Seeds For Thinking

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

Scripture: “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” (1 Corinthians 15:52, American King James Version)

The prophets spoke of a period which they called "the last days" (Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:1; in Hebrew, "the after days"), as the period in which the Messiah would live and reign. Peter wrote that the resurrection of Christ has brought the faithful
“to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith to salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1;4-5)
The Savior expressly said that it was not designed that anyone should know when future events would occur. Thus, prior to His ascension, in answer to an inquiry whether he then would restore the kingdom to Israel, he said Acts 1:7, "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power."
Still, question abounded then, as now, concerning the form, the body, that the dead shall have. Paul speaks not of the time of the coming of the last day, but of how it shall take place. He wrote to the Corinthians about the bodies of the living,
“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed” -A mystery, a secret, which could never have been discovered by reason, or the light of nature. And it shall happen “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.”
The Greek word used here for "moment" is ATOMOS. This passage is the only place in the Greek New Testament where this word is used. ATOMOS is the word from which is derived from our English word "atom." The Greeks believed that the atom was the smallest particle of matter that existed, therefore it could not be divided, cut, split, or reduced in any way. The translators have taken this to mean that our bodies shall be changed in "an atom of time," that is, in an instant of time so brief that you could not make it any quicker, or reduce the time in any measure.
To further illustrate the quickness of this transformation, Paul uses the expression, “In the twinkling of an eye.” So how fast is that? The eyes can wink, blink and twink, it is said. A wink is a controlled movement of the eye and so it's length of time is indeterminate, but the quickest wink lasts for a half second. A blink is a reflex action of the eye and lasts somewhere between 300 and 400 milliseconds. The twinkling of the eye is caused by an involuntary, very wide dilation in the eye, estimated by some number crunchers to be 1/6,000,000,000th of a second to make a person's eyeball twinkle: This expression means 'very fast' or 'instantaneously'.
Plainly and unquestionably it concerns our change, our transformation into the image of Christ. See 1 Cor. 15:35-50, which precedes the scripture passage. Our change from mortal to immortal, from corruptible to incorruptible is a promise of God that can no more fail or pass away than any other of God's promises. Jesus states the promise in John 3:16; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”
Since we are not given to know in advance the day or the hour, we should be ready at all times. Waiting to set our spiritual affairs in order just won’t work. It will be very difficult to make changes during that “twinkling of an eye!”

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Scripture: But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” (Matthew 28:5 -6, NKJV)

I have visited the tomb, but I did not see his body. Still, I believe that he is dead. I not only have the word of many people that it is true, but I have even seen pictures that confirm it. I have never heard anyone that doubted the fact as truth.
I have not been near the tomb of another man, yet is is reported that crowds of people come from all over to visit there also. Those who have been there say that the tomb is empty. I have no reason to believe that it is not so.
Lenin’s tomb in Red Square was closed the day that I was there. Anyway, I doubt that my group of people would have taken the time to wait out the long queue that forms whenever his embalmed body is on public display.
The very location of Christ’s tomb is in question; people visiting either popular site see nothing but an empty sepulcher. That is not surprising; the first visitors to His tomb found it to be empty, and they knew exactly where it was. They also found evidence that He had been entombed there. The linen cloths that had wrapped His body were lying there, empty.
The absence of a body was explained by an angel, a messenger of God. “He is not here, for He is risen, as He said.”
Did people form long lines and visit the tomb in reverence and awe? No, there was no need to do so. The tomb was empty. Scriptural accounts affirm that the real, living Jesus appeared to many witnesses.
Matthew 28:11-15 confirms that the officials knew without a doubt that the tomb was empty, and paid the soldiers well to lie about the resurrection. Every attempt was made to seal and secure the tomb, yet the armed guard was rewarded for dereliction of duty? I think not! They were rewarded as a cover up.
People still try to explain away the missing body, to cast doubt upon the truth of the resurrection. Many grab hold of every conspiracy theory that comes along like a starving man grasping a morsel of food. They look for descendants, they espouse the authenticity of relics in a never-ending quest to discredit the witnesses and those who recorded the Good News.
Saul, The Doubter became Paul, the Great Evangelist and Defender of Jesus as the Christ - for a reason. His beliefs are summed up in 1 Corinthians chapter 15; that Christ died for our sins, that He arose on the third day, according to the scriptural prophecies; He was seen by Peter (Cephas) and by five hundred witnesses at once, and by the apostles.
No, you will not find Jesus by looking in tombs, nor thousands of ossuary boxes.
He is not there, for He is risen!
April 8, 2007

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

Scripture: “Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.” Mt. 13:34, NIV

The Story of The Prodigal Rooster and the Good Samaritan
Once upon a time last week, a Farmer separated the hens in his flock of chickens from all the roosters but one, who, like King Solomon of old, had a harem of five lovely lady hens. This was done to fulfill the expectation that the hens would prove to be good and faithful servants.
Daily, the wife of the Good Farmer would go to the hen harem and examine the nests, proclaiming loudly, “Where’s the EGGS?” Seeing none, she protested to the Good Farmer, who said, “Be patient, allow more time. I will feed them and water them for a time, and if they do not produce, then we can talk about chicken and noodles.”
The Prodigal Rooster left his bretheran roosters and arose to a perch above the harem. While admiring the hens, he was let down through the ceiling. He was pounced upon and badly beaten up by the guardian of the harem, in which condition the Good Samaritan Farmer found him. The Good Farmer gave him food and drink, and placed him in an Inn Cage over night. The farmer patched the hole in the chicken wire ceiling, and moved the wounded rooster, whose name is Capo (because his feathers form a beautiful coat of many colors on his back) to another barn, where he spent two days eating and drinking.
Then, he disappeared! The Good Farmer did seek for him, but did not find. He asked the sheep, dog, and cat residents of the barn, but did not receive an answer. Capo was given up for lost.
Then, while keeping watch over the flocks by evening, Lo! What should appear but a rooster, his silvery cape shining in the light! Exclaimed the Good Farmer, “My rooster, which was dead, is now alive!” And he went and reported to the housewife, “Rejoice with me, the lost rooster is found!”
To which she replied, “Still no chicken and noodles?”

