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Are you a Pharisee ?

I recieved this in my email this morning from aDevotion.org and I thought it tied in a bit with what Pete said on his blog recently. Although , I disagree with Pete on his view of the passage he used, I do agree that God is a God of grace and that all men will be judged fairly.

This is not my writing , but I share the idea :

" MATTHEW 16:6,12 NKJ
6 Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."
12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Why did Jesus warn His disciples to beware of the Pharisees?
What did they do wrong?

(An entire chapter of the Bible (Matthew 23) is Jesus' teaching against the Pharisees.)

The Pharisees were conservative, faithful "church" members.
They accepted the Bible as the written Word of God. They paid tithes. They believed in miracles (at least in days past). They wouldn't dream of stealing, committing adultery, or such things. You would like living next to a Pharisee as they were model citizens.

But instead of having a living relationship with God, the Pharisees took the Word of God and made just another dead religion out of it.

The Pharisee way of thinking is: keep up appearances. "It doesn't matter so much what you are on the inside, as long as you keep the rules (at least publicly)."

Notice that Jesus likened their teaching to leaven, or yeast.
Why? Yeast spreads easily and rapidly. Humans are very susceptible to approaching God in this manner, "Keep the rules.
Just do these 10 things and you are OK."

Different groups may have different rules, but we all accumulate them. It may be how many times each week you must attend church meetings, or what kind of clothes you must wear, or how you must wear your hair. Or, it may be a list of things you cannot do. But, as long as you meet these requirements, you are in good standing with your group (or denomination).

But, good standing with God is based on only one thing according to the New Testament: faith in what Jesus did for us.
That alone is what makes us right with God. Not our works, but Jesus' work.

LUKE 12:1 NKJ
1 ... He began to say to His disciples first of all, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

The Pharisees were hypocrites. That is, they put on an act.
What they pretended to be in public was not really what they were like in private. They claimed to be perfect in keeping God's law, but as humans they were all sinners, just like the rest of the people were. Yet, in public, they insisted that others keep the Law perfectly, or be condemned.

They were quick to pass judgment on others, and slow to extend mercy or help. The Pharisees had a legalistic view of God's Word and did not realize that God was merciful and wanted to help people.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:6 NKJ
6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Using God's Word to "kill" instead of using it to minister life is wrong. God's Word is meant to help people and lift them up, not place such hard demands on them that they cannot ever measure up. When we load people down with heavy loads of rules to keep in order to be right with God, we are ministers of death.

MATTHEW 23:1-5 NLT
1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,
2 "The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses.
3 So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don't follow their example. For they don't practice what they teach.
4 They crush people with impossible religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden.
5 "Everything they do is for show. . . .

If your "Christianity" is nothing more than a list of "do's and don't's" then you are missing real Christianity, which is a living relationship with Jesus Christ. "

a little plagiarism

I couldn't resist copying this.

comes from a website called www.craigslist.org

;o)

In the wide world of dating, there are many options. Do you go for the
flashy guy with the smooth smile, or the dude in the corner typing away
on his laptop? The following are reasons why I think my fellow females
should pay more attention to the quiet geeks and nerds, and less
attention to the flashy boys.



1.) While geeks and nerds may be awkward, they’re well-meaning 9 out of
10 times. That smooth dude with the sly grin and the spider hands?
Wonder what HIS intentions are... plus, I’ve never had a geek guy not
call me when he said he would. Score major points THERE.



2.) They’re useful. In this tech-savvy world, it’s great to have a b/f
who can make your laptop, desktop, and just about anything else that
plugs into a wall behave itself.



3.) They’re more romantic than they’re given credit for. Ok true, their
idea of romance might be to make up a spiffy web-page with all the
reasons why they love you, with links to pics of you and sonnets and
such... but hey. It lasts longer than flowers, plus you can show your
friends.



4.) Due to their neglected status, there are plenty to choose from.
You like ‘em tall and slender? There are plenty of geeks/nerds who are.
You like ‘em smaller with more meat on their bones? Got that too.



5.) They’ve got brains. Come on now, how can intelligence be a bad thing?




6.) Most are quite good at remembering dates. Like birthdates and such,
especially if they know it’ll make you happy. Due again to their
neglected status, they’re more attentive than guys who “have more
options”. Plus, with all that down time without a steady girlfriend,
they’ll likely have mental lists of all the things they’d love to do
once they GOT a girlfriend.



7.) Sex. Yep. Sex. I’m not really familiar with this myself, but I’ve
friends who’ve been intimate with geek guys and it’s raves all around.
They say a virgin wrote the Kama Sutra... all that time thinking about
sex, imagining sex, dreaming about sex, (they are male after all)
coupled with a desire to make you happy? Use your imagination.



