I Peter 1:3-9 Unpacked

Demetri Martin recently wrote a 224 palindrome poem--one which says the same things both ways you read it.  I think the guys kind of weird.  

On a totally unrelated note, here's I Peter 1:3-9 backwards:

 ³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

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The goal of our faith is our Salvation.  As a result of faith in our salvation--demonstrated through loving and believing in Him though we do not see him--we are given inexpressible and glorious joy; further, if we keep faith through trials we will be given honor, glory, and praise.  Our faith is worth far more than gold because it shields us from doubt and enables us to receive this Salvation, in which we have an eternal inheritance because of the resurrection of Christ, in whom we are enabled to place hope in because of the Lord's great mercy on us.

As I Thess 1:3 says:

...Your work is prompted by FAITH--witnessing about the God I've neither tangibly seen or heard but only know of through faith.

...labor is prompted by LOVE--Love the Lord first

...endurance is prompted by HOPE--Life is hard, but the inheritance given in our new life is worth these comparatively short trials.

John Newton on Acts 3:19-21

Alas! I knew not what I did,

But now my tears are vain;

Where shall my trembling soul be hid?

For I my Lord have slain.

A second look He gave, which said:

"I freely all forgive;

This blood is for thy ransom shed;

I die, that thou mayest live

Thus, while His death my sin displays

In all its blackest hue;

Such is the mystery of grace,

It seals my pardon too.

With pleasing grief and mourning joy

My spirit now is filled,

That I should such a life destroy,

Yet live through Him I killed.

snow

On good friday Mt. Lemmon was dumped on by a bunch of snow.

Snow in April... who would've thought...

two verses

have been on my mind lately:

"My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
jer 2:13

but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
jn 4:14

for never like the Well Illustration, it sure comes to mind a lot...

I jn 5:3

"Go make disciples of all Nations..."

"You will be my witnesses..."

"I give you this charge: preach the word..."

"You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant who I have chosen..."

and the kicker...

"This is love for God: to obey his commands..."

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I find witnessing terrifying.  And frankly, i simply don't want to do it.  I'm praying the Lord will change this.

Conflicting Interests

As I open my web browser (Google Chrome over Mozilla by a landslide.  And don't think I even considered opening Internet Explorer) and my homepage of Economist.com loaded I scanned, as usual, through the headlines.  

Heading in the same Direction: America wants Europe to offer more than words of support for the new battle against the Taliban

G-Force: The G20 outcome is better than nothing, but can the IMF save the world?

India's election: Congress's great dynastic hope:

Rahul Gandhi kicks off his campaign for India's general election

and finally...

Madonna and No Child: International adoptions are not always for the best

Ready? Pop quiz. Which headline looks out of place?

Second quesiton - Out of the 4 which one story do you think I actually read?  Sad, huh...  There is something greatly appealing about personal, individual stories that I don't think I realize.