Posted in Creation Articles, Faith, General, Science, Truth | Tagged Faith, Science, Truth | Leave a Comment »
We were made for something bigger explains John Piper. We want to see beauty, power, symmetry, the unexplainable, the amazing, because we were made to fellowship with God. So, because of our separation from Him, we seek the beauty of His works. And those of us who know Him want more of Hm even when our tendency is to run and hide sometimes.
Today’s solar eclipse has a perceived spiritual element to it that even the most seared of conscience recognize. It points us, not to some vague internal spirituality or external, non-personal energy field of the universe, but to the Designer, the Artist, the Author, Who writes with power upon the sky this day, and in reality, every day. We are so apt to make idols of God’s works, gods in our own image, but if we would turn these deep emotional high’s into occasions of praise of the Creator, then our knowledge of and joy in Him would be deepened. I wanted to see it all and give Him praise.
When we arrived in the vicinity Huckleberry Knob around 8 AM, several thousand people and several hundred tents having preceded us. We had to park about a 1/2 mile from the beginning of the 1 mile trail. It was an easy walk, but it felt more like arriving a crowded ballpark than a mountain top wilderness area. People were quiet and polite and moving around to fix breakfast or clean up. We all shared the same objective. The top of the knob was partitioned by personal space, each little group selecting a patch of grass to sit down in. Closest to the peak dozens of tripods held telescopes, cameras, and video cameras. Neighbors swapped shop talk about equipment, procedures, and arrival challenges. The long wait was light-hearted, with much visiting, snoozing, games, and rechecking equipment
The top of the knob had a cloud slowly swirling around it. It would build and then fade, but was not going away. My sons and I made a decision about 20 minutes after C1, which was obscured, to move out from under the clouds. With just over an hour until totality we ran down the one mile trail and the older son ran on to the car about 1/2 mile along the Skyway while we watched the equipment. We stopped once about 3 miles down the mountain to see about 1/2 solar coverage, but the cloud again obscured the scene after a few minutes. We finally stopped about 8 miles away from the top at Santeetlah Gap. There were perhaps a dozen people here and at least one who had exited the top of the mountain as we had. The crowd was less intense. A man nearby had an eclipse phone app; he turned up the volume so we could all anticipate the events. My youngest son and I maintained the telescope screen alignment in order to follow the progress to totality. I spread a sheet on the ground. As totality approached the dimming light caused me to think that my eyes were mal-adjusting to light. Insects began chirping as though near sunset. Shadow bands appeared faintly on the sheet at about one minute before C2. The temperature began dropping and dimming accelerated. We saw Bailey’s Beads caused by mountains on the Moon, but we did not see the diamond ring.
Totality was simply awesome. The corona streamed out in light and dark bands to left and right at least one and one half sun diameters. My first reaction upon removing my eclipse glasses was that this did not look real but like it was airbrushed on the sky. My second thought was to want to sing the Doxology, which I did later, because here I was looking directly toward the Sun without eye protection and without damage, seeing one God’s wonders. It felt like a dim reminder of what Moses experienced when placed in the cleft of the rock seeing the afterglow of God’s glory. The corona’s silvery-white sheen with black streaks shown with an eerie, flame-like beauty. We could see stars all around the corona, including Venus to the right. My youngest son discerned a red star above the Sun. I will go back and see if that was Mars. The insects got quiet, the horizon we could see in various directions between mountains all showed of sunset colors. The older son said afterwards that it was the fastest 2:36 of our lives. People around us exclaimed “awesome” and “wow” throughout totality as if refraining from voicing amazement was not possible.
The diamond ring came without warning at C4 as a bright flash we were unprepared to see. Rushing to put the eclipse glasses back on, I saw Bailey’s Beads again, followed by shadow bands. Insects came alive again. With each passing minute the light increased.
The show was not over but after about 10 minutes we realized that there were going to be thousands of cars coming off the mountain soon and tens of thousands coming out of every tributary road toward home. We grabbed our simple equipment hastily, including the sheet which was very damp with dew, and sped off down the road. On the 4-lane we met our first 30 minutes slowdown. We began to move again and assumed we had dodged the traffic bullet. We even stopped for about 5 minutes to watch C5.
