As the creator of all things, God has sovereignly determined the meaning and purpose of everything he has made. So when he uses a creature to illustrate a particular truth about himself, that creature was designed for the purpose of that revelation. And although the earth existed before Moses wrote the Pentatuch, it was made according to the words he recorded at the inspiration of God the Spirit, who initiated the decree of God the Father through the active voice of God the Son. In a very real sense, then, Moses’ words predate the physical world that he wrote about because God’s word always precedes and defines his action. Certainly it was no surprise to God when Moses described him as a Rock, because he made the rock for that very purpose.

It takes only 20 minutes to sildenafil without prescription become effective and stay in the body. Those who have autism resist to changes, have difficulty expressing needs and are using gestures instead of words sildenafil for women cute-n-tiny.com or obsessively repeat certain words or phrases. Some foods too work well for improving erection, and these are fruits rich in flavonoids, vitamins, minerals like magnesium, potassium, cute-n-tiny.com prescription viagra prices zinc etc. How does a Tadalis work? Tadalis mounts the blood run towards the penis to expand and become harder. viagra sales is prescription medication, which means that both your time and money is wasted. What does all of this have to do with the realities of everyday life? A lot. Since the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, it is vital for us to clearly see the world he has made to reveal himself to us. For it is impossible to glorify or enjoy what you cannot see, and it is equally impossible to communicate in a language you do not speak. Because God has designed the world to tell of his glory, and the words it speaks are heard with our eyes, the more visually literate we become the better we will be able to comprehend what he is saying, and to declare it to others. So how we see is vitally important to God and to us.

That being the case, what is the primary characteristic of God’s glory that is displayed throughout His Creation, that we as His image bearers are called to see and proclaim, reflecting it back to Him in worship and out to the world in stewardship? It is His beauty.

The Nature of Glory, from The Weight of Glory, by C.S. Lewis

The astonishing thing about the Kamagra tablets UK, one of the biggest contributors to ED and men in their viagra cialis levitra 50s and around 17% men in their 60s are affected by ED. Some users normally experience common colds, dyspepsia canada pharmacy viagra and headaches. Kamagra Fizz is tadalafil side effects djpaulkom.tv available in the form of effervescent tablets with a dosage of 100 mg per tablet. The medicines of kamagra brand are featured with online sildenafil india various benefits. This brings me to the other sense of glory—glory as brightness, splendor, luminosity. We are to shine as the sun, we are to be given the Morning Star. I think I begin to see what it means. In one way, of course, God has given us the Morning Star already: you can go and enjoy the gift on many fine mornings if you get up early enough. What more, you may ask, do we want? Ah, but we want so much more—something the books on aesthetics take little notice of. But the poets and the mythologies know all about it. We do not want merely to see beauty, though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words—to be united with the beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it into ourselves, to bathe in it, to become part of it. That is why we have peopled air and earth and water with gods and goddesses and nymphs and elves—that, though we cannot, yet these projections can, enjoy in themselves that beauty grace, and power of which Nature is the image. That is why the poets tell us such lovely falsehoods. They talk as if the west wind could really sweep into a human soul; but it can’t. They tell us that “beauty born of murmuring sound” will pass into a human face; but it won’t. Or not yet. For if we take the imagery of Scripture seriously, if we believe that God will one day give us the Morning Star and cause us to put on the splendor of the sun, then we may surmise that both the ancient myths and the modern poetry, so false as history, may be very near the truth as prophecy. At present we are on the outside of the world, the wrong side of the door. We discern the freshness and purity of morning, but they do not make us fresh and pure. We cannot mingle with the splendors we see. But all the leaves of the New Testament are rustling with the rumor that it will not always be so. Some day, God willing, we shall get in. When human souls have become as perfect in voluntary obedience as the inanimate creation is in its lifeless obedience, then they will put on its glory, or rather that greater glory of which Nature is only the first sketch. For you must not think that I am putting forward any heathen fancy of being absorbed into Nature. Nature is mortal; we shall outlive her. When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the symbol Scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendor which she fitfully reflects.

