Monthly Archives: March 2009

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Podcast – Confidence

WARNING! This podcast may upset you!

I am not trying to ruffle any feathers here, but you may hear something on this podcast that you just might not like.  If so, let me hear from you – please leave a comment.  And if you like what you hear, then by all means feel free to leave a comment as well.

The information on this podcast strikes at the very heart of this site. The podcast is all about having confidence in God, which is so vital for you in receiving from God.  It’s about 16 minutes, so, click the player below and take a listen…

If you cannot hear the mp3, please click here.

What Do You Think?

Did it make sense to you?  Did you find it helpful?  Do you have a comment?  Let me know!

Look for more Podcasts as well as videos coming to Confidence And Joy!

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A Dream For Him And A Treat For Me

Owning this car has been a dream of his for ten years.  He finally got it last Thursday.  Kenny, my brother-in-law, is now the proud owner of a 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser.

At the risk of sounding like a car salesman, let me just say that this “dream” car is gorgeous and loaded with a ton of extras.  I had no idea that way back in ’57 there were cars that actually had “memory seats.”  (The power seats “remember” the previous settings.)  If you want to see all the great extras this model had, check out this web site:  LoveFords.org

Nice Timing

It looks like my wife and I picked the perfect time to visit.  We arrived just hours after the “Cruiser” was delivered to Kathy’s brother.  To say that Kenny was excited would be an understatement.

He told me how he has wanted this car for over ten years.  Fully restored Turnpike Cruisers are pretty rare, but he purchased his “dream cruiser” at a great price.

Don’t Give Up On Your Dreams

Dreams don’t happen over night; most often it takes some patient waiting.  But, sadly, a lot of people just give up on their dreams.  They allow situations and circumstances to talk them out of their dreams.

The Bible talks about God giving you the desires of your heart.  So, you can wait patiently, having confidence in God to do what He said He would do, or, you can get talked out of your dreams.

It Was A Treat

I was so happy to be there to share in Kenny’s excitement.  It was so much fun for me to see another one of his dreams come to pass.  And it was certainly a treat to go for a ride.  Not too many people can say that they got to go for a ride in a 1957 Mercury Turnpike Cruiser.

Don’t give up on your dreams, whatever they may be.

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The Eastern Eye – He Washed Their Feet

[The Bible is an “Eastern” book.  It was written many years ago in the “East” which today we refer to as “The Middle East.”  As such, there are many customs and idioms that are not familiar to the “Western” mind.]

If you went to your friend’s house and you were greeted at the door by something like, “Hi!  I’m glad you’re here.  Come on in, take off your shoes, and I’ll wash your feet,” you would probably wonder what in the world was going on!

I went to a friend’s house once, right after they got new carpet, and for awhile, they insisted that all guests take their shoes off before walking on their new carpet.  However, they never once offered to wash my feet.

The Last Supper

A lot of people are familiar with a foot washing incident that occurred during what is commonly called, “the last supper.”  This event took place shortly before Jesus was arrested.  And, while some understand the lesson regarding service, many fail to see an even greater impact that the lesson can have.

In the lands and times of the Bible, people wore sandals and walked on dusty roads.  It was, therefore, very common to have your feet washed upon entering a friend’s house.

Who’s Job Was It?

The servant that would perform this lowly task was usually the lowest servant in the household.  However, an exception to that was if the guest was someone of great importance, someone with a very high rank in society.  On those occasions, it was the master of the house who would wash the feet.

In the Bible culture, if the master of the house washed your feet, it was his way of recognizing that you were a very important person. It was an extremely high compliment.

What A Lesson!

When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples that night, he was not only teaching them humility and service, but he was also teaching them about love.  They knew that their own social status did not deserve that kind of treatment. That is why Peter objected and refused to have Jesus wash his feet.

When you look at the Scriptures through an “eastern eye,” many details and truths become apparent.  And isn’t it just something that right before he was about to suffer and die for the whole world, Jesus Christ treated his disciples like they were royalty?

John 13:4-17
He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.

If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.

It really is quite a lesson, isn’t it?

Mike Verdicchio

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For other posts just click “The Eastern Eye” tab above.

There are a number of books that you can read to get insight on customs, manners, idioms and meanings from the eastern culture in which the Bible was written.  The best I know of were written by by Bishop K. C. Pillai.  I have had the pleasure of listening to recorded teaching by him.

He wrote three books, and they are hard to find, and are usually over priced.  But, if you want to you can check this link to see what Amazon has to offer. Light Through an Eastern Window

Another great resource that I have used for years is a book called, “Manners and Customs of the Bible,” by James Freeman. Mine was printed in 1972 and I know they have newer additions. For the newest edition, just click the link and it will take you to Amazon. The New Manners and Customs of the Bible (Pure Gold Classics)

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Please Pass The Salt!

