Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness.”
1 Corinthians 3:19, NKJV

Happy New Year!
Am I rushing the season as I write this in early November? Not necessarily. Let’s take a slightly different look at determining the seasons, and, in so doing, think about customs that we have ‘etched in stone.’
First, bring to mind (or hand) a round object- a ball or globe - with a smooth, unmarked surface. Examine it carefully. At what point does it begin or end?
You could, in fact, pick a place on it, any place, and say, “Begin HERE.” If you draw a line around the circumference of the ball, you will come back to the point that you picked as a starting place -right?
Happy New Year!
As this terrestrial ball upon which we live circumnavigates the sun, we will eventually return to where we observe a complete circuit in our celestial journey, and begin a new year.
Think about this - We traditionally observe four points in that circuit as marking the beginning of winter, spring, summer, and autumn. Do they really? Seems to me that a different weather pattern has already arrived at 40º north latitude in early November. Feels like winter. Half way through this wintery-feeling season we finally get to call it as it is - winter - at the actual midpoint of the season.
That’s right! The midpoint, called the ‘solstice.’ Suppose, instead, that we started winter at a point, called the ‘quarter point, halfway between the autumn and winter solstice. That would place the beginning of winter in early November, close to Halloween. Mid December’s solstice would mark not the beginning, but the midpoint of winter. And the end of winter and start of spring-like weather? Near Ground Hog’s Day!
Catch a pattern here? It is not just by accident that some peoples have special observances on Halloween and Ground Hog’s Day. In fact, the ancient Celtic peoples observed the autumn-winter quarter point as their new year’s day - So, Happy New Year!
Think about it. The Romans - good ol’ Julius Caesar - shuffled the calendar around a lot. Some shuffling honored famous Romans (or their gods) and picked a point with no special celestial significance. Thanks, Julius.
The moral to this story? When the wind chill hits single digits, the snow is up to your boot tops, and daylight hours keep decreasing, some cheerful calendar watcher will remind you that winter doesn’t ‘officially’ start until late December. I’m going to be thinking that winter is half over at the solstice, thumbing through my seed catalogs and dreaming of spring as daylight hours begin to grow longer.
Think we could get the world to change to better align with the celestial truth?
Nah. Worldly wisdom seldom agrees with God’s wisdom.
November 5, 2006

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Jesus said, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.” John 24:44, NIV

Of all the words of tongue or pen,
the saddest are these -”It might have been.”

Perhaps the saddest of all events is the death of someone in their youth. Their life has not, and will never be, brought to fruition. One can not help but to speculate what additional years may have wrought. The promises of talents and skills, the contributions to society never realized.
Time may dim but never erase the memories, nor quell the occasional thoughts of “what might have been.” Such are thoughts of a brother who was lost to our family more than a half century ago at age thirteen.
Accidents, violence (including war,) and illness of various sorts take their toll. Grief is an expression of the loss that takes something from our very souls.
For those of us who are truly close to the Easter Passion, knowing the final outcome does not lessen the sadness we feel as we experience the reality of Christ’s arrest, trial, and crucifixion. We read in the Gospels once again of the disciples scattered, the women keeping vigil near the cross, the mockery of the crowds around Golgotha.
How long had it been since Jesus rode into Jerusalem, to the cries of “Hosannah?” A week? Surely much longer. A ride, and a week, that would see prophecy fulfilled. Yet the people swirling around that city, the events of that week, scarcely gave the past much thought. They were caught up in the present, and the hopes for the future. Jesus was so young, so filled with promise. Many did desire, yes, hope that this was the ONE, the promised Messiah, the Deliverer of promise. Surely those who followed Him to Calvary felt their very souls tear on hearing the crowds revel in their mockery, “You saved others, now save yourself. Aren’t you the Christ?”
Incense and myrrh, spices and perfumes - gifts at his birth, the anointments of last rites. A sword indeed pierced His follower’s souls. (Luke 2:35)
Who cannot but sympathize with those two walking away from the sorrow of Jerusalem toward Emmaus, their faces downcast. On “Good Friday” we join them in sorrowing, “They crucified him.” Our hopes that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel, dashed, ‘What might have been,” in our thoughts.
Because we are EASTER PEOPLE, we know the outcome. We rejoice with those who exclaim, “Were not our hearts burning within us . . .?” We rejoice at what is NOT there . . . the tomb is empty!
The saddest words have become these, of John 24:11: “They did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”
So many lost in the sadness of unbelief.
April 20, 2003

