Scrolling Online

Israeli scientists have unveiled a program to put thousands of fragile fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls online using infrared imaging to reveal previously illegible portions of the biblical documents. In order to protect the millennia-old documents, only a few of the parchment fragments which contain the oldest Hebrew record of the Old Testament have ever been put on public display.

By using infrared and colour imaging, scientists believe "scores of scroll fragments that were blackened or erased over the years and which were not visible to the naked eye until now" will be able to be read.

The scrolls, some of which are as old as the third century BC, have shed light on the earliest origins of Judaism and Christianity, and are considered to be one of the greatest archaeological finds of all time.

(AFP News)

Rock Solid

What is your faith like today? Is it Rock Solid? Is it a Big Boulder of Belief? Or is it a puny little pebble.

When it seems like we're stuck between a rock and a hard place, it's encouraging to know that we have a Solid Rock to lean on - the Rock of our Salvation, Jesus Christ.

There's not much solid ground in this world we live in. Sometimes things seem so unstable and unsure. Things are changing around us at an ever increasing pace. Sin is no longer sin. Right is considered wrong and wrong is considered right. Where is our foundation? Where is the the solid rock on which to build our lives?

The Prophet Isaiah writes, "Look to the Rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug."

So we look to Jesus, the Chief Cornerstone, the Rock of our Salvation. With Peter (the Rock), we confess that Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And with the hymnwriter we sing "On Christ the Solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand."

"Purpose Driven"

This picture found on the Blogosphere is a nice twist on the Rick Warren "Purpose Driven Life" book.

Here are some quotes from the Catechism that go along with it.

God gives us His good gifts "all...out of pure, fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me."

"For all this it is my duty to thank, praise, serve, and obey Him."

Christ lived and died "in order that I may be His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness."

And because of what Christ did . . .
"He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers." This is most certainly true.

Winner And Still Champion ....

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:57)

A young boy's grade-school basketball team captured a first-place trophy at a local tournament with his proud father looking on. That night, as his dad rubbed his son's sore back, the boy asked with a fair amount of pride, "Dad, is this the first time you ever rubbed the back of a champion?"

Every day we run into people who have been beaten down by life. Somehow, someway, something has managed to sap the energy, vigor, and joy from them.What a wonderful thing it would be if we could make them all feel like winners. In truth, Jesus has made all of His people into champions.For He was the One who fought against sin, death, and the devil. He is the one who has achieved the victory for us over our enemies. And, having won, He has now invited us onto the victor's stand with Him.

Because of what our Champion has done for us, we are winners too. And because of that, we have the opportunity to give everyone we meet a bit more honor and respect than we think they deserve.We have the chance to invite them onto God's team where Jesus makes sinners into saints, losers into winners, chumps into champs.

"Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"

8-8-08

Today is August 8th, 2008, 8-8-08. Its a day the world has been waiting for, as it marks the opening day of the Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

As the numbers 8-8-08 have appeared over and over again on my TV screen over the last few months advertising the coming Olympics, I have been reminded of another 8th Day that we seldom think about or talk about. That is, the 8th Day as the 1st Day of God's New Creation.

The early Christians celebrated Sunday as “the eighth day,”a new way of living and being in the wake of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They saw that God’s creative activity was continuing through Christ's redemptive and restorative work. On the first day of the week, God created the heavens and the earth. Centuries later, Jesus also rose from the dead on the first day of the week, which began a whole new creation for the church and for the world. One author has written that "the seven-day week could not hold the fullness of God’s creative time, and so the first day, embracing eternity as well as its own twenty-four hours, had to spill over. The first day, therefore, has become the eighth day.Through faith in Jesus Christ we are now living in the reality of things that were only hoped for in previous times. This gives us a whole new way of living. It’s this present reality in Christ that gives us a whole new beginning, a fresh start, a new lease on life. Its a new day, the 8th day.

The first day of God's new creation in Christ.

Gedaliah's Seal

A team of archaeologists in Israel has unearthed what's believed to be the royal seal of an Old Testament prince who is said to have tossed the prophet Jeremiah down a well.

Team leader Dr. Eilat Mazar of Jerusalem's Hebrew University says the imprint was found well-preserved in clay, bearing the name of Gedaliah, the son of Pashur.

Gedaliah is mentioned by name in Jeremiah 38 as he served Judah's King Zedekiah in the days before Jerusalem was conquered by Babylon's King Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C.

I guess the Old Testament's not a bunch of made up old stories after all!

The Feast

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"Come, everyone who thirsts,
and he who has no money, come and eat!
Listen to me and eat what is good,
and delight yourselves in the richest of food.
Come to Me that your soul shall live ... "
(Isaiah 55:1-5)


This is the Feast of Victory for our God -
Hallelujah!