suspend, weigh”, as in “weigh in the balance”, or “judge”.
Reading the Psalms, I get the feeling that it's placed there for emphasis. “Ponder what was just said. Think about it. Consider. Measure this against what you know.”
You ever read something, then put it down and be unable to remember even a little bit of it? That's OK with a magazine article, or the TV guide or something, but too often we do that with our Bible readings. It's kind of like yard-mowing. With our riding mower, you have to engage the blade, or you're just going for a ride. The grass-cutting power is available, the time is being spent, the potential for accomplishment is there, but nothing comes of it. Just letting our eyes pass over the Scripture without being involved with it is just as much a waste of time and energy. Actually, it's more of a waste, because it gives the Devil an opportunity to steal the Word away before it can take root.
“So what can I do about it?” Well, I'm glad you asked, since God gives us what we need to know.
... his delight is in the LORD's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. (Psalms 1:2-3 HCSB)
Meditate on the Word. Think about it, pick it up and look at it from all sides. Imagine how it could be put to use in your daily trials and joys. Remember how God has done great things . Get engaged with it, and you'll be doing “Selah”.
Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable--if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise--dwell on these things. (Philippians 4:8 HCSB)
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
What are you good for? When George Washington Carver asked that question of the lowly peanut, he discovered anywhere from 100 to 300 uses. They ranged from food products (peanut butter, candy bars, cooking oil, instant coffee, sausage, meat substitute) to stock feed, from dyes and paints to medicines, wood filler to paper to laundry soap. They are used as an ingredient in dynamite and nitroglycerine. They can be made into gasoline and diesel fuel (and would probably smell better in use than either of those). When Carver was born in Missouri sometime in 1864, the peanut had been known and used for hundreds of years, but it took a man of faith to see beyond its snack value and uncover its potential.
Jesus was always discovering potential where others only saw problems. Zaccheus, the woman at the well, Mary Magdelene, Lazarus, Matthew were all damaged people. The religious authorities of His day were stuck in the mindset of condemnation. Their focus was on the cause and criticism of the problem, not its redemption, but the Jesus who saw the spiritual significance of the mustard seed also sees the spiritual significance of each of His children.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10
What are you good for? When the Master Craftsman asks that of you, what will He discover, someone who is hiding their talent in a napkin or someone who is investing that talent as if everything depended on it? None of us want to be on the wrong end of that conversation, but it remains for us to do something about it. Discover the value of the Gifts of God in your life. Put them into practice and unlock the “peanut potential” that lies in His provision and revelation.
Jesus was always discovering potential where others only saw problems. Zaccheus, the woman at the well, Mary Magdelene, Lazarus, Matthew were all damaged people. The religious authorities of His day were stuck in the mindset of condemnation. Their focus was on the cause and criticism of the problem, not its redemption, but the Jesus who saw the spiritual significance of the mustard seed also sees the spiritual significance of each of His children.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10
What are you good for? When the Master Craftsman asks that of you, what will He discover, someone who is hiding their talent in a napkin or someone who is investing that talent as if everything depended on it? None of us want to be on the wrong end of that conversation, but it remains for us to do something about it. Discover the value of the Gifts of God in your life. Put them into practice and unlock the “peanut potential” that lies in His provision and revelation.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Which Side?
A teenager named Miguel was visiting the local jail with my father-in-law's jail ministry. He read a passage from the book of Jonah, then said to the prisoners, "This could be your fish. This time in jail could be the Lord reaching out to you to get you back on track, away from the destiny of your rebellion. Don't stay in the fish."
Which side of the fish are YOU on, in-side or out-side? Have your circumstances hemmed you in, so that you are drowning in a sea of despair? Cry out to the Lord, and let him put you back on His track for your life.
Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, 'I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and He answered me'...And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land."Jonah 2:1, 10
Which side of the fish are YOU on, in-side or out-side? Have your circumstances hemmed you in, so that you are drowning in a sea of despair? Cry out to the Lord, and let him put you back on His track for your life.
Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, saying, 'I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and He answered me'...And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land."Jonah 2:1, 10
Thursday, August 27, 2009
The Name
In the movie Toy Story, the hero (Woody) was depressed. He feared he was being replaced in the affections of his owner (Andy) by a newer, more exciting toy. He would look at the bottom of his shoe from time to time, where Andy had written his name. His world changed around him, he had trouble, disillusionment, discouragement, discontent.
He was lost, trapped in adventure with his nemesis, without hope of rescue, but the Name endured, written in permanent ink.
Sometimes, we’re kind of like Woody. We go along through life with scarcely a ripple of trouble, then suddenly everything falls apart, and disaster threatens to overwhelm us. “Where is the God who delivers? Why are the heavens silent? Doesn’t He care about the trouble I’m in?”
Maybe we can get some help from the Gospel of Mark:
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" Mar 4:37-40 ESV
When we give our lives to Christ, He writes His Name on our hearts. We may face trouble and discouragement, fear and doubt, but those temporary trials cannot erase the Name. Listen to the Savior: "Peace! Be still!" The Name, and all the promises of God that go with it, is still written, still vivid, still untarnished.
Woody’s attitude toward Andy wavered during the adventure, but only briefly. In the end, he remained faithful. Let’s learn from his fine example, and not be blown about by every wind and wave of discouragement that comes our way.
Psa 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
He was lost, trapped in adventure with his nemesis, without hope of rescue, but the Name endured, written in permanent ink.
Sometimes, we’re kind of like Woody. We go along through life with scarcely a ripple of trouble, then suddenly everything falls apart, and disaster threatens to overwhelm us. “Where is the God who delivers? Why are the heavens silent? Doesn’t He care about the trouble I’m in?”
Maybe we can get some help from the Gospel of Mark:
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?" Mar 4:37-40 ESV
When we give our lives to Christ, He writes His Name on our hearts. We may face trouble and discouragement, fear and doubt, but those temporary trials cannot erase the Name. Listen to the Savior: "Peace! Be still!" The Name, and all the promises of God that go with it, is still written, still vivid, still untarnished.
Woody’s attitude toward Andy wavered during the adventure, but only briefly. In the end, he remained faithful. Let’s learn from his fine example, and not be blown about by every wind and wave of discouragement that comes our way.
Psa 20:7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
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