Beautiful painting and touching testimony by Ruth Councell

Ruth Councell: "My father and I always had a strong and loving relationship. But when I was in my late twenties, my mother died and my father remarried. Our life changed dramatically. His new wife put up barriers between my father and his grown children, and we became estranged from our father. I felt devastated, abandoned, and betrayed.
During that dark time, I had occasion to visit the National Cathedral. In the Bishop's Garden there is a sculpture by Heinz Warnecke of the prodigal son being embraced by his father. Though the circumstances in our two stories were different, the essential element was the same: a painful separation between father and child. The image of a grown child in his father's embrace moved me to tears. How I longed for that embrace!
Eighteen years after his remarriage, my father died. I know that my father's heart was broken, too, by our separation. And so it must be with God. When we are separated from Him for any reason, He yearns to embrace us, just as much as we long to be held. He even runs out to meet us when we are still far off." (Luke 15:20)

Each time I paint this subject, I feel embraced once again. And I am strengthened in the knowledge that, ultimately, nothing can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8:38-39)

(c) Ruth Councell In the Father’s Embrace - Oil on Canvas - 36" x 24"
(image used with kind permission from the artist - read my personal thoughts about the Father's embrace here)

Enough light for those who want to believe

In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't. Blaise Pascal

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning. C. S. Lewis

If the purpose of this life is to allow us to freely make choices that will prepare us for eternity, then God will give us convincing evidence but not compelling evidence of his existence and purposes. Therefore, those who want to follow God can do so with confidence, and those who do not can suppress or ignore the evidence and live as if he didn't exist.
Norman L Geisler & Frank Turek
(p. 322, I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist)

A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, 'darkness' on the walls of his cell. C.S. Lewis

From a Q&A session with Dr William Lane Craig (after a debate with Dr. Edwin Curley):

Question: Dr. Craig, you answered Dr. Curley's argument about an all–loving God letting people go to Hell by saying that God's will, as you described from the scripture, is that he wants to save all people. Then you answered Dr. Curley's argument about predetermination by saying that God's will is to let people have the freedom of choice. However, I ask how can these two wills not contradict, when one is saying that he wills all to be saved and another is saying that he wills all to have the choice, when having the choice always leads to at least some people not choosing God and, therefore, being damned?

Answer Dr. Craig: Well, it means that one of His desires is frustrated. I mean, with my children, it's my will and desire that my children should always obey me. But I also want them to have free will and so, unfortunately, by giving them or letting them have free will, I run the risk of them disobeying me. And I think that, well, God doesn't delight in the loss of any person; His desire is that all should be saved. But some people freely reject God and are lost. I had planned to read a passage of Scripture if I had time tonight. Let me just read this to you from Ezekiel. Listen to what God says about the lost. He says, in Ezekiel chapter 18:

Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live? . . . As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die? (Ez. 18.23; 33.11)

Read more about this Craig-Curley debate and the following Q & A period here.

Third chapter, sixteenth verse...

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 1 John 3:16

I read that a computer scientist (Donald Knuth, see note below) wrote an etire book about all third chapters, sixteenth verses in the Bible! I don't know whether that approach really makes a lot of sense (haven't read this book yet, but is sure sounds fascinating...).
It is just great to see how these particular two verses from the same author -John the Evangelist- are complementing each other. I guess that they are both 3:16 is just a coincidence and of course you need to read all verses within the context of God's Word!

Last Sunday a preacher in our church quoted both texts from John. This is what I think about this... If we believe in John 3:16, we should live according to 1 John 3:16. If necessary we must be willing to pay the ultimate price by giving up our lives for the sake of the Gospel - just like Jesus and many followers throughout the ages. But following Jesus is not 'just' about being willing to die for the Gospel, it is all about being willing to live according to the Gospel. Maybe that's even harder...

Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. Rom. 6:8

This means that we don't have to die anymore, but can live for ever because of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. He died, so that we might live. I know, it is very hard to understand - that's the problem with love & grace. But just think about it!

