The Auto Auction Group

God has an enemy – Cremastocheilus Beetle ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the Americas a little brown or black beetle lives that most of us would not even notice. In fact, most of you would probably just step on it if you came across it. But, this little beetle has a fascinating story.

This beetle happens to be a parasite. We usually think of a parasite as something that lives in or on us and makes us sick or itch. But this beetle is a parasite on ants!

Its name is Cremastocheilus (Kree-mast-oh-kyle’-us), sometimes called the anteater scarab and is nothing special to look at. But, it has an incredible ability. It is able to change the way it smells.

If you are familiar with ants, then you know that they are able to recognize others in their colonies with their marvelous sense of smell. They cannot do it by sight, because they cannot see very well. In fact, some ants are totally blind. So, when two ants meet, they will stroke the other ant with their antennae collecting minute amounts of chemicals in special receptors that allow them to identify if the other ant is friend or foe.

Incredibly, the Cremastocheilus beetle can change the way it smells. When it is time for the female beetle to lay her eggs, she will go to an ant nest and walk up to the entrance. She then changes the way she smells so that the ants will think that she is an ant from that colony.

Once she has passed the guards, she makes her way down into the ant nest and finds the nursery. She then lays her eggs in with the ant eggs.

When the baby beetle hatches, it smells like a baby ant. But, it does not eat what baby ants eat. It eats baby ants! The ants take care of it anyway, because to them it smells right.

When the baby beetle gets big enough, it will pupate and then become an adult. As an adult, it leaves the ant nest to find another adult beetle to mate with. The female will then find another ant nest and start the cycle over again.

When I think of this beetle, it reminds me a lot of God’s enemy, sin. We are so blind, that in many respects we are just like the ant. We think that sin is normal in our lives and so we just tend to ignore it. We need special direction from God to recognize and destroy the sin in our lives.

If we don’t get rid of the sin, it will destroy the most precious things in our lives and eventually kill us as well. Let’s ask God to help us to find the parasites in our lives and destroy them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Resources ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have not been able to find common books with pictures of Cremastocheilus in them. However, there are a few published on the web. I suggest going to Google.com and clicking on the images tab. Then search for cremastocheilus and you should be able to find an image or two.

If you want to collect some specimens, the easiest way to do that is to put a large flat rock on the nest of one of the large carpenter ant colonies found in most pine forests. You can tell them, because they make a large pile of pine needles and if you listen, you can hear them rustling around inside. To catch some, place a large flat rock on the side of the nest. Come back in a few days when the sun has been warming up the rock. One of these beetles can often be found warming up under the rock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracking God News IS PUBLISHED BY: http://www.trackinggod.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

copyright 2002 Ron McCluskey You may reproduce this newsletter in part or in whole providing that you include the website, contact information and resource links.

The time of romance is approaching; if you would like to add some sexiness to your Valentines Day; can you fathom a greater method than buying a bit of flirtatious new bras direct from the BeCheeky website? Whether you’re a man browsing for a wonderful offering for his spouse or lady friend or a woman surveying the market to seduce her lover; you can find the truly choicest in agreeable under wear at the BeCheeky web-site.

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Historical structures and buildings have immense value due to their heritage. From the perspective of tourism, these older buildings attract visitors to appreciate a building that has withstood the onslaught of time and weather conditions. From the real estate perspective, these buildings command high value.

The protection of buildings and architectural structures has a multiplying effect on their future values. Buildings stand on foundations. Like the biblical rocky foundation, a well-laid foundation takes care of the visible part of the building for a long period. The design and materials of the foundation shape and determine the life of the building.

Foundations are affected by soil conditions and the surroundings. This causes differential movement of the building foundations. Soil contains moisture, and the moisture content is determined by different types of soil. For instance, clay soil absorbs moisture quickly and also loses at the same rate. Clay soil expands or contracts according to moisture content in the weather. Clay soil can shrink or expand to a maximum of 65 percent of the volume.

