Jac's World~

DANIEL, ADMINISTRATOR OF TWO EMPIRES
By John Bernbaum

The story of Daniel's life takes place during one of the darkest periods in Old Testament history. The Northern Kingdom of Israel had been destroyed in 722 B.C. by the Assyrians and approximately a century later the Southern Kingdom of Judah was conquered by the Babylonians. The best and brightest youth of Judah were deported to Babylon for imperial service to King Nebuchadnezzar: Daniel was part of the first group of exiles taken to the capital of their oppressor in the year 605 B.C.

The Babylonians were wise conquerors and, rather than eliminating the leadership elites of the nations that they defeated, they chose young men from "good stock" (royal lineage) to be trained as imperial administrators. Daniel was one of these privileged young men. He was described as "without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well-informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the King's palace" (Daniel 1:4).

Daniel's Character
What becomes immediately clear in this story is the strength of Daniel's character. Although chosen for his privileged position, Daniel had a clear sense of his own distinctiveness as a Jew. He decided that he would defile himself if he ate royal food which had been sacrificed to pagan idols. He chose to be faithful to God's commandments, despite the risk of being "selected out" of the imperial service, and God honored his integrity by causing his Babylonian supervisors "to show favor and sympathy" to him (1:9). Daniel and his three young friends stood their ground, refusing to compromise their beliefs by eating non-kosher food, which other young imperial trainees could have easily dismissed as a "minor point." Rather than justifying this violation of their religious beliefs, as young people might be tempted to do in the early stages of their professional careers, these young men held firm.

Because of God's blessing on Daniel and his three companions, they excelled in their work, due to their "knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning" (1:17). In addition, God gave Daniel the special ability to interpret dreams and visions. When faced with a troubling dream, King Nebuchadnezzar threatened to execute all of his counselors unless they could tell him what he dreamt and what the dream meant. In an authoritarian regime like Babylon, there was no court of appeals, no human rights commission to hear the grievances of the king's advisors!

Daniel, empowered by God, was able to interpret Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and, as a result, was immediately rewarded by the king. He was appointed ruler of the province of Babylon and given the job as administrator of all of the king's counselor's or, to use a contemporary parallel, made head of the king's "think tank."

Daniel's courage and conviction, combined with his keen mind and excellent training, resulted in a series of leadership positions under Nebuchadnezzar and his successor, Belshazzar. In a replay of an earlier experience, Daniel was once again called in to interpret handwriting on the wall during one of King Belshazzar's banquets for his royal court. Despite his sober interpretation, which predicted the fall of the Babylonian empire, Daniel was appointed by Belshazzar to the "the third highest ruler in the kingdom" (5:29).

That same night, Belshazzar was killed and his empire was taken over by Darius, the Mede. By God's grace, Daniel somehow survived this transfer of power, emerging as one of three administrators, who oversaw 120 provinces of King Darius's empire. When jealous rivals in Darius' court tried to find ways of undermining Daniel's position, his remarkable character qualities were again evident. Daniel's enemies "could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent" (6:4). His only vulnerability, in their eyes, was his commitment to "the law of his God."

We all know the story of Daniel in the lion's den. His courage, conviction and consistency are vividly displayed. When faced with the law prohibiting prayer to any god by Darius, Daniel never hesitated. He gave thanks to God three times each day "just as he had done before."

Lessons From Daniels Life As I studied Daniel's life, I wondered if he was the closest to a perfect man or woman in the Bible. When King Darius, against his own wishes, was forced to order Daniel to be thrown into the lions' den, he cried out, "May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you" (6:16) - which is, in fact, what happened. Because of Daniel's courage and commitment to God, King Darius subsequently issued a decree testifying that "the God of Daniel....is the living God and he endures forever" (6:26).

There is no indication in this story that Daniel pursued leadership positions or tried to manipulate events so that he could appear before various pagan rulers, hoping to be chosen as a member of the imperial court. Daniel was rewarded because of his outstanding abilities, given to him by God, and because of his courage and integrity.

