A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Friday,
July 16,
2021
Price Tower in Bartlesville OK designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright.
"The
Master Architect"
Note:
We are in the Midwest visiting family and friends and
attending three family gatherings in Missouri, Oklahoma
and Arkansas. This morning we are still in Tulsa where
Brooksyne will have breakfast with her brother, sister,
and their families before we head to Fort Gibson Lake in
eastern Oklahoma to gather with extended family on my
Mom's side. We are unable to prepare regular Daily
Encouragement messages during this time due to long travel
days, limited time due to seeing family and friends, and
in some cases limited internet access such as when we will
spend several days in a mountain cabin next week in
Arkansas. We will also not be preparing the daily podcast
during our time away from home.
“For he [Abraham] was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
If you were to ask people to name a famous architect many would name Frank Lloyd Wright.
On Tuesday we stayed one night in
Price Tower, the only skyscraper architect Frank Lloyd
Wright ever designed. Now if you are from a big city like
New York using the word "skyscraper" for a nineteen story
building may seem a stretch but in a small city like
Bartlesville (35,000) it does stand out! The tower was
opened in 1956 as a corporate headquarters for H. C. Price
Company, a local oil pipeline and chemical firm but more
recently it was converted to a hotel. Price Tower is a
member of Historic Hotels of America. Wright nicknamed the
tower, which was built on the Oklahoma prairie, "the tree
that escaped the crowded forest" (the "crowded forest"
being the skyscrapers in a city.)It
was an interesting place to stay since it is very
idiosyncratic (something peculiar), which, apart from the
fame of the architect, it's what makes the place so
interesting along with it's interior still reflecting the
1950's era. Years ago we visited "Fallingwater", another
famous Wright designed property, in Pennsylvania. I would
use the same word to describe this property as well! A
beautiful place to visit but not somewhere I would want to
live (not that I would ever have that opportunity).
Today let us consider the
true Master Architect and focus on the
words, "architect and builder" in our daily text. The
word, architect (architekton) is derived from two Greek
words, “arche” which means chief and “technites” where we
get the English word “technical”. The word builder
translates a word that means, "artisan, builder, maker".
In this Scripture text the writer of Hebrews (who is not identified in the Bible text) gives us a glimpse of the early patriarch, Abraham, whose faith and actions indicated that he was looking for a city not designed or built by mere human hands. His heart’s desires were fixed upon the invisible heavens where he would live for all eternity. It’s an expression of his faith in what God had promised.
C.H. Spurgeon writes, “Here you have the expectation of faith. Faith does not live on things seen; she lives on something yet to come. That which is to come she regards as eternal, not like a mere tent in which she dwells here, but a city that hath foundations, fixed and firm.”
The Master Architect is at work in His Kingdom and in our lives, in both the visible and invisible realm. He’s designing a masterpiece, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). Long after the works of the great architects and builders like Frank Lloyd Wright have turned to dust, the work of the Master Architect and Builder will remain!
In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves.. . . the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all left their mark on earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.”
Let us joyfully serve Jesus Christ today as we also direct our thoughts and affections on the Master Architect and on things above where our lives are hidden with Christ in God.
In this Scripture text the writer of Hebrews (who is not identified in the Bible text) gives us a glimpse of the early patriarch, Abraham, whose faith and actions indicated that he was looking for a city not designed or built by mere human hands. His heart’s desires were fixed upon the invisible heavens where he would live for all eternity. It’s an expression of his faith in what God had promised.
C.H. Spurgeon writes, “Here you have the expectation of faith. Faith does not live on things seen; she lives on something yet to come. That which is to come she regards as eternal, not like a mere tent in which she dwells here, but a city that hath foundations, fixed and firm.”
The Master Architect is at work in His Kingdom and in our lives, in both the visible and invisible realm. He’s designing a masterpiece, “that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:7). Long after the works of the great architects and builders like Frank Lloyd Wright have turned to dust, the work of the Master Architect and Builder will remain!
In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis wrote, “If you read history you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most of the next. The apostles themselves.. . . the great men who built up the Middle Ages, the English evangelicals who abolished the slave trade, all left their mark on earth, precisely because their minds were occupied with heaven. It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in.”
Let us joyfully serve Jesus Christ today as we also direct our thoughts and affections on the Master Architect and on things above where our lives are hidden with Christ in God.
Be
encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen
& Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we’re reminded in the book
of Colossians that if we are risen with Christ
we are to set our affections on things above,
not on things of the earth, for we are dead [to
the things of this world] and our spiritual life
is now hidden with Christ in God. Father, You
are the Masterbuilder working in the invisible
realm preparing for us a kingdom that cannot be
shaken by the folly of man or the sins that so
easily corrupt. Our future resting place is
eternally fixed in the heavens where we will
dwell with You and the saints of all the ages.
Keep our anticipation stirred and our affections
above where Jesus is seated at Your right hand
since it's because of His sacrificial death that
we can look forward to dwelling in the eternal
city of Heaven. Amen.