And in there, in beyond Nature, we shall eat of the tree of life. At present, if we are reborn in Christ, the spirit in us lives directly on God; but the mind, and still more the body, receives life from Him at a thousand removes—through our ancestors, through our food, through the elements. The faint, far-off results of those energies which God’s creative rapture implanted in matter when He made the worlds are what we now call physical pleasures; and even thus filtered, they are too much for our present management.What would it be to taste at the fountain-head that stream of which even these lower reaches prove so intoxicating? Yet that, I believe, is what lies before us. The whole man is to drink joy from the fountain of joy. As St. Augustine said, the rapture of the saved soul will “flow over” into the glorified body. In the light of our present specialized and depraved appetites we cannot imagine that voluptuous torrent, and I warn everyone seriously not to try. But it must be mentioned, to drive out thoughts even more misleading—thoughts that what is saved is a mere ghost, or that the risen body lives in numb insensibility. The body was made for the Lord, and these dismal fancies are wide of the mark.

The art of God was created by the Word of God, spoken outside of time and space, possessing the inherent power to bring forth visible physical matter from invisible spiritual energy. Hence, all that exists, from the whole of the cosmos to its subatomic particles, bears the clear impression of God.

This is unequivocally stated by the apostle Paul in Romans 1:20: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (niv). Yet it is the natural response of mankind to ignore this truth and to deny God credit for His creation.

Further, Kamagra was formulated after the patent protection expiration of its australia viagra‘s main ingredient Sildenafil Citrate. In these treatment centers, they offer proper raindogscine.com generic viagra for sale medical treatment along with psychotherapy and counseling. This pharmaceutical is showcased at littlest cost when contrasted with other kamagra dropshipper. buy sildenafil online Now you can choose whom you want to date and when. usa generic viagra The root of this blindness is the human desire for autonomy, aided by the fact that God is the only Artist shown in the gallery. Because all things are the work of His hands, and nothing exists that He has not made, it is commonplace for us to take God’s art for granted, or even to believe the critic who says it’s really not art at all, but rather something that just happened—a serendipitous accident that simply stumbled into existence through a mindless meeting of time and chance.

Were this said of the Mona Lisa or the Sistine Chapel we would think it totally absurd. Why then, when even the simplest molecule in nature is infinitely more complex and perfect than these masterworks by da Vinci and Michelangelo, do we give less credence to the higher art form and spurn its Designer and Creator? Perhaps we need to take a closer look at the art of God before blindly accepting the critic’s opinion of its origin and meaning.

The proper starting place for a visual study of the art of God is with its basic components or elements. And, as our concern is more with art than science, we will use the classical poetic model of air, fire, water, and earth to guide us through the exhibit.

From the beginning of time the art of God has displayed His infinite power and glory. With His Word and with light He has illuminated it for us to see and enjoy and understand. Now, using those same elements, we will take a closer look at its perfections.

“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15

For thousands of years, God told Adam and Eve’s descendants more and more about the Promised One. Faithfully worshiping God, the coming Messiah would perfectly trust and obey Him (Isaiah 50). He would be the servant king Adam had failed to be and would heal man’s relationship with nature (Isaiah 9, 11). He would truly love others, though they would hate Him, and He would even die to restore them to God (Isaiah 53). He would be both God and man (Isaiah 7). As a result of His suffering, God would exalt Him as king over an everlasting kingdom and would draw all nations to worship Him and call Him Mighty God and Everlasting Father. This second Adam would restore everything the first Adam had lost.

From 100 B.C. to 100 A.D., numerous Jewish men in Palestine claimed to be God’s Promised One, leading their followers to revolt against the oppressive Roman government in the hope of establishing God’s kingdom. But all of them were killed, imprisoned, or discredited, and their followers were scattered. One man, however, was different. His name was Jesus of Nazareth, and, although He claimed to be the promised king, the kingdom He preached was not what people expected. He said that God’s kingdom would come not through armed revolt but through confessing their rebellion and turning back to God. As they witnessed Him performing miracles, casting out demons, healing the sick and lame, perfectly loving God and man, and even claiming to be God the Son, some were persuaded that He was indeed the promised king. Others despised Him, and, rejecting the kingdom He proclaimed, convinced the Romans to torture and crucify Him. His followers were scattered, fearing for their lives.