Dr. John Bernbaum, founder and president of Russian-American Christian University in Moscow, Russia, is an educator, distinguished lecturer and author. For over 20 years he was a vice president with the Coalition for Christian Colleges and Universities in Washington DC. He has served on many boards including InterVarsity Marketplace's Advisory Council from 1988-1993. His book, Why Work? Careers and Employment in Biblical Perspective, published by Baker Book House in 1986, was featured at Marketplace '86. This article is one of several in John's series "Reflections on Faith & Work."

Written for IT folks :)

Customer Service Rep: LOVE Technical Support

Customer: I'm not very technical, but I think I can do it if you talk me through. I am ready to install now. What do I do first?

CS Rep: The first step is to open your HEART. Have you located your HEART?

Customer: Yes I have, but there are several programs running right now. Is it okay to install while they are running?

CS Rep: It depends. What programs are running?

Customer: Let me see... I have PASTHURT.EXE, LOWESTEEM.EXE, GRUDGE.EXE, and RESENTMENT.COM running right now.

CS Rep: No problem. LOVE will automatically erase PASTHURT.EXE from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent memory, but it will no longer disrupt other programs. LOVE will eventually overwrite LOWESTEEM.EXE with a module of its own called HIGHESTEEM.EXE. However, you have to completely turn off GRUDGE.EXE and RESENTMENT.COM. Those programs will prevent LOVE from being properly installed. Can you turn those off?

Customer: I don't know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?

CS Rep: My pleasure. Go to your Start menu and invoke FORGIVENESS.EXE. Do this as many times as necessary until GRUDGE.EXE and RESENTMENT.COM have been completely erased.

Customer: Okay, I'm done. LOVE has started installing itself automatically. Is that normal?

CS Rep: Yes it is. You should see a message that says it will reinstall for the life of your HEART. Do you see that message?

Customer: Yes I do. Is it completely installed now?

CS Rep: Yes, but remember that you have only the base program. You need to begin connecting to other HEARTS in order to get the upgrades.

Customer: Oops... I have an error message already. What should I do?

CS Rep: What does the message say?

Customer: It says ERROR 412 - PROGRAM NOT RUN ON INTERNAL COMPONENTS. What does that mean?

CS Rep: Don't worry, that's a common problem. It means that the LOVE program is set up to run on external HEARTS but has not yet been run on your HEART. It is one of those complicated programming things, but in non-technical terms it means you have to "LOVE" your own machine before it can "LOVE" others.

Customer: So what should I do?

CS Rep: Can you find the directory called "SELF-ACCEPTANCE"?

Customer: Yes, I have it.

CS Rep: Excellent, you are getting good at this.

Customer: Thank you.

CS Rep: You're welcome. Click on the following files and then copy them to the "MYHEART" directory: FORGIVESELF.DOC, SELFESTEEM.TXT, REALIZEWORTH.TXT, and GOODNESS.DOC. The system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching any faulty programming. Also, you need to delete SELFCRITIC.EXE from all directories, and then empty your recycle bin afterwards to make sure it is completely gone and never comes back.

Customer: Got it. Hey! My HEART is filling up with really neat files. SMILE.MPG is playing on my monitor right now and it shows that WARMTH.COM, PEACE.EXE, and CONTENTMENT.COM are copying themselves into my HEART!

CS Rep: Then LOVE is installed and running. You should be able to handle it from here. One more thing before I go...

Customer: Yes?

CS Rep: LOVE is freeware. Be sure to give it and its various modules to everybody you meet. They will in turn share it with other people and return some really neat modules back to you.

Customer: I will. Thank you for your help

Love,
-- Denis Waitley

P.S. This was sent to me in an anonymous e-mail. Maybe one of my friends, peers or family members was giving me a gentle hint.

See Yourself At The Level Of Success For Which You're Aiming Long Before You Ever Attempt To Go There.

What does being a friend really mean to you?

Get to know yourself better

Your view on yourself:

You are intelligent, honest and sweet. You are friendly to everybody and don't like conflict. Because you're so cheerful and fun people are naturally attracted to you and like to talk to you.

