Was Jesus successful during his time on earth? This may seem an unusual question.  It naturally depends on one’s definition of success is.  In the eyes of the world success could mean :-1.  Financial Wealth

2.  High Status and Recognition in Society

3.  Loving Marriage and children

4.  Ability to enjoy the things in life eg. relaxing holidays,  trips to exotic locations,  lovely restaurants,  sporting or artisitic pursuits.

5.  Feeling of Happiness

6.  Loving friends and family for quality fellowship and support

7.  Beauty and Good Health

There can be other elements that would include success in our modern age.  However these would probably be the main ones  people would look for to guage  if a person is a “success”  in our world today. 

By our worldly standards was Jesus a success? Let’s take a closer look:-

1.  Financial Wealth: he did not seem to possess financial wealth.  His chosen trade was a carpenter which probably would have earned him a modest living able to supply his needs.  During his three years in full time ministry, he  probably received financial support from specific followers.  He also stayed at people’s houses as he travelled and visitied different towns.

2.  High Status and Recognition: Jesus attracted many followers who were searching for spiritual truth.  However he was despised by the  leaders of the Jewish order and eventually condemned by all the governing authorities of the day.  He always seemed to face some form of persecution for his teaching.

3. Marriage and Children: Because God had a special mission for Jesus on this earth he remained single in order to devote his whole life and soul to God’s appointed task.

4. Enjoyment of Life : Since Jesus only had three years in full time ministry, it is unlikely that he took any extensive holiday time to relax.  However he did attend weddings and feasts and probably knew how to enjoy celebrations with friends and family.  John 2

5. Feeling Happy: Jesus would have always had the feeling of peace and oneness with His Heavenly Father since he was sinless and always completely obedient to His Father’s will.  However I don’t know that he was always “happy” in a worldly sense.  After all he knew that his death and crucifixion lay looming ahead of him.  Luke 22:44.  In Isaiah 53:3 it also says ” He was despised and rejected by men,  a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering.  Like one from whom men hid their faces,  he was despised and we esteemed him not”.

6. Loving Friends and Family:  Jesus had a supportive family who helped to raise him in a godly household. He also became very close to the 12 disciples during his life on earth.  He ministered and discipled them so that one day they could spread the gospel message of salvation throughout the biblical world.  However he also experienced the pain of betrayal by one of his friends close to him within this inner circle, namely Judas.

7.  Beauty: In terms of beauty Isaiah 53:2 tells us ” He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,  nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.”  From this passage it would suggest that Jesus may not have been an impressive handsome character by the world’s standards.

At the end of his life  the Jewish leaders of the religious order and all the governing authorities  condemned him to death by crucifixion for speaking the gospel truth.  It would seem that he was losing in the eyes of the world and could have been branded as a failure. 

However through heavens’ eyes he was accomplishing a magnificent and incredible victory in the spiritual realm.  Evangelical Christians all over the world celebrate the ensuing triumph that was ultimately achieved.

Jesus paid the  penalty for the sins of all mankind in the present ,  past and the future.He rose from the dead, since he was sinless and therefore death could not hold him down forever. Through this act, he enabled a full pardon and forgiveness for all our sins, fellowship with Himself , and eternal salvation for our souls .  To top it all off, it gave us  the promise of eternal life in heavenly paradise when we leave this earth. This gift is offered to all people who wish to actively accept Jesus into their hearts and follow him with their lives.  Due to Jesus selfless life and obedience, he was then elevated to the highest place in heaven to sit at the right hand of God. Romans 8:34.

Therefore we can see that although Jesus did not appear to be successful in a worldly sense, he accomplished a huge victory in the spiritual realm which is a win that will last for eternity.

It also goes to show, that sometimes,  things are not always as they seem.

By Adelle Arwen
Gospel Singer Songwriter & Recording Artist

You can agree that it is undeniable that numerous people have found its way to online dating, of cause it is not regarded as a last recourse for those who have had a challenging time looking for dates. You can say that online dating is just like putting up a personal ad in a magazine or newspaper, a popular method in the late 80’s and early 90’s although it is no doubt that online dating is much faster and more convenient.

In fact, what you get with online dating is the same as the personal ads in print, with so much more benefits and options. Of cause it’s still a blind chase but at least you get to check on it everyday, you can track down how many people viewed your profile, in a matter of seconds you get instant messages and responses to messages are instantaneous.

While some people have thanked their lucky stars for online dating, some consider this as a curse, fit for the preying for online wolves. It is not a secret that a lot of shady persons have used the cloak of anonymity of the Internet to mask their true intentions. You must remember that profiles are not completely honest, old photos are uploaded and some even have the impudence to ask for money.

There are also reports of some people from different countries meet up, some women lured into sex in promise of a new comfortable life and probably marriage. But to online dating’s credit, there were many success stories involving a happy marriage or union.

There are also another problems with some online dating sites that have padded their member list with “bait” profiles, putting up more members to show that they have a numerous membership. This way a potential member can think that there is a lot of people he or she can meet on the site and their chances of meeting a person they could probably like to get to know would grow higher.

But I must admit that the popularity of online dating is rising at the speed and strength of a careening freight train at top speed, even with mentioned above problems. Nevertheless, more and more websites have mushroomed and more people are signing up, sometimes even to more than two online dating sites. Interesting to know that the grasp of online dating sites extends to people who find the “chase” exciting and thrilling, the mystique of meeting a complete stranger adds up to the excitement.

By the way, there are also a huge number of online dating aficionados that are relatively shy and can effectively communicate with other people only behind the monitor using the keyboard as their mouthpiece.

Be it either for a short- or long-term relationship, I can say for sure that online dating sites have already proven its effectivity and reliability with a startling ratio of success stories.

In fact, US residents alone have spent $469.5 million in online dating sites, covering the fees, in 2004. For you to know online dating is now considered as the largest industry in the paid website content.

Useful to know that now there is more than a thousand online dating sites, growing at en estimate of 35 percent increase each year. Shares in the market though are dominated by several large websites.

But you must know that online dating is not only for us Americans, although we do dominate the market. You can see that the online dating bug has also bitten Europe with increased memberships seen and more and more European online dating sites popping up. With the trend in growth going sky high, it wouldn’t be a surprise that five to ten years from know, a lot of married couple would attribute their meeting to online dating.

But you must realize that it is not a romantic movie, not every person that you meet online is a prince on the white horse or a damsel in distress in a high tower just waiting to drop her hair for you to climb and live happily ever after.

First of all try to get to know a person thoroughly and if possible, get him or her to show herself or himself through a webcam, then step by step go to talking through phones. And of cause, take it slow before agreeing to personally meet each other.

Around December of last year I decided to cancel my
membership to eHarmony. Several reasons were involved,
none of which I care to get into at this point in time.
I was watching t.v. one night and saw a commercial
for the new Yahoo dating service. Yahoo Personals
redesigned their site and launched their patented exclusive
.
I did some research and people are saying that Yahoo Personals
new matchmaking system is just as good as the other “high end”
online dating sites that cost upwards of several hundred dollars to join.

Yahoo Personals has launched a 7 day free trial
to their new services. I am a dating
someone I met off Yahoo a few weeks ago.
I was lucky enough to meet them before the
7 day free trial was over, so it wound up
costing me nothing. While I am on cloud 9
with my new friend, I wanted to pass the
link I found onto you guys:

Enjoy and good luck !!

Tag: online dating