The foundation performance is also affected by the surroundings, plants and trees and other man-made problems, such as wet spots at the side of foundation due to leaking faucets or poor drainage. According to the Foundation Repair Association, foundation repairs alone cost over 12 billion dollars annually. The major cause of foundation repairs is poor maintenance. Increasing regulations to comply with safety considerations have forced homeowners and property managers to do maintenance work even though the best preventive action will not entirely prevent a foundation from moving.

The strategic goal of foundation maintenance is to maintain a constant moisture content in the soil around and below the foundation, and to prevent soil erosion. Foundation MMS plays a role by calling attention to wet spots like faucets and drains for maintenance. It also determines the water content and flow in the gardens and nurseries in case of sprinkler and irrigation systems. It also alerts for termite damage maintenance for wooden constructions.

Since foundation MMS is a very niche area, software vendors are few. The software can be a stand-alone application, or clubbed with property or facilities MMS.

Maintenance Management Software provides detailed information on Equipment Maintenance Management Software, Facility Maintenance Management Software, Fleet Maintenance Management Software, Foundation Maintenance Management Software and more. Maintenance Management Software is affiliated with Fleet Maintenance Software.

For over a hundred years, traditional phones have enhanced the communication. When this medium crossed the oceanic borders, it set a revolution by bridging the distance amongst humans in real time. Toward the end of the last century, the arrival of Internet pushed the revolution by transmitting data, both text and visual, among computers. The amalgamation of the traditional phone system and the borderless world of web have advanced the communication capabilities of mankind.

The transmission of voice over Internet has been technically termed as Voice over Internet protocol. Protocol is a method by which data is transmitted between computers using unique IP address. Traditional phones work by converting voice into analog signals and then transmitting the signals through cable. Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, works by converting analog signals into digital signals as the transmission of data is done over the Internet digitally by chunking the voice into units of 0s and 1s.

VoIP calls can be made through traditional phones and IP phones. For traditional phones, one needs an Analog Telephone Adaptor (ATP) to convert analog to digital signals. With IP phones, all one needs to do is to hook up a microphone to the computer. Besides these, there should be an internet connection provided by the ISP and software to enable voice transmission.

Once the call is placed, the computer sends the voice to the router of VoIP provider. The router identifies the IP address of the called party’s service provider and sends it. The latter completes the call by connecting the call to the called party.

According to Forrester research group, there will be five million VoIP users in the US by 2006. VoIP is preferred over phones because of lower costs and increased functionalitythat is, the calls can be placed from anywhere by plugging into the network. Just like any other evolving technology, however, VoIP faces many hurdles in the form of regulation of services and quality, and it will take sometime before it replaces the conventional phones.

VOIP provides detailed information on VOIP, VOIP Providers, VOIP Phone System, VOIP Solutions and more. VOIP is affiliated with Wireless IP Phones.

Would you believe the sterling is fetching less than the euro at currency exchanges, one would think there would be a few excellent ski bargains to be booked in snowboarding resorts this season as skiers rest at home to combat the financial crisis. Initial figures barely publicised highlight that skiing resorts are 89 percent booked during the New Year and Xmas time period. 13 percent up on the same period last year.

You’ll probably have some luck in early 2009 that at the moment has a 34 % booking rate. Signs of a downturn is across the important Feb ski vacation month which has 66 % reservations, 2 percent down on last season. Booking centres in the ski fields of Espace Killy, Isola 2000, Les Orres and Espace Killy have observed strong inquiries during December boosted by the good early on ski season snow fall. Chastreix-Sancy has better bookings in comparison to last year, whilst Les Grands Montets enjoyed a first-class New Year.

However there is substantial interest in a larger catered chalet, 6 to 9 places, as folk group-up to save. Evidence highlights that DIY ski breaks are doing well, evidence perhaps that keen skiers are not going to sacrifice their ski holiday. However bookings for package ski holidays are lower than last year.

