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Uncle Ben's WRITE 144 - 2006 08 31 Wartzor
Peace,
I wish all wars would end today That there would be no more fighting. That everybody would go on about his/her own business. That we would wake up tomorrow and everything past would be a bad dream.
Photo "Cops r us" © Ben, Melrose, LA 1988.
I guess that's about how it will feel to enter the next life, the real life. It's hard to imagine everybody living in peace, with no mean words, no slander and gossip. Everybody being honest and kind. People of different colours living together as one big happy family. It's a mind blowing thought to me. And it's no wonder that many people don't believe in Heaven. It's such a contrast to Earth, where most people are truly evil, and only live to satisfy themselves, giving no quarter to those in need. Nations bomb each other just for greed. Some people kill their own children just for religious or political reasons, other kill them just for fun even. Man it's a sick world.
I believe in Heaven because I know the Lord. I can't stop talking about God because He is everything to me. I was just a regular Joe before I met Him. I’m still not "special" in any way, but at least I know where I'm going. If more people would find Him, things would be looking up for the world! ...read my lips.
No "real" Christians would ever fight in any way, because we are men/women of peace. We aren't perfect, but at least we do not engage in war etc. There are of course baby Christians with huge spiritual diapers messing up in different ways, because baby Christians do not know the Lord very well. They just run around like chickens without their heads jumping this and that wagon of what they believe to be the whole truth and nothing but the truth, having experienced almost nothing of the Father.
You have to spend time with God, if you want to grow. Fast and pray a lot and go to meetings and listen to sermons. That way your faith will grow, and you will receive spiritual gifts, as tools for your own service in the Lord.
To find life in Christ, we have to die away from our own flesh, our own folly. We have to live for Christ. He might urge us to go to church just because if we don't, perhaps a friend of ours who really needs the Lord, won't go either. So we do stuff for others, stuff that we don't really want to do, because it would be easier to just watch TV or go surfing.
We need to die from our own pleasures every day. I'm not saying that we should live like hermits in a monastery or something, because that is not scriptural. They live for themselves, a totally egoistic life style. They think that they can buy something from the Lord by denying themselves this and that. That's just plain silly, but a fact in many religions.
Oh the webs we weave for ourselves...
Painting "Sonic Shark (instead of spider)" © Ben 2006.
People have always tried to buy off the Lord, and we will always continue to do so. Everybody thinks they can pay for their ticket to Heaven, but that's not on matie. Jesus paid our ticket in full with His blood, He took our sins on Him. All we have to do is to repent, receive, and be grateful.
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Uncle Ben's (Almost Daily) WRITE 143 - 2006 08 30 South Wartzor
Peace
We are all different. We differ in many ways. Some wake up early in the morning some later. We like different food, colours, music, cars etc. Some can't sleep before morning comes, some can't sleep at all, some doze off as soon as Friends (the TV show) is mentioned.
I give Friends 0 Uncles out of 5 possible (the show is so shallow that viewers will be hurt mentally by it)
Most of us also meet God individually. My first encounter was a “boom bang” one. Some experience God in subtle ways. I've noticed when I pray for people (by laying on hands) that some people receive God's blessings physically and others without even knowing it. Some people don't feel a thing, but that does not mean that they aren't receiving!
We are all different and equally valuable to God. No one is better or holier than the other, so cheer up if you have felt like you're missing something when other people "fall over" or whatever at meetings. The fact that they fall over doesn't mean that they are "special", it's just something that happens. We can't predict how and why God does this and that, we can only receive whatever He gives us. And we should always be grateful receive it with great respect.
Uncle Ben's WRITE 142 - 2006 08 29 Wartzor
Peace, God knows I'm not perfect.
Photo "you can run butcha can't hide" © Ben, Melrose, LA 1988.
When I prayed and the phone rang, I often told God “hold that thought”… How stupid is that? Telling God to hold the line while I rap with some dude on the phone. I just realized that the other day. What an brainless jerk I can be sometimes, what a fool. Talking to the Creator and telling Him to wait...duh.
The Father still cares and listens and forgives. No matter how stupid I've been He has always forgiven me. Sometimes He forgives me many times per day. That's what I call love. If He forgives, so should we forgive those who do us wrong. Check out: Luke 17:4
I'm not picking up the phone in the middle of a conversation again, not even if it's Batman.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 141 - 2006 08 28 Wartzor
Peace,
Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the Holiest of them all? When you think you are better or more Holy than others -watch out. That would be the time to send for the car with the nice young men in their white coats...