Daily
prayer: Father, we’re reminded in the book
of Colossians that if we are risen with Christ
we are to set our affections on things above,
not on things of the earth, for we are dead [to
the things of this world] and our spiritual life
is now hidden with Christ in God. Father, You
are the Masterbuilder working in the invisible
realm preparing for us a kingdom that cannot be
shaken by the folly of man or the sins that so
easily corrupt. Our future resting place is
eternally fixed in the heavens where we will
dwell with You and the saints of all the ages.
Keep our anticipation stirred and our affections
above where Jesus is seated at Your right hand
since it's because of His sacrificial death that
we can look forward to dwelling in the eternal
city of Heaven. Amen.Today's
Suggested Music and Supplemental
Resources
Price Tower Website
"Looking
For The City" Video Steve
Green
Price Tower Website
Price Tower
Wikipedia article
Bartlesville
has a beautiful downtown and although the
city is small it has several tall
buildings probably due to being home for a
major oil company. This is the view from
our twelfth floor hotel window.
(Click on photo to enlarge)
(Click on photo to enlarge)
The
hotel is furnished as it was in 1956. This
is a replica of an office with the
original furniture. Due to the historical
nature and designation they are not
allowed to upgrade the rooms and they are
the same as original except for adding
beds to make it a hotel. Even in this case
they recreated the 50's design.
Fallingwater
We
visited Fallingwater in 2003, and this
photo spot is known as the ultimate view.
Fallingwater
is a luxury home in the
mountains of western Pennsylvania, most
famous because it was designed by
architect Frank Lloyd Wright. It is in a
gorgeous setting built over waterfalls,
thus the name. It was the getaway home for
Edgar Kaufmann Sr., a successful
Pittsburgh businessman. It is listed among
Smithsonian's Life List of 28 places "to
visit before you die." Actually at 6 foot
2 inches I found the ceilings and doors
way too low for me in addition to the
damp, clammy feel due to the proximity to
the water and the masonry.
Fallingwater Website,
Fallingwater Website,
Fallingwater
Wikipedia article
All
through Bartlesville themed buffalo are
sponsored by various businesses. This was
Brooksyne's favorite since it is the
Oklahoma state song. Most of you know it
from the very popular musical, Oklahoma!
We
drove through Picher Oklahoma, a ghost
town in northeastern Oklahoma abandoned
due to widespread pollution from lead and
zinc mining. The town, which sits
just a quarter-mile off of Route 66, was
the national center of lead and zinc
mining. In 1920 nearly 10,000 people lived
here. Picher mine shafts produced
over half of the lead used to make bullets
fired during World War I. The community's
contribution to the war effort continued
through World War II. The zinc ore mines
continued to churn out the in-demand
material. As a result, the town boomed.
But later it became a ghost town as
explained in this link.
The
old Sherrell (Brooksyne's maiden name)
homestead is to the left. I (Brooksyne)
visited my old neighborhood where I grew
up in West Tulsa. My brother, Jody and his
wife, still live just up the road. Next to
him is his daughter and her family. This
is our neighbor's pond where the
neighborhood children gathered and ice
skated though we were a poor neighborhood
and never owned ice skates, just skated in
our rubber boots. And of course we never
had a long ice season! Beyond our
pasture was the Myers' swimming pond where
we enjoyed swimming on very hot summer
afternoons after spending the days doing
the chores, tending to the huge garden we
grew every year and then canning hundreds
of quarts of vegetables to feed our family
of seven.
To
the far left stands Jody's barn and on the
right you can see the old galvanized gate
leading into our pasture land where Daddy
milked our cow, Bessie. We also farmed
many pigs, horses, goats, chickens, you
name it. The skeleton of Daddy's
humble barn is still standing to the right
of Jody's barn. We had a farmette (as it
is called in Lancaster County) since it
was only five acres. Daddy brushhogged the
neighbor's pastures all around us in
exchange for access to their pastureland
so we actually had nearly 15 acres to
pasture on. Two days ago I visited with
the neighbors I grew up with which was
special, but it's no longer home since
Daddy (Brooklyn) entered the kingdom of
heaven in 2000 at age 66 and Mom (Ruth)
joined him in 2001 at age 67. Both died of
cancer. A few years later the house was
sold to a couple from California. Scenes
like this remind us that everything in
this life is temporal, that rust and decay
are inevitable on this side. But when we
reach our heavenly home there is no aging,
no rust.
I
enjoyed meeting again with Charlotte Gaunt
who lives in Mannford, OK. She's been a
longtime reader so we got to know each
other two years ago when I was in Tulsa.
It was wonderful to visit with her again
during breakfast at IHOP yesterday
morning.
Send
a message to Stephen
& Brooksyne
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Personal Mission Statement: "I am created by God to bring Him glory. Through God's Son Jesus Christ I have been redeemed and make it my life's goal to please the Lord. My mission in life is to honor God through my faith and obedience and prepare myself and all whom I may influence for eternity."
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