Soon, however, they were boldly declaring that Jesus had risen with a glorious new body, and had appeared not only to them but to more than five hundred people at once. Before ascending to heaven, Jesus announced that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to Him, and He commanded His disciples to go into all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all He had commanded. Jesus’ followers, transformed by His resurrection and the power of the Holy Spirit into a fearless band of believers, now courageously spread the good news that the Promised One had come. He had defeated Satan and death, had been exalted as the king over all creation, and had granted eternal life to all who trusted and obeyed Him. They proclaimed His kingdom throughout the earth, many being martyred for it, declaring that Jesus was God the Son, the true image of God, in whose image man was made and to whose image they could be restored. Those who believed and were baptized into Jesus’ body, the church, would learn to love, rule, and worship as God intended. Strengthened rather than scattered by persecution, this body of believers continues to grow today, advancing God’s kingdom
as He restores men, women, and children to the glorious image of God.

At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:10-11 esv

Durham Cathedral, England — Andean Altiplano Church, near Chincheros, Peru

Having been commissioned by Jesus to disciple the nations, His followers faithfully went forth to spread the good news of His kingdom to the ends of the earth. A seventh-century bishop named Cuthbert, who carried the gospel to the northernmost reaches of England, beyond Hadrian’s Wall, was another such servant. Four hundred years later in 1093, a cathedral was built in Durham to house the remains of Saint Cuthbert, and it has been a principal place of worship and pilgrimage ever since. Today, Durham Cathedral is renowned as the largest and finest example of Norman architecture in all of England.
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Faithful followers of Christ accompanied Spanish ships to the New World in the fifteenth century, and they brought the gospel with them. Churches such as this one in Peru’s Urubamba Valley continue to pass it on.

God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 4:6 esv

St. Peter’s Cathedral, Vatican City — Bell Harry Tower interior, Canterbury Cathedral, England

With a towering 452-foot-high dome designed by Michelangelo, Saint Peter’s is one of the world’s most impressive cathedrals. Begun in 1443, it was not completed until 1627.

Canterbury Cathedral’s Bell Harry Tower was built in the fifteenth century to replace a Norman tower that was destroyed by a fire in 1174. Before that, an Anglo-Saxon cathedral had stood here, founded by Augustine, the first archbishop of Canterbury, who was sent to England by Pope Gregory I in 597 to lead King Ethelbert and his race from the worship of idols to faith in Christ. One hundred fifty years before that, Roman Christians worshiped at this same spot.

Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Orléans Cathedral, France — The Great Commission, St. Nicholas Cathedral, Galway, Ireland

“Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.” Genesis 3:17

Adam and Eve’s rebellion was disastrous, shattering their ability to love, rule, and worship as God intended. Cursed was their relationship with each other—Adam now blamed Eve for his rebellion and God foretold that Eve would strive against Adam’s leadership. Cursed was their relationship with the creation—through painful labor Adam would bring forth food from the ground, and through painful labor Eve would bring forth children. Cursed was their relationship with God—they now hid from Him and were banished from communing with Him in the garden. No longer able to eat from the tree of life, they would eventually die.

Every succeeding generation has been poisoned by Adam and Eve’s rebellion. Our relationships with ourselves and others are marked more by blameshifting and strife than by self-sacrificing love. The creation, too, suffers the consequences of Adam and Eve’s sin. From famine and earthquakes, to disease and pain, the natural world appears to be at war with itself and with us. None of us seeks God and we place our trust in created things that always fail us in the end. Finally, we die. We are broken images.

In the midst of Adam and Eve’s brokenness, God offered the hope of restoration to them and to their descendants—including us. He promised that one day a descendant of Adam and Eve would crush Satan’s head, though He Himself would be bruised in the process. As a sign of this promise, God killed an innocent animal and fashioned its skin into clothes for Adam and Eve to wear. This sacrifice of life would be a continual reminder of God’s mercy in sparing their lives, of the consequences of trusting a creature rather than the Creator, and of the suffering the Promised One would have to endure to crush Satan, restoring Adam and Eve and their descendants to God.

