No Ordinary Angel

That title raises the simple question:  Is there an “ordinary angel”?  Probably not.  But there are certainly extra-ordinary angels that the Bible mentions from time to time.  It is a little unusual that all the angels we know anything about are men.  The word “Angel” has various meanings: a messenger of God, a supernatural being (either good or bad), a guiding spirit, a person regarded as good, innocent, helpful and loving.  When the word is used for a person, especially females, it becomes “lovey-dovey” in nature.

In the past 75 years hundreds of popular movies and songs have been released that discuss angels.  Many lyrics examine heaven, death, and love.  It can be comforting to think that someone might be watching over and helping us make life-decisions—and intervening on our behalf when needed.  What do you think about guardian angels?      

All kinds of songs refer to angels.  The Bible Storyteller’s favorites, without giving away our ages, are:  “My Special Angel” by Bobby Helms (1957), “Pretty Little Angel Eyes” by Curtis Lee (1961), “Angel Baby” by Rosie & the Originals” (1960), “Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares (1962), “Teen Angel” by Mark Dinning (1959), and many others right up to today.  My top pick would be “Earth Angel” by The Penguins (1954).  This reminds me of an angel that actually visited earth.

Footholds

Ever been called “Top Dog”, “Big Cheese”, “The Boss”, “Main Man”?  How about “King of The Hill”? 

In the 1950’s and 1960’s kids used to play the outdoor game “King of The Hill” (also known as “King of The Mountain”, “King of The Castle”, or “King of The Dirt Pile”).  It’s a made-up children’s game, the object of which is to stay on top of the large pile of dirt (or any other designated area) for as long as you can stand as the “King of The Hill”. Other players attempt to knock the current king off the hill and take their place.  Hence you’re the new king.  Then, it starts all over again, where someone tries to dethrone the new king.  The way the “king” can be removed from the hill depends largely on the rules determined by the players before the game.  Ordinarily, pushing, shoving, kicking, screaming, dragging, is the preferred method in succeeding the king.  The game goes on until someone gets a bloody nose, a cut, and cries loud, or quits breathing, then, some large person called an adult comes running over yelling “Game Over, Game Over”.  Ah yes, those were the good ole’ days.  It really was fun until that happens.  And yes, you guessed it; this game is often banned from school playgrounds and parks.  Today one would have to have a reality TV show, signed legal disclosures, an advertising agency, a marketing budget, and movie star contestants just to play this simple game.  Everyone wants a ‘foothold’ in the game of life.

Gifted

The idea of the gift goes back centuries.  But gifts don’t mean the same thing today as they once did.  For one thing people have so much more to choose from than they used to, which makes getting a truly unique, thoughtful, meaningful, original gift less likely.  With so much available less thought is put into the equation of choice.  An innocent gift can send all kinds of messages—some you didn’t mean to send.

There are so many ways to give gifts; gift certificates, gift cards, gift baskets, the list is endless.  Then there’s re-gifting.  This animal takes on a whole new identity within itself.  Re-gifting sometimes causes economists, psychologists, and philosophers to scratch their confused heads—not to mention the goods carrier.  Next, enter the legalities of exchangeability of the gift which becomes technically an obstacle.  Hence, the very idea of the soul of the gift itself has been lost.  One feels like they need an attorney to

Just How Does That Work

Good old fashion table salt is a necessary ingredient for life. A chemist would call it, sodium chloride. Its chemical symbol is NaCl. Salt is an essential electrolyte used in every cell in the body. A shortage of salt can give the body cramps, cause dizziness, loss of conciseness, delusions and other complications including death. An excess of salt can cause edema, heart palpitations, seizures, and even death. A healthy body automatically takes care of the body’s sodium balance. Some people can use table salt and some cannot. Unless the body malfunctions and there is a problem with sodium balance we usually don't have to monitor our salt intake, but when diagnosed with high blood pressure or certain heart conditions, then we must begin to closely monitor our salt intake. It can be a matter of life and death. True? True.