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26, NIV

Quickly, now! Express the concept of the word “impossible” in a proverbial saying. Here is my offering: “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.” Granted, most thoughts don’t tend toward the topics of either silk purses or sow’s ears these days, but it is a good old saying that expresses the idea that something is - well - not possible!
Many years ago a meat packing company took great pride in boasting of the total utilization of one of their products, to the extent that they “used everything but the squeal.” I’m not sure what else they could do with pig’s ears besides make doggie snacks. I have not heard of a packing company selling silk purses. However, the idea proved to be just too tempting to another company, one that took challenges seriously. Somehow, they processed the cartilage in pig’s ears so that it became sort of like a plastic, the same type of substance that is spun into nylon, rayon, or - silk. And, you guessed it! They used their sow’s ear-become-threads to make a ‘silk purse.’ Just to show that it could be done, that it was indeed possible to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
Here are some exercises for the mathematically inclined among you. Consider that the word “impossible” contains ten (10) letters. That means that two letters - ‘im’ - totally controls the other eight letters. That’s right, two out of ten. One-fifth, or twenty percent. So much for the the maxim that the majority prevails! Follow me? Take the majority letters “possible” and add just two more. That is all that is required to stop something dead in its tracks. Impossible, you say? IMPOSSIBLE!
Consider , also, another way to stop things dead in their tracks with those same two letters, and the addition of one small symbol that is not even a letter. It is called an apostrophe. Just a dot that got squished, like this - ‘ makes im into I’m, a phrase with lots of potential. Potential = possibility. Still with me? OK, I’m going to explain what I mean. And, no, I’m NOT going to repeat it.
Ahah!! Did you see that? The addition of that itsy bitsy apostrophe made two words, totaling three letters, into one word with power. I am becomes “I’m.” Consider how often those three letter, either in their original form or the contraction, are mated with three more letters which really puts the brakes on things getting done. I’m NOT! I am NOT!
I’m playing letter games. Yes, I am. But many people are quite serious about making I’m NOT = impossible. Think about it. Consider how often you hear (or use) I’m NOT! Quite often, I’m sure.
Impossible? When I’m trying to make it on my own, yes. Let me give you three more letters that make all things possible.
GOD!
April 13, 2003

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Gamaliel said, “If their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God. Acts 5:38b-39, NIV.

If you have been involved with a male child within the past several years, you have possibly come into contact with a rather ingenious toy that means “change” with a capital “T” - “Transformer®”. And change it does! What looks to be one object becomes quite different in appearance and function in the hands of the one who “transforms’ it.
Now that I have established “transformer” as my operative word for the day, let’s proceed to the main topic, the Sanhedrin. It was the highest Jewish tribunal during the Greek and Roman periods in Israel/Palestine, rather like our supreme court. Many versions of the Bible do not use the actual name Sanhedrin but follow the form of Matthew 16:21, which mentions the “elders, chief priests and teachers of the law.” This body, composed of seventy members drawn from the leaders mentioned above, plus the high priest, who was president of the Sanhedrin, was the final court of appeal for all questions connected with Mosaic law, including blasphemy.
The Sanhedrin quite naturally has a negative connotation for most Christians, for it was this body that convicted Jesus of blasphemy, and condemned Him to death. Convened by the High Priest Caiaphas, the night-time session of the Sanhedrin did not follow established protocol (See Mt. 26:57-66.)
However, it was this group of Jewish elders, chief priests and teachers of the law who in actuality, brought God’s work to completion! No, I am not suggesting that you come to revere these men, but to so transform your thinking that you appreciate how God can “transform” the actions of men to accomplish His purposes. (See Mt. 26:56)
First of all, consider that God sent Jesus to reconcile all His people to Himself. Under Mosaic law, reconciliation required sacrifice, a blood sacrifice. As Hebrews 10:1-18 explains, Jesus became that once-for-all-time sacrifice, the propitiation for our sins. Tell me, how would YOU have made this happen? If it were not for the crucifixion, we might still be under the Old Testament sacrificial system. Something to indeed think about.
Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin (John 3:1) was the one to whom Jesus spoke the words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world . . .”, the same Nicodemus who helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus (John 19:39)
A man named Gamaliel, a Rabbi honored by all the people, counciled the other members of the Sanhedrin to let the Apostles go. (Acts 5:38) One of Gamaliel’s students just happens to have authored more books of the New Testament than any other person, one Saul of Tarsus, a.k.a. Paul, the Pharisee God transformed to become the missionary to the Gentiles.
Let the Greatest TRANSFORMER of all go to work on your life. You will be amazed at what He can do!
April 6, 2003

