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 | Blogs > Noah235 > PLOUGHMAN'S LUNCH > WHO PUT THE LIGHTS OUT? |
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Last night I came home late as I had been to an end of term meal out with some former teaching colleagues. When I got home I was not tired enough to go straight to bed so I stayed up for a while looking through the blogs and making one or two comments myself. At about 12:30 I was in the middle of typing a comment when POOF!! the lights went out, my computer switched itself off and I found myself sitting in silence and total darkness! My first thought was that the safety circuit breaker had operated but when I checked they were all still in place, so that wasn't the problem. Then I wondered if there was a power cut affecting the whole street, so I looked out of my window. Several lights were on, including the street lights, so it obviously wasn't a general power cut. I then remembered that I have a one of these 'key meters' for my electricity, where you buy your electricity in advance at a newsagents shop, they charge up a key, then you put it in the meter to transfer the credit. When I checked my meter last night I found that my meter read ZERO {in fact it read 14p debit} and so I realised that was the reason everything had gone off! I am normally very good at checking my meters {gas as well as electricity} to see when they need to be 'topped up', but since the arrival of the summer, when my use of gas and electricity is so much less than in the winter, I had become careless and had been caught out by my electricity running out! As you can tell by the fact that I have been able to post another blog, I have been out this morning and charged up my key and topped up my electricity meter! I have been thinking this morning about Jesus' words in Matthew 24 and 25 telling us to watch out for the signs of his coming. Of course it is not possible to know the exact day or hour, so we cannot keep track of a precise countdown as I could {and should} have been tracking my electricity meter! However the 5 virgins of Matthew 25 who did not keep their lamps topped up with oil were described as foolish. Whatever interpretation we choose to put on the oil in {or NOT in  } their lamps, we certainly ought to keep watch for the general signs of Jesus' coming.A Christian speaker and writer that I admire very much is a local Newcastle guy called David Pawson. I recently watched a series of DVDs he did on this topic. He tells of the time as a boy when he used to stand on the platform at Newcastle railway station watching for the train coming on the main line from Edinburgh {Newcastle is on the major route between Edinburgh and London}. In those days the signals were not lights but physical ones, and there were four signals that he watched for to tell him when the train was coming. The first one told him it was on its way but still some way off, the second meant it was very near, the third meant it was just round the corner, still out of sight, but the fourth it was about to arrive in the next few seconds. David then goes on to describe Jesus' words in Matthew 24, when the disciples ask him about the signs of his return, and breaks them up into 4 stages which he compares to the four signals he used to watch out for when the train was due to arrive. These four stages were: 1. Signs in the WORLD {verses 4 to 8} 2. Signs in the CHURCH {verses 9 to14} 3. Signs in ISRAEL {verses 15 to 25} 4. Signs in the SKY {verses 26 to 32} He describes the last of these stages, where the sun, moon and stars are blocked out, as similar to the moment when the lights go down in the theatre {or at a concert} just before the performance is due to start. AWESOME! His opinion - expressed early in 2008 - is that the first stage has already taken place and the second is about half way through. The third and of course the fourth can happen very quickly indeed. We should watch so that we do not find ourselves caught with insufficient 'oil in our lamps' when he returns, or we may end up suddenly plunged into darkness, silence and inner confusion just as I was last night, but in a much more serious and lasting way! Peter  "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" 2 Timothy 2 v 15 |
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 7/12/2008 5:39 am |
Hi Peter!  So true! I'm waiting for that trumpet to blow, and am a good little girl scout, lol.  Living in a hurricane prone area, I am always prepared, am that kind of person anyhow, with a spare everything! I hate to run out,  See you in the air, in the twinkling of an eye! God bless you with the crown that awaits those who look for His return!  NOTHING that happens, happens for NOTHING This Post Rated XXX-If Sensitive, Please DON'T Read I'm Giving Away FREE Kudos, Come And Get Some!!! A Call To All Christians Who Will Pray!!! God Loves Addicts New Members at BigChurch, WATCH OUT!!!
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7/12/2008 6:46 am |
Good analogy! We're in end times, this is true, I have no doubt in my mind. May our message venture forth and our joy be full in the waiting! God bless. - Pat -He loves us, yeah, yeah, yeah !! I have something to say ...
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7/14/2008 2:58 pm |
Hi Peter, Yep,as usual great analogy.I just love the way u put things.Crackin post. GOD BLESS, Wendy   Show me the way Sweet JESUS.Lead and i Will follow. 
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