THE BIBLE's VISUAL ARC

 

THE BIBLE's VISUAL ARC  A few years back Lutheran pastor Christoph Römhild wondered if an infographic could capture cross-references like these for the purpose of visualizing the tapestry of Scripture. He contacted Chris Harrison, and together they created this Tapestry of Scripture: This striking graphic by Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild visualizes 63,779 cross-references in the Bible. The black and white vertical bars along the bottom represent every chapter of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, with Psalm 119 visible as the longer spike near the center. The colorful arches spanning above connect chapters that reference one another, with the color of each arc indicating the distance between the two referenced passages. The result is this Visual Arc, which represents all the cross-references in the Bible: an extraordinary 63,779 links connecting its 66 books into one seamless story. Written over an incredible 1,500 years by around 40 different authors from completely different geographic locations... and yet the Bible's intricate themes and prophecies align with stunning accuracy. For example, the Old Testament contains over 300 prophecies about the Messiah, all fulfilled centuries later in the New Testament through the life of Jesus Christ. Scholars agree-there is nothing else like it. No other book in history comes close to its harmony, consistency, or global impact. Which is why the BIBLE is the best-selling book of all time.

COFFEE THOUGHTS

 

COFFEE THOUGHTS Gerald D Hochstetler Jr. Coffee Time!! True story. This is NOT AI “feel good” content. She grew up in the deep south. She was tied to trees, abused by her own father, raped, lived in a drug infested environment. One day she snapped. She killed her earthly father, and another family member. Now she was down to her final 30 minutes before she went to the death chamber. Somewhere in the long process of getting there her heavenly Father became precious to her. She was ready, she was prepared, except for one thing. She asked her guard who knew her very well if she could PLEASE get her some red lipstick. She wanted to be beautiful to meet her heavenly Father. The guard snuck her in some lipstick and helped beautify her, and then it was time. When the door was opened to the chamber they gave her a moment. She breathed deeply, she looked at her prison guard, the one she had come to know so well. “Am I beautiful?” She asked. “Yes, you are beautiful” the guard replied. All the staff in charge of the execution looked at each other confused. They didn’t get it. And then she slowly shuffled in, a loud clang, and the doors shut. The law did what the law does. I had to think of the time Jesus looked at those around Him who considered themselves well versed in scripture, considered themselves as good and decent people and spoke these words. “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” I’m not sure how it works up there in the heavenlies, but I can imagine when God hands out crowns and rewards there will be some big surprises. I believe individuals such as this will be highly exalted. Not because they deserved it, but because they knew they didn’t deserve it. And for this reason, the heavenly Father is exceedingly precious to these people. Gerald D Hochstetler Jr. #coffeethoughts on Facebook Used with Permission

9/11 25th ANNIVERSARY MEMORIAL

 

AL BRACA'S PRAYER MEETING Al Braca was a 54-year-old bond broker and vice president at Cantor Fitzgerald who led his trapped colleagues in prayer on the 104th floor of the North Tower during the September 11 terrorist attacks. He worked at Cantor Fitzgerald inside the World Trade Center for 16 years. Al Braca was openly Christian in a high-stress, ego-driven environment, earning him the gentle nickname "The Rev". As the North Tower burned on September 11, phones failed, and the floor was too hot to stand on. Escape was impossible, so Al climbed onto a desk to be seen by roughly 50 coworkers. He gathered them into a circle and led them in prayer and faith during their final moments. Al told them, "I'm going to see Jesus today! Who's coming with me?" Every single person from Cantor Fitzgerald in the North Tower that morning lost their life. But in the following weeks, the Bracas family members received multiple phone calls from spouses of Al’s coworkers who confirmed that "The Rev" spent his last moments comforting others and leading them in prayer.   All these years I have not published photos of the destruction on 9/11, out of respect. But now, 25 years later, it seems that younger generations do not understand the horror of that day, or why the 9/11 memorials are sacred ground. Innocent civilian lives were lost because of misguided terrorist hatred.  We must never forget what happened here, not for the sake of revenge; but to honor the victims and learn what happens when people devote themselves to hate. America needs to learn this lesson.

WHAT SHOULD WE DO?

 

WHAT SHOULD WE DO? Study of Revelation Continued REVELATION 22.10 He said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. 11 He who acts unjustly, let him act unjustly still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him do righteousness still. He who is holy, let him be holy still.” Now that we know more about the book of Revelation and end times events: what do we do about it? This verse tells us to continue on as we have. Go your way and live your life; but think about the lessons in this book. It’s not too late to choose a better path, with the help of Jesus. The idea of world apocalypse is very frightening. However, Jesus wants us to have hope. In fact, that's why Jesus told John to write down the visions: so we would know that God has a very detailed plan and it's right on schedule. Even in the midst of chaos and corruption in this world, God is taking special notice of all those who call on his Name. Our future is in the best of hands when we trust Jesus with our lives. The core message of the book of Revelation is: JESUS. The book is given by Him, it is about Him, and it’s meant to point us in His direction. When you are in the most desperate situations, there is a purpose in it: Jesus wants you to call on Him.  This study of Revelation will wrap up in the next three weeks. For Christians, the best is yet to come! IMAGE CREDIT: Walking To Eternity, generated by SeaArt.ai and edited by C.A. Stevens.

MORE THAN CONQUERORS

 

MORE THAN CONQUERORS In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Romans 8:37 There are two ways of getting out of a trial. One is to simply try to get rid of the trial, and be thankful when it is over. The other is to recognize the trial as a challenge from God to claim a larger blessing than we have ever had. There is Divine Grace to be found in the midst of our troubles! Thus, even the adversary becomes an auxiliary, and the things that seem to be against us turn out to be for our best and for God's glory. Surely, this is what it means to be more than conquerors through Him who loved us. A. B. Simpson