The type of girlfriend/boyfriend you are looking for:

Your readiness to commit to a relationship:

The seriousness of your love:

Your views on education

The right job for you:

How do you view success:

What are you most afraid of:

Who is your true self:

1. Integrity in everything.
2. Have specific pre-determined goals.
3. Have a plan to attain these goals - with deadlines.
4. Work hard - always.
5. Be enthusiastic in your work, for work is merely a state of mind.
6. Give more than you take.
7. Always say "Thank You" and mean it.
8. Treat customers with respect and show appreciation.
9. Do not assume anything.
10. Set a high level of standards for yourself - it is contagious.
11. Lead by example, not words.
12. Treat employees with respect and show appreciation.
13. Do not make excuses - give results.
14. If you are wrong, admit it.
15. Really, REALLY care about people.
16. Look neat and professional at all times.
17. Do not take short cuts.
18. Look for the correct way, not the easy way.
19. Have a thirst for knowledge and new ideas.
20. Always try to "better your best."
21. Never, NEVER give up - have guts and hang tough.
22. There is always a better way to do a better job..find it.
23. Find out what your real talents are and then use them.
24. Do not let money, greed or power control you.
25. Stop sometimes to "smell the roses."

"The foundation of confidence in virtually every field is preparation." -- Brian Tracy

"You cannot speak that which you do not know. You cannot share that which you do not feel. You cannot translate that which you do not have. And you cannot give that which you do not possess. To give it and to share it, and for it to be effective, you first need to have it. Good communication starts with good preparation." -- Jim Rohn

Dear God, So many things just look impossible. Sometimes I wonder how I will make it through this trial or how will we survive or where is this problem leading? But, when I stop concentrating on the problem and look to You and Your promises, I am relieved. For I know that all things are possible through You. You are in control and will make all things work to the good for those who love You. Thank You for those promises and for the "breath of fresh air" I feel in knowing You are here with me, for me, and in me through Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.

Godly Genius
Blaise Pascal's brilliance wasn't limited to his scientific discoveries.
by Mark Galli

"Who needs God? Man can make it on his own!" That was the rallying cry of many French thinkers in the 1600s. Voltaire and Descartes and others questioned the validity of Christian faith. Their solution was to live by reason alone.

But one French intellectual, mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal, one of the foremost scientists of his day, was moving the opposite direction.

Pascal, with his younger sister, was reared and homeschooled in Paris by his father (his mother had died when he was three). The young boy was a prodigy: by age 10, he was performing original experiments. In his late teens, he invented the first calculating device (some call it the first "computer").

This invention made him famous, thrusting him into a wide-ranging scientific career. He tested the theories of researchers like Galileo. He formulated his now famous law of hydraulics: pressure on the surface of a fluid is transmitted equally to every point in a fluid. He wrote influential papers on the concept of vacuum, and on the weight and density of air. He developed the theory of probability, still used today. He invented the syringe, the hydraulic lift, and is credited with inventing the wristwatch and mapping the first bus route in Paris.

From doubter to defender
As Pascal explored the physical world, he also explored the spiritual. In Catholic France, a movement called Jansenism was growing. Sharing many similarities with Calvinism, Jansenists taught God's election and divine grace, rather than good works, were the key to salvation.

In 1646 Pascal came in contact with Jansenism, and though he struggled with it himself, he introduced it to his sister, Jacqueline. She fully embraced it, moving into a Jansenist convent in Port-Royal.

	We shall never believe with a vigorous and unquestioning faith unless God touches our hearts

Ten years later, Pascal was a follower, too, defending Jansenism fiercely against Catholic critics. In January 1656 Pascal wrote Les Provinciales, 18 brilliantly satirical essays attacking the Jesuits and arguing for the need for divine grace.

He also began making notes for a new book, a defense of the Christian faith for skeptics. But Pascal never got a chance to see it published. His frail health (he was plagued by illness all his life) finally gave out in 1662. He was only 39.

