The Right sort of Pie Apple Pie and Ice Cream |
Not Pie - Pi |
The Lecturer |
Mathematics Symbols Not Pie |
1 Peter 1:22 |
Phileo and Philly-o Sound the Same? |
American Bible Teacher |
The wrong sort of Pie |
Unity Among Believers |
We are One in the Spirit We are One in the Lord! |
Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
Time with Jesus – 31 July 2013
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Matt 10:8
Freely you received, Freely give |
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©
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These
devotionals are the intellectual property of Jim Strickland and copyright
protected. You are welcome to copy and distribute them to anyone provided it
is for non-commercial Christian purposes
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©
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INTRODUCTION
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DAILY
LIGHT EVENING SCRIPTURES
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MATHEMATICS?
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Logic
was never exactly my strength. Perhaps it was my sense of the macabre that influenced
this. People would say that something was “so”. I would scratch my head and
try and assimilate what I was being told. Then, after a quiet chuckle to
myself, I would nod my head knowingly and think that if that’s what they
wanted me to think, why not? Living under the apartheid regime, I became
aware of things we were supposed to do, but didn’t. For me it was a total
contradiction that black people were not allowed to live outside their
“homelands”. Then the same legislators would hire domestic servants who had
to live “on the property” in order to work the required hours. For me this
was not only illogical, but hypocritical. What I found was that logic had
little to do with reality and everything to do with politics.
At
School they would give us statements and ask if the conclusion was logical.
For example we were asked to look at a quotation and say if it was correct.
The statement was: - All Fords are
motorcars. That is a motor car. Therefore it’s a Ford. It didn’t take
long to spot the flaw in this “logic”.
Logic
fell apart when it came to Christianity. We were taught, quite correctly,
that we were all “children of God”. But when it came to church attendance,
there were different buildings for different ethnic groups. So although we
all had the same God and were all equal in His eyes, some of us were more
equal than others. Strangely enough, even after the collapse of the apartheid
government, the old systems didn’t fall quite as quickly. The old system had
kept apart the “rich white minority”” from the “poor black majority”. The result
was that although in theory anyone could come and go as they wished, the
distinction between rich and poor had more to do with race than anything
else. Phyllida and I remarked on the fact that sadly, although the country’s
motto was “Unity is Strength”, there was very little unity in South Africa.
In
those days, Phyllida and I were living in Worcester taking care of a small
congregation for the Methodist Church. Our superintendent was Rev Joe Mpanza.
He was responsible for all the Methodist Churches in our circuit. But the
workload for him was impossible. So he more or less left us to our own
devices with the small “white” and large “coloured” congregations. Theoretically,
in April 1994, all this changed. Legally there was unity. But in practice we
remained unchanged. Very quickly, we learned that you cannot legislate unity.
You cannot compel people to come together. The best you can do is set the
example in your own life and in your relationship with others. But the whole
thing was a minefield. Everybody was looking at everyone else trying to spot
flaws in character and behaviour. They were easy to spot. Our cultural
differences seemed to be gigantic. The hurts of the past were astronomical. I
remember talking to an elderly coloured gentleman. He told me with tears in
his eyes how he went to work one morning and found he was no longer permitted
to use the footbridge over the railway line. It was for “Europeans Only”.
There were many similar stories. Somehow we had to work our way through this.
To this day we believe that Jesus Christ empowered us to embrace each other.
No, it wasn’t easy. But it was very worthwhile.
Jim & Phyllida
Strickland
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3 Make every effort to keep the
unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you
were called to one hope when you were called;
Ephesians 4:3-4 TNIV
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I know when I was very young, I had to
go to school.
And in that fine establishment, I
learned the golden rule.
They said what was important, and that
I had to learn.
So when my schooldays ended, I could
go out and earn,
Sufficient in the first place for just
supporting me.
And then a little later, for all my
family.
I didn’t really grasp it. I knew we
needed cash.
But never that without it, my life on earth
would crash!
That this was fundamental; and no one
was excluded.
The fact is, that if finances are
totally denuded,
The outlook for the future was best
thought of as bleak.
And that the way to put it right, was
for a job to seek.
They taught me mathematics, that one
plus one is two.
But that was not sufficient. I also
had to do,
Many things with figures – I don’t
mean female shapes.
But adding and subtracting and other
mental japes.
Like messing on with fractions to find
the LCM.
But through the intervening years I
can’t remember them.
I learned about log-tables and
trigonometry.
About a man called Euclid and his
geometry,
About the hippopotamus, and sons of
all the squaws;
Pythagoras discovered it along with
other laws.
I started with the calculus and
differentiation.
And that there’s nothing racial, when
we speak of integration.
I also loved the Scripture and knew
about St Paul;
Of Adam and King David and of mankind’s
dreadful fall.
I learned about Christ Jesus and His
victory on the cross.
And wondered why they said He’d won.
To me it looked like loss!
Then I got very puzzled for one and
one was two.
At least that’s what the teacher had
said was always true.
But then I found a problem, which
mathematically,
Seemed a contradiction of what was
taught to me.
I found from God’s perspective that
one plus one was one.
That’s when it seemed impossible for
me to carry on.
The point is. God was speaking about
our unity.
But I’d been taught in college, that
mathematically,
That unity was number one. That one
and one made two.
But God had contradicted our
mathematics view!
That one, plus one, plus one, plus one
equates to unity.
It’s only in my golden years that this
makes sense to me!
God wasn’t speaking numbers, but
linking human hearts.
For it’s in our agreement, that unity
first starts.
And when we’re all likeminded, we’ll
certainly agree,
That one plus one, plus Jesus is
always unity!
Jim Strickland
Written 31st July 2012
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18 Through Christ we both come to the
Father by the power of one Holy Spirit. 19 So you are no longer strangers
and outsiders. You are citizens together with God's people. You are members
of God's family. 20 You are a
building that is built on the apostles and prophets. They are the foundation.
Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone in the building. 21 The whole building is held together by him. It rises
to become a holy temple because it belongs to the Lord. 22 And because you belong to him, you too are being built
together. You are being made into a house where God lives through his Spirit.
Ephesians 2:18-22
NIrV
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A song for pilgrims
ascending to Jerusalem. A psalm of David. 1 How
wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony! 2
For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil
that was poured over Aaron's head, that ran down his beard and onto the
border of his robe. 3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew
from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion. And there the LORD has
pronounced His blessing, even life everlasting.
Psalms 133:1-3 NLT
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22 Love each other with a warm love that
comes from the heart. After all, you have purified yourselves by obeying the
truth. As a result you have a sincere love for each other.
1 Peter 1:22 GW
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