Rakeback Offers

Numerous betters have asked me “Why should I need a poker rakeback? I play on the World Wide Web when I have an incentive.” What will happen if you decide to play poker full time? There are a host of bettors in the poker community who are very upset at not using rakeback offers but right away they have now signed up for all the leading poker websites. Do not turn into one of them. If you are a better who plays up to one or two dollars and then only bets if you are clearing bonus payments, you could be receiving usually around one hundred percent rake back considering the bonus payment on your play. One leading site recently shut down card players that played on their room merely for this kind of play. It’s anyone’s guess if this exercise might initiate a new trend. Should this come about then instantly a rake back deal is going to be an essential.

Some day you might just hit tiptop form and then become extremely lucky, that’s if it hasn’t happened already. I was hurt in an on the job accident then online poker came along during my recovery, I have no regrets. That’s over 2 years ago yet I haven’t had a job since then all down to internet gaming and rake back deals. Planning ahead is as ever a good plan. Think of it as an investment in tomorrow, even if you don’t imagine poker rake back is for you at the moment it just might be a good strategy in the future, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you’re thinking about signing up for any new poker room signing up for rake back has to be a great strategy.

The poker fanatics’ interest association Rakeback Professionals is happy to offer so many respectable affiliates all in the same place. Savoring the benefits can be as easy as looking up a The Rakeback Professionals website affiliated web site or as accessible as sending an e-mail. The partner will get everybody up and running in no time. You can begin playing straightaway. Sign up with a partner through Rakeback Professionals you can always rest easy as every single affiliate will have been screened and also have agreed to authorize The Rakeback Professionals agency to arbitrate whatever conflict which might happen. All The Same since we screen all our partners, we have had hardly any complaints and we always move swiftly to look into every issue for the peace of mind of any poker players.

All (Hollywood) stories follow the same pattern. After deconstructing more than 100 successful Hollywood blockbusters, we can make this statement with certainty.

Below is a sample of the pattern and a deconstruction of one of Hollywood’s Greatest Films.

Jaws (1975) deconstructed

FADE IN: Context: music, underwater, dark, something, lurking…

Antagonism: Jaws attacks the girl in the water.

Meeting the Hero and Allies in their Ordinary World [home]: Martin, Ellen and Michael Brody at home. Hero’s Backstory: we bought the house in Fall, now it’s Summer; “like you’re from New York.”

Foreshadow of the Journey: the phone rings…missing person on the beach…gotta go.

Warning: “listen chief, be careful will ya…”

Developing Character: Brody on the beach with the boyfriend.

Call to Adventure: finding the body on the beach.

Hero in his Ordinary World [office]: Brody in the office.

Foreshadow of the Adventure: probable cause of death…Shark Attack; the Doctor’s call.

Obstacles to the First Threshold: minor characters and police issues that block Brody out of the office.

The World of the Journey: the characters we meet on the way to the shop.

Forced to the First Threshold: some kids are doing a mile long swim for their merit badges.

Interdictor: the mayor tells Brody he hasn’t the authority to shut down the beach or “yell shark!”

Foreshadow of the Physical Separation: Alex goes into the water.

Hero Frustrated: Brody watching the water, “chief Brody you are uptight.”

Forced to Counter the Interdiction: Jaws attacks Alex; “everybody out…”

Developing Characters and Relationships: the meeting.

Meeting the Shape Shifter: Quint will deliver the head, the tail, the whole damn thing for $10,000.

Seeking Guidance / Developing Characters and Relationships: Brody reading about sharks; with Ellen.

Developing the Antagonism: “Michael, out of the water now!”

Developing the Antagonism: Jaws pulls the pier apart; Brody reading the book; the visual images of shark attacks.

Warnings: Brody tries to get the shark hunters out of the water.

Meeting the Mentor: Matt Hooper arrives.

Developing the Antagonism: Hooper examines the body.

Pushed toward the Physical Separation: Hooper’s examination: it was a shark!

Resisting the Physical Separation: they think they’ve caught the shark.

Foreshadow of the Physical Separation: Quint sails by.

Pushed towards the Physical Separation: Hooper wants to cut the shark open.

Pulled from the Physical Separation: the Mayor resists cutting open the shark.

Pushed toward the Physical Separation: Alex’s mother slaps Brody in the face.

