Bloom

To bloom in Spring, one must prune in Winter.

Professors, Instructors, and Teachers

A professor tells you what he thinks. His subject is the world of ideas.
An instructor tells you what to do. His subject is facts.
A teacher shows you how to think about what you do. His subject is wisdom.

There are many professors and instructors, but precious few teachers.

Respect your professors.
Honor your instructors.
Emulate your teachers.

No ear has heard

On Sunday our worship pastor made the comment during a song, "Sing with the angels" at which point all the musicians stopped playing and the entire church was singing acapella.

How do we know that the music in heaven lacks accompaniment, or that angels don't play musical instruments? Couldn't it be that not only are they great musicians, but that they are skilled at playing instrument we could never even imagine, making sounds and tones, creating harmonies that our ears don't even have the ability to hear?

The Bible says that when we go to be with the Lord, we experience a change and we receive glorified bodies. Is it the case that the only advantage that comes with these bodies is that they don't age or don't get sick? Isn't God much more imaginative and creative than that?

I would expect that the glorified bodies we receive can hear things that our earthly ears cannot hear. See colors our earthly eyes cannot see. Taste flavors our tongues cannot taste. Our minds will understand things that are hidden. Our hands will be able to work with a skill that is not available to us now.

Let your imagination go. Try to think of what a new color would look like? What would an entire rainbow of new colors look like? What would music sound like if it was completely new, with sounds you've never heard before? What kinds of fragrances would be so envigorating, so penetrating that the fragrances we have now would seem dull by comparison?

Humans are incredibly imaginative and creative. For years we have pushed the envelope of sight and sound, taste and smell. But we have always had a single pallet to work from. A limited set of colors, a smaller set of flavors and aromas, and an even smaller set of musical tones. And for thousands of years we've been able to take those limited sets and do so much with them.

Now try to imagine if those sets were not limited.

The Bible says that our eyes have never seen, our ears have never heard, and our minds cannot imagine or even comprehend the things that God has in store for those who love Him.