Wanderings – Page 63 – The Life and Times of Joe Suttle

Seeing Light

joe May 20, 2008 Faith

Finally got my main email Inbox down to less than 50 emails (not filed). Generally tend to read my emails, but leave them in my Inbox while I decide what to do with them. Well, they got up to more than 250, and it was bothering me (about time). The "keepers" went to their multiple places of storage and the "read and done" ones went to the trash.This may seem elementary to most of you – your beautiful, clean Inbox has two or three messages in it. I'm working toward that day when I can just smash through the emails and either forward or reply "right now". Some of mine are like the "A, B, C" piles that they say managers should use. The "A's" get taken care of right now, etc. There are some emails that are newsletters that will get "read when I have time". Eventually they get read.

So, I finally saw (notice the past tense) the light in my Inbox, only to look in Thunderbird this morning, and find it's back up to 95 with 40 unread! Argggggh! (that was comic sound, like "Oh, no!")

Checking out another source of light in First John (again). Love to read these three letters near the end of the New Testament. John starts out (in chapter one) like he is going to write a Reader's Digest version of his gospel, but takes another direction. Here, he starts out stating that what he says is because of what he saw and heard. It's not a case here of what you or I believe, but what he witnessed. "Believe it or not."Then he starts talking about the "Light" and the fact that there is "no darkness in Him." I remember one time down in some cave on a tour and they turned out the lights. Nothing at all like turning the lights out at home – it was dark. Once you have a sense of how dark dark really is, you can better understand what just a little light can do for you.Maybe people back then had a better understanding of "dark" because they did not have street lights, and barnyard lights. There may have been some glow from the embers in the fireplace, but not much else. The dark, without moonlight was a foreboding place. Well, as John says, "if we walk in the Light…" Things would be different – much different.

Saturday Already

joe May 17, 2008 Church, General

Yup. That it is, and I’m still trying to catch up. Reminds me of the little rabbit in “Alice In Wonderland” – “I’m late, I’m late for a very important date.” At least that’s part of what I get to feeling. But this heat is not when I want to be running around working up a sweat or stress level.

Glad it finally cooled down last night, but can’t wait for the heat wave to end. I kinda melt in the heat – like something just sucks all the energy out of me. Then once the energy is gone, it takes a while to get back up to speed.

Having a hard time finishing a book that I have been reading for the past two months (actually have read two or three other fiction books while trying to finish it). The “problem child” is a book on the Reformation and Protestantism for “Dummies”. I’m no “dummy”, but this is like a college history book. Not althgether boring, but very much full of information.

Jumps from country to country, and by so doing, is not linear (world-wide). Have decided that after I finish the book, it will have to be re-read just so I can put the “world” back together. Amazing stuff about the Reformations (yes, it seems that there was more than one) and world history. Never tied all those British, French, German, Italian, etc. royal families to church history before now. Even in college, the kings and queens were “secular” and they were just battles or wars.

Don’t ask me who the kings and queens were, ’cause to me that’s not the important thing. What I am seeing now is that how they viewed the “Word” is/was what’s important. Thanks to some of them, we have “IT” to read. Reading “IT” has made a major difference in how people have lived and died.

It was as a result of so many of those early “Reformers” that we have a country like America. From those reformation roots sprang “Religious Freedom” and the anti-slavery movement. We live in a land where you and I can write/tell others what we believe about God and not die for it. We can live our lives so that others see a difference, without the fear that we will be punished (even killed) because we believe the Word. Freedom costs everybody something – how much are you willing to pay?

Phishers Again!

joe May 13, 2008 Faith, General

No, that is not a mis-spelling. Phishing is what the bad guys and gals do. They put out some bait in the form of an email and reel in the suckers. Yes my friends, you too can fall victim to these creeps.

It looks honest enough that most people don’t even give it a second guess. They create the most beautiful bait by stealing the art (graphics) from a real bank’s web site. They then stitch together a beautiful email that you need to “check something” or “update your information”. Why they even include a link right in the email that you “just have to ‘click here’ to update your profile”, or some other inane thing.

When you click on the link, you are taken to the phisher’s website that just happens to look like your bank’s/store’s/credit card/etc. Once again, they have built a phony website that looks just like the real thing. They even have the ability to take your username and password (that you have now given them) and actually enter that on the REAL website, so that you don’t even know that you have been phished.

What brought this on you ask? Well, I got two request with a subject “IMPORTANT – Customer Service Message”. They looked just like the real thing that the bank sends me once a month to tell me that my “Online Statement” is ready. Very good counterfeiting! The clue though was when I ran my cursor over their link, and my mail program showed that the link with to some really weird location – like “Hepjingle.com”.

Sent those emails to the fraud department at the bank – like right now.

Reminds me of people who distort the Gospel message – it looks and sounds good. Just remember, the test is in the Word. That means that you have to read it. I know – it’s so much easier just to listen to somebody’s ideas and go along with them. Check it out – truth is truth.