Developing Characters and Relationships; Mentor’s Backstory: Hooper brings around some bottles of wine. Inner Challenge made explicit: Ellen recalls that Brody couldn’t even drive over a bridge.

Physical Separation: they cut open the shark and find no human remains.

Developing Characters and Relationships / Developing Backstory: Brody and Hooper on the boat;

Transformation / Trial 1: the boat is working its way along the territorial waters where the shark has been feeding; they find Ben Gardner’s boat; Hooper goes underwater and finds the dead body.

Transformation / Trial 2: not convincing the Mayor; “tomorrow is the 4 th July…”

Transformation / Trial 3: Amityville is open on the 4 th July; nobody’s going n the water; the false alarm; attack in the pond.

Symbol of Transformation: “take Michael home.” “Home New York?” “No, home here.”

Meeting the Oracle: Brody forces Larry to authorise the hiring of a contractor [Quint].

Entering the World of the Sword: Quint’s place.

Developing Characters and Relationships: “I don’t need this working class hero crap…”

Preparing for the Journey: “what are you, some kind or half arsed astronaut…”

Foreshadow of the Final Conflict: the cage.

Warnings: Ellen says goodbye.

Journey to the Sword: the boat sets sail.

Trial 1 / Developing Characters and Relationships: “keep that chum line going chief…”; the smell…

Magical Gift: Martin drops the compressed air.

Trial 2: Brody ties the knot.

Trial 3: the gamefish / is it the shark? sequence.

Battle with the Guardians: “we’re going to need a bigger boat…”Jaws appears in full length; that’s a 25 footer, 3 tons on him.

Foreshadow of the Near Death Experience: Quint on the radio.

Foreboding / Warnings / Resistance: “foreground my ass!”

Seizing the Sword: harpooning Jaws with the barrels.

Developing Characters and Relationships: comparing scars.

Near Death Experience: the USS Indianapolis story; the whale; the song; Jaws attacks the boat.

Foreshadow of the Final Conflict: Brody with his gun.

Reward: the barrel is up.

Refusal: Quint smashes the radio; there is no going back for a bigger boat.

Atonement with the Father: they harpoon two barrels onto him.

Apotheosis: Jaws goes down with three barrels.

Ultimate Boon: “we’re heading in Brody…”"Thank Christ!”

Magic Flight: Quint pushes the boat until it burns out.

Rescue from Without: “Hooper, what can we do with these things of yours…?”

Foreboding at the Border: “I got no spit…”

Crossing the Return Threshold: going down in the cage:

Catharsis 1: Jaws attacks the cage.

Catharsis 2: Jaws eats Quint.

Master of the Two Worlds:

Brody puts the tank into Jaws’ mouth.

Catharsis 3: Brody pokes Jaws away.

Build up to Final Catharsis: Brody shoots but misses the tank.

Catharsis 4: Brody shoots the tank.

Physical Celebration: Brody screams for joy.

Freedom to Live:

Hooper reappears.

Physical Celebration: Brody and Hooper laugh.

The birds.

Inner Challenge Conquered: “I used to hate the water…”

They swim to shore.

Learn more…

The Complete 188 stage Hero’s Journey and other story structure templates can be found at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

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Kal Bishop is a management consultant based in London, UK. His specialities include Knowledge Management and Creativity and Innovation Management. He has consulted in the visual media and software industries and for clients such as Toshiba and Transport for London. He has led Improv, creativity and innovation workshops, exhibited artwork in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London and written a number of screenplays. He is a passionate traveller. He can be reached at http://www.clickok.co.uk/

One cannot begin to appreciate the early struggles of Christianity for existence without at least a rudimentary knowledge of its formative history. Thus, it behooves us to take a brief look at Gnosticism and its challenge to early Christianity.

Christianity’s infancy history comprised a time teeming with religious theories; a time when religious discussion was a popular occupation among thinkers of every type. So it was inevitable that in the enthusiastic interchange of religious ideas, truth and error would intermingle and the pure doctrines of Christianity soon became threatened.