But ease of travel was not to be this day. On US74 we ran into a slowdown for 2+ hours at an average speed of less than 10 mph. After passing a major intersection we sped onward only to be stopped for 2 1/2 hours on I-40 near Ridgecrest where a semi and trailer had plunged off of an embankment and was being winched back onto the road. Certainly getting the driver to the hospital was a priority, but I wonder why during a record traffic event the truck could not have been left until the next day. My sons were about to come out of their skin, so I urged them to walk forward to see what was holding us up. They estimated that they walked 4 miles. One remembered that we were low on fuel with no reasonable way to obtain any. He saw a pick-up truck with a gas can and asked if it had fuel. He asked the man how much he wanted for it and gave him $10 for the can and about one gallon of gas. The vehicle behind him gave them another gallon of gas. Without this quick thinking and generosity we almost certainly would have been part of the cause of traffic problems. Instead, we made it home without having to get gasonline. I decided while I waited that the eclipse/traffic combination was an analogy for much of life- 2 minutes of glory sandwiched between many hours of drudgery and difficulty. But if you accept that God gives joy in the glory and contentment in the mundane, you may enjoy life and see His hand at work in both. It took us 3 hours to get to the mountain from our home and 8 1/2 hours to get back home. Was it worth it? Yes, it was in my mind for what I saw and expereinced, with whom I experienced it, and from Who’s hand it was given.
What have we gotten ourselves into?
A light-footed jaunt
Tent City
The Art of Waiting
An all too close flyby
Let’s get serious
Humble equpiment
set-up
Clouds are beautiful but this one is poorly timed
I love mountain vegetation
Ontario to Florida
Adjacent blog
OK!
The color of a partial eclipse
It takes all kinds and their pets
Now its happening
Check the secondary lens image
Just don’t have the fancy equipment
Almost there
Totality!
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It’s a pity when life gets in the way of blogging (just kidding!). But I have so many thoughts and experiences from the summer that I could blog for quite some time. It is not likely to happen as I see more things happening soon, but that’s OK.
I did want to share a few thoughts and pictures. I don’t often suggest books for several reasons. I do more technical reading than reading for pleasure, and frankly many books don’t meet my high standard of what I would unreservedly pass on to those I call friends, or enemies for that matter since I want them to one day be friends. A book that I can enthusiastically suggest is “The Book That Made Your World, How the Bible Created the soul of Western Civilization” by Vishal Mangalwadi. Because of his culture and his faith he simultaneously looks at the West as an outsider and insider at the same time. I keep having the feeling that he is correcting much error from lies our culture has fed us about how we got to where we are. He uses personal experiences and copious quotes to show the deep imprint of the Bible on western culture. I think that you will hear more about it here once I am finished with it.
My friend, colleague, and climbing partner, CC, took me to two boulders I’d never been to before. In fact, he had only been there a few days before with another climbing buddy for the first time cleaning about ten problems, laying a thick base of branches in a wet spot, and clearing part of a large fallen tree. I was privileged to try out the new rock. I like to go back to old familiar routes, but there is a particular excitement about trying new routes, and particularly ones that haven’t been climbed before. I was definitely not climbing at the top of my game, only topping out on a V1 and 3 V2’s. I tried two V4 and got shut down. Both problems involved a gaston with my left hand that I could not stick. It has challenged me to train that weakness. On the second one I discovered that if I did a side pull with my right hand instead, I could top out to the left much easier. We both agreed that it would rate as a V2. I decided to name it “Easy Out”. The two pictures are of me on the right sidepull and the topout. We saw several Cardinal Flowers in the wet, rich spots by the creek. I definitely want to go back, and hopefully clean some problems on new rock myself. (Photo credit: CC with his phone)
Lobelia cardinalis
Taking it “Easy..”
