Their reasoning must have been cheap nike shoes from china on sale , "This is the precious gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! No amount of effort or expense would be wasted. Let's make it beautiful."
And beautiful falls short in describing these manuscripts! They dyed the finest parchment purple and carefully sewed them together into quires of four sheets which, when folded, made sixteen pages. Several of these quires they tied together to form a codex, the ancient equivalent of a book. Scribes then copied the words of Matthew, Mark authentic nike shoes from china on sale , Luke, and John, using gold and silver ink.
In one particularly beautiful manuscript, the words of Jesus and angels appear in crimson or gold; words quoted from the Old Testament and quotations of the disciples are blue; the words of the Pharisees, of Judas Iscariot nike factory outlet store online , and of the devil are black; and all the other words are vermillion. This masterpiece resides in the National Library of Paris.
We find the beauty and craftsmanship of such manuscripts impressive, but these products of parchment and pen are not nearly as beautiful witnesses to the gospel as the epistles Paul describes in Second Corinthians chapter 3, verse 3: "You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God authentic wholesale nike shoes , not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."
When people see what we do, can they discern the gold and silver letters of the imperishable gospel imprinted on our hearts? Can they see the calligraphy of the Holy Spirit in the attitudes we display: our love, joy, peace, patience authentic nike shoes on sale , kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control? Can they recognize the divine hand as it transforms us into the image of Jesus Christ? We can make it so by God's grace.
Our place is not in a museum or a national library cheap nike shoes on sale , but in the houses and on the streets of town, instantly available to anyone who wants to stop and read. No amount of effort or expense is wasted to make our lives beautiful to those who would read Christ in us. God has made us His workmanship, His masterpiece (Eph. 2:10).
Copyright 脙茠脝鈥櫭兟⒚⑩€毬吢∶兤捗⑩偓拧脙鈥毭偮?005 Steve Singleton, All rights reserved.
Steve Singleton has written and edited several books and numerous articles on subjects of interest to Bible students. He has taught Greek, Bible nike shoes on sale clearance , and religious studies courses Bible college, university, and adult education programs. He has taught seminars and workshops in 11 states and the Caribbean.
Go to his for Bible study resources, no matter what your level of expertise. Explore "The Shallows," plumb "The Depths nike shoes on sale womens ," or use the well-organized "Study Links" for original sources in English translation. Sign up for Steve's free "DeeperStudy Newsletter." Invest in a Great Merchant Services Partner ECommerce Articles | March 22, 2008 For as long as there have been entrepreneurs there has been someone lurking in the background murmuring: ?To make money you have to spend money.? A better way to turn that phrase so it truly gets...
For as long as there have been entrepreneurs there has been someone lurking in the background murmuring: ?To make money you have to spend money.?
A better way to turn that phrase so it truly gets its meaning across is: ?To make money you have to invest money back into your business.? Because that is what wise merchant spending is doing when they spend on their business ? a short-term cash outflow for long-term profitability.
If you?re a traditional retailer you can find a store in the run-down part of town with a leaky roof at a great price. But you probably won?t get a lot of business because people aren?t in the area very often and those who do come in won?t enjoy the experience. That?s why you?d spend a little more for rent to be in a great location with lots of consumer traffic and a store people feel comfortable in.
And the same is true if your store just happens to be on the Internet. You still have to invest wisely to make sure your business is attractive to its customers. This is why it is important to take a look at the cost of adding credit card processing service that goes well beyond the bottom-line price.
You have to think more about what you may not be getting for the price some companies will charge.
And now is a good time to make an important point ? credit card processing companies, just like you as a business professional, exist to be profitable. You are going to have to spend some money. The trick will be to spend it wisely.
There are fees tied to having merchant services. For example, the gateway fee is going to be charged by all companies. The gateway refers to the payment gateway nike shoes on sale 50 off , which essentially is the secure path by which sensitive cardholder information is sent back and forth during the transaction. While this is a cornerstone of your processing needs ? and you want to make sure your customers can trust using their cards on your site ? the established companies will price this around $15-20 per month.
However, there are some companies out there that will charge up to four times that amount! Does that mean their gateway is four times better? Four times more secure? A great rule of thumb is that when you see such a disparity in price you need to ask why. And if you don?t get a clear answer, ask again. If you?re still not getting clarity, move on.
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Another fee to consider carefully is the monthly minimum, or what you will be charged no matter how many cards you process in a given month. If you expect to pump a significant volume of transactions every month nike shoes on sale china , seek a reasonable fee.