This past week we have been considering the passage of time and circumstance between "Then and Now"
The greatest 'THEN' in history is indisputably the time that encompassed the crucifixion of Christ and His resurrection from the dead three days later.
It was followed by the most magnificent NOW that continues to the very moment that you read these words.
"Then and Now" to be followed by "Shortly to Come"
Stay Tuned.
Ian
Paul Getty said "If you can count your money, you are not rich."
Bernie Madoff belonged to such a plutocracy.
At the height of his dubious career his empire controlled fifty billion dollars of client investments.
Here is a picture of his Montauk, Long Island home
Then in twelve short months everything evaporated. After a bruising trial and the tragic suicide of his younger son, Madoff exchanged his accommodation for a room in another big house where he is currently residing for the next twenty years.
The Bible is absolutely clear when it warns us to put no trust in uncertain riches.
The hope is that Bernie will have plenty of time for reflection in his new quarters and will find that Jesus Christ is truly the Way, the Truth and the Life. If he does then he will again be changing his apartment for an even better mansion in the Father's House.
Jubilate.
Ian
About two years ago I was visiting with the Cowgills in Cyprus.
John and Sue have been friends since Pauline and I lived in England. They have a house with a stunning view overlooking the Trodas Mountains to the North and the Mediterranean Sea to the West. It must have been the surroundings that inspired me to begin a morning talk over our cereal and toast, which Sue promptly called Breakfast With Ian.
From the four of us round the table in Cyprus, our morning breakfast chat has grown to over a thousand people who check in through Internet and Face book.
Thus the title "Then and Now."
This morning when I consulted with a friend in Barrie who is in the communications business about where-to-from-here with BWI he suggested that I involve everybody who sits around the breakfast table.
1) I have suggested previously that anyone who has a subject that they would like to introduce into the conversation is free to do so.
Either send me the subject and I'll write on it, or write it yourself and send it to me.
2) You can also expand our network (which goes to about twenty countries around the world) by including your friends.
You can do this by linking in with Face book, by forwarding to your own mailing list or by sending some of your friend's email addresses to me. I'll make sure they get BWI.
3) Lastly, if you wish to be a representative of your country and send me news of current events and be "Our Man in Havana."
consider yourself hired!
For anyone who wants to have breakfast at another cafe, you can always unsubscribe!
Jubilate.
Ian
P.S. If you want breakfast in Cyprus you will have to contact the Cowgills!
The foremost golfer of his generation, Tiger Woods seemed on course to break the record set by Jack Nicklaus of winning 18 majors.
All that changed in the small hours of November 30th, 2009 when Tiger was found slumped at the wheel of his S.U.V. outside the gates of his Florida mansion. His wife Elin Nordegren was standing nearby with a golf club in hand.
The whole story of that night may never be known but one thing is clear, Woods life and career went into free-fall from that moment.
Within two years he was divorced with his children going to the custody of his ex-wife. A spell in a sex-addiction clinic, the firing of his long time caddie, a new golf-swing coach and a return to his mother's Buddhist beliefs have done nothing to bring back the magic of his former days.
Britt Hume, a commentator on Fox News, gave Tiger the best possible counsel on public T.V. when he said Woods needed to:
"Forget his Buddhism and find redemption and forgiveness in Jesus Christ."
That advice Hume produced a howl of anger from the "smart people". However, it is worthy of note that while Woods continues to contemplate his navel he has not won another major in the last four years and probably never will.
Jubilate.
Ian
These pictures were sent by one of my face-book friends. I thought they might be the subject of a series entitled "Then and Now."
The humor is clear and so is the message. What changes the passage of a few years bring.
Arnold Swarzeneggar, once a mega star in Hollywood and later named the "Governator" of California, went into a rapid eclipse after a well publicised affair with his house maid.
He quite literally scuppered his marriage to beautiful and intelligent Maria Schriver while he crashed his political career to smithereens.
All of which brings to mind a verse from scripture.
"For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withereth, the flower falleth: but the Word of the Lord endureth forever."
I Peter 1:24.
Jubilate
Ian