Isaiah 65:5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These [are] a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.
We were all sinners, in need the Grace of God (really). We can't do no nothing in our own might to receive the crown of life. Jesus paid it all, when He died the cross. The devil must have torn out his hair on that day, because on that day he lost big time. He only had one chance, and he blew it.
Photo "oh no" © Fred Schymberg 2006
Even any idiot who receives Jesus into his heart honestly, will inherit Jesus! It's really that simple. There will probably be more idiots in heaven than smarties, and more poor people than rich. It's going to be very interesting.
Let Robin Hood put that in his pipe and smoke it...
Uncle Ben's WRITE 140 - 2006 08 27 Wartzor
Peace,
Rock...and roll?
Photo "rockandroll" © Ben 2006.
Looks like a rolling stone to me... This old house isn't far from where I live. Everybody seems to think that the rock will never budge. But what if there's a quake or something?
Everybody needs a solid foundation in life, and Jesus is “the only rock that will never roll”. I met god in 1975 and He has carried me this far. I never looked back because everything behind me was nothing more than a hill of beans anyhow. My life sucked more than a Hoover before I met God.
I'm not going to pretend that life has been a cakewalk since I met God, but He has always given me “strength to go on” when life has dealt it fierce blows, and people have stepped in my face. He has always stood by me since I received Him into my life. He is the “only one” in the whole world that I can really depend on. And this is one of the reasons I'm working on some songs of praise right now. I just want to thank Him for all He has done in my life, beginning with saving my life.
I've always loved Jesus, even when I was totally lost to the world in my teens. I didn't know Him I just "knew" that He was cool. I never knew that it was possible to actually talk to Him though and actually get a response in this life time. That's what blew me away totally in 1975 when God actually touched me physically. I never dreamed that would be possible!
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 139 - 2006 08 26 Wartzor
Peace, Sometimes I feel I gotta ride like the wind
Photo "Harley Chick with dude" © Fred Schymberg 2006
Know where you are going! Why waste your life away when you can spend quality time with the Lord? I've wasted a lot of my life, even after meeting the Lord. I've danced to different peoples tunes a lot, instead of asking God what to do.
In my heart I've always knew what I was supposed to do, but it was only like a whisper. You really need “to stop and listen”. Otherwise you can't possibly hear God's voice. We need to keep our ears peeled, to know where and why we are going.
Have a talk with God, even Stevie Wonder knows that.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 138 - 2006 08 25 Wartzor
Peace, Ask, Seek, Knock
Photo "Knock knock" © Fred Schymberg 2006
Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
The Wise and Foolish Builders Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
"Rock or Mountain" is often used symbolically as a picture of Jesus. If He is your foundation in life your works will stand the test of time, because they will be “His works”. It's important to obey, even when it's more easy not to. Many things seem to get in our way when we try to do the right thing
1 Samuel - Chapter 15:23 For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king.
Run to the Mountain, hide in the Rock (from sin) and He will keep you 'til the day of reckoning.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 137 - 2006 08 24 Wartzor
Peace,
Some people think that the apostles wrote from their own heads.
Photo "read on" © Fred Schymberg 2006
2 Peter 1: 19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.
21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
Scripture quotations taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission.
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Uncle Ben's (Almost Daily) WRITE 136 - 2006 08 23 South Wartzor
Peace,
Photo "God's wonder" © Fred Schymberg 2006
To scientifically prove what a Butterfly is, does not change the fact that God created it.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 135 - 2006 08 22 Wartzor
Peace,
Photo "God's sign" © Fred Schymberg 2006
Genesis 9:15 And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. (read the entire chapter)
To scientifically prove what a rainbow is, does not change the fact that God created it!
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 134 - 2006 08 21 Wartzor
Peace,
I believe something "different" is going to happen in my life real soon. I have no clue as to what it is, but I know there will be major changes made. You can never know with God. I'm trying not to make any extensive plans, I'm just waiting on the Lord. I'll do whatever He wants, because I've come to realize what it means to pick up your cross and follow Him. You have to die from your own desires. I know it sounds kinda grim to some. Personally I never really "got it" before, even though I'd heard it a thousand times or so. But now I'm ready to climb out of the boat of the world, and walk on water.
