October 21, 2001: Malachi 3

Hi,

How was your weekend? This Saturday night, I hosted a potluck / karaoke
event for some friends at my apartment complex. My complex has a club room
that I can book, and it contains a large screen karaoke projection machine.
It was a lot of fun eating and singing American classic songs. When the
song "Country Road" came on, we ALL sing in unison. I thought it was funny
that few, if any of us have ever been to West Virginia, but yet we are
singing "take me home to West Virginia". Here are some of the pictures:

October Potluck
http://community.webshots.com/album/23607936AcbScZvdvz

Once again on Sunday night, I went to an outdoor free concert at the
Botanic Gardens with some friends from church. Tonight, it was a
Australian band that played Brazilian music, with a lot of drums, and other
percussion instruments. Like the Womad event I told you about a few months
ago, I also had fun going to the front and just dancing to the music with
its strong beats.

It is still quite hot here in Singapore. It must be getting colder in the
U.S. now. My project here in Singapore ends in mid-December, so I'll be
back in the U.S. by Christmas time. I just hope that I'll be used to the
cold. I do look forward to going skiing or snowboarding.

This coming weekend I'll be visiting Penang (Malaysia) with some friends.
It should be really fun.

This week's thought provoking question is, "If you could have worked for
anyone in history, who would you choose?"

This week's inspirational piece was forwarded by Jennifer Deniega.

Enjoy!

-Josh.
_________________________________

Old Puzzle: Trains

A 100-mter long train moving 100 meters per minute must pass through a
tunnel of 100 meters in length. How long will it take?

Puzzle Solution:

Two minutes. During the first minute, the front of the train will pass
through the tunnel and during the second minute, the rest of the train will
pass through the tunnel.
_________________________________

New Puzzle: Time

A man was used to walking at a regular pace. He never wore a watch,
although he had a very accurate clock at home. One day, he forgot to wind
it and the clock stopped. He went to a friend's house two miles from his
home to ask the time. He spent the afternoon with him and when he came
back home, he set the clock to the exact time. How did he know the exact
time?
_________________________________

Malachi 3

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they
were studying chapter three,
they came across verse three which says: He will sit as a refiner and
purifier of silver. This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what
this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver
and get back to the group at their next Bible study.

That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to
watch him at work. She didn't
mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her
curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire
and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to
hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as
to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot - then she
thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of
silver.

She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front
of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered
that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to
keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the
silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, how do
you know when the silver is fully refined? He smiled at her and answered,
"Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has his
eye on you.

God Bless - :-)