PEZsnyak: April 2005

Hiding Place

Amidts the sorrows of the way,
Lord Jesus teach my soul to pray.
Let me taste Thy special Grace,
And run to Christ my Hiding Place.

You know the vileness of my heart,
So prone to play the rebel's part.
And when you veil Your lovely Face,
How can I find my Hiding Place.

Lord, guide my wandering feet,
Draw me to Thy Mercy Seat.
I've naught to trust but Sovereign Grace,
Thou only art my Hiding Place.

How unstable is my heart,
Sometimes I take the tempter's part.
And slight the token of Thy Grace,
And seem to want no Hiding Place.

But when Thy Spirit shines within,
Makes me feel the plague of sin.
And how I long to see Thy Face,
'Tis then I want a Hiding Place.

Lord Jesus, shine and then I can,
Feel the sweetness in Salvation's plan.
And as a sinner plead for Grace,
Christ, the sinner's Hiding Place.

From Redeption Songs: Jars of Clay
Copyright 2005 Bridge Building, a div. of Zomba Enterprises, Inc. (BMI) / Pogostick Music (BMI)

Used without permission... my appologies.

Thank you for reading!
Scott.

Album of the Month!

Jars of Clay: Redemption Songs.

You need to check out the new album from Jars of Clay! It's called Redemption Songs and it's really great! Under normal circumstances I don't consider myself a Jars of Clay fan, however, this new album of theirs is phenomenal! It's a "must have" for any music lover, especially (but not only) if you are a Christian. On this new album the band took a great selection of old hymns including, I'll Fly Away, Nothing But The Blood, and even They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love; they added a couple of special guests: The Blind Boys of Alabama, Sarah Kelly and Martin Smith of Delirious, and produced what turned out to be anything but just another hymnal album. They take these songs to places they have never been before musically, but should've been taken to a long time ago.

Let me tell you: This disc is great! Get it! Now! I'm not a reviewer, you can probably tell, but believe you me this is the best thing I've heard from Christian music in quite a while. On a scale from white bread to wide screen HDTVs, I give it... a Jaguar XJ8!

Thank you for reading!
Scott.

Whatever Happened To...

Whatever happened to the days when Libraries were quiet. When speaking above a hushed whisper was strictly forbidden. I remember when I was in elementary school, Mrs. Wetwringer, I think that was her name, would keep her Library as quiet as a Catholic church on Monday morning. The Fayetteville Library, in Fayetteville New York, it's pretty whist by today standards, not that quiet but it still has that "you shouldn't talk a lot" feel to it.

This library I go to now, it is like a zoo, only not as much fun, because there aren't any animal or firearms. There are always people talking and yelling, babies crying, children whining, some weird guy that doesn't think his keyboard will work unless he's hitting it as hard as he can making one heck of a racket! And of course, cell phones; ringing all the time and the people just answer them, and talk like their at home! Their solution... a quiet reading room! A library isn't supposed to have a quiet reading room, it's supposed to be a quiet reading room. A library is a sanctuary for those of us who like to improve their minds through reading; a resource for those of us who want to expand our references, a research center or even a quiet place to go and do homework.

This is what they should do... They should take all the cell phones, computers, babies and kids put all of them in the "quiet reading room" and give back to those of us which is ours; a silent, serene place, fill with as much a sense of near holiness as it is books. This is the way libraries were meant to operate. So the next time you are at the library, please, turn off your cell phone, treat your computer with respect, and if your kid starts acting up, please, for the courtesy of all man kind, go outside, or at least into the bathroom or something!

Thank you for reading,
Scott.

SBE #2: Storing Up Treasures

Why is it that Christians, as a general rule, feel like they must save money for retirement? It seems to me that this is almost a waste of money. Didn't Jesus tell us that we should not worry about tomorrow, because today has enough trouble of it's own. He also tells us that the ravens don't store food up in warehouses, yet they are taken care of, He then asks how much more important are we then birds?

But those examples are not even what got me thinking. I was most moved when I read the story about the old woman who gave two copper coins to the collection at the temple, this equaled about one cent. Jesus told His disciples that she had given more than all the others donors who gave to the treasury, who were putting in large sums of money. How could this be? As He explained to His disciples it was because they gave out of their surplus, their abundance, she gave all that she owned, all that she had to live on. As far as we might assume, she may not have even been able to eat that day. But she would trust in the Lord's provision.

It made me think, how much money do we have in our surplus? How much money do we as Christians have, collectively, that sits in an account somewhere for forty years or more, that does nothing for the Kingdom to which we belong? God never tells us to save money for retirement, as a matter of fact, He never tells us to retire (He does say that if we do not work, we do not eat). I found only one example of retirement in the scripture, and it had to do with Temple priests, but they were retiring from a specific job, not work entirely. This might be a striking contrast to what our modern-day American culture would have us do or believe. But why such a contrast?

Where our treasure is, there to will be our hearts. Does this imply that we with large, or even just moderate retirement savings have our hearts set on the ends of our lives, just those last few years? What about now? What about people in need -NOW? I heard on the radio, true or not, that one dollar can supply the average African with drinking water for an entire year, one dollar! This is the average cost, but still... How much drinking water do we have in our savings? It reminds me of the movie Schindler's List, when he realizes how little he really did. Yes he saved hundreds of Jews form the Holocaust, the impact of his choices will live forever, I am sure. But to Schindler himself, he did not do enough, because he still had a ring on his finger, he still drove a really nice car, and so on. "How many more Jews could that have saved," he wondered.

Saving for retirement seems like good financial planning, it's true, but from who's perspective? If God isn't asking us to save for retirement, if he's not asking us to retire, then who is? I'm not suggesting that it was Satan's idea, not by any means. Well, maybe, but probably not. Think about what happens if we die "pre-retirement." God might say to us, "What's the deal with all that money you had saved up? I didn't intend for you to retire, you're dead now, from your money's point of view. It's totally useless to you now, why didn't you use it to help grow My Kingdom on Earth?"

It just seems inappropriate to some degree. It doesn't sit well in my soul. However, I have not settled my mind on this point yet this essay is just a thought. If you have anything to add, or any points that I might not have considered, please share. Because as it sits, I don't get it.

Thank you for reading!
Scott.

Good Ideas #1

From time to time I am going to post some pretty good ideas. Ones that I should patent and make tons of money on, but I never will. So I thought I would make them a part of the public knowledge (which is also a part of the definition of the word patent), hoping more that my ideas would come to fruition, than me making money off them. So, if you ever see something great in the "Good Ideas" feel free to make my, and your, dreams come true! Make all the money you want without the requirement to pay the idea guy. (However, you can if you want!)

An idea came to me one night when I was looking for something to drink. I usually settle for water, which I like a lot, don't get me wrong. But I wanted something different this time. There was some soda in the fridge, I thought about it, but then I remembered that I don't like soda, but I couldn't figure out why. I like the taste just fine, I even appreciate the caffeine and sugar sometimes, if I'm having a particularly long night. So what was it that made me hate soda so... Then it hit me! There should be a "low-carb" soda. Now I know what your thinking, "there already is a low carbohydrate soda, and they all taste funny." No no my friend, not low carbohydrate, low carbonation!!!! Not flat mind you, nobody likes flat soda, I just want a soda with less carbs. I don't like that full feeling, with all the bloating and burping it's just not what I'm looking for in a beverage. I know it must be possible to regulate the amount of tiny bubbles in soda because it would seem that ginger ale has way more than root beer, as an example! It would be called "Low Carb" soda. That would be so awesome!

Thank you for reading!
Scott.