Photo "H2O" © Benjamin Antell 2006.
I believe in God. I know that I will never be totally "there" before I take the final step into God's mysterious waves...so here I go.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 133 - 2006 08 20 Wartzor
Peace,
Very few seem to get this: Romans 2:1 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.
Photo "Duh" © Fred Schymberg 2006.
Most of the time we can't see that we are doing the same things as the one that we pass judgment on, because we might look at our selves from another angle than God does.
9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favoritism.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 132 - 2006 08 19 Wartzor
Peace,
An eye for an eye will leave the whole world blind", Mahatnagandhi (Found this on Bibb's site: Isn't that the truth?
Matthew 5:38-39 You have heard that it has been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth But I say unto you, That you resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.
Photo: "Eric Bibb live at After Eight" © Ben2006.
Uncle Ben's WRITE 131 - 2006 08 18 Wartzor
Peace,
Saw and heard Eric Bibb yesterday live @ After Eight in Jakobstad, Finland! Photo "Eric Bibb goes Finland" © Ben, After Eight, Jakobstad.
What a great New York born performer, singer and guitar player. I just love his live Blues/Gospel playing. I've only heard 2 great bootleg recordings before this and a static studio recording from Sweden, but this was something entirely different. You could almost hear the angels sliding down the ladder when he sang "I heard the angel's sing"...breath taking...and that voice!
And who taught him to play guitar??? I've never heard anybody play like that (I've heard many). The dynamics of his playing are unique. You just have to check him out! I only know one more blues cat that can play with that kind of emotion, and that's B.B. King, but Mr. King's style is different.
This was the best gig I've heard since Deep Purple played in the Ice rink in Helsinki in 1971. I'm not kidding.
Photo "Wentus BB and Mr. Bibb" © Ben, After Eight, Jakobstad.
Mr. Bibb was backed by our own Wentus bluesband, who did an excellent job.
Photo "Organ Donor" © Ben, After Eight, Jakobstad.
Photo © Kent Häggkvist 2006. "Bibb and Ben". This is the first photo I've squeezed myself into...ever.
Thank you for an unforgettable evening Mr. Bibb! I dragged a half dozen people with me from Vasa to the gig, and everybody loved it!
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 130 - 2006 08 17 Wartzor
Peace,
Divorce always affects the children in a negative way.
Polaroid © Ben 1986
I have many friends who are divorced, and many who are thinking about divorce. It's so easy to run away, instead of confronting your demons. I guess that's why many get divorced in the first place.
Matthew 5:32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
I'm not telling you this to brag or anything silly like that. But I've been married since 1977 to the same woman (there can be only one for me". We didn't always get along. But somehow we've managed to stay together and work things out. God has no doubt been a great part in all of this. And I guess that's how it should be, He should come first, after all He's the one who started it.
Luke 16:18 Whosoever putteth away his wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from [her] husband committeth adultery.
From what I've seen in my own life, nobody has been any happier the second time around.
Running away from your responsibilities does not make it any easier. If you do, you will probably have a bad conscience for it for the rest of your life. Everybody knows that it's against God's will to get divorced. But with sin it's like this: once you've sinned against your conscience it feels bad, but the second time it gets easier. And soon you won't feel a thing, because by then your heart has turned to stone. But that doesn't make it right.
Mark 10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away [his] wife? tempting him.
Mark 10:3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
Mark 10:4 And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put [her] away.
Mark 10:5 And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
The one's who probably suffer the most are the children. The children always seem to think that it's their fault. Even though parents explain to them a million times, that they had nothing to do with it, they still take the blame! Many parents actually blame the children. That's even worse, you can't blame someone else for your mistakes.
Mark 10:11 And he saith unto them, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her.
Mark 10:12 And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.
My marriage wows mean a lot to me, – "a man/woman who doesn't keep his/her word ain't a man/woman worth knowing" –Hawk. Hawk was a silly guy with a big gun in a police series on TV a long time ago, but he did have a point...
1 Corinthians 7:10 And unto the married I command, [yet] not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from [her] husband:
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 129 - 2006 08 16 Wartzor
Peace,
If you want God to answer your prayers, forgive people.