“Easy Out”
Posted in Climbing, Cultural commentary, General, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Climbing, Outdoors, Photos | Leave a Comment »
One sentence from a comment on my last entry keeps coming back to me:
“A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed.” (G.K. Chesterton)
When I came across a small poem that I had written about a year ago and considered my daily struggles, it seemed an example of how I must doubt my sinful self and cling evermore so firmly to the saving truth that brings joy and confidence. This salvation is not a past tense thing, it is a continuous present tense thing:
A deep heavy sigh
To realize I’ve failed again
How can I reply
Other than repent of sin
Only live by faith
Letting God’s grace to shine through
Jesus first of all
In all life that I pursue
Posted in Faith, General, Grace, Poem | Tagged Faith, Grace, Poems, Truth | Leave a Comment »
I read an article posted on Facebook (Someone reading this article is saying, “There was your first mistake.”) recently that was titled, “Want to be Smarter? Learn to Say “I Don’t Know” by Zat Rana. I think that the sense of the article is humility, which is a valuable virtue for all of life and particularly discussions of significant topics. Humility should rule all of our discussions and particularly those on profound and sublime subjects. He says early on, “Somehow, we have decided that it’s okay to hold beliefs based on blind affiliation rather than rigorous critical thought.” Far too much of that goes on, probably because assenting to ideas by affiliation is easier than researching a topic and coming to your own conclusions. Also, he says, “more often than not, the issue lies in our inability to humbly accept that we don’t and can’t know everything; that, often, we are wrong.”
So far I am tracking with him. But immediately he charges into his defense of his position with his first point: “The Irrationality of Certainty”. His most supporting thought is that “Certainty is an illusion, and there is no shame in being wrong because, by nature, our entire perception of the world is wrong.” Now life truly is a balancing act, and we must hold many of our ideas lightly, but saying that there is nothing about which you can be certain, because it is an illusion, reduces all of life to relativism, which is illogical according the law of non-contradiction. Just because you don’t know something doesn’t mean it isn’t certain or that you can’t know it. There are things of substance that I can know for sure, not because I have all of the data, but because I know the One who does. There are absolutes and they can be known. There are many things I must hold lightly and be ready to be corrected and informed, but there are others I stake my life on.
His next sub-title is “The Disease of Blind Affiliation”. His contention is that “we form a connection to something that we fundamentally haven’t questioned.” In many scenarios of politics and tradition and even religious thinking, what he says is so very true, but don’t use this as an excuse not to make commitments about what is true. The agnostic view of the world and God is an excuse not to make a commitment that will require change and conviction. It reminds me of what the writer of Acts says about the Athenians concerning their questioning of Paul: “Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.” Act 17:21 This is how many avoid commitment to the truth: “…always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” II Timothy 3:7
“What is truth?” (John 18:38), Pilate asked Jesus. Was Pilate opened-minded? Was he seeking for truth? The evidence of the passage (John 18:29-19:18) is that he wanted to feel important, secure, popular, and in control, but he was not interested ultimately in what was true or right. His attempts to rescue Jesus were to avoid repercussions either from the crowd or some vague sense of a wrathful deity. Is it any different now? “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:32-33), said Jesus. If you don’t start with God’s Word you certainly can’t continue in it. I urge you, dear reader, to dig into the Word of God and plead with God to reveal to you truth. It exists; it is unchanging; it is life changing; you can know with certainty; it will keep you humble.
Posted in General, God's Word, Truth | Tagged Truth | 2 Comments »
God has and does give more than enough evidence of His existence and work in the world (Psalm 19), but not for mere curiosity seekers or those looking for excuses (Matthew 12:38-39). He does give sufficient evidence (John 10:37-38). The true element preventing so many from believing is faith. And faith is in fact given to an individual by God (John 6:44). If you sense the slightest inkling of desire to know God or find truth or know if there is a God and if the Bible is true, pursue it and plead with God to open Himself to you (Mark 9:24, Matthew 7:7).
