Numbers 13:26-33 (KJV) 26 (King James Version) And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. 27 And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. 28 Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. 30 And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. 31 But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. 32 And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. 33 And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Let me attempt to define these two words. The word “visionary” means “characterized by vision or foresight”.
While the word “stationary” means “not moving or unchanging”.
I have heard the word “visionary” defined from a Christian perspective as “he who sees what can be done for God, and has a passion to do it.”
Now let me ask you……..are you a visionary or are you stationary ? Do we have an eye toward the future looking, searching for ways in which we can further, and better live for the Lord. Do we have a vision of lost souls in our community, and a passion to reach them ?
Or……are we willing to settle for status quo ? Just enough to get by, and nothing more ! Unwilling to change, unmoving and unyielding in our own lives and having no desire to see the work of God advance !
Continue reading “Resolution for 2007:Visionary or Stationary: by Mike Turner”
Category Insights on Scripture
Deep thoughts from the well spring of life
The Invasion of the Ants
Since the passage of the Arizona Immigration Bill debate has once again turned toward immigration reform. The last time this issue was front page news I wrote a blog article about it and I guess it is time to dust it off and bring it back to the front page. So my two cents worth on the Immigration reform debate.
A Parable of Uninvited Guests
Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! proverbs 6:6
One ant is fine,two ants are okay as well but when they show up by the thousands then well it is no longer fine. Ants have their purpose in life and I am sure that God has great plans for the tiny ant, but as for me and my house I prefer to live an ant free existence. I have nothing against these fine little black creatures crawling around the earth in large numbers burrowing into the ground heck, I even had an ant farm when I was a kid. I loved looking at the intricate underground pathways these critters would burrow into the sand but never did I contemplate for one minute allowing those critters out of that glass menagerie and into my room to build their home there. Outside is a great place for ants to play and roam around and furrow for food but my house is not an ant farm and these critters are not welcomed indoors.
That being said I need to recount a story of a friend of mine who had moved into a new apartment out in the country. Country living can be relaxing at times but it also brings with it new challenges and obstacles to overcome. On one particular occasion he recounted to me the story of finding ants running across his living room floor. He would try to kill one after the other but there would always be another one to kill later. If it were me I would have been crazy with the thought of these little beings running all over the place and crawling along my bed while I tried to sleep and doing God only knows what those things do when no one is looking. Anyway after a few days of this ant parade night after night he decided to introduce these ants to MR RAID. Mr Raid, as advertised, rooted out these pesky critters and littered the living room floor with not one, not two but several hundred perhaps even a thousand ant corpses lying there in the morning sun awaiting removal by Mr HOOVER. Those tiny terrorists were rooted out and destroyed and life returned to normal for my friend.
This silly little story points to a larger lesson one can learn if we take time to contemplate such things. Our society at large is made up of many people groups and cultures. Some make good neighbors while others, like the ants, can cause themselves to quickly become unwelcome. If we respect and honor our neighbors, and do not invade their homes uninvited then we can all pretty much live in peace, one with the other. It is at those times when we make ourselves an uninvited guest in someone else’s house that we risk a visit from the exterminator. We are then no longer a peaceful neighbor but a pesky intruder. We have gone where we are not welcomed.
Now in the defense of our little ant buddies they do not have the intellect to know that their place is outside and not inside but those of us of the human persuasion sure do know the limits of respectful behavior. If we choose to cross that line of respectful living then we deserve and should expect a not welcomed sign. Any society that permits being overrun by tiny terrors will end up being over run by a multitude of terrors. Their peaceful existence will end and be replaced by chaos. Just like those little ant terrorists invaded my friends happy home and made his living quarters far less inhabitable so does allowing terrorists to continue to work inside a country. Perhaps it is time to call for MR RAID and end the overrun of these tiny terrorists.
Being Salt and Light
In “The Cultural Acid Test for Pastors: Part One” Doug Giles exponds upon the churches need to get back to being Salt and Light in the world.
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16 ESV)
The Cold Within
Six humans trapped by happenstance,
In black and bitter cold.
Each one possessed a stick of wood,
Or so the story’s told.
Their dying fire in need of logs,
The first woman held hers back,
For on the faces around the fire,
She noticed one was black.
The next man looking ’cross the way
Saw one not of his church,
And couldn’t bring himself to give
The fire his stick of birch.The third one sat in tattered clothes;
He gave his coat a hitch.
Why should his log be put to use
To warm the idle rich?
The rich man just sat back and thought 
Of the wealth he had in store,
And how to keep what he had earned
From the lazy, shiftless poor.
The black man’s face bespoke revenge
As the fire passed from his sight,
For all he saw in his stick of wood
Was a chance to spite the white.
And the last man of this forlorn group.
Did naught, except for gain.
Giving only to those who gave,
Was how he played the game.
The logs held tight in death’s still hands
Was proof of human sin.
They didn’t die from the cold without.
They died from the cold within.
James Patrick Kinney
Foley’s Folly
It is interesting to see how the two parties differ in their approach of dealing with sex offenses. The Wall Street Journal recently ran a story concerning sexual misbehavior by six congressmen over the past three decades: three Democrats and three Republicans.
For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men, neither shall have mercy on their fatherless and widows: for every one is an hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth speaketh folly. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Isaiah 9:16 and 17 (KJV)
Let me see if I completely understand all this Foleygate stuff. He has admitted that he is a Roman Catholic, homosexual, “child predator”, who resigned in disgrace and we are bashing him why?
Because he is Roman Catholic? Well it is totally acceptable in our current political society to bash Catholics after all we darn near burned the POPE in effigy for reading history about old world Islam.
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