helping with your money, time, influence...

otto per mille (eight per thousand) is an italian legal precept under which taxpayers can choose to whom to transfer a compulsory 0.8% from their annual income tax return. they can give this percentage to one of the churches recognized by the state or, alternatively, to the social assistance plan run by the government. one is not required to indicate to whom the money will go, but the law stipulates that undeclared amounts should be distributed among the recipients according to percentages that are declared.

one of the organizations to which italians can give the fraction of their income tax return is the seventh-day adventist church. i thought their sign to be very creative. as you see the double l is different than other letters. it is because they belong to another logo - the official logotype of the seventh-day adventist church.

there the three lines encircling an implied globe represent two things. the three angels message - the eternal good news of salvation - from revelation 14 to be preached to everyone in the world before the Lord's return (see matthew 34:14). and the Holy Spirit under whose guidance and power only this overwhelming task can be accomplished.  (for more information click here.)

no need to say, i liked the visual play. i guess it can strike a string only in those that recognize the symbol, but our use of money, talents and influence preach a very important fact about us, anyway, doesn't it?

time is running out

yes, i know! the dead season lasted too long. but do not think i was idle all this time. no. i did this and that, and a couple of my friends tried to motivate me on, but i was busy with other things.

one of the recent things i needed done was the poster for an event. a pastor from australia visited a town he used to have evangelistic meetings in. the title was time is running out, and i simulated the sheet from the calendar. the very last day possible is highlighted, and it is obvious we live on the verge of the anticipated moment.

it would probably go unnoticed, unless i sate it plainly, that the day after the climactic date is saturday (the biblical sabbath), but in order to see it, you are expected to turn the page, which alludes to the experience of conversion - leaving the old behind and stepping into the covenant with God. (”anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. the past is forgotten, and everything is new.” 2 cor 5:17) it is also a hint at the millennial rest, spoken of in the scriptures.

CLICK ON THE PICTURE TO SEE THE WHOLE!

the lecture listed all the signs Jesus said would happen before his return to the earth, and it is obvious that everything is (or is being) fulfilled, and suggested we need to prepare for the last day in the history of the planet as we know it.

how? by cherishing the truth above all. the bile says that the “lost people will be fooled by his evil deeds. they could be saved, but they will refuse to love the truth and accept it.” (2 th 2:10)


so beware! it only takes sincerity.