Some people profess the Bible says money is the root of all evil.  Saying money is the root of all evil is just as silly as saying salt is the root of all evil.

I brought my salt shaker to this video.

Leave a comment!

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How Big Is His Brain?

Everyone knows at least one or two facts about the human brain. In the movie, Jerry McGuire, I always remember when little Ray says, “Do you know that the human head weighs 8 pounds?”  He was right of course, and inside our eight pound head is an amazing brain that weighs only three pounds.  

Over the last few days I have heard a number of different things about our brains. A video playing in the chiropractor’s office said that to match the number of “bits” of information the brain holds, a computer would have to be about the size of Texas.

It is a proven fact that we humans have the most complex brain of any animal on earth.  Scientists estimate that 70,000 is the number of thoughts that the human brain produces on an average day.  What in the world are we all thinking about anyway?

100 Billion

Then as I was walking through the family room at my house, I overheard on the National Geographic channel my wife was watching that the human brain has something like 100 billion nerve cells, all of them tucked away neatly in a three pound package.

A couple of days later, I saw part of a program on the History Channel about the brain.  They were talking about what the brain does during REM sleep.  REM sleep is that period late in our sleep cycle in which the brain and body become active, increasing heart rate and blood pressure.

They speculate that the brain files all of the past day’s date during REM sleep. It puts things into permanent memory storage, throws out unnecessary things, etc.

There are still many things about the brain that they admit is just speculation at this point.  One thing that all scientists will agree on is that there is a lot that we just do not know about the human brain.

Why Am I Blogging About The Human Brain?

So what in the world does all this have to do with having confidence in God and living your life with joy?  Is this article on the wrong blog?    Well, hang on to your hat; or better yet, put your hat on your brain and read on.

After hearing different and interesting things about the human brain over a 6 or 7 day period I started thinking, which of course is what the brain does.  I first, for just a moment or two, thought about evolution.

Am I really to believe that this magnificent three pound computer just evolved from the mud and the monkeys?  Our personal computers have certainly evolved over the years, but not all by themselves!

And, as a side bar, I often wonder if those who really do honestly believe that we evolved from monkeys ever go to the zoo and sit compassionately in front of the monkeys and try to console them.  They could say things like, “Gee, I’m so sorry you haven’t made it yet.  I don’t know why we did, and you didn’t; I am so sorry for you.”

Okay, I digress.

How Big Is His Brain?

But what I really thought about was the brain of God.  You may remember that back in Genesis, after everything was ready, God formed, made and created human beings.  And so I thought, if our brain is so magnificent and so complex that we can’t even figure it all out, how big must the brain of God be?

What kind of intelligence did it take to design and make the human brain?  It would have to logically be an intelligence that far, far surpasses that which He has made.  That’s logical, isn’t it?

Perhaps that’s why the Bible says that the foolishness of God is wiser than man.  I always think of that as if God ever cracked a joke, we wouldn’t get it.

The Bible also talks about how the wisdom of man is foolishness to God.  I always think of that as if God were to look at a blackboard filled with computations by Albert Einstein He would say, “Gee that’s really nice, Albert.”  To God it would look like Albert just figured out two plus two equals four.

The Scriptures make it very clear when it says of God, that His thoughts are not our thoughts, and that as the heaven is high above the earth, so are His thoughts higher than our thoughts.

And Here’s The Really Cool Part!

God imparts His wisdom.  The Bible is full of His wisdom that we can apply in our everyday life situations.  The wisdom from the Bible is both practical and logical.  That is one of the big things that attracted me to the Bible in the first place.  Someone showed me that it was logical, and that I didn’t have to close my eyes and just take everything on faith.

And God can also impart His wisdom to us personally, because He is a personal God.  It was Jesus Christ who introduced the world to the concept of God being our Father.  A loving human father would certainly want to impart his wisdom to his children, right?  What about our Father God?

Since the wisdom from God far surpasses all of our wisdom, we can have confidence in looking to God for wisdom to help with our situations and circumstances.  We can look to the Scriptures for real practical answers.  And we can also ask Him for more wisdom, having confidence that He will do what He said He would do, and that is to work within us.  He will impart wisdom to you if you but ask Him.

Living your life based on His wisdom is indeed living with confidence and joy.

(And by the way, if you know a cool fact about the brain, share it with us in a comment below.)

Mike Verdicchio

Please Note: On the right hand column of this page, under, “From The Archives of Enriching Your Life Now,” I put a new PepCast, called, “It’s Your Choice.”  It has some information about what you can expect despite the economy.