We love our salt. We throw tons and tons of it on snow, icy roads and sidewalks. Doctors recommend gargling with salt water for sore throats. It is used for killing poison ivy, ants, repelling deer, removing numerous stains like wine, blood and grease. It exfoliates the skin. Cattle love a good block of salt and superstitious people throw a handful over their shoulders for good luck. There must be hundreds, maybe thousands, of other uses for salt. True? True.

The Bible has a something to say about salt. Jesus uses salt to illustrate three qualities that should be found in his people:

(1.) We should remember God’s faithfulness, just as salt when used with a sacrifice recalled God’s covenant with his people. (Leviticus 2:13)

(2.) We should make a difference in the “flavor” of the world we live in, just as salt changes’ meat and food flavor. (Matthew 5:13)

(3.) We should counteract the moral decay in society, just as salt preserves food from decay. When we lose this desire to “salt” the earth with the love and message of God, we become useless to him. True? True.

Desmodus Rotundus & Echolocation

 

Attention all pet lovers: no Microchiroptera were harmed in the writing of this article!  Furthermore, no human blood was extracted from any person during the night or daytime.   Desmodus rotundus is a winged mammal.  It is a species of bat, microchiroptera (a micro bat): a vampire bat to be exact! 

Contrary to public opinion, bats are not blind, their eyes and sense of smell are well developed.  They use Echolocation (sound waves or built-in radar) to find food and orient themselves.  In pitch blackness they can find their way home safely (even being 50+ miles away).  How do you find your way home?  Memory?  OnStar?  GPS?  TomTom?  Smoke signals? Rand McNalley? Bread crumbs!  How do we get home?  And if you get home, will you be locked out? It’s an honest question.  We all get lost.  Men are a little more reluctant to ask for help or directions when lost, but, he cannot help it—he’s lost!

"To"

Ever ask yourself, or been asked, why studying the Bible is Important?  Many will say: “Well it’s to…” and others will say “Well it’s to…”  Others will say “To…”  What say you?  The Bible Storyteller will answer a few top ten “To” reasons to study your Bible. 

To settle the issue of our own salvation:  “…and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”.  2 Timothy 3:15

Remember, Paul says keep enduring as I have, keep reading, preach the Word (in and out of season), pour your heart and soul , out in faith—live your faith.  At all times be faithful!

Up to Jerusalem

If you lived in Kentucky and decided to take a trip to the ‘Big Apple’, you might tell your friends that you’re going “up” to New York.  If you were from Maine and decided to take a trip to sunny Boca Raton, you might say you’re going “down” to Florida.  Each example is correct if you were describing the direction you were traveling.  North being “up” and South being “down”.  Which direction are you going?  “Up” or “Down”?  Does ‘up’ and ‘down’ have different connotations to different people?    

Walls

Feel like things are closing in on you?  Being boxed-in?  Walled-off?  Walls serve a lot of purposes; to enclose, turn back, sometimes protect, divide, occasionally they hold up buildings.  Wal-Mart allows us to spend and save money while Wall Street allows us to spend and lose money.  You can drive someone up-a-wall, or, tell them they’re off-the-wall, either way, it’s not a pretty picture.  People like to say “If only these walls could talk”.  If, that happens you’ll find yourself in a wall-to-wall padded cell. 

Wait, What?!  People have found some strange ‘stuff’ behind walls.  Like what?  In 1850 a mummified baby tumbled out of a wall during a renovation project in a Persian apartment.  Millions of bees, spiders, snakes, skeletons, weapons and monies have been found behind walls.  Three-hundred pairs of shoes were found hidden behind a wall in Korschenbroich, Germany.  This was done to rid families of misfortune.  In Ohio Bob Kitts found $182,000 in Depression-era money hidden inside walls he was renovating.  He contacted the previous

Ark Bark

What in the world are we talking about?  We are talking real Ark Bark here.  Ark Bark is real wood.  Cypress wood to be exact.  Wood Noah used to build God’s ark.  For you woodcarving and wood-working specialists this is what is called a “major build”.  When God told Noah to build an ark can’t you picture him thinking let’s “Go-for-it”, right here in the middle of dry land.   It seemed out of place.  All kidding aside, this was serious business.  The story of Noah’s life involves not one, but two great and tragic floods.  The world in Noah’s day was flooded

Enough!