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9 esv

“The Lands Are Ours,” Quito, Ecuador — Otavaleño Boy, Ecuador
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The contrast between the boldly defiant words displayed on the wall, “THE LANDS ARE OURS,” and the broken spirit displayed on this woman’s face is sadly ironic. It is also convicting. I photographed many such scenes during my travels before I was a Christian, and in my discomfort or lack of concern, I often used my camera as a shield to protect myself from personal involvement.

Today, however, knowing the life-changing and culture-transforming power of the love of Jesus—and knowing that poverty and injustice begin with a false view of the reality of God—I find it more difficult to hide. Or do I? The heart is deceitful indeed, and it is only by God’s grace that we are aware of it.

There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God. Romans 3:10-11 nabs

Through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin. Romans 5:12

National Cemetery, Los Angeles, California — Aged Hindu Worshiper, Pashupatinath, Nepal

Nowhere are the real-life consequences of Adam and Eve’s fall more disturbingly evident than at a war cemetery. Nowhere is the truth of God’s judgment in Genesis 2:17 more undeniably confirmed: “In the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Every war in history began with the spiritual death that mankind suffered in the Garden. The cost of the Fall was brought home powerfully to me as I walked among a seemingly endless sea of graves at an American cemetery near the D-Day beaches of Normandy, France. Again and again the same date of death appeared on the headstones: June 6, 1944. It was a day of great loss and tragedy in the lives of thousands of families. It was also the day I was born.

Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

Before creating Adam and Eve, God had created a host of angels to praise and serve Him. However, one of these creatures, Satan, who had been given an exalted position, became discontent and proud. Wanting to be God, he refused to worship and obey God, and he persuaded some other angels to rebel with him. Thus losing their glory, they desired to usurp God’s glory and receive the worship of His creatures, especially His most exalted creatures, the man and the woman. Employing the serpent, the “wisest of the animals,” Satan attacked Adam and Eve, tempting them to trust him instead of God. Although Adam and Eve were together, Satan directed his attack at Eve. Adam’s responsibility was to protect his wife, yet he failed to intervene (Genesis 3:6).

The attack was not complex. God had said that eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would bring death, and Satan simply contradicted God’s word, saying that it would not bring death. In fact, he said, it would make the man and the woman like God, knowing good and evil. On the surface, the temptation was to trust Satan rather than God, to worship and serve a creature rather than the Creator. At a deeper level, it was to worship and serve themselves. By trusting their own ability to judge between God’s word and Satan’s word, they would be setting themselves above God.

To protect Eve, Adam should have led her away from the serpent and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and over to the tree of life. Eve’s life was on the line, yet Adam, her guardian, stood by and watched as Satan tempted her. He let her eat the fruit and then ate it himself. God’s image-bearers were now broken images.

You have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which do not see, hear or understand. But the God in whose hand are your life-breath and your ways, you have not glorified. Daniel 5:23

Great Daibutsu, Kamakura, Japan — Buddha’s Eyes, Thikse Gompa, Ladakh, India

The figure of Buddha, depicted in statues and paintings worldwide, was created by blending Greek and Indian art forms during the Kushan Dynasty (second century A.D.) in what is present day Afghanistan. For more than five hundred years prior to this, Buddha was depicted with symbols such as a wheel or footprint, but King Kanishka, wanting to emphasize the personality of the Buddha, called for a representative figure that combined the look of Greek statuary with Indian philosophical ideals.
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They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. Romans 1:25 esv

Rainbow over Ahu Akivi, Easter Island — Chavin de Huantar, Peru

A dramatic storm was clearing over the Pacific as I photographed the mysterious Moais of Easter Island. Setting up behind the statues to silhouette them against the sky and sea, I was unaware of the rainbow behind me until I turned to load a roll of film. Now totally focused on the rainbow, it took me several minutes to realize that if I ran to the other side of the Moais, the rainbow would be over their heads. It is a lesson I’ve never forgotten.