Photo "detail of a wall painting in Stockholm" © Fred Schymberg 2006.
If we hold a grudge against somebody, be it our partner in life, a friend or foe.... God will probably not reply to our needs. Besides holding a grudge only hurts the one who is holding it, so what is the point? Just let it go!
Many people spend 20 or more years in misery just because they are mad at people for various reasons. No matter what they have done to you, it's pointless to hold a grudge against them. Every day you are angry they win, and the devil is happy...laughing his head off. You can get bitter or you can get better. Do yourself a favour, pray to God that He helps you to forgive, if you feel like you can't do it by yourself. I urge you to try to forgive, not only in words, but in action.
Be nice to the creeps who have stolen your peace, and forgive them! James 5:9 Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door.
I've tried it, and I know that it works...it's not easy, but it does work. Keep your peace no matter what!
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 128 - 2006 08 15 Wartzor
Peace,
Heaven is for everybody, all nationalities! Everybody is welcome. Anyone who receives Jesus in his/her heart. It doesn't matter who you are or what you have done. This is because Heaven is a gift from God to mankind through Jesus Christ. We are the heirs of Christ. He left us His last will and testament!
Colossians 3:24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.
Revelation 21:24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.
Photo © Ben 2006
Heaven is prepared and ready. God is telling His people to go out into the world, sometimes only as far as their next door neighbours to urge them to come to His feast. There's a great party waiting for us all!
Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
You are invited. Revelation 21:7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
Just ask Jesus to take over your heart and forgive you all your sins, that's all you have to do. Then you are saved. Join a bible centered church, and remember to read the Holy Bible. God bless You.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 127 - 2006 08 14 Wartzor
Peace,
A gang beat up a heard of cows yesterday in Sweden. What's the world coming to? Cows are probably some of the most friendly animals on the planet. What kind of idiots would beat up a cow, and enjoy it? Makes you wonder what kind of perverted parents they have. We are responsible for bringing up our children to respect all living things. It's not easy I know, but we have no excuse for failing them.
2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
People are taking their lives. A friend of a friend killed himself the other day. It's equally sad every time it happens. People are empty inside and hurting.
Photo: “green”, Hollywood © Ben 2006
If there's no love in the house what good is it? Those who are born again need to go out and talk to people about God. We need to flood the concerts, clubs and all other places where lonely people look for peace. How else are they going to find God?
Photo "LA 1988” © Ben 2006.
We need to pray with these people. We need to get them to “try God”, then they will find Him and their joy will be full. Come on people throw out the TV sets and go out into the world as Jesus commanded! Forget about your personal comfort, and start loving people! If you don't love your fellow man, you don't love God! If you love a poor guy in the street, you love God. If you help the beggar, you help God. If you give him a drink of water, you give God a drink of water! Think about it. Here's a few bible verses concerning loving your fellow man.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That U love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That U love one another, as I have loved you.
Romans 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loves another hath fulfilled the law.
1 Thessalonians 4:9 But as touching brotherly love U need not that I write to you: for U yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing U have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, [see that ye] love one another with a pure heart fervently:
1 John 3:11 For this is the message that U heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1 John 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
1 John 4:12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
2 John 1:5 And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. John 13:35 By this shall all [men] know that U are my disciples, if U have love one to another.
Romans 12:10 [Be] kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Galatians 5:13 For, brothers, you have been called unto liberty; only [use] not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.
Ephesians 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
1Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all [men], even as we [do] toward you:
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works
1Peter 3:8 Finally, [be ye] all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brothers, [be] pitiful, [be] courteous: –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Uncle Ben's WRITE 126 - 2006 08 12 Wartzor
Peace, Peace don’t don’t come in a bottle! A funny thing about the Holy Spirit is that when He comes I often get a wonderful high which is much cooler and stronger than any high that you can get from alcohol. Since I never did take drugs, I can't compare it to drugs, but I'm sure that drugs can't induce anything like it either. Besides, they WILL lead people astray since they open the wrong doors to the spirit world! This I know for a fact.
I can actually feel God’s touch most all the time. It's so cool. I know it's the same for many who have received Christ.
In religions they also experience supernatural things, but that power is corrupt!
Photo "Goldfinger" © Fred Schymberg 2006.