Everything has its limit. An airplane, a boat or a car can only be pushed to its limit, no further. Things mechanical have a maximum operating capacity. At the point of maximum performance, they run at top speed until they run out of fuel or malfunction. Some things are pushed beyond their normal operating limit, and often with disastrous results. As you can see with the balloon, one fraction too much compressed gas and the operational functionality becomes incapacitated or useless or dangerous.

 
Can people be over-used and over-inflated and over-tested? As a matter of fact, yes, and we have one example in the Bible of that happening. And would you believe that it was Jesus, the most patient man who ever lived, that was pushed to the breaking point? You may remember the moment when Jesus was pressed to the outer limits and a tiny fraction more!

Caution – Radioactive Personalities Ahead

Isn’t it wonderful having a whole world full of people that get along so well?

Some people recognize sarcasm and irony at first sight; are you one of em’? Radioactive personalities are under every rock, in every church, at every grocery, holding every public office and living closer to you than you want. From their toxic demeanor to their aggressive posture, they really know how to charm and make friends with every first impression. How many types are there? More than you can count, that’s for sure. And they’re increasing.

There are difficult people at work, home and play, and everywhere in-between. From the hostile to the neurotic to the egoist to the barbarian, to those yet unclassified; you’re bound to encounter a few along life’s highway. Don’t remember seeing these types of personalities recently? Have you watched any television in the past fifty years, seen any movies in the past fifty years, witnessed any politicians in the past fifty centuries!

Cloudy Today with a Twenty Percent Chance of Thinking

You’re sitting in comfortable chair thinking. Is that such a bad thing?

Most people have abandoned the arduous task of exercising the grey matter between their ears. The current contagion is to put the brain in neutral and relax and be entertained by one of a hundred electronic gadgets that feed your every whim. Let’s face it, the actual mind-melding of the left and right brains have been placed on the endangered species list.  Even experts in neurology have questioned the validity of left vs. right brain hemispherisities. Honestly, when was the last time you turned everything electronic off and sat under a shade tree and put a few million of those neutrons sleeping in your cranium through some calisthenics? Too much trouble, you just want to be pandered to?

Sands of Time

Joseph in Egypt.  Moses in the desert.  Joshua in Arabia.  Jesus in the desert.  Every major figure in the Bible has been tested by the sands of time. When your time of testing comes, you too will be confronted by the sands of time

Joseph endured separation from his family, but left instructions for his bones to be carried into the Promised Land.   Moses lingered forty years wandering in the wilderness before finally seeing the Promised Land.   Joshua battled doubters and skeptics before taking possessions of the Promised Land.   Jesus was tempted by Satan for forty days in the wilderness before beginning his ministry—in the Promised Land.

Unearthly Things are Watching You

What unearthly things are watching you?  Naaah, we’re not talking about ghosts and monsters under your bed.  However, there are unusual creature-like things watching you; man-made drones the size of houseflies that record pictures and sounds are in the air.  That’s certainly scary and unearthly.  Do you want that in your house or car taking photographs and recording your private conversations?  Maybe you’d prefer space satellites recording personal information?  Are these  governmental and unconstitutional intrusions; absolutely.  What about things watching you when you’re at the beach swimming in the ocean (i.e. the Eunicid ocean worm in this picture), tropical jungles, desserts, mountainous areas; things you can’t see?  Things are out there.  What about

Next Generation Doctors?

Who’s not relieved to hear that voice say: “The doctor will see you now.” But wait a minute, what if the voice calling you is a computer, and the receptionist is a computer terminal, and the doctor is a computer hybrid?!

Welcome to the twenty-first century those of you who are still human.

Yep, there are computer doctors on the horizon. Actually, they are here doing work now supporting human

doctors, nurses, hospitals and healthcare facilities. It is information technology supported by venture capitalists, Silicon Valley, entrepreneurs, many physicians, medical sales personnel, pharmaceutical conglomerates, schools of medicine, and insurance companies are involved and on-board, saying it will eliminate physician mistakes and give a more accurate diagnosis. Legislative enactment and involvement probably isn’t far behind. One sign that medical care is in the midst of a transformation, is the extraordinary rise in demand for information-technology workers within the health-care sector. Hospitals are desperate for people who can understand and develop new information systems—then manage them. Hmmm! We might be asking to see the “Bot” not the “Doc”? Instead of seeing who the Doctor is, we might be seeing what the doctor is.