Though Christianity faced many and varied forms of opposition as it spread and came into contact with other cultural forms, heresy presented a totally different kind of contrariety. And although the conflict subsequently resulted in ameliorated understanding of the meaning of Christ and a more lucid presentation of Christian belief, heresy was by far the most serious menace Christianity had to confront. The challenge was in the arena of thought. In its most sinister form it appeared under the title of Gnosticism.

Gnosticism is a term derived from the Greek “gnosis” and translates “knowledge.” It generally applied collectively to the majority of those second century movements which called themselves Christian or borrowed heavily from Christian sources. Gnosticism denotes the teachings of a group of deviationists who were scorned by many orthodox Christians. It claimed to be a sure way to knowledge, hence, the vision of God. It claimed that its rites, ceremonies, prescriptions and its path to God were divinely inspired and transmitted to the elite esoteric through a mysterious tradition. Furthermore, and perhaps most offensive to Christianity, it claimed, in essence, that its magical formulas offered an infallible means to salvation.

It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the origin of Gnosticism. Suffice it to say that most theories seem to agree that it was a confluence of many diverse streams of thought emanating from pre-Christian mystery religions.

The basic nature of second century Gnosticism was firmly rooted in a dualism between spirit and matter. It held that matter is essentially evil. For the Gnostics, God could not be held responsible for the evil constitution of the world, and so they differentiated the supreme God from the creator of the world. To account for evil matter, the Gnostics evolved a doctrine of emanations from God. These emanations flowed from God and each further from God until finally there was one so distant from Him that it could touch matter. This emanation was the creator of the world.

Adding insult to injury, there were some Gnostics who believed that the emanations flowing from God were actual forces and divine persons in whom the Deity unfolded His being. The greatest of these emanations was the figure of Christ who was given the honor of being set apart from all other emanations.

It is necessary to also include here a statement about a group of Gnostics known as Docetists. They held the belief that Christ’s body was only a phantom and that the “true” Christ has no bodily form. This was an important idea to the Gnostics since if matter was regarded as evil, then Christ could not be burdened with a material body, for then He would not have been able to accomplish the redemption from matter.

The Gnostic system of belief simulataneously destroyed the divinity and humanness of Jesus, and cast a dark unholy shadow on the doctrine central to the Christian faith. Not only did Gnostics deny the incarnate Christ, but their ethics were in strict violation of traditional church views.

I cannot begin to impress upon you the apparent power of Gnosticism’s influence. It threatened to undermine the essential foundations of Christianity. These foundations the Church was bound to protect if only to preserve the human historical Jesus. Thus, early Church fathers arose to the defense of the Christian faith.

Against the denial of Christ’s humanity, Fathers of the Church underlined the reality of the incarnation and stressed the importance of the work of Jesus. Against the denial of Old Testament truths, the Fathers maintained the identity of Creator and Savior and developed a theology of salvation history. The Gnostics annulled the unity of the human race by dividing it into spiritual, psychic and material classes. This led the Fathers to extol free will and personal responsibility of each individual.

To a large degree, the development of Christian doctrine was in reaction against Gnosticism. It is difficult, if not impossible, to clearly discern when and where the Gnostic movement was halted by the Church. The important thing is that Christianity was successful in its defense of the faith.

Unfortunately, the spirit of Gnosticism lives on even today. The clothing is apparently different, but once disrobed we see the nude body of Gnosticism in many of our branches of religion.

It is, of course, virtually impossible to adequately describe Gnosticism in its fullest context in the space of a few paragraphs. Certainly one could expound extensively on New Testament writers, particularly John’s response to heresy. The subject is complex and speculative. All readers are encouraged to pursue this subject further.

Saundra L. Washington, an ordained clergywoman and social worker, has practiced concurrently in the fields of social work and ministry for almost three decades. She is the Founder of AMEN Ministries, http://www.clergyservices4u.org and the author of two coffee table books: Room Beneath the Snow, Poems that Preach and Negative Disturbances, Homilies that Teach.

