light

The Light Of The World

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I have just undergone my third IPL (Intense Pulsed Light) treatment for dry eye syndrome.

Dry eye syndrome is generally caused by the meibomian glands failing to produce the oil that stops the tears from evaporating. Every time you blink, your tear ducts send a drop of water while the meibomian glands (located at the top and bottom of the eye) send a spray of oil.

The IPL treatment basically consists of a wand sending a single flash of intense light around the outside edges of the eyes, and then 15 minutes inside a mask that emits light that seems to my untrained eyes several times brighter than the sun on a dry day. It is a very relaxing experience.

After that the optometrist presses the glands to see what they are doing. Apparently my eyes produce high quality oil and lots of it.

Four treatments are supposed to give you up to 12 months relief, before a booster is needed.

IPL is also used as a cosmetic treatment for skin that has patchy pigment, unwanted hair removal and wrinkle smoothing. Not only can you see better, you look half the age!

This all reminded me of Jesus’ words “I am the light of the world.” (John 9:5). Light has all kinds of healing properties, as well as bringing clarity and insight. We cannot see in the dark, but when the lights are on, everything is revealed.

Who wouldn’t be attracted to the light? People who love the deeds of darkness more than the light, people who prefer sin rather than righteousness.

The one question that all people will be judged by is this: Do you love Jesus or do you prefer the dark?

Jonathan Parnell: The Church on the Fringe

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The Church on the Fringes

December 15, 2014 

The Church on the Fringes

The church is a community of Christians living as the on-the-ground expression of the supremacy of Jesus by advancing his gospel in distance and depth. As theon-the-ground expression, and since gospel advance happens in distance, the local nature of the church is indispensable. The church is the place — the here and now — of Jesus’s new creation reign in an old creation world.

As the assembly of those made new in Christ, we come together in space and time, and we make Jesus known in those blessed limitations. Advancing the gospel in distance means we cross the street, and the oceans, to tell others the good news. It means we go out there into the darkness with the light of God’s love.

Far As the Curse Is Found

But we also remember that out there isn’t the only darkness. If we know our own hearts, we know it gets dark in here, too. So not only must the gospel advance in distance, it must also advance in depth. Jesus came to make his blessings flow “far as the curse is found,” and that means both the curse out there among the highways and hedges of this world, and the curse in here among the nooks and crannies of our soul.

Read the rest here