Even if evidence is as clear as can be
Without faith we will choose to not see
All that God has done in the world and in our lives
Until He comes again or death arrives
Even if great blessings light the way that we go
Without faith thanks will fail to overflow
All to luck, fate, karma will be attributed
Until no praise to Him is presented
Even if intricate design is discovered
Without faith the true meaning is covered
All is said from nature uniformly evolved
Until not one thing is from Him derived
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Bright new day Mockingbird has his say Lush and green Rain brings Spring's early sheen Season's start Foliage and plumage art All dainty Nests and blooms aplenty All things grow Matter, energy flow Life's cycle Replenish, recycle Young ones sup Foal, calf, kitten, and pup Insects buzz Peach, leaf, and mildew fuzz Remember God's mercies are tender He provides Creates, sustains, abides
Posted in Beauty, General, God Thoughts, Grace, Outdoors, Poem | Tagged Beauty, God Thoughts, Grace, Outdoors, Poems | Leave a Comment »
Mundane and tedious blights the soul Clips the wings and dulls life's sheen Off to the digs, the life of a mole Outwardly lulled, inwardly lean Nothing big but challenges galore Wanting to rise to the top But daily life pins you to the floor While pleading that troubles would stop Why do difficulties continue? Why do my troubles persist? Where's a fresh start and a new venue? Does purpose in problems exist? If you would be faithful in little Later entrusted with much The trials will test your faith and mettle Spirit's power revealed as such Hold on and trust in the daily tasks Find His help in every trial Cling to Him, doing all that He asks Don't doubt, turning to denial Embracing your God ordained story Bear up under every test Then to God will go all the glory And your soul will find joy and rest
Posted in Faith, General, God Thoughts, Grace, Poem, Strength | Tagged Faith, God Thoughts, Grace, Poems, Random thoughts, Strength | Leave a Comment »
Many the comment that comes from students the last few days for school. Many are gracious, wanting to end on a friendly note. It shows a measure of decency on the part of the majority of students. Others are harshly truthful and others contrived, far from truthful, out of some need to right a never done wrong. “I can’t wait until this class is over. Friends told me that I wouldn’t be able to wait to get out of here, but that I would miss you afterward. I don’t see that happening.” It seemed like a complement to me, if not from the student in front of me, then certainly from the ‘friends’. Dealing constantly with people is not easy business. It wears on the emotions, particularly if you care even a little bit. It doesn’t help that you always know that you have failed in some small way with every person you interact with, even though you know you did your best overall and intended the best for your students. It is for all of this difficulty in the midst of trying that the occasional word of genuine encouragement lifts the weary soul. At the end of the last assignment to be graded for one class there was the following statement: “Mr. __, I’m so glad you were my teacher! I learned alot from you! Science and life choices.” That is the way that I want to be remembered as a teacher- passionate about teaching Science and life. Many of my years of teaching have been stressful for reasons inside the class and out. This past year was not the worst for stress, but it did rank. At the same time it was a year of spiritual benefit in my own life and in opportunity to talk to students about eternal things. It sometimes amazes me how often students will bring up the subject of where we came from, or do I believe in God, or how do you solve life’s difficult problems, or what is the meaning of life. Some of the questions relate directly to the subject at hand and others seem random, though I am sure that the underlying thought process that brought them forward was not. I hope that I taught many students science and life this past year and that God will take what I offered for His glory and their good.
Posted in General, Random thoughts, Remembering, Sustaining, Witness | Tagged Cultural commentary, Pressures of Life, purpose in life, Random thoughts, Remembering, Sustaining, Witness | Leave a Comment »
The time of year to attend graduations, send cards and well wishes for the future, and give advice to the bright-faced graduates is upon us. I have no better advice for the graduate entering the workforce than that which I heard from the commencement speaker at my son’s graduation just over a year ago at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas. The commencement speaker was former Secretary of the U.S. Mint, Edmund C. Moy. The seven points of advice that he gave are appropriate for the graduate or any Christian in the workplace who desires to live for God. Following is my interpretation of what he said.
Seek a mentor. Find someone who has been there and done that. The emphasis is on a spiritual mentor who can help you to navigate and balance the demands of working and stresses of interacting with people with your desire and need to grow spiritually and demonstrate God’s love to those around you. This mentoring relationship requires time and scheduling. Start right away seeking such a person you may trust in this role. At my stage in life I have offered and mentored younger employees and students.