Do you know the meaning of a safe place to fall? Parents are to give their children that place where no matter what they do or the mistakes they make, we love them unconditionally and give them “A SAFE PLACE TO FALL”

Growing up I was taught that the Lord also gave us a safe place to fall. He washed away our sins and had an unfailing love, no matter what mistakes we made on our path we could turn toward him. He teaches us how to be a better parent and a better person and what it means to have unfailing love. “Psalm 13:5″ NIV

This all leads up to a news broadcast I just happened to hear on the television the other day. I was watching my morning news show when they had a young man, a father of 2 boys and husband to a beautiful wife explain his plight of a near disaster the day before.

This young man had decided to fulfill a life long dream and parachute out of a plane. He was trained beforehand and taught all the necessary items needed for a successful jump. It was a jump that was tethered to the aircraft and the tether yanked the rip cord that released his parachute and got him safely to earth. He said he was very excited about this jump and felt very prepared to take it, but what that jump did for him that day was more than he had ever bargained for. He not only experienced the free falling to earth but had also taken a leap of faith and was given a sign from our Maker.

As he jumped out of the plane that Sunday in August, he realized that something was terribly wrong. He was spinning out of control and having trouble figuring out his position in the sky. He struggled to try and figure out which hand was left and which hand was right, and he couldn’t tell his altitude. He was taught that if he pulled his backup parachute after 2000 feet it was sure death. Disoriented from the fall he made no attempt to try and pull his parachute. What he did do, was something we as Christians should always do when faced with extraordinary circumstances, he started to pray. He said a prayer similar to this: I believe in you Lord, I trust in you and if there is any way for you to save me from this fall and allow me to see my family again, I would be truly blessed. He said at that very moment of prayer, he felt what he couldn’t explain, a warm hug that wrapped around him and he knew that whatever happened in his fall would be okay. Miraculously, the Lord answered his prayers and somehow he fell into a soft spot of the earth, where the ground was cushioned, literally, a SAFE PLACE TO FALL. Surviving a fall like that was miracle in itself but the young man had only suffered a broken leg and a fractured jaw. The power of prayer and its wonders is a true testimonial for this young father to share with his family and the world.

I can only hope that my belief in the Almighty and what he can do for me is as strong as this young man’s faith. I know that I can always call upon the Lord when my life is spinning out of control and he will give me A SAFE PLACE TO FALL. What a comfort.

About The Author

Copyright 2005 Karen Parker

Usuage Notification Appreciated Contact kspflem@aol.com

I am a Christian and believe in the power of prayer. A mother of 4 and a homemaker I hope to get the message out to people in my community and the world that God truly lives. My hobbies are writing, reading, and homemaking.

“In the Fullness of Time…”

“To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, To the last syllable of recorded time; And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to a dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow; a poor player, that struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” –Macbeth, Act V, Scene v.

One’s weltanschauung is determined by the aperture through which time and history is viewed. Modern secularism, consisting of humanism, relativism, pragmatism, pluralism, statism and neo-Darwinism, each in correlation, perceives history as the consequence of impersonal natural forces acting at random in a blind movement of energy in cyclical fashion. Secularism’s foci is the present world, its focus is the experiential now. Time is devoid of any purposeful design renouncing any symmetry by which sequential events within the individual or the nation are progressing unto a consummation. The enhancement of the self in the existential now is secularism’s raison d’ etre. Each fleeting nanosecond is demanded to bring meaning and fulfillment but the ever passing present is incapable of such grand expectations. The attempt to extract from the momentary what is immutable, stable and enduring is fruitless. It is what one philosopher calls trying to “eternalize time.” The secularist ends up in what Thomas Altizer describes as a “…a total immersion in historical time, and an immersion that is totally isolated from any meaning or reality that might lie beyond it.” (Dialectic of the Sacred, p. 23) Late 20th century cosmopolitan man or woman lives in a calendar prison as constricting and oppressive as the walls and bars that enclose the inmate of any maximum security prison. With each passing hour the reduction of life grows more pronounced and controlling. Having rejected any meaning or reality that might lie outside the constricted moment, man has become time’s prisoner. Within this enslavement, time has inflicted him with a disease from which there is no endemic antidote. “Eater of all things lovely–Time! Upon whose watering lips the world poises a moment (futile, proud, a costly morsel of sweet tears) gesticulates and disappears.” (E. E. Cummings, Puella Mea, p. 20) Modern secularism, having discounted any realm or dimension outside the present world has become the embodiment of myopia.