In religions evil spirits toy with people! Since evil spirits are liars, they often claim to be good spirits. There is only one good spirit in the Universe and that is the Holy Spirit of God.
Anyone who has received Jesus, can also receive the Holy Spirit!
Photo "Rap 4 Christ" © Ben 2006
If you haven't taken Holy Spirit, do it. He will change your life for the better. He is the only one who can open God's Word for you. If you don't have the Holy Spirit in your life, you can't understand the Word. Pray and fast that you may receive Him. After you have received Him you will probably receive the ability to speak in tongues, as well as many other signs. As Christians we all receive spiritual gifts, like healing etc. Some receive many gifts, others not so many.
If you are interested in reading about the gifts of the spirit, you should read 1 Corinthians - Chapter 12 all through.
1Cr 12:1 Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I would not have you ignorant. 1Cr 12:2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. 1Cr 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and [that] no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Spirit. 1Cr 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 1Cr 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 1Cr 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 1Cr 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 1Cr 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 1Cr 12:9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 1Cr 12:10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another [divers] kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 1Cr 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. 1Cr 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also [is] Christ. 1Cr 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether [we be] Jews or Gentiles, whether [we be] bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. 1Cr 12:14 For the body is not one member, but many. 1Cr 12:15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 1Cr 12:16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 1Cr 12:17 If the whole body [were] an eye, where [were] the hearing? If the whole [were] hearing, where [were] the smelling? 1Cr 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. 1Cr 12:19 And if they were all one member, where [were] the body? 1Cr 12:20 But now [are they] many members, yet but one body. 1Cr 12:21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. 1Cr 12:22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: 1Cr 12:23 And those [members] of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely [parts] have more abundant comeliness. 1Cr 12:24 For our comely [parts] have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that [part] which lacked: 1Cr 12:25 That there should be no schism in the body; but [that] the members should have the same care one for another. 1Cr 12:26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. 1Cr 12:27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. 1Cr 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 1Cr 12:29 [Are] all apostles? [are] all prophets? [are] all teachers? [are] all workers of miracles? 1Cr 12:30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? 1Cr 12:31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 125 - 2006 08 11 Wartzor
Peace,
Jesus is coming, look busy! We don't know the hour or the day when Jesus will return, but He will return. It will be business as usual on the day of His return. Those who aren't ready will face ruin, and those who eagerly wait for Him will reap joy.
Are you ready?
Photo © Sixten Sandvik, Tokyo 2006
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 124 - 2006 08 10 Wartzor
Peace,
Sex should not be some military exercise. Stay away from sex shops and porn mag's, they have nothing to offer really. Porn shops are have a manipulative message, they have nothing to do with love. We should love one another with loving care and respect, it's about give and give.
Photo "legs" (detail) © Fred Schymberg 2006.
Secular magazines often focus on sex instructions instead of love. It's a sad world we live in, where almost nothing is sacred. If we really get to know each other (I'm talking about marriage), then everything will come together naturally. What's the world without romance? It's best to ask God for guidance. God created our body and all its functions, He has the original manual! Just ask Him and be honest about it.
Read the Song of Songs in the Old Testament. It's a very deep book that teaches us a lot about love. First you will see it as one story, but if you pray about it, you might see the BIG picture, what it is actually about. Good luck.
Epehesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
Colossians 3:18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.
Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love [your] wives, and be not bitter against them.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 123 - 2006 08 09 Wartzor
Peace,
Photo "Clean as a whistle through Christ" © Ben 2006
It's easy to clean the outside appearance. What about the heart and mind? Only God can clean those parts, if we want Him too. I have to pray a lot to keep my mouth from galloping all over the place. I know this might surprise some, talkative as I can be often...
Ephesians 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
I sometimes pray to God to guard my lips, and He does. After I've prayed I get a sensation, urging me to pause when I'm about to blurt out something inappropriate. Prayer is a good thing. It's what is in your heart that counts.
It's what you think that makes you stink. Everybody will get weird thoughts now and then. I think that they are imposed on us sometimes, and I've found that the more quality time I spend with the Lord the less they show up. I like it when God is in control, and I can just relax.