Secret notes
Sewn in the lining of his waistcoat, a piece of paper was discovered, documenting an experience Pascal had on November 23, 1654:

"From about half-past ten in the evening until about half-past twelve … FIRE … God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, and not of the philosophers and savants. Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace."

Also found among his papers, after his death, were notes for his defense of the faith. They were published by the Jansenists as Pensees ("thoughts"). Pascal portrayed humankind as suspended between wretchedness and happiness. Helpless without God, people try to avoid the horror of their lostness by engaging in distractions. Pascal said reason and science could not help a person come to know God—only by experiencing Christ can people know God.

"Do not be surprised at the sight of simple people who believe without argument," he wrote. "God makes them love him and hate themselves. … We shall never believe with a vigorous and unquestioning faith unless God touches our hearts."

In the Pensees, we also find one of the most famous lines in Christian literature: "The heart has its reasons which reason does not know."

Pascal's scientific achievements were enormous indeed, but his articulate defense of spiritual reality—energized by a profound and personal conversion to Christ—is his greatest legacy.

The power of the tongue is in life and death.  ... Elaborate another day....

A Believer's To-Be List
Steps to a fresh start with God.
by Philip Yancey

When I turned 50, I had a complete physical checkup. Doctors poked, prodded, x-rayed, and even cut open parts of my body to assess and repair the damage I had done. At the same time, I scheduled a spiritual checkup, too. I went on a silent retreat led by a wise spiritual director.

In those days of solitude, I pondered what I needed to change to keep my soul in shape. The more I listened, the longer grew the list. Here is a mere sampling, a portion of a spiritual action plan for my next 50 years.

Question your doubts as much as your faith. By personality, or perhaps as a reaction to a fundamentalist past, I brood on doubts and experience faith in occasional flashes. Isn't it about time for me to reverse the pattern?

Do not attempt this journey alone. Like many Protestants, I easily assume the posture of one person alone with God, a stance that more and more I see as unbiblical. The Old Testament tells the story of the people of God; Jesus' parables unveil the kingdom; the epistles went primarily to communities of faith. We have little guidance on how to live as a follower alone because God never intended it.

Allow the good—natural beauty, your health, encouraging words—to penetrate as deeply as the bad. Why does it take about 17 encouraging letters from readers to overcome the effect of one that is caustic and critical? If I awoke every morning, and fell asleep each night, bathed in a sense of gratitude and not self-doubt, the in-between hours would doubtless take on a different cast.

For your own sake, simplify. Eliminate whatever distracts you from God. Toss catalogs, junk mail, and book club notices in the trash. If I ever get the nerve, my television set should probably land there as well.

Find what Eric Liddell found: something that allows you to feel God's pleasure. When the sprinter's sister worried that his participation in the Olympics might derail his missionary career, Eric responded, "God made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure." What makes me feel God's pleasure? I must identify it, and then run.

Always "err," as God does, on the side of freedom, mercy, and compassion. I continue to marvel at the humility of a sovereign God who descends to live inside us, his flawed creatures. "Quench not the Spirit," Paul says in one place, and in another "grieve not the holy Spirit of God." In so many words, the God of all power asks us not to hurt him. Do I show that same humble, noncoercive attitude toward people of whom I disapprove?

Don't be ashamed. "I am not ashamed of the gospel," Paul told the Romans. Why do I speak in generalities when strangers ask me what I do for a living and then try to pin down what kind of books I write? Why do I mention the secular schools I attended before the Christian ones?

Remember, those Christians who peeve you so much—God chose them too. For some reason, I find it much easier to show grace and acceptance toward immoral unbelievers than toward uptight, judgmental Christians. Which, of course, turns me into a different kind of uptight, judgmental Christian.

Forgive, daily, those who caused the wounds that keep you from wholeness. Increasingly, I find God uses our wounds in his service. By harboring blame for those who caused them, I slow the act of redemption that can bring healing.

My spiritual checkup offers one clear advantage over my physical checkup. No matter what I do my body will continue to deteriorate, but, spiritually I can look forward to growth and renewed vigor as long as I listen and then act on what I hear God saying.