In the late ’60s, three British astrophysicists, Roger Penrose, George Ellis and Steven Hawking made a discovery that impinges on the prevailing world view of time and history. Expanding on Einstein’s original equations of general relativity, which implied the origin for matter and energy, the three physicists established that matter was not only finite but that time and space also had a beginning and thus was not infinite. “…in real time, the universe has a beginning and an end at singularities that form a boundary to space-time and at which the laws of science break down.” (Steven Hawking, A Brief History of Time, p. 139) The space-time theorem of general relativity has enormous implications, theologically and philosophically. For time is the dimension in which cause and effect phenomena take place. Without time there is no cause and effect. If time had a genesis, concurrent with the origin of the universe, then there must, by necessity, be an antecedent reality or dimension, that existed before time and was its matrix. This dimension would not be subject to time or space in any contingent manner, but would be the determination of such. Astrophysicist Hugh Ross sums up the point of divergence between the measurable and the immeasurable, “If time’s beginning is concurrent with the beginning of the universe, as the space-time theorem says, then the cause of the universe must be some entity operating in a time dimension completely independent of and preexistent to the time dimension of the cosmos. This conclusion is powerfully important to our understanding of who God is and who or what God isn’t. It tells us that the Creator is transcendent, operating beyond the dimensional limits of the universe. It tells us that God is not the universe itself, nor is God contained within the universe. Pantheism and aetheism do not square with the facts..” (The Creator and the Cosmos, p. 76)

“In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

3,500 years before the discovery of the three British scientists, in a succinct and understated declaration, there is set forth the axiom of time and history; time is a creation from a transcendent God. It is the dimension into which the Eternal God would condescend to display His eternal nature to his handiwork, with the ultimate intent to prepare those created in time for eternal communion with Him. In the words of William Blake, time “is the mercy of eternity.” It exists by God’s appointing to make eternity accessible to humanity, for the God of eternity pervades time. Time being a consequence of the Divine fiat presents no boundary, constraint or limitation to God. He is revealed as a God of infinitude; without boundary, measureless and unlimitable. Not sequestered by time or the events therein, God can operate simultaneously in myriad dimensions. One of the prominent names in the Old Testament for God’s relation to time and history is “First and Last” (Heb. aleph and tau, the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Isa. 41:4, 44:6, 48:12). The name indicates that God encircles, boundaries and encloses all of history. He initiates it, sums it up and is present in all its movements. God is controlling every nanosecond, directing it along to its consummate goal. The title pictures God as standing at time’s birth and omega point simultaneously and within every intervening second saturating it with His providential preservation, direction and redemptive grace. God has enclosed time with His abiding presence. Solomon describes the theistic perspective of time, “He has made everything beautiful in its time…” (Eccles. 3:11). Solomon utilizes a Hebrew word frequently used in the Old Testament for the contour of a beautiful woman. He sees in history a symmetry, a harmony, a contour of interrelatedness and design, not a discordant morass heading mindlessly toward a cul-de-sac. The historic Christian view of time has always embraced early Judaism’s perspective of God’s sovereignty over history. “History in the Jewish conception is not a chaos leading to nowhere. But an overall progression with a definite goal which it derives from God who is above history, and who rules and controls history. For God in Jewish teaching is not only the Lord of nature, but also the Lord of history. History is the arena wherein God’s activity on behalf of man is made manifest, and in which, and through which, His eternal purpose is being fulfilled.” (Isidore Epstein, The Faith of Judaism, p. 258)