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18

Please read more here, if you are seriously looking for some answers!a
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NOTE: Donald E. Knuth, Professor Emeritus of The Art of Computer Programming at Stanford University. This is his home page ,where you can also read more about the 3:16 book on this page. Also check out this PDF with a calligraphic rendition of John 3:16 in a new translation that looks like this:

THE 2 MINUTE BIBLE by Rob Lacey (1962-2006)

1st off,
nothing... but God
2nd off,
God
starts it all up and
WHAP!
Stuff everywhere.
The snake does some word twisting
Adam and eve fall for it
God
kicks them out of heaven on earth
death strolls in
They make babies
But the evil/good ratio goes through the roof
God
turns the flood taps on
"waterworld!"
Only noah's family and the animals survive
to see the rainbow
"Never again" quote God
More babies
Then Abraham -
The 1st jew
And his boys
Isaac, Jacob and Joseph
400 years on
the Jews are a nation
but just slave labour for Pharoah
Then God waves them out of Egypt through the red sea into the desert via 10 plagues
Moses downloads the contract -
the big ten rules
The Jews break them all
Grumbling round the desert
for 40 years
once Joshua gets them into a land with milk and honey on draught
king David sorts out the giant goliath between recording his greatest hits compilation
Solomon comes out with some wise one-liners
Then naff king after naff king
Messing up the people
Elijah and the other couriers can't stop the rot
So God lets the Babylon army
Trash Jerusalem
And the Jews are carted off
As slave labour
Again
Daniel gets to sleep
with the lions
Isaiah predicts a liberator
Esther stops a holocause attempt
and, 70 years on,
the jews trek back to do construction work in Jerusalem
But no shift in attitude:
More idol promises
wind God up.
So he stops
talking to them for 400 years.
Dot
Dot
Dot
Enter Jesus the Liberator
- good with hammers and nails
but he takes a career change at 30
and kicks off a 3 year
"heaven on earth" tour
with his mobile miracle clinic
and loads of stories
and questions
His team 12 love it
The public love it
The religious suits don't!
Dodgy trial
Punishment beatings
Public execution
-more hammers and nails
2 days later he's back
having sorted out death
He's launching the
Jesus Liberation movement
Via Paul Benson
His foreign rep.
Who's sending out loads of emails
Updating people on what it means that
Jesus came back to do
The sequel:
'With God in us
We can bring heaven on earth
Bit By Bit'
All ending up with Jonno's general memo
On how things are going to get
Wrapped up:
The snake gets bbQd
The Jesus liberation movement get limitless life
Heaven on earth
Absolutely!

Written by Roby Lacey 1962–2006
Rob Lacey, 43, father, actor and award-winning author, lost his courageous battle with cancer this week on Monday 1st May. Lacey is best known for the word on the street (originally published as the street bible), a vivid retelling of the entire Bible in modern British street English which was honored with the Book of the Year award in 2004 by the Christian Booksellers Convention in the U.K.

Read more about Rob Lacey on this site and visit his own site from Zondervan here.

FOR THOSE WHO'VE NEVER READ THE BIBLE
AND FOR THOSE WHO'VE READ IT TOO MUCH

Rob Lacey's "dangerously real" retelling of Scripture vividly demonstrates that the Bible is packed full of stories/poems/images that resonate with the big issues of today. This fresh paraphrase-come-running-commentary brings the text alive: Bible stories are retold as mini blockbusters; psalms as song lyrics; epistles as emails; Revelation as seen through a virtual reality headset.

John 14

1 - 4
‘Don’t look so stressed! You rely on God. So rely on me! Dad’s place has thousands of vacancies. I’m going ahead to get your apartment suites ready, to book you in. Would I lie to you? No, you know it. When it’s all sorted I’ll come and pick you up. I’ll be desperate for you to be with me. You know the route.’
5 - 6
Tom says, ‘Boss, if we knew where you’re going, we might be able to work out the route, but we don’t!’
Jesus comes back with, ‘I’m the route, the true route. And I’m the energy to propel you along the right route. I’m the only way you get to meet my Dad.’

Purist alert: This is not THE Bible (capital B)…
but it might just get you reaching for one.

Here you can read some more extracts.

Lay it Down

I’ve been looking ‘til my eyes are tired of looking
Listening ‘til my ears are numb from listening
Praying ‘til my knees are sore from kneeling
On the bedroom floor

I know that You know that my heart is aching
I’m running out of tears and my will is breaking
I don’t think that I can carry
The burden of it anymore

All of my hopes and my dreams and my best laid plans
Are slowly slipping through my folded hands

Chorus
So I’m gonna lay it down
I’m gonna learn to trust You now
What else can I do
Everything I am depends on You
And if the sun don’t come back up
I know Your love will be enough
I’m gonna let it be, I’m gonna let it go
I’m gonna lay it down

I’ve been walking through this world like I’m barely living
Buried in the doubt of this hole I’ve been digging
But You’re pulling me out and I’m finally breathing
In the open air

This room may be dark but I’m finally seeing
There’s a new ray of hope and now I’m believing
That the past is the past and the future’s beginning to look brighter now

‘Cause all of my hopes and my dreams and my best laid plans
Are safe and secure when I place them in Your hands

[Jaci Velasquez - Beauty has Grace]

I just think this is a great song about prayer / trusting God no matter what...