REFERENCES (required reading)
The Sheep & Goats: Mt. 25:31-36
King Solomon’s Wives: 1 Kings 11:1-3
Good, Faithful Servants: Mt. 25:21
The Barren Fig Tree: Luke13:6-9
The Prodigal Son: Luke 15:11-32
The Good Samaritan: Luke 10:30-37 The Coat of Many Colors: Genesis 37:3
Seek and Find: Luke 11:9
Shepherds: Luke 2:8,9
The Lost and Found: Luke 15:3-6; 8, 903

January 19, 2003

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Scripture: Mary said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” John 2:5, NKJV

When you insert your key into the ignition switch, twist it to the ‘start’ position, and nothing happens, you know you have a problem. Dead battery? Maybe, maybe not. I have experienced most of the possible options that automobiles can throw at a driver so I know that the battery is not always the guilty culprit.
The most tangible effect that period of total silence has on a person is a sinking feeling in the pit of the stomach, multiplied by the urgency of the situation. Let’s say, just for ‘Thinking,’ that this happens on a Sunday morning. The urgency felt by the Pastor, the choir director, or a teacher wouldn’t be quite the same as that felt by a member of the congregation, typically.
What to do, what to do? The way a person reacts to a problem tells a lot about their personality. Think about some possible scenarios.
Turning to my friendly dictionary, I read that a ‘problem’ is a question raised for inquiry, consideration, or solution.
If I said to myself, “Self, I wonder what I would do if the car wouldn’t start?” - that is an inquiry, but not very appropriate at this moment of silence. So let’s move on to consideration of solutions for this intricate unsettled question.
For some people, the situation could be a source of perplexity, distress or vexation. (Definition 2b.)
Bewildered at this violation of a long established and oft practiced routine, you turn the key again, and again, and ..... check the controls, shifter, and try again. Silence! (well, maybe some low-level mumbling.)
Now distress is raising its ugly head. (Refer back to level of urgency.) Does the mumbling get louder? Full bore vexation is an opening for pounding on things. Rant and rave! That’s one possible reaction, but it won’t get you to the church on time.
But then, maybe there is another way. A calmer way: Seek help.
Time permitting, a solution might be found by calling an auto service agency or by contacting a friend to try jumping the battery. Likely, they will try something to find the problem and say, “Turn the key now.” Do you quietly turn the key, or do you start screaming, “ I already did that, and it didn’t work!?”
I can picture the servants and the master of the feast at the wedding in Cana almost to that point of distress and vexation when the wine ran out at the feast.
Mary saw the problem, and turned it over to someone who could find a solution. No mumbling; no pounding on things.
We would do well to do as Mary advised, and as the servants did; “Whatever He tells you to do, do it.”
October 23, 2005

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

Scripture: Paul wrote, “for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesian 5:14,NIV

The sunlight streaming through the window was warming and soothing, belying the fact that it was a bone-chilling -4º on the other side of the window pane. The mid-winter day brought into play an interesting paradox. The source of that intense light and warmth was over 93 million miles away, yet closer to the earth than in the scorching days of mid-summer. So it is not the distance to the sun that matters in terms of heating the earth. Something else is at work here.
Scientists tell us it is the angle at which the sun’s rays strike the earth which determines the amount of heating taking place. During the chilly winter months, the angle of incidence produces less heating, the sun hanging low in the heavens even at noon. Well, this is only a half-truth; what is true for one hemisphere of our global home, is just the opposite at the other extreme. Winter in the northern climes is summer “down under.”
Further, the polar regions of the earth experience either a midnight sun, or days where the sun hangs low, hugging the horizon, bringing almost perpetual night.
Another aspect of sunlight that is the seeming delight of physicists concerns what is seen and what we do not see. We are familiar with the unique display of colors in a rainbow, ranging from the reds through the blues to violet. The heating effects come not from what we do see, the bright, almost blinding illumination we call sunlight, but that portion of the energy spectrum called the infra-red region. It is felt, not seen.
As I enjoyed the warmth of that mid-winter sun penetrating into my aging bones, I thought of the many parallels to the One who created the sun. There is so much more unseen, and so much more unknown about our relationship with God, that it boggles the mind to contemplate it.
There are times when we seem to be the most distant from God, when He appears invisible to us, that prove to provide the deep warmth that our soul requires. We crave illumination, we want blinding insights, but, just like sunlight, that may not be what we need at that moment.
I noted that if I moved only a few inches from the direct sunlight into the shadow, I felt chilled by the contrast, even though the actual room temperature was the same. The sun didn’t move - I did, and the contrast was most evident. If I want the warmth, I have to stay in the sun light. I think the same is true of Son-light.
We have to awake, place our soul in the proper relationship to Christ if we want those deep, warming, rays of Son-light to deliver us from the shadows and bone-chilling darkness of the Godless world.
January 23, 2005