If you don't know by now, Canada is poised to become the North American Saudi Arabia. More specifically, the province of Alberta will take on that role with unimaginable wealth to be generated. We know the reason: a place called the Athabasca tar sands, where the sandy earth is saturated in a heavy bitumen which can be refined into conventional petroleum products. The reserves rival those of the Saudi desert kingdom. Until now, it was a bit of an academic curiosity as the cost of refining was above the price of easily refined Saudi Arabian light sweet crude. Not any more. What is involved in the refining process is subjecting it to high temperatures to separate it from the sand and then using coal and natural gas as feed stocks, putting it through a very complex chemical process. It is transformed from a heavy sticky tar into a whole range of petroleum products. Part of the process is adding extra hydrogen atoms to the molecules to transform its nature.
That's one kind of transformation.
The actual nature of the substance is transformed and it is substantially different than when it began.
We read in Mark 9 of a different kind.
Jesus takes James, John and Peter to a high hill or mountain, away from the rest of his followers.
There, something extra ordinary takes place.
Dr. Harold McNabb
- Details
How good are you at sniffing out internet hoaxes, providing you are on the internet?
I think I am pretty good and generally can tell fairly quickly if something is a hoax, a joke or just plain misguided.
If you get email you have received the breathless plea from James Dobson that someone is trying to take "Touched by an Angel" off the air. Or that Bill Gates wants to send you five dollars just because he cares. It's curious that since the Gates? real charitable work is becoming more well known, that hoax has more or less died out. Or you have seen the purported last photo from the world trade center with an airliner heading right toward the camera. The one I like is the thirty foot great white shark leaping out of the water to grab a helicopter. Some are just jokes, some are pranks, but all the above are totally fake.
I did get one a few weeks ago that I was about to put in the "hoax" category, but hadn't heard of it so decided to check it out first. My friend Dennis Vietorisz, from Vancouver sent me an email that said we have been the victims of a hoax by the Walt Disney corp. The cheek of him to suggest such a thing! The story went like this: During the filming of the Disney movie, White Wilderness there is a sequence of Norwegian lemmings plunging off a cliff into the sea below. And we were told this is a regular phenomenon. When populations reach . . .
- Details
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 1John 3:16
How well do you know your "3:16's"?
Most people know John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life.
And there is 2Timothy 3:16, All scripture is inspired and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in holiness.
And now we have 1John 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.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the words to their song All You Need is Love
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
And they are quite correct.
Deuteronomy says it, "You shall love the . . .
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers 1John 3:16
How well do you know your "3:16's"?
Most people know John 3:16, For God so loved the world that he sent his only son that whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life.
And there is 2Timothy 3:16, All scripture is inspired and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in holiness.
And now we have 1John 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.
John Lennon and Paul McCartney wrote the words to their song All You Need is Love
All you need is love, all you need is love,
All you need is love, love, love is all you need.
And they are quite correct.
Deuteronomy says it, "You shall love the . . .
- Details
The little village of Rattenberg is the smallest town in Austria, and getting smaller each year. The town has lost 20 percent of its population in the past two decades, and as of 2005 had only 440 residents. The reason? Darkness. Rattenberg is nestled behind Rat Mountain?a 3,000-foot obstruction that blocks out the sun from November to February. But thanks to some clever new technology, the town's situation is about to get a little brighter.
An Austrian company called Bartenbach Lichtlabor has come up with a plan to bring sunshine into the darkness by installing 30 heliostat mirrors onto the mountainside. The mirrors will grab light from reflectors on the sunny-side of the mountain and shine it back into the town.
The project will not be cheap'the European Union will cover half of the $2.4 million bill?but if successful, will bring hope to the 60 other communities scattered throughout the Alps that endure the winter darkness each year. Markus Peskoller, Lichtlabor's director, has also committed to paying for the $600,000 cost of planning the project because of its potential for other markets. "I am sure we will soon help other mountain villages see the light," he said.1
John says God himself is light.
Is the Light.
And the way we live in fellowship with God is to . . .
An Austrian company called Bartenbach Lichtlabor has come up with a plan to bring sunshine into the darkness by installing 30 heliostat mirrors onto the mountainside. The mirrors will grab light from reflectors on the sunny-side of the mountain and shine it back into the town.
The project will not be cheap'the European Union will cover half of the $2.4 million bill?but if successful, will bring hope to the 60 other communities scattered throughout the Alps that endure the winter darkness each year. Markus Peskoller, Lichtlabor's director, has also committed to paying for the $600,000 cost of planning the project because of its potential for other markets. "I am sure we will soon help other mountain villages see the light," he said.1
John says God himself is light.
Is the Light.
And the way we live in fellowship with God is to . . .
- Details
Introducing someone is easy enough if the person is there with you.
Introducing someone who is not present requires you to describe the person in terms that accurately portray who that person is.
For example, in a small rural community where populations are stable and folks know each other for generations, you might describe someone who is returning from many years abroad by saying, "She is aunt Grace's youngest daughter." The person might add, "oh yes, that would make her Florence and Stanley Ferguson's granddaughter. I know who she is."
That is pretty much what Matthew does with Jesus. He brings out the family tree and starts his narrative by locating Jesus in the family tree. He begins with Abraham, through David right through to Jesus. Thus his pedigree and roots are described to people who would know and care.
John's on the other hand is how a more philosophical and poetically minded person might describe someone. He might say something like, "Ok, imagine all the characteristics of the perfect person and friend and imagine all of that from God totally in one person. That is Jesus"
Luke the gentile physician who had never met Jesus was in Judea with his friend Paul. He says he took the opportunity of . . .
Introducing someone who is not present requires you to describe the person in terms that accurately portray who that person is.
For example, in a small rural community where populations are stable and folks know each other for generations, you might describe someone who is returning from many years abroad by saying, "She is aunt Grace's youngest daughter." The person might add, "oh yes, that would make her Florence and Stanley Ferguson's granddaughter. I know who she is."
That is pretty much what Matthew does with Jesus. He brings out the family tree and starts his narrative by locating Jesus in the family tree. He begins with Abraham, through David right through to Jesus. Thus his pedigree and roots are described to people who would know and care.
John's on the other hand is how a more philosophical and poetically minded person might describe someone. He might say something like, "Ok, imagine all the characteristics of the perfect person and friend and imagine all of that from God totally in one person. That is Jesus"
Luke the gentile physician who had never met Jesus was in Judea with his friend Paul. He says he took the opportunity of . . .