Size Doesn't Matter

I watched a rather interesting program two weeks ago.

It was about a very tall communications building built in a major city in the 1960’s.

At the time it was built, it was the tallest building in the city.

Many things have changed in the almost sixty years since the building was erected.

For one thing, it is no longer the tallest building in that city.

For another, the building is now owned by a private company.

The makers of the film contacted the current owner of the building.

They got permission for a dignitary who was present when the building was dedicated to return.

They also got permission to accompany this man to the observation deck and to film his reaction.

I enjoyed listening to this man reminisce about the building, its past and his role in it.

In no time, his comments became quite profound.

He remarked that at one time the city’s cathedral was its tallest structure.

He added that in time the communications building then became the tallest.

He then added that banks and financial institutions now share that claim.

He paused to reflect a moment and added that the size of the building may indicate what we worship.

According to this wisdom, first we worshipped God.

Later we worshipped technology.

Now, it appears we worship money.

I must admit, there is a certain wisdom in his observational thinking.

I shared this with my students last Sunday and they added sports arenas to the list.

While these are not the tallest structures, some can easily seat over 100,000 people.

Fortunately for us, a huge structure is not required for worship.

I recall a time when the power was out in our neighborhood one Sunday morning.

As people gathered for worship that morning I secretly hoped the power would stay off for a time.

I would have loved for us to have had a worship service outdoors.

Where we worship God is not critical.

Even large numbers of worshippers are unimportant.

It is what is in the hearts of the worshippers that matters.

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Matthew 18:20 (NET) - For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, September 28, 2018.

I’ll be back here on Friday, October 5, 2018

Light of the World

My electricity went out in the late afternoon.

My living room windows face the sunrise, so it suddenly became quite dark in the room.

Not knowing how long I would be without electricity, I lit several candles.

As I waited patiently for the power to be restored, I began thinking about light.

In no time my thoughts turned to light in a biblical sense.

Light is important.

It is so important that it was the very first thing God spoke into existence.

Genesis 1:3 (NET) - God said, “Let there be light.” And there was light!”

Man was meant to live in light.

God created man, but He did so after He created light for him to live in.

Once accustomed physically to light, there is little we can do in darkness.

The prophets of old understood this.

They made many references to light in the spiritual sense.

They also understood the source of that spiritual light.

Isaiah 2:5 (NET) - O descendants of Jacob, come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light.

Paul also made references to us as being children of light.

1 Thessalonians 5:5 (NET) - For you all are sons of the light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness.

There are many more references made to light in scripture.

So many, in fact, that I could fill pages listing them all.

Suffice it to say that light is important.

We are meant to live in the light.

Light is also something we take for granted.

This is easily done in a modern world where we are accustomed to simply turning on a switch.

Spiritual light can also be easily taken for granted.

Fortunately for us, Christ is the ultimate source of that spiritual light.

John 8:12 (NET) - Then Jesus spoke out again, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Thanks to the light of Jesus, we will never find ourselves walking in spiritual darkness.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, September 14, 2018.

I’ll be back here on Friday, September 21, 2018