Find or form a like-minded group with whom to pray and fellowship and witness. Certainly a church may fulfill this need but a sub-group within the organization of your employment is an added help to you and your colleagues. Seek out other Christians; there is strength in numbers. These groups change over time and my present one is outside my workplace.
Be trustworthy with the small things. As Jesus said, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? (Luke 16:10-12) Integrity matters. Certainly this is good workplace ethic, but even more to the point, how can you expect people to entrust to you to talk to them about eternal things, the Gospel, if you are not trustworthy with material things? Don’t shame Christ’s name for trivial pursuits.
Do good work; it praises God. Are you a team player? On time for work? Meet deadlines? Do quality work so that someone else does not have to come behind you and fix it? Stay positive and refrain from complaining? “Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense either to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God; just as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, so that they may be saved.” (I Corinthians 10:31-33). If you would live openly as a believer, then let your words be kind and truthful and your actions sound and pure. I will add that you should not pursue the easy way out by hiding your faith. It may show you don’t have any.
Make a “to be list” to become spiritually mature. “To do lists” are everyday business that we must do to complete each day’s tasks. God is most concerned with us coming to understand who we are in Christ, which will most profoundly affect what we do. Set goals for becoming more of who you are. This is not works religion. This is spiritual discipline.
Consider public service. The private sector is good, but we need honest, hardworking, honorable, high-order thinking individuals in the public sphere as well. Your skill set is needed to set things right.
Many resumes have a zig-zag path. That’s OK: God is behind it. God is sovereign in His providential care and direction. Rather than get frustrated and ask why, pray harder instead, and enjoy the ride. My personal route has certainly been circuitous. God is good.
May the truth and application of this advice assist you as you enter the workforce, college, or the military.
Posted in General, God Thoughts, Strength, Sustaining, Witness | Tagged Random thoughts, Strength, Witness | Leave a Comment »
Grammar is fascinating and frustrating. A wordsmith must surely play with it sometimes to see what change in perspective it gives a sentence or idea or story. All people who try to thoughtfully put ideas down on paper or screen must surely have faltered in how to follow the rules while conveying the thought and feeling. As a teacher and sometime writer, I deal in a fair amount of grammar though I am by no means a wordsmith.
So it was today that I warmed to the prayer of my pastor as he requested of God that He make our indicatives into our imperatives. I believe I knew what he meant, that we should take those statements of fact that God declares about who we are and what we have in Him and make them bold statements of faith by acting on them as though commanded by the very statement of them. I lost most of the rest of his prayer as I requested that God would indeed do that in my life in areas that I knew were not fully under His Lordship.
It was only later in the day that I again reflected on the thought, this time to consider if I had really understood it. Then my mind went all bonkers on details. For instance, what is the term for different types of statements? Oh yeah, mood? When he made that request, being a man who frequently studies the Scriptures, was he thinking English or Greek verb moods? What are the English and Greek verb moods, what do they mean, and how are they expressed? How might I use conscious awareness of them to benefit my writing and deepen the content of what I convey?
It feels good after so many months of tight schedule and stressful deadlines to be sufficiently unencumbered of the mind to have random thoughts and have a few minutes to put them down. Here is an attempt at sharing a good mood:
I desire while still living who I am in Christ shall command me to obey.
That is a mood worth having!