8.) They’re relatively low-maintenance. Most can be fueled on
pizza, Twinkies and Mt Dew. No complicated dinners needed here, so if
you’re not the best cook, eh. Can you order a pizza?



9.) Most frequent bars as often as slugs frequent salt mines. You
won’t have to worry much about your geek guy getting his “groove” on
with club hotties because, frankly, he’ll be too busy rooting around
under his computer wondering where that spare cable went. You won’t
have to worry about him flirting with other women because, 9 out of 10
times, he’ll zip right by them in a perfect b-line towards the nearest
electronics store. I’ve seen this happen.

Me: “Eww. Victoria Secret’s Models... They’re so skinny. How is that feminine? You can see her ribs!”


Geek Guy: “ooooooo...”


Me: “Hey!” *notices he is staring lustfully towards the computer store*


Geek Guy: “What?”


Me: “Never mind...”




10.) Although he may not want to go to every outing with you, you can
arrange swaps, as in, you’ll go to his Gamer Con dressed as an elf
princess if he’ll take you to the ballet. Plus, if he doesn’t want to
go someplace with you, you won’t have to worry much about what he’s up
to. You’ll probably come home to find him asleep on his keyboard in a
sea of Mt. Dew cans with code blinking from the screen. It’s ok. He’s
used to this. Just toss a blanket over him and turn out the light.



11.) His friends aren’t jerks. I can’t stress this enough. You’ll more
likely get “Omg! A GIRL!! Can I see?!” than “Hey hot stuff back that
ass up here and let me get some grub on...” They’re awkward geeks too
and will, 9 times out of 10, treat you with the utmost respect and,
more than likely, a note of awe. A cute girl picked one of their clan
to date? It could happen to them! Hope! Drag some of your single
girlfriends over, open up a pack of Mt. Dew, crack open the DnD set and
get working. Nothing impresses geek guys more than a girl who can
hack-n-slash (well ok maybe if she can code... a geek can dream).



12.) They’re rarely if ever possessive. They trust you, so you can be
yourself around them. You like to walk around the house in a ratty
t-shirt for comfort? He won’t care. He does too! They won’t get pissy
if you don’t wear make-up or don’t want to bother primping your hair.
If you gain a few pounds, they won’t try their best to make you feel
like crap.



13.) They’re usually very well educated. Physics majors and the like.
See #5. You won’t have to listen to him blathering on about his car (ok
maybe a little), he’ll have loads of other interesting things to talk
about. Politics, world events, how much the chicken burgers down at the
local place rock, so long as you douse them in hot sauce...



14.) You’ll almost never have to hear, “Yaw dawg whazzap!!” plop
out of their mouths. Unless it’s in jest. They spell properly, use
correct punctuation, and are able to tell the difference between the
toilet and the floor. They almost never get “wasted”, so you won’t have
to worry about coming home to find him and his friends passed out on
the floor amidst a pile of beer bottles. Mt. Dew cans, perhaps...



15.) And the final reason why geeks and nerds make great
boyfriends: They actually give a damn about you. Not how you look
(though that’s a plus), not how skinny you are, not how much make-up
you primp yourself up with, but they like you for you. That kind of
thing lasts longer than “DaMN baby you got a fine ass!!!” Believe me.

I am doing webdesign now

That's right .On top of teaching Photography and being a photographer I also do webdesign now.

I have started another website where I advertise myself as a webdesigner. This came after I found a very nice piece of webdesign software and designed 3 sites for myself and one for a friend.

Please go and check out the website www.perfectsolutions.co.za and punt me to everyone you know that may need a website.

I found another SA company who does the same thing as me and they charge R1250 per month for 12 months.

So I do think that my prices are more than reasonable.

;o)

I am chuffed

In the past two weeks I have been learning a new 'skill' .And what an incredibly steep learning curve it has been.

I have really spent time and effort in learning how to manage a new website Content management system called Joomla.

You can view the fruit's of my labours here and here

I am also setting up my fourth website called perfectsolutions.co.za that will advertise myself as a website construction agent.

;o)

The things I Believe

In the past weeks or so , I battled with prayer , and what I can and can not pray for. And I came to realize that I can only pray for the things that I believe .

Things that I believe to be true of God. And things that I believe about the nature of God. And so I want to list them here. This will however not be an exhaustive list of all the things I believe , but of the things I can think of right now. I will also add to this list as time progresses and I learn more about God.

so here we go.