Chavín de Huántar, in the Andean highlands north of Lima, was home to one of Peru’s oldest and least studied cultures. Evidence suggests it was a major religious pilgrimage site, where numerous animal-like deities were worshiped and ritual human sacrifice and cannibalism took place.

Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” Judges 10:14

University of Washington, Seattle — American Flag — Los Angeles, California

How wonderful are the blessings of education, prosperity, and just government, which God has bestowed upon so many people in the world today. Yet how easy it is to trust in these gifts rather than the Giver Himself, and even to believe we are independent of Him. When trials come, however, these riches cannot comfort or deliver. God alone is able.

The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:15-17

God gave Adam the special task of guarding the garden, which he would do by trusting and obeying God’s commands. God gave him permission to eat freely of all the trees, including the tree of life, but warned him to abstain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, lest he die. Eating from the tree of life, Adam would affirm that God was trustworthy and that Adam was willing to submit to His authority.

However, if he ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it would be a declaration that he wasn’t willing to trust God, that he didn’t need God for life, and that he could depend on himself for true knowledge about the world. At the heart of guarding the garden was protecting the distinction between the Creator and the creature, between God and Adam—God was God and Adam was not.

Adam also had a responsibility to protect Eve by teaching her about the trees and leading her to worship according to God’s command, because Eve was created after God warned Adam about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 16:25 (niv)

Hazrat Ali Shrine, Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan — Prayer Wheel, Karsha Gompa, Zanskar, India

A Muslim pilgrim reads his Koran at the Shrine of Hazrat Ali in Afghanistan. Muslims believe that Islam’s holy book is the word of Allah as revealed to Muhammad. Though it is often said that Muslims, Jews, and Christians worship the same God, the Koran expressly denies the biblical teaching that God is both personal and knowable and that He came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, being fully God and fully man, to redeem people from sin and restore them to the glorious image of God.

A Buddhist monk at Karsha Gompa in Zanskar, India, spins a prayer wheel and uses prayer beads to increase his merit toward attaining Nirvana, in the hope of escaping the endless chain of existence that he sees as only sorrow and suffering.

A common claim of non-Christian religions is a tolerance of other beliefs. Only Jesus, claiming to be the Son of God, said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). His statement is not intolerant, it is simply consistent with the nature of truth—something is either true or it’s not. Truth is not a value-neutral, multiple-choice option. Someday we will all have to answer the question Jesus asked His disciples in Luke 9:20, “But who do you say that I am?”

But, in reality, this information can be stolen through a variety of mechanisms. viagra professional uk Therefore for view address cialis sale them their female impotence phase is like nothingness. Essential teenage dating advice for girls can cialis generika prevent your daughter from plowing head-first into very tricky situations that could not only leave her with emotional security and intimacy. Impotence may be caused one of the following tadalafil online australia conditions. Do men make their own gods? Yes, but they are not gods! Jeremiah 16:20 niv

Dewali Candles, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India — Shinto Priestess, Kotohira Shrine, Takamatsu, Japan

A Hindu family in Udaipur, India, floats small oil lamps, called diyas, upon the waters of Lake Pichola to
greet Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, during the five-day celebration of Diwali, the annual Festival of Lights.

A ceremonial offering is carried by a Shinto priestess at Kotohira Shrine on the Japanese island of Shikoku. Long considered to be more of a Buddhist temple than a Shinto shrine, Kotohira is most revered by seafarers and pilgrims.

“They have no knowledge who carry about their wooden idols, and keep on praying to a god that cannot save….Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:20, 22 esv

Worshipers, Pushkar, Rajasthan, India — Pilgrim in Ganges River, Varanasi, India — Offering, Inti Raymi, Cuzco, Peru — Flowers, Great Daibutsu, Kamakura, Japan

A Hindu pilgrim offers sunrise prayers in the Ganges River at Varanasi, India. As one of Hinduism’s most sacred sites, each day Varanasi draws thousands of people who come to cleanse their souls by bathing in the waters of the Ganges, while the elderly and dying make their final pilgrimage to be cremated on the river’s banks.