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: Jesus said, “For such a reply, you may go; the demon has left your daughter.” Mark 7:29, NIV
He said, “Will you give me a drink?”
She said, “How can you ask me for a drink?” And Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:7b-10 excerpted)
Jesus’ discussion with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s Well in Sychar is unique in several regards. First, Jews and Samaritans did not associate with each other. Jews would not even travel through Samaria, if they could avoid it. Further, Jesus declared to her that He was the promised Messiah, a fact that many people wished to hear from him, but did not, or would not accept the evidence. (See John 7:25-52 )
The woman becomes an evangelist, telling the people in Sychar about Jesus. At their request, Jesus stayed with them two days. And because of His words, they profess, “Now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the savior of the world.” (John 4:42b)
Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ is often noted in sermon and lesson, (Mark 8:27-30) but consider the testimony of Martha, sister of Lazarus, who tells Jesus that she believes that he is the Christ, “The Son of God who was to come into the world.” (John 11:27)
Women were treated with compasion by Jesus, without regard to their nationality or social status. A non-Jewish woman, a Greek born in Syrian Phoenicia, phrases her request for healing for her daughter such that Jesus does not withhold His healing power. (Mark 7:24-30.)
Jesus commends the widow’s offering in the temple. (Luke 21:1-4) and uses a persistent widow to illustrate the need to pray and not give up. (Luke 18:1-8.)
Jesus healed the crippled woman on the Sabbath (Luke 13:10-13) and a woman in a crowd (Luke 8:40-48.) He raised not only Lazarus for the grief-stricken Mary and Martha, but also the widow’s son at Nain (Luke 7:11-15.)
Jesus forgave the sins of the woman taken in adultry John 8:1-11, and the woman who annointed him (Luke 7:36-50.)
Even in the final moments of His life, Jesus showed concern for the women standing near the cross. He made provision for the future care of his mother, Mary. (John 19:25-27.)
All four gospels record that it was the women who first discover the empty tomb, The Resurrection, that first Easter Morning.
Yes, I am planting seeds which I hope will grow into greater knowledge of the role of women in the Bible. All you have to do is dig a little more into the scriptures. This is just a ‘starter’ collection, taken from the New Testament. Don’t neglect the many references in the Old Testament as well.
March 30, 2003

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: O LORD, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth, who have set Your glory above the heavens. Psalm 8:1, NKJV)

