Fellowship, any one?

[NickHassan]

Hi,
Speaking of the salvation witness of Jesus Christ in heaven.
1Jn 5.8
” For there are three that bear witness, the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement”
So that is the baptism of John, the blood of the lamb in sacrifice and the Spirit.
We do not have the baptism of John but the baptism in the name of Jesus is for the same purpose, the forgiveness of sin, as well as entering the body of Christ united in his death.We too have the witness of his Spirit.

I do wonder also about the meaning of the blood of Jesus. The life is in the blood. We have places\roles in the body but fellowship perhaps is the life in the blood of Christ, and why it is symbolised in wine at the last supper. The blood poured out on the cross, rejoined in symbol with the broken body, rejoined in the assembly of believers in fellowship?

[Cubes]

Hi all,

Got another rattlesnake in our yard again a couple of hours ago. This time we did not panic as before to summon the battleships. I still had the heebygeebies to so much as look upon it when Spheres told me and I quickly rounded up Mongo, our dog, and Linear into the house. The rattler was down stairs sunning itself up on some bricks and could be viewed safely from the deck; so Linear, our 5 year old who is a great fan of the Jeff Corwin's Experience, the Crocodile Hunter and all manner of wildlife programs, had to see it, which I permitted from the safety of the deck.

She came back and said that it was either the timber or diamondback rattlesnake but that she felt sure it was the diamond back. She illustrated it in drawing right down to its flickering tongue. She included fangs, which she admitted to being from what she'd seen on TV; she threw a lot of snake vocabulary at me, using words like Territory and Habitat that is almost abnormal for a 5 year old. We laughed when she grabbed her sunglasses and said, “that would protect my eyes from any venom…says Steve Irwin…” We reminded her that it is the Cobra that spits that we are pretty sure that rattlesnakes do not. But it was delightful to have her think that way…we certainly didn't!

By now I figured if my 5 year old could look at the snake then I might as well. So I did. It was about 3 feet long and its tail looked darker than I had expected, complete with a rattle. We would later count 10 rings on its rattle. At this point I seem to get a little courage and inspiration from watching those shows with Linear, and decided that we should do something to contain the snake ourselves. Just to be on the safe side we called the police. It's the Fourth of July so they took about an hour getting here and we had the tall garbage can with lid, tape, scissors and long broom handle ready to go, we had him in the bin once but it got out before we could close it; so we basically ended up monitoring it again. The police got here and this time Spheres was involved in the capture.

I must say that aside from it's being venomous, it was the darlingnest snake I ever met, very placid and lovely to look at, not ferocious at all — only rattled when it was picked up.

Brought to mind this verse:

18 There are three things which are too wonderful for me,
Yes, four which I do not understand:
19 The way of an eagle in the air,
The way of a serpent on a rock,
The way of a ship in the midst of the sea,
And the way of a man with a virgin.

The police officer said we could take it up the mountain, that the Snakeman would be hard to reach this holiday. So we grabbed some water for everbody, drove halfway further up the mountain and hiked the rest of the way up to the summit, where we let it go. We also aptly noted that God has given us dominion and it was nice to feel somewhat in charge of the situation this time around. And a lot of credit goes to Jeff Corwin, Steve Irwin and those guys who educate the public about these things. It's cool to think a rattlesnake rode in our car in a secured container of course.

We know that the last snake we saw in our yard visited on July 11, 2004. There was another a few years back but we didn't note the date then. We wonder if it's the same visitor… or if there is some radar system or cyclical rhythm involved? We wouldn't be surprised because we saw a show with Ruud the Bug Man a couple days ago which demonstrated that household roaches follow a known chemical trail made up of their, well, poop which can be used to lure them and control their population. Who knew?

It's so amazing the wisdom and the handiwork of God. I hope people like Jeff Corwin and his cohorts come to know who is behind it all.

We're thinking to dub the snake “Sam” for Uncle Sam, given the holiday today, and will be looking out for it about this time next year when hopefully, we'd be wiser and braver still. Linear is not bothered about it at all and is in the yard playing in her usual way, much to my own discomfort as I admit myself to be of less faith right now.

Isaiah 11:8 The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole,
And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.

10 “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse,
Who shall stand as a banner to the people;
For the Gentiles shall seek Him,
And His resting place shall be glorious

[Cubes]

The previous verse is from Proverbs 30:18-19

[NickHassan]

Hi Cubes,
Great story. We do not have snakes here and Ruud is a New Zealand export to your land having been a regular on a garden program here for many years.
We are currently setting up a Homestay at our place now that all the kids have left home.Pop over sometime.

Rom 16.20
” And the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet”

[Cubes]

Thank you, Nick.

Well, I love New Zealand for that reason alone although I know it is a beautiful place and has much to offer. You have to realize that as much as possible, I avoid the snake exhibit when I visit a Zoo, that's how bad it's been! But yesterday was liberating. And no, I didn't know that Ruud is a New Zealander–go figure! Well we just saw his program about 2 or 3 weeks ago and he has quickly become a favorite at our house, helping us make sense out of the assortment of insects we find in our yard and home. It's a marvel. I study by this floor lamp which shade Mongo broke and we decided not to replace. At night when it's lit, its brightness attracts a universe of various insects to this bay window. They hang on to the glass and we can view them from their undersides… I never realized there were so many different kinds of moths, but not just moths. Other hard winged/shelled insects. It's a marvel.

Thanks for the invite and God willing we shall do that someday. Would love to. I used to youth hostel quite a bit but married life has thus far restricted our travels to around the eastern to midwestern coasts of our own great country where we can get to by car. Certainly let us know when you are heading to this part of the world, if you don't mind roughing it a bit at our house.

[NickHassan]

Thanks cubes and Spheres,
Ruud wasn't born here but we claim him anyway.

[Cubes]

That's the spirit, Nick, way to go! Sometimes you've just got to do that.

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