All is Pretty Quiet on the Posting Front

I have been jammin' on the Haiti book again. I was waiting for some material and for some other stuff to materalize and now there is no excuses. I'm flying to Haiti, May 11-22. Please pray for me that it can be a fruitful trip as far as the book is concerned. It is a history of the COGICM in Haiti. I'm going in pursuit of the Haitian viewpoint, life histories and Newbirth experiences for the book. So that the average Christian reader can connect with our brother and sisters down there. Thanks. I have some things I would like to post, but I don't know when............

Sometimes it Takes All to Stand

    Inspirational story was told me this morning from Michigan. They had been coming through revivals. A man that had been disfellow-shipped from his congregation for years had been attending. His wife had been from Brasil and they had children. After a particular touching revival invitation service they had a altar call.  He apparently was not planning to stand. His sister came across the aisle from the woman's side and tried to plead with him to stand. It wasn't long before his wife was there also. He then stood. Today he is being re accepted into fellowship and baptized with one of his children. This is how the story was related to me from the song leader.
    The same kind of spirit was displayed in our congregation's revival when one brother said he was not going to go to Communion if his friend (who was in a serious search) was not going to come with him. There is a working brotherhood out there striving to help one another to meet the mark.


Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men
2 Cor 5:11


And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Eph. 5:11

Tattoos are not for Christians Lev. 19:28

Leviticus 19:28
Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD. NIV


Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor print any marks upon you: I am the LORD.  KJV


In the Bible it is taught that God made man in his own image. We are not to mar or mark our bodies. For God's people in the Bible times it was a separation from the idolatrous heathens who marked their own bodies. In the beginning God did mark Cain so that people would recognize the fact that they were not to kill him in vengeance for killing his brother, Abel. Even today tattoos often symbolize criminal connections to those that wear them. I have yet to see that tattoo that promotes the purity of its wearer.  In bathhouses and gyms in Japan they forbid full body tattoos to try to block gangs from using them.  Sailors in the 18th century that sailed to the Pacific brought back designs from the Polynesian Tribes reintroducing it to Christian influenced countries. Why would a born again Christian want to associate with symbols of criminality and heathenism? 


And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Eph. 5:11


     I had a Jewish neighbor that explained she had really ticked off her Jewish parents when she had received her tattoos. It was a action against the Torah and now she could not be buried in a Jewish cemetery. That conversation and the one I had with a fellow Christian about how his Dad stressed to his boys the importance of not writing even with a pen on their bodies; reinforced or come to mind when I read Leviticus 19:28. 


On a recent visit to the Alabama coast with my family, I was amazed at the number of tattoo parlors. Also  it seemed that you seen quite a few young people sporting tattoos in highly visible parts like their neck and face or upper chest. It made me sad to think that at some later date that such markings will later be  a source of embarrassment or bring about regret for a moment of frivolousness. As a child I did not grow up with this teaching and would have desired to be tattooed out of ignorance. The only reason I bring up this article of tattooing is to hopefully reinforce the thought that this should not be practiced or encouraged by Christians.

Modern Towers vs. the Tower of Babel: What's the Difference?

Now oil rich Azerbaijan wants to enter the world stage with building the world's tallest building. It is going to be located in a new Baku city in the Caspian Sea with manmade islands and 150 or so bridges to serve up to a million people.





Then there is the Burj Khalifa  [829.84 m 2,723 ft] is presently the world's tallest manmade structure in the world in Dubai,  United Arab Emirates. Officially opened Janurary 2010. It had a 1.5 billion price tag. Unfortunately for it''s financial backers it opened up during a recesion. According to Wikipedia ten months after grand opening, 825 out of 900 apartments in the tower were still empty.



Abraj Al-Bait Towers overlooks Mecca, Saudia Arabia at a height of 601 metres (1,972 feet). The large four faced clock is the largest in the world and can be read from 16 miles away. Loaded with LED lighting and speakers it is going to announce to the areas Islamic faithfuls when it is time for each of the five daily prayers. The biggest, tallest hotel it will be able to accomadate 100, 000 people for annual Hajj. Price tag: 15 billion.  Still under construction by Saudi BinLadin Group.


 
Taipei 101 in Taiwan has a 106 floors (five underground) to stand 509 m, 1,670 ft. Price tag 58 billion to achieve high technology standards  to withstand typhoon winds and earthquakes and to be the world's tallest "greenist" building.