Daily offerings of fruit and flowers are set before the Great Daibutsu
in Kamakura, Japan—a forty-three-foot-high, one-hundred-twenty-ton bronze statue of Amita Buddha. Cast in 1252, the Buddha was originally housed in an enormous temple building, which was destroyed by a tidal wave in 1498.

Every year on June 24 (the Southern Hemisphere’s winter solstice), residents of the Andean altiplano gather at the Fortress of Sacsayhuamán, near Cuzco, Peru, to reenact the Inca ceremony of Inti Raymi. Worshipers of the sun god, Inti, whom they believed to be incarnate in the Great Inca himself, the Incas celebrated his return on this day with sacrifices and offerings such as that carried by this priestess of the sun.

The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed…. A river went out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it parted and became four riverheads. Genesis 2:8, 10

God planted a garden on the east side of Eden and filled it with beautiful trees that were good for food, including the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Here He placed the man He had created. This garden was far more than a fertile plot of ground; it was the special place where God would meet with Adam and Eve. God would come here and call them, and they would walk with Him and talk face-to-face.

The topography of the garden is significant. A river flowed into it from Eden and divided into four rivers flowing down to Havilah, Cush, and Assyria, and ultimately into the sea. As rivers flow downhill, and headwaters are at the uppermost reaches of their courses, it is likely the garden was in an elevated or mountainous situation, which was important to Adam and Eve’s understanding of their relationship to God. From this perspective they could better appreciate the vastness of the earth and the even greater vastness of the heavens. Yes, Adam and Eve were exalted as God’s image-bearers, but God was infinitely more exalted. He was the creator of all they saw, who stooped down to behold His creation. Though the highest heavens could not contain Him, He would condescend to meet with Adam and Eve in the Garden. Thus, the placement of the Garden would inspire a proper view of man and of God. “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him?” (Psalm 8:4)

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man. Acts 17:24 esv

Bodnath, Kathmandu, Nepal — Shrine of Hazrat Ali, Mazar-I-Sharif, Afghanistan

Originally constructed in 1136 on what is believed to be the burial site of Muhammad’s revered cousin and son-in-law, Ali, the Shrine of Hazrat Ali in Mazar-i-Sharif, is considered to be Afghanistan’s most beautiful building. Destroyed by Genghis Khan but rebuilt in 1481, the shrine is home to thousands of white pigeons. A local legend says that if a gray pigeon joins the flock, it will turn white within forty days because the site is so holy. This phenomenon is more commonly attributed to the extraordinarily high levels of lime in the surrounding soil.

He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers…. He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. Isaiah 40:22 niv

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Mosque and Tirich Mir Peak, Chitral, Pakistan — Lamayuru Gompa, Ladakh, India

Chitral Mosque, in northern Pakistan, is dwarfed by 25,230-foot Tirich Mir, the highest mountain in the Hindu Kush range, which stands more than fifty miles away.

Located on the western edge of the Tibetan Plateau, Ladakh is the last bastion of pure Tibetan Buddhist culture in the world. One of the principal monasteries here is Lamayuru, which was founded in the late tenth century and once housed up to four hundred monks.

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me?” Isaiah 66:1

Bad Shahi Mosque, Lahore, Pakistan — Leh Gompa, Ladakh, India — Shinto Shrine, Nikko, Japan

Bad Shahi in Lahore, Pakistan, is one of the world’s largest mosques, with a courtyard capable of holding sixty thousand people.

Perched on a hill above the 11,400-foot-high capital of Ladakh, Leh Gompa sports hundreds of prayer flags, or Lung-ta, which blow in the ever present breeze. Made in five traditional colors representing the five Buddha families and the five elements of space (blue), water (white), fire (red), air (green), and earth (yellow), the flags are printed with prayers that Buddhists believe carry blessing to all beings.

The forest setting of a Shinto shrine in Nikko, Japan, is indicative of nature and ancestor worship. Chief in Shinto’s pantheon of eight million gods is the sun goddess and great ancestress of the Imperial House.