Are These Really Necessary?

Nick Vujicic. Maybe you’ve heard of him, maybe not. You won’t forget him. Nick was born in 1982. This young baby boy was born early one morning. His mother heard the little one crying right after birth, and thought everything was fine, but something was eerily wrong. The doctor who delivered Nick and the attending nurses were speechless – literally. What this excited young mom didn’t know and couldn’t see was that her precious baby boy was born … without arms and legs!

 His father looked at the infant and wondered, “What possible future could this child have?” Mom and dad gave Nick unconditional love and support. For a time, Nick didn’t realize he was that much different from other kids. When he was six, doctors devised a mechanical set or arms to help him be “normal” and do things for himself. But by then, he had become quite accomplished at doing things without the modern wonder of mechanical prosthetics. They weren’t necessary! Nick didn’t see himself as disabled!

Jacob’s Ladder ?

Jacob’s Ladder is classified as a plant in northeastern US with loose clusters of purplish-bluish flowers and pointed leaves, which resemble a ladder. Jacob’s Ladder was also a #1 hit song in 1987 by Huey Lewis and the News. Jacob’s Ladder was a popular horror psychological thriller (movie) in 1990. Ladders have served other purposes in history: scaling walls to defeat an enemy, to climb trees and pick fruit, carpenters build a business selling ladders. There was another Jacob and ladder that we would like to talk about.

“And Jacob went out from Beer-Sheba, and went toward Haran.

And he came to a certain place, and tarried there all night,

because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place,

and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.

And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the

top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God

ascending and descending.”

Genesis 28:10-12 (KJV)

Been Stuck in a Rut?

Everybody is visited by depression, lethargy, and moodiness. Like the Bible says, it’s not being tempted by sin that’s the problem, everybody’s tempted; it’s yielding to sin’s temptation that gets you stuck in a rut. Like depression, lethargy, and moodiness, it all depends on how long you decide to visit them.  Visiting them for extended periods of time and you’re gonna see grass growing under your feet and between your toes.  Professional help is available and they help sort out what’s ailing you, but ultimately it’s up to you to do the changing to get yourself better.

“Stuck In A Rut” was an old 1800’s phrase coined when covered wagons got their wheels stuck in a ‘rut’ or worn groove in their path or road.  They would often rock their wagon, buggy or mode of transportation back-and-forth, sometimes with a personal push, to get the vehicle out of the rut.  Today we often use the phrase referencing the feeling of doing the same thing over-and-over which leads to boredom.  Some businesses making a $100 million a year without any gain complain that they’re ‘stuck in a rut’.  What a rut to be stuck in?     

How Much Time Remains?

Everyone is curious about the future. Imagine a spectacular event is foretold and you had insight on what would happen.

The Book of Isaiah was penned over seven centuries before the birth of Christ. Isaiah has been referred to as the ‘evangelical prophet’ because he says volumes about the redemptive work of Jesus. Isaiah records more about the person and work of Christ than any other Old Testament book. The people of Isaiah’s generation had been promised a Messiah. The people of the Old Testament waited for generations, but the promised Messiah seemed destined for the next generation not theirs. Isaiah was difficult to understand then, but we have the gift of hindsight. And the clock was ticking!

Holding Adam's Hand

“So God created man in his own image,

In the image of God he created him;

Male and female he created them.”

Genesis 1

The Bible says that; God saw all that he had made, and it was very good! Since Adam and Eve walked on this spinning rock, there have been billions of people come and go. Death is quite a common occurrence. Most of them have been buried in the earth. Death was not supposed to even happen! Adam and Eve were created to live forever; they were warned that if they ate the forbidden fruit, they would—die! God’s exact words were, “You will surely die.” You know the story, they ate the forbidden fruit, judgment was pronounced, and they died.

