For some reason the hoax calls come in spurts.  I haven’t had one for quite a while, today I received two.

The first said I had won $2.5 million dollars AND a Mercedes Benz.  When can you deliver it?  You have to send a certified check.  Why should I send you money?  We will just take it out of the $2.5 million when I get it.  Doesn’t work that way?  Son, I am praying for you, in hopes you will find a real job.  Hung up.

The next, just moments later, I am calling you about your computer.  What computer?  The one that is licensed to you.  Which one? Silence.  Son, I am praying for you, in hopes you will find a real job.  Hung up.

The fact that these kind of calls and scams have been going on for years is a testimony to the naiveté of people.  Some actually believing these con ‘artists’ or they wouldn’t continue with their criminal behavior.

The fact that most callers are of foreign descent and can be hardly understood (I find it interesting that they take on names like Charlie or Andy, but have trouble saying it) should be a clue, but too many people are gullible.

The numbers on the id on the phone are often high jacked from a legitimate number and calling these poor people back is not fair, they can’t control it.  What amazes me is the ‘government’ says using these phone numbers is not against the law.

I am on both the Oregon and Federal do not call list, but let’s face it is unenforceable when done outside the country. 

So, I pray for them.  AND, the calls cease for a while.

Exodus 38:21-23 This is the sum of the tabernacle, even of the tabernacle of testimony, as it was counted, according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son to Aaron the priest.

²² And Bezaleel the son Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, made all that the Lord commanded Moses.

²³ And with him was Aholiab, son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, an engraver, and a cunning workman, and an embroiderer in blue, and in purple, and in scarlet, and fine linen.

God had specific plans for the building of His Tabernacle.  He gave those plans (blue prints if you wish) to Moses who gave them to the workers.

For those of us who have limited imagination when it comes to building, we may have difficulty in completing the task – but to those that heard the descriptions it was easily translated to the finished project.

God didn’t just lay out the plan and expected people, like me, who have no skills in this work, to get the job done.  He expected Moses to select skill artisans to do the work.

As we read many of the things God wanted built – i.e. the tabernacle by Moses, the ark by Noah and the Temple by Solomon – we find He was very precise in what material was to be used, what size of the material and how it would be put together.

Nothing was random, it was all thought out and laid out by God.  It is preciously what you would expect from the Creator of the Universe.

Reading these verses gives us an idea of the thinking of our God.  How He developed a plan for each thing He created.  It wasn’t haphazard it was well thought out.

Whether it be the tiniest of the single cell life, or the tallest of the Redwoods, each item was created in minute detail.

I have said it before I have the highest respect for those men and women who can use their hands to build things.  I have no such gift.

As I read these verses, and I have to admit that I can’t picture the way He wanted it done, but, it reaffirms my faith in God.

Those that could not perform the work, gave willingly of their substances the material needed to do the work.  No one was left out (although eventually they had more than enough to complete the task and had to stop people from giving) each person, who wished, had their part in making the tabernacle.

We are not all called to do the same task.  In the building of the tabernacle many different craftsmen were used, carpenters, metal workers, sewers, etc. 

I can remember when we built the church on the hill.  One person was hired to be the contractor the rest of us volunteered to do the work.  Some were very skilled, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, etc.  Most of us were not, we bent many nails, but we also did the cleanup and grunt work so those that knew what they were doing could do it more efficiently.

Carla is a much more skilled worker than I.  She spent many hours building the cupboards in the kitchen and finishing it off with a carpenter.  He was retired, in his late 70’s at the time, but highly skilled, he was in charge of the apprenticeship program here in Wasco County.  

He did the fine work, but she helped saw, nail, sanded, etc. and did what she could to help in the final touches.  – And, no, I wasn’t jealous of her role, I couldn’t hammer a nail in straight, but I could sweep the floor.

Because we are human, despite the fact that many have multi-talents, we cannot do everything.  A great orator may not be able to drive a nail and the carpenter may not be able to be a great orator – but both have gifts and skills that can be used of God in spreading the Gospel.  (As I am reading this I have to see the irony in this analogy – Jesus, the carpenter, was also a great Orator!  But it is still true.)

We are blessed with many different gifts that are as varied as those that have them.  We can use them for God’s glory, or for our own edification – but we must understand that those gifts were God given and He needs to be recognized as the Master Creator.

The religion of evolution proclaims that all things happened by chance, nothing was designed.  We look at the order of the universe and all that is in it and have to ask how can they possibly accept that ‘fact’ that is not proven and the evidence shows that a Creator HAD to be involved.

Reading the passages, in Exodus, on the building of the tabernacle shows us that God is precise and knows exactly what He is doing and how He does things.

John 1:3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Each of us is made in the image of God.  Each Christian has the responsibility to spread the Gospel of Christ.  Each of us has been given gifts that allow us to reach people that no other person can reach for Him.

As each part of the tabernacle had a purpose to make the whole, so do we have a purpose to make His Church whole.

He has already drawn up the plans; we but need to be willing to do what He wants done.

Later, Art :-)