October 26, 2004

Lost Treasure

Sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. —Mark 10:21

Bible In One Year: Jeremiah 9-11; 1 Timothy 6

Don takes walks on the city's railroad tracks and searches under freeway overpasses. He's not looking for lost treasure; he's looking for homeless people. Don met Jake, who lives in a makeshift underground shack and is mentally ill. He stops by to see Jake occasionally, making sure he's warm and has food. He tells Jake about Jesus because he wants him to find "treasure in heaven."

Jesus talked about this treasure with a rich young man who asked Him how to inherit eternal life. Jesus said, "Sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me" (Mark 10:21).

Jesus wasn't teaching that we must give up our wealth to be acceptable to Him. We can never earn eternal life by our works. He was showing this man his spiritual bankruptcy. His heart was set on wealth, not Jesus.

That rich young man and our homeless friend have more in common than we might think. In the eyes of God, both are spiritually bankrupt. We all are, unless we have Jesus.

No good deed can earn eternal life—not helping the homeless or giving away all our money. Jesus wants us to give Him our heart. Then we'll have real treasure—treasure in heaven—and we'll seek to help others. —Anne Cetas

What shall I give Thee, Master?
Giver of gifts divine;
I will not hold time, talents, or gold—
For everything shall be Thine. —Grimes

Salvation is given, not earned.

Article published Oct 26, 2004
3 from N.C. face felony anti-spam trial

LEESBURG, VA. - Jury selection concluded Monday in a trial of three North Carolinians facing what the Virginia attorney general’s office says is the nation’s first felony trial of alleged purveyors of unsolicited bulk e-mail, or spam.

The Loudoun County Circuit Court jury will hear opening arguments today in the case, which is expected to last about seven days.

The jury of nine men and four women, including an alternate, was seated after a day of extensive questioning about their Internet habits.

Seating a jury was complicated somewhat due to the technical savvy of the jury pool in Loudoun County, home to Dulles-based AOL.

Defense attorneys questioned potential jurors about their use of AOL service and their feelings about spam. About half of them were AOL customers.

The defense had previously expressed concerns about AOL subscribers’ ability to serve on a jury.

Judge Thomas Horne did not bar AOL users from the jury but allowed questioning to determined if there might be a bias against spammers.

Jeremy Jaynes and his sister, Jessica DeGroot, both of Raleigh, and Richard Rutkowski, of Cary, are charged with sending hundreds of thousands of unsolicited e-mail messages hawking everything from mortgage rates to stock schemes.

Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore has said the e-mail transmissions were manipulated to prevent the receiver from knowing who sent the spam.

The defendants were charged in Virginia because the state is a major hub for Internet traffic.

If convicted, the three face up to 20 years in prison each.