and the word was God

Pastor John, I am told that members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses (JW’s) are trained for upwards of five hours every week just to reach Christians. That is a whole lot of time, I am sure you would agree.

Dr. James White once told me of an encounter he had where a JW recited a 2-3 minute speech about John 1:1 that he had memorized concerning Greek words and constructions. At the end of the speech Dr White, a noted New Testament Greek scholar, pulled out his Greek New Testament from the shelf and handed it to the man and asked him to show him what he (the JW) was saying from the text.

“What’s that?” the JW asked.

“Dr. White said, “it’s the Greek of John chapter one that you are so busy telling me about.”

The man then admitted that he did not know how to read Greek. He had memorized a very lengthy speech (no doubt, provided by the Watchtower group) but could not read a single Greek word.
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The Lord God made it all

If you open the videos up to become full screen presentations, I think you will find these to be visually stunning. As I watch, words from Isaac Watts’ famous hymn “When I survey the wondrous cross” immediately come to mind, namely, “Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were an offering far too small…” And what a realm of nature it is!

The first video represents a year’s compilation of time lapse work by Dustin Farrell. All shot on the Canon 5D2 and processed in Adobe After Effects. The majority of the shots are in my beautiful home state of Arizona. Goblin Valley State Park and Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah also make an appearance.

Landscapes: Volume One from Dustin Farrell on Vimeo.

In Volume 2 Dustin Farrell once again shows off some of the beauty found in the state of Arizona and some parts of Utah.

Landscapes: Volume Two from Dustin Farrell on Vimeo.

More can be found here.

A Fourfold Repetition of Denial

I was shocked one day when studying the original Greek of Hebrews 13:5. In this verse there is a fourfold repetition of denial showing the absolute impossibility of God leaving or forsaking one of His own children (literally “I will not cease from holding you up”).

This repeated denial is brought out most clearly in the Amplified Bible where it says:

“for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down relax My hold on you)! Assuredly not!]”