“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

C. S. Lewis writes that among times “…there is a time that turns a corner and everything this side of it is new. Times do not go backward.” (Perelandra, p. 62). At the kairos point of history, when the religious, political, economic and social pieces were all in place, the time was ripe. Like a vessel full to the brim, history was at its fullest measure. Under the control of God every ordained event in preparation for this climactic advent had transpired. The prophets of Israel who had described specific, soteric kairos periods to come to Israel and the world, had collectively reached an apex of fulfillment. The anticipatory strand of history had reached the summit. In a backwater province in the Roman empire in a rustic village, aesthetically offensive, that spoke of the ignoble status of the lineage of David, Eternity would intersect time. Time’s conquest would be accomplished by one who laid in an ox trough. The ancient cry for God to rend the Heavens and come down (Isa. 64:1) would be answered in a manner far different than Sinai. The God of Eternity would display the essence of His love for the world; unreserved, self-emptying, self-sacrificial.

“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you one will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity. Therefore, He will give them up until the time when she who is in labor has borne a child…” (Micah 5:2-3)

For 600 years the House of David had been deprived of royal dominion, declining into the lowliness of its origin, into the obscurity of private life. Bethlehem spoke of humility and degradation without the least vestige of royalty. Nothing of David’s greatness would attend to the present descendants of his line. A young virgin was the divinely chosen descendant to bring forth the scion of David, his greater son, whose coming would inaugurate the day of salvation for Israel and the Gentile world. As a tender sprout, He would come forth from the stump of the felled tree of the House of David (Isa. 11:1, 53:2, II Sam. 23:5, Jer. 23:16, Zech. 6:12). The ancient village where David was born and anointed to become King of Israel would once again rise to prominence.

“And she shall bear a son; and you shall call his name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21). Before the birth of this child he was divinely designated to be named Jesus, indicating his soteric nature and work among men. The name “Jesus” is freighted with the implication of the deity of its bearer. For it is the Greek form of the Hebrew Yehousa (“Jehovah is salvation”). Every First Century Jew understood that only God could bring rescue and forgiveness from sin (Isa. 43:11, 45:22, Ps. 67:2). Salvation was exclusively a work of God alone. In Pesikta Kahana there is a characterization of the Messiah’s speech, “Confidence and restfulness are in His words. His tongue gives pardon and forgiveness…” (Pes. K. 149a). The Son of God left eternity to become the Gaal, i.e., Kinsman Redeemer of mankind. One who is related to those in need of redemption and thus qualified to present the redemptive price for their complete salvation.

2,000 years removed from Bethlehem’s advent, Christmas for millions is just an opportunity for a cultural celebration without a vestige of redemptive adoration. Yet the enduring significance of the incarnation confronts us still. Time’s prisoner has been offered liberation by the Father of the Ages. A portal from earth to eternity has been opened and the passageway secured by the Divine Visitor of Bethlehem. His voice still reverberates, “Come unto me, all that labor and are heavy-laden and I will give you rest.” The fiat nature of that voice can bring peace by a whisper. Though it appears that most are deaf to this soteric sound, a consummate day that He and the prophets foretold, as certain as His first advent, is on the horizon. He will speak then, not as the Kinsman Redeemer from Bethlehem, but as the Kurios of the cosmos.

“The Word of the Father, by whom all the cycles of time were made, entered time itself when he was made flesh in Bethlehem. With the Father the Word precedes all the time, but by a human mother the Word chose a particular day to appear in time. The mother of men became a man. The ruler of the stars was born beneath the stars. The power that brings food from the earth sucked at the breast, and then ate bread. The One who is the Way to salvation walked along dusty roads. The eternal judge of all mankind was condemned by a mortal judge. The true vine wore a crown of thorns. The foundation of the earth itself was nailed to a tree. The source of all health was wounded in the side. The source of all joy suffered and died. He who was pure took upon himself the whole punishment of sin, that those who are saved, might go free. Through Christ, time itself is made sacred, the stars, the plants, the trees and the earth made holy-and mankind is saved.”-Augustine, The Trinity

You can contact Mr. Hilliard at exegete@teacher.com or visit his site www.clarionvoice.com