The Inside Scoop

It’s the hope of every newspaper reporter to get an exclusive story that rocks the world and puts them in play for a Pulitzer Prize. The inside scoop is such a tricky thing. You have to be in the right place at the right time and then all the stars have to be in alignment. That’s why there’s so few Pulitzer’s given.

The Bible records an inside scoop but there was no Pulitzer Prize awarded, only a stern rebuke by Jesus himself! What happened?

Jesus was traveling through Capernaum, a town in Galilee. He stopped in the Synagogue to teach the people when a man possessed by a demon called out at the top of his voice, “Ha! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” Luke 4:34

Telekinesis Lurks Within

All expectant mothers have something unusual in common. Backaches? Morning sickness? A constantly changing appetite? Mild discomfort? Nope, nope, nope and nope. They have something in common that most are not even aware of, and may never be aware of! Whether the baby is a boy or girl, twins or octuplets; mom has an unspoken telekinetic link with the Creator of the universe!

That premise sounds rather fantastic and somewhat whimsical. How did we discover this phenomenon existed and where exactly do we go to find the empirical evidence to substantiate this exotic claim? Was the research done at MIT or Cal Tech? Did anyone win the Nobel Prize for its discovery? Can this telekinetic link be measured, quantified and reproduced in a laboratory? I’m sure you have a

How Fast is Fast?

A great majority of people all over the world love to watch the Olympics. Amazing feats of strength and endurance and raw skill amaze and amuse.

Unbelievable feats of strength and endurance show itself in unusual areas. In 1998 Benoit Lecomte swam across the Atlantic Ocean in 73 days and covered 3,716 miles (and we thought a swim from Cuba to Florida was tough).  At the 2010 Wimbledon championship tennis match between Josh Isner and Nicolas Mahut lasted 11 hours (longest tennis match in history).  Tom Sietas, a deep sea diving expert from Germany dove 700 feet without any oxygen or assistance.  It’s amazing how he got so deep without a breath of air, much less how he got back to the top?  Usain Bolt ran the 100-meter dash in 9.58 seconds (top speed of close to 31 mph. or 4.28 steps per second). That’s fast!  Amazing, indeed!  There are thousands of individual feats.    

Harmonic Convergence

Harmonic Convergence was the name given to the world’s first globally synchronized meditation. That’s right – Global Groupthink Groupies. This was supposed to happen in August 1987. It was supposed to coincide with the alignment of the planets (or most of them). Some adherents believed that these signs indicated that the earth was about to undergo an “energy-shift”. The followers of this convergence believed the earth was about to experience a change in global perspective. From one of conflict to rainbows and happy thoughts.  Earth’s collective karma, dharma, and freckles would then begin skipping happily down the yellow brick road. World peace was just ahead.

Checked Your Traps Lately?

There’s not an animal alive that some skilled hunter somewhere can’t catch. After giving the matter some thought, it is easier to catch a possum than a full grown lion on the prowl. It can be done, but it requires added mental prowess. You can catch; a person in a lie, a dishonest politician bending the rules, and a baby crawling on all fours. What’s the chance of catching someone being incredibly unbelievably stupendously stupid? You have heard it said that ignorance can be cured, but ‘stupid’ goes right to the bone! Is that true? You decide.

For balance: In 2012 CIA Director General Davis Petraeus posed for a picture with Paula Broadwell, with whom he had an extramarital affair that was discovered through an e-mail trail. Not smart for someone smart. Remember President William Clinton who finally apologized to the United States of America on December 11, 1998 for his conduct in the Monica Lewinski affair. Not smart for someone very smart. What about Robert McCormick (CEO of Sawis) who rang up $241,000 on his company credit card, signed his name to the bill at a gentleman’s club where lap dances were a mere $10,000 each. Not smart for someone very very smart. Oh here’s a real gem: Thomas Edison in the early 1900’s publicly electrocuted unwanted/stray animals in efforts to prove what AC power could do (including electrocuting a zoo elephant named “Topsy” in 1903). Things got ugly in the press, quick. Not smart for someone very very very smart. There are tons of others. Maybe some smart people should be not only “caught” but caged!? Ya think?