Praise God for Light
Genesis 1:3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light.The Bible is an amazing book. Some of the greatest events are told with such elegant simplicity and forthrightness. Verse 3 of the first chapter of Genesis is a prime example.
God simply spoke light into existance.
But, what a marvelous event that was on so many levels. You can't have life without light. You can't measure time without light with which to measure movement. You could never enjoy God's handiwork without light. The Hubble telescope would be useless without light.
One of my interests is digital photography. So, I have spent many hours studying the nature of light and I find it a fascinating subject that always leads me to praise the God that created it.
When we think of "light", we generally are generally referring to that part of the light wavelength spectrum that our eyes can see. But, in actual fact, light wavelengths extend out in both directions from that narrow band. God could have chosen to limit 'light' to a single wavelength. But, miraculously and thankfully, He didn't.
Ponder the blessings of multi-wavelength light. Vividly red sunsets, deep blue waters, the lush greens after a rain, rocks that glow and spectacular butterflies are just a few of the blessings God has bestowed on us through His creation of a wide spectrum of wavelengths.
Consider also the wonderful results of the fact that light can be bent. Microscopes bend light o allow us to see God's miniature world of microbes. Telescopes bend the light from distant stars to allow us to gather it and concentrate it for our enjoyment.
The ancient Egyptians once worshipped the Sun god. But, what a pitifully small god that was in comparision to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Joseph who created the light that made billions upon billions of suns possible. What a marvelous God we worship.
The God's Story Project
We know from the Scriptures that there will come a time when
EVERY knee shall bow and
EVERY tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This not only includes those that profess Christ in this life but those that rejected him in their earthly life. What a tragedy to be in the latter group.
The term "every tongue" also has other implications. It's significant that each person in the crowd that was present at Pentecost heard the disciples speaking in their own tongue. God is just as interested today in having the peoples of the earth hear about Him in their first language. A person's first language is the language of their heart.
Tremendous efforts are ongoing to translate the Bible into languages where no Bible previously existed. But, it's a very time consuming job. It takes years and years to just translate a New Testament. Very often the Old Testament is never completed.
This leaves people in the position of having to pick up the story of Jesus in the middle-- without the context of the beginning of the story... Why we need a Saviour.
For this reason, many missionaries are turning their attention to using the fact that most people groups of the world rely on oral traditions and histories rather than written documents. While 'Orality' should not and can not take the place of a definitive Biblical translation, it can help to reach those that might not have been reached while these translations are being prepared.
The
God's Story Project is a wonderful, low-cost tool for reaching new people groups with the Gospel of Christ. The
God's Story video presents the story of Jesus Christ from Genesis to Revelation in an illustrated form. There are no lip sync issues with lining up the narrative with the illustrations. This means that creating a new translation can be done relatively easily and inexpensively by missionaries or national pastors in the fields for which it is intended.
When completed, the videos can be distributed by the hundreds and thousands to those already having DVD or VideoCD players. Or, the video can be carried into the field in a special backpack which includes a portable DVD player that can recharged with solar power. The latter configuration has been especially successful in carrying the Gospel to those living in difficult areas where Christians are persecuted or killed.
You can listen to the God's Story narrative in a variety of
languages on the God's Story Project web site.
Why ResoundingGlory?
Some time ago, I read a wonderful book that literally shook the foundations of my Christian experience. It's called
Cat & Dog Theology by Bob Sjogren and Gerald Robison of UnveilinGlory ministries.
http://unveilinglory.gospelcom.net/Home.htmlThe premise of the book revolves around a joke about the differences between a cat and a dog.
- A dog says, 'You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, you must be God.'
- A cat says, 'You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love me, I must be God.'
This blog is the result of my desire to put into practice the incredible concepts that this inexpensive and easily read little book crystalized so beautifully.
While reading
Cat and Dog Theology, it began to dawn on me that our view of God is FAR too small and man centered. In Philippians 2:9-11, the Bible tells us:
(9) For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, (10) so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, (11) and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
We know, therefore, that in the future, the heavens will
resound with the
glory of God.
So, why not make that one of our goals right here and now. I want to know God in
all His Glory,
all His Magesty and
all His power... and I want to join others in lifting my voice in Resounding Glory to Him.
It's clear from the Bible passage above that God is glorified in diversity. This blog is my invitation for Christians the world over to join together in praising God in the language of their birth. And to join together in praying for and supporting mission endeavors that seek to reach those language groups that have yet to have a single voice lifting up the Name of Jesus.
My prayer is that this blog will resound with the glory of God from every nation on earth.
Praise to the Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ!