So what is the difference with today's building ambitions and yesteryear's Tower of Babel. I am not faulting any of the above buildings or their founders as any guiltier than the other mammoth projects being constructed or that have been built. I just would like to know if it is a different motive than that for the building of Babel's Tower?  What was the message we are suppose to learn from that ancient story? Please leave comments if it strikes you to.

Here is the story from the Bible:
Genesis 11:1-9

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Churches Either Supernatural or Superficial: Wiebe Quotes Ravenhill

I believe every church is either supernatural or superficial.  I don't believe there's any middle ground.

    

Leonard Ravenhill

In Light of Eternity

The Life of Leonard Ravenhill

Mack Tomlinson

Noah's Ark Facts: Building the Ark

Biblical Passages: Gen. 6-8; Matt. 24:37,38; Lk. 17:26,27; I Pet. 3:20;II Pet. 2:5.
The Bible story of Noah's Ark teaches us a lot about the nature of God.
 For example: (1) It shows He is a holy God and cannot tolerate sin. (2) It shows He is a just God and that sin will not go unpunished. (3) It shows He is a God of mercy in that He spares some. (4) It shows God's power in that the Flood unleashed great power.

This picture shows the size of the ark alongside a regular sized house.

The Dimensions of the Ark:

If a cubit was 18 inches This means that the  Ark would have been at least 450 feet long [137.16 meters], 75 feet wide [22.86 meters] and 45 feet high [13.716000000000001 meters].
The total available floor space on the Ark would have been over 100,000 square feet, which would be more floor space than in 20 standard-sized basketball courts.


The Design of the Ark

More likely it was shaped like a rectangular barge which floated rather low in the water. From the story in the Bible, it also would appear that Noah had no control over the vessel. He, and it contents were at the total mercy of God.


 The Ark had three stories with only one door. The phrase in Gen. 6:16, "Make a roof for it and finish the Ark to within 18 inches of the top." Most commentators believe it means leave an 18 inch space at the top that is open all around the vessel. This then would be for ventilation, and when water entered it would drain out somewhere below, similar to the vents in cars.



British civil and mechanical engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel built a steamship (the Great Britain) in 1843 that had almost the same proportions as the Ark, although it was smaller. This was regarded as a remarkable feat of Victorian and maritime engineering. TheGreat Britain was the first large vessel to be propelled by a screw propeller.


The world had to wait until AD 1884 before the Ark's size was exceeded, when the Italian liner Eturia was built.


It is almost certain that Noah did not construct a standard wooden ship of the kind we are familiar with pointed bows. It was most likely a barge like structure. According to nautical engineers the longest wooden vessel ever built was 360 feet in length and was not seaworthy. 



120 Years Building the Ark


 If Noah was 480 years old when God told him to build an Ark and 600 when the Flood came, it is reasonable to assume that the construction of the Ark took place during this 120 year period (See Gen. 6:3 along with I Pet. 3:20). The need for this preservative was essential. It is also possible that things did not decay as rapidly in the pre-flood atmosphere.

Though the Bible does not say, it seems reasonable that Noah employed a large group of workman to build the Ark. If Noah started building the Ark soon after God spoke to him, then the process of building the Ark may have taken close to 120 years.

Let's take one side of the Ark and see how much Gopher wood was needed. A single side was 300 cubits long and 30 cubits high. That's 9000 square cubits, or around 1881 square metres, or 20,250 square feet.
Assuming Noah and his three sons each prepared only two square metres of the Ark each day, one side of the Ark would be finished in 235 days. That's less than 8 months.
At the same rate, the other side would be finished in 16 months. Allow time for supports, scaffolds, the base, the roof, window ledges, pens and cages inside to keep the animals, and then time to coat it with pitch.
Allow for days off, cutting time, sick leave, a week-long vacation every now and then, and various other activities, and they should still have well and truly finished within 7 years. If they worked faster, or if they hired workman to help with the job, it could have been finished in a few years.
We have to remember Noah was also preaching at this time. Perhaps he traveled around to make sure everybody heard of God's warning to mankind.


Some of this material and facts was referenced from these websites. 
http://www.ldolphin.org/cisflood.html
http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-c013.html