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 122 - 2006 08 08 Wartzor
Peace,
How can we be saved? Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:
Photo "Log in big time" © Gustav Frantz 2006
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh (Jesus), and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:17 For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Photo "WOMAD" © Ben 2006
Just receive Grace through Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 121 - 2006 08 06 Wartzor
Peace,
Hizbollah's (party of the moon god Allah) bombs are killing both Arabs and Jews. Photo "here 2day, gone 2morrow" © Ben 2006
Yesterday they bombed Haifa, where Arabs and Jews live in peace. Man it's a rotten world. The Hizbollah are using bombs housing steel pellets killing people for hundreds of meters around. – Two transvestites attacked a female prostitute in Stockholm after the Pride Festival. (Expressen.se)
Two 23 year old men dressed up as women attacked, hit and bit a woman in the face all bloody, and broke one of her fingers in Stockholm. They were fighting over customers. The transvestites were detained by the local Police for drug related crime violence etc., but were set free...that's Sweden for you.
I think we will see much more of this in the future. Imagine men beating up women in the streets, it's a disgrace. And the Police have their hands tied. I'm beginning to sound like a news agency, sorry...but there is so much evil going on in the world that it's easy to get side tracked and forget that God has everything under control. We continue to mess up the world, but God has everything in control. It's good to know that, no matter what happens.
Our lives on planet Earth are truly short.
Photo "I go bye, bye" © Ben 2006
It's like one of my friends Ronnie said, - life is short but death is long. For those of us who are true believers, it's life that is long. I can't wait to meet Jesus in the flesh.
One thing that's a bit weird, is that in church Jesus has not always been portrayed as the King He is. He's many times been mentioned as a "swell guy" or something. Very few understand that He is Holy, and He is the King of Kings. The ruler's of this world aren't even fit to be his Bell Boys.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 120 - 2006 08 05 Wartzor
Peace,
Photo © Fred Schymberg 2006.
A Prayer Oh Lord Defragment my brain help me focus Delete my past and renew my spirit Forgive my mistakes those I know of and those secret to me show me the blueprint and format my path Oh Lord Renew my memory allocation and filter my thoughts restrain my tongue from lashing out in anger open my ears and debug my IC let me scan the debris from a fresh point of view Oh Lord make me compassionate normalize the static make me generous and open minded make me considerate give me antennas make me humble as the pie Amen
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 120 - 2006 08 05 Wartzor
Peace,
This is my dream:
…Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and [from] the Lord Jesus Christ. Photo "Peacemaker" © Fred Schymberg 2006.
Photo "Here's to looking at you kid" (Detail) © Fred Schymberg 2006.
Song of Songs (Old Testament) 5:2 I sleep, but my heart waketh: [it is] the voice of my beloved that knocketh, [saying], Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with dew, [and] my locks with the drops of the night.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 119 - 2006 08 04 Wartzor
Peace, I wish people would respect others. If you try to forcefully push your lifestyle (whatever it may be) on someone, then you really have no respect (love) for that person. 1John 4:8
I wish Hizbollah would return the Israeli soldiers and put a stop to the war. But I guess nobody really wants peace in the Middle East. Arabs and Jews could coexist easily, if they wanted to. Israel is a very, very small country. There is lot's of room around Israel!
Photo "Apollo 7, the Sinai Peninsula" © Aris Multimedia Entertainment, Inc 1994.
If the Jews could cultivate the desert in Israel, why can't the Arabs do the same? Look at all that EMPTY space in the photo!!! They could plant cabbage heads between all their oil rigs... Israel is so small in the photo, that U can hardly see it! It's a the top of the left bay... Where there is a will, there is a way.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 118 - 2006 08 03 Wartzor
Peace,
God can use you for ANY purpose He wants to, yes YOU. There's nothing you can do to get ready for your mission in life, except if God has revealed it to you beforehand. He used a donkey in the old Testament, He actually made it talk. So don't fret about your ability. God doesn't need you to have ANY abilities. The only thing He needs from you is basically obedience. A willingness to go where He sends you and to do what He tells you to do. Even if it is something completely alien to you. Have faith and go where He sends you.
Don't let circumstance put you down. I remember Benny Hinn once said that he had a bad problem with stammering. But once he got up in the pulpit, his stammering disappeared (he was healed). Instead of waiting for healing, he just went up into the pulpit, and God took care of his problem!