One of the more spectacular heavenly displays is not seen very often in the Middle Eastern lands, if at all. I know of no reference to the northern lights, or aurora borealis, in the Bible. Likewise, the aurora australis, or the corresponding display in the south polar region, is typically not visible very far north of the south pole.
I have been fortunate to see auroras in central Ohio a few times. I recall standing outside with my parents as a youth, looking at a vivid display on an autumn night. The aurora borealis most often occurs near the equinoxes; from September to October and from March to April.
Typically the aurora appears either as a diffuse glow or as "curtains" that at times form "quiet arcs"; at other times, they evolve and change constantly. Each curtain consists of many parallel rays. The similarity to curtains is often enhanced by folds called "striations". Colors may range from green to blue to brownish-red.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)
There are many legends that try to explain the aurora. A story from Scotland, tells of battles in the sky with showers of red blood. Norse mythology makes frequent reference to the bridge Bifrost, a burning, trembling arch across the sky, over which the gods could travel from Heaven to Earth. In some traditions, auroral rays were perceived as lights carried by the Valkyries as they rode the sky.
Most Eskimo groups have a myth of the northern lights as the spirits of the dead playing ball with a walrus head or skull. The Eskimos of Nunivak Island had the opposite idea, of walrus spirits playing with a human skull.
http://www.ewebtribe.com/NACulture/articles/aurora.html
Creator Reminder
An Algonquin myth tells of when Nanahbozho, creator of the Earth, had finished his task of the creation, he traveled to the north, where he remained. He built large fires, of which the northern lights are the reflections, to remind his people that he still thinks of them.
The twisting snake-like forms of active auroral bands were often portrayed by the ancient Chinese as celestial serpents, and may have given rise to dragon legends.
In Norwegian folklore, the aurora has been described as a harbinger of harsh weather: snow and wind are believed to follow bright displays. Another Norwegian folk-legend suggest that the aurora is a celestial dance by the souls of dead maidens.
Actually, the auroras are electrical in nature, the result of particles from the sun interacting with the earth’s magnetic field. Large magnetic storms, coronal mass ejections, are most common during the peak of the eleven-year sunspot cycle. This insight was made possible in the 19th century, not only due to scientific magnetometer measurements of the era but also as a result of a significant portion of the telegraph lines then in service being significantly disrupted for many hours throughout the storm.
Large coronal mass ejections can damage electrical systems, destroy satellite electronics, and impact radio communications. I have used the “northern lights” for communication by bouncing amateur radio signals off of the auroral curtain. The signals are very raspy sounding and wispy, rapidly fading in and out, but it works!
For me, knowing the mechanism that powers the aurora, and learning more about the universe, only increases the awe for the Creator of it all.
Yes, LORD, you have set your glory above the heavens, and your excellence is seen in all things. Praise be to Your Name!

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

Scripture: John the Baptiser said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John 1:29, NIV

I have a word for you to think about - Juxtaposition - the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side. I see nothing in the definition that compels me to so place similar ideas, and I think extreme contrasts can often illustrate a concept that is otherwise difficult to comprehend.
I have my Bible open on the desk beside me as I write, and a television playing in the background. I read from Daniel, 11:40; “At the time of the end the king of the South will engage him in battle, and the king of the North will storm out against him with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships.”
You may presume correctly what is showing on the television.
No, this current conflict is not what Daniel was prophesying about. Nor am I implying in any way that we are seeing a fulfillment of scripture through the war in Iraq. Rather, this is just a juxtaposition of two things. There is a relationship, however, that I find to be most interesting.
Daniel was a captive of Nebuchadnezzer, king of Babylon, the famous city noted for the hanging gardens. The city various prophets described as arrogant, oppressive, cruel and destructive. The city on the Euphrates River! Yes, 2,500 years ago, Babylon; today, Iraq.
Ironic, perhaps, that human nature doesn’t change much. Daniel spoke about a time when the king saw the handwriting on the wall, and his kingdom fell - to Persia; to what is modern day Iran. Later, Alexander and the Macedonians (Greeks) conquered the entire region, from India in the east to Egypt and Ethiopia in Africa. Alexander died at the age of thirty-three, and four of his generals fought over the territory. The Southern kingdom, Including Egypt, fought the Northern kingdom, based in Syria, among other battles. And guess what country was caught in the middle - even after the Romans took on them all? Palestine. Israel. So what has changed?
Ideas placed side by side, to be sure. But here is the greatest juxtaposition of all: Before I sat down to write this article, I assisted in the birth of a lamb in our barn. The first lamb of the season, on the second day of spring. Life anew!
I brought in two more hen’s eggs which will be placed in an incubator. When we collect enough, we will turn it on. In twenty-one days, there should be new life there, God willing!
All too often, man destroys. And God creates.
God gave His Son, called the “Lamb of God” that we might have life anew. It was in the taking of life that we gained eternal life.
Juxtapositions!
March 23, 2003