I believe that :

• God loves me
• Jesus died on the cross and was raised again.
• Jesus' death and resurrection was necessary to redeem me from my sins
• God knows me better than I know myself and that He only wants what is best for me
  
• living in God's will and in His plan is the only way to be truly happy.
• God wants me to have a happy and fulfilled marriage.
• as the Author and designer of sex , God wants me to have a happy and fulfilled sex life
• God wants to meet my needs and care for me , also wen it comes to earning a living.

There are many more things , but these are the things that I can think of now, and these are the things that I can pray for and from God.

• 
  

One more

And so with the previous post still fresh in my mind I received this email from the same people today. One would think that God is trying to drive home a point.

It is just SO DIFFICULT not to worry.



Cast Your Cares

1 PETER 5:7 Amplified
7 Casting the whole of your care -- all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all -- on Him; for He cares for you affectionately, and cares about you watchfully.

God is not just mildly interested in you. He cares for you just as a good mother cares for her infant child -- affectionately and watchfully.

Would it be reasonable for a well-loved infant to worry?
Neither is it reasonable for you to worry when God loves you and has promised to take care of you.

To worry you must believe one of two lies: God can't take care of you, or God won't take care of you.

PHILIPPIANS 4:6 NRSV
6 Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Worry is not appropriate for a child of God.

SAY THIS: I throw all my cares on God because He cares for me.

Let us set the score straight

Unusual for me I actually subscribed to one of those - a verse a day - websites.

And so for the past few days I have been receiving bible verses and devotions in my email once a day.

And this evening I received this devotion in my inbox and it made think of a post that I posted a short while back .

And I guess that this devotion is an answer to that question. and so I need to post this in order to set the record straight. As difficult as it is for me to believe (and more so in my current circumstances) Jesus does care about me. And also about the small things. And so I pray that God will come to my aid soon. That He will show me the way and open the doors so I can earn a living again.

I am sorry Jesus for my doubts. I am sorry that I like Peter see the waves and hear the wind and that I get scared and that I start to doubt. Save me .... Save me..

Here follows the email as I have received it.



Jesus Understands

HEBREWS 4:15 NKJ
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Whatever you face, Jesus Christ has already faced it.

Jesus knows what it is like:

to be hungry
to be tired
to be lonely
to be hurt
to be hated
to be beaten
to be persecuted
to be misunderstood
to be mistreated
to be mocked and laughed at
to be betrayed by a friend
to be tempted to sin
to be responsible for employees
to feel forsaken
to feel hopeless
to have no spouse
to have no earthly father there to help
to have lost a loved one
to have to pay taxes
to have money stolen from you
to have the responsibility to provide for a family to live under an oppressive government to experience extreme pain

HEBREWS 4:16 NKJ
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Don't be afraid to talk to Jesus about anything. Not only does He understand, but He knows how to help you so you can overcome and have victory.

Remember, Jesus loves you -- enough to die for you. And He also ever lives to intercede for you.

So Jesus not only understands what you face, but He is able and willing to help you.

SAY THIS: Jesus understands what I am going through and is leading me to victory.

Do I always just complain ?

It feels as if I only want to blog when things are going bad and when I am down. Looking back through the posts I realize that this is not quite the case , but that I do have a tendency to complain on the blog more than I would in real life.

But first .... about the bird.

The picture above is of a brownhooded kingfisher. (or so says my bird book). I have seen this guy sitting on the same branch every evening at sunset a few times before. So last night my son rushes into the house to tell us that we should come and take a look at the 'most beautiful bird he has ever seen'. I went to fetch my camera and came back to find mr. and mrs. kingfisher sitting int the tree. They allowed me quite close and I got a few nice pics.

Die burger is running a wildlife photography competition that I hope to enter. We will have to wait and see how that goes.

I wanted to complain again on the blog now , but I just realized that it would be a waste of time. It is not as if anyone reading this would be able to do anything about my complaints. So I will not.

I will ask this though of any who read this. Please pray for me. And my family. Pray that I will be blessed in the new cameraschool venture that I am undertaking. Pray that it will allow me the financial income I so desperately need while still being able to be my wife's helper in her ministry. I believe that I have a role to play in my wife's ministry , even if it is only to try and keep the house clean and look after our son.

And pray for me that I will get to know God better. That I will deepen in spiritual life and understanding and that I will find my place in His kingdom where I can serve Him.

In general , please pray for me and my wife and my son.

And speaking of prayer :pray for my prayer life. Maybe this is why I am asking all of you to pray for me. Because I really battle to pray to God at the moment. I am trying..... but the ceiling is hard.

MAy God bless all of you who read this.

Cameraschool

I have updated my Cameraschool webpage and I hope to get the whole cameraschool going as soon as possible.

In fact I already have 2 weekly students with 2 more on the way shortly. I am just waiting for the Schools to open and then I will try to get cameraschool classes in some of the schools in Uitanhege as well