I also heard about 2 brothers in jail in Bhutan just for being Christians. They told a friend to stop praying for them to be set free, because there was a revival in jail. That's when God did a miracle and they were set free. When they gave up their own agenda.
They had a 3,5 years sentence, nobody knows why they were set free. But that's often how God works, when you die from your self and let God have His way.
John 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Matthew 10:38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
Photo "Living water" © Fred Schymberg 2006.
The Holy Spirit can't move you around and use you if you have something holding you down. You have to let go of everything. Just throw yourself off the cliff (so to speak) and let God lead you.
John 3:8
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 117 - 2006 08 02 Wartzor
Peace,
Why is it so hard to
Many of us let fear stand in the way, others are simply lazy.
To obey God partly, is not to obey God at all. And to not obey God completely is Witchcraft!If we don't obey, we rebell!
1 Samuel 15:23 For rebellion [is as] the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from [being] king.
(I think the translation is a off the mark, I believe that the original text says: Rebellion IS the sin of Witchcraft, that's how it's translated in the old Swedish bible. The same goes for stubbornness/Idolatry)
Look sharp. The above sounds very serious to me. I believe we need to shape up spiritually. I know I will after God revealed this to me. We seem to take everything so lightly today. The spirit of Apathy is desperately grinding sand into our eyes at meetings ZZZ. The flesh gets in the way and we sit and sleep in the pews.
(addition 2023: many are stuck in Youtubeland all day while The End is creeping up on them). One fenomenally efective trap are the “short movies” that never stop. Many of the shorts turn people on to masturbation, that is what they are for, since it is hurtful.
1 Corinthians 6:18: Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.
Romans 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Another thing that's pretty sick, is that many only come to the meetings to “receive”. Very few seem to have anything to give.
1 Corinthians 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
I guess one reason is that we have been brought up to, shut up and listen. But that is not the way of the bible. We are all supposed to contribute, and carry one another.
Romans 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
We are supposed to be one big family. Not just in church, but every day. This is a major problem in many churches. We don't spend time together or help each other outside church! Everyone lives for himself.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
1John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
John 13:35 By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.
Photo © Fred Schymberg 2006
I think many can count their friends on one hand i finland. Finland is not a very social country, unless you happen to have the same hobbies (that “can” change the situation). With friends, I mean people that spend time together. The Swede’s, especially in Sweden are in general more open than Finns in general or Finn-Swedes. I know because i do research, many Finns run away if they are asked something. People in large cities are “generally” more open. Finns are socially often very moody.
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Uncle Ben's WRITE 116 - 2006 08 01 Wartzor
Peace, The world is pretty much in the same state as in the days of Noah. Wars all over the globe. Men and women living in filth. Children being abused etc. etc. What a mess. The rich and the famous, drink, feast and fornicate in panic, it would seem. They try to fill their void after God with material things and drugs. I read the "news" one day, they didn't even look like news. The papers are just trying to cash in on peoples troubles. "Money can't buy me love" certainly is true.
Romans 8:9 ... Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The church, Most churches just preach prosperity and nice things... welcome to LA LA Land. Few preach the Word of God as it should be preached. We can't leave out the “seemingly not so nice stuff", the bible should be read as a whole. Not everything will come up roses just because you have received Christ in your life! God gives us strength to endure the hard times, we are under constant attack from the Evil one, often trough the world. It’s very important to stop dwelling on the past! The past can stunt your spiritual growth!
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places].
I would like to ask those who have faith to pray for Mel Gibson. Evidently he has a problem with alcohol etc. Being a Catholic he is missing out a lot of God's blessings. Please pray that he meets some true Christians who can lead him to Christ. That way he can be set free from his addiction and “religiosity”. It is always better to live a spirit filled life through Holy Spirit.
Painting © Benjamin Antell 2006
I'm sure the devil is mad as Hell at Mr. Gibson for filming the Passion. He is probably on Gibson’s case constantly, especially through the Jewish community. The Jews still don't accept Christ as their Saviour. They don't seem to have any shame in that departement. I'm not saying that all Jews are bad eggs, I love Israel, because Christ still loves Israel. But I'm sure they will have to go through Hell yet, since they STILL refuse to call on the Lord! They depend on MAN, the US to save them instead of “I Am Who I Am”. That is a no-no. This will happen according to God's Word: God bless Israel!
Zechariah 14:2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
God bless Israel! |