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Lord, You give us all good things To enjoy and praise Your Name Thanks for Your benefits rings Always gracious, always the same Difficulty You allow Confusion part of what's planned Hardship brings sweat to the brow Some gifts are hard to understand Trusting Your goodness the plan Resist confusion and pain Cling to God, unbelief ban Let His rule and direction reign Halt all you're not called to do Do well what He's given you Make it first Him to pursue God will work well to see you through Then peace will reign in your heart Problems will not overwhelm Each new day a brand new start Your joy when God is at the helm
Posted in Faith, General, God Thoughts, Grace, Poem | Tagged Faith, faithfulness, God Thoughts, Grace, Poems, Remembering | Leave a Comment »
Evidently, last night a spider had laid three lines of silk down the windshield of my truck squarely in the line of my vision for driving. The Sun shining in from just south of my predominantly easterly direction on the way to church down the interstate produced little repeating rainbows in the silk. From bottom to top they gleamed: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and the last two just looked like black gaps before the next red. The colors were brilliant and made the silk appear much wider than it did when the Sun was obscured once or twice by tree branches. I noticed that when I moved my head left or right the colors changed. When I moved to the right the color transitioned to longer red beads up and down the silk. When I moved my head left the color transitioned toward blue. Just before I exited the interstate the roadbed trends slightly more North and I finally began seeing violet when I leaned left.** I was thankful for light traffic on the interstate since I was focusing on 5 lines, one solid white, one dashed, and three multicolored. I thought of lunar eclipses, when the Moon is blood red or orange. Light from the Sun is refracted by the atmosphere onto the surface of the Moon which is moving through the shadow of the Earth. The shorter wavelength colors bend more evidently, careening off into space between Moon and Earth. I also reflected on the refraction that occurs in a droplet of water on a leaf producing and fisheye view of flowers or landscapes behind. The Sun was also pleasantly warm on me. I praised God for beauty He instilled into Creation which points to His superior beauty and His goodness that allows me to be aware of and see it and experience warm Sun and have a truck to travel in, and so on. I went to a corporate worship service later, which I would always recommend, but I got started early with three lines of evidence for God’s beauty and love of beauty.
**I don’t think that I ever see indigo, or is it violet I don’t see? That is, I don’t discern two colors, indigo and violet. I had the thought for the first time today that perhaps I don’t see violet. When I get in discussions with my family about a transition color between green and blue, they always say it looks blue and I most usually say it looks green. Does that mean that I see colors differently than most people, seeing what normal (whatever that means in this situation) eyes discern as blue as green or that I just name them differently? If it is the former, then perhaps I also see indigo as blue and violet as indigo and don’t see a separate violet color. If this is true it in no way changes reality, but only casts a shadow of doubt on my perception of reality. Afterall, certain people certainly hear more or most frequently less than 20 to 20,000 Hz frequency of sound.
Posted in Beauty, Creation Articles, General, God Thoughts, Random thoughts, Science | Tagged Beauty, God Thoughts, Random thoughts, Science, Worship | 1 Comment »
In my Earth Science class we are learning about Meteorology. Today I was discussing cumulonimbus clouds, how they form, and the results of their violent action. Maybe you can guess where this is going. Given my particular Southern accent, there is not a dime’s worth of difference between the pronunciation of hail and hell. (And yes, I can pronounce them differently and correctly, and yes, there is a difference in Southern accents. (That was for my Northern brothers and more British speaking acquaintances.)) So, a student immediately seizes upon the opportunity to ask which one I meant. I replied, as the snickers increased, that we could talk about either one. I then proceeded to compare and contrast the two by way of modeling proper separation of homonyms (as they appeared), prefacing my comments by saying that I take both seriously, since I believe both are real. Encouraged on by several students, I re-pronounced the words, “hale” (long a) and “hel” (short e) and said one is cold and one is hot. One is a thing and the other is a place.
Had I had more time to think, I believe that after re-pronouncing them that I would have said something more along the lines of, “One is a thing; one is a place. Both are real and dangerous. One is hot and one is cold. One can ruin your day and one can ruin your eternity. One can injure your head and one can injure your soul. Both are avoidable if you retreat to an ‘umbrella’ of protection from the wrath they entail.” Hopefully the little I did actually say communicated much of what I would intend to say if it were not a spur of the moment reaction.
Posted in General, Random thoughts, Witness | Tagged Random thoughts, Witness | Leave a Comment »
I was asked, as one of the guests requested by the Eagle Scout candidate, if I would like to speak during the ceremony. I asked if I would be allowed to share Scripture. The response was, “That would be good because the pastor had a conflict and can’t come.” Following is an approximation of what I said then:
Eagle Scout Candidate (ESC- I used his name where this appears), congratulations on your accomplishment. I am here to give you a challenge. Your Scout Oath speaks of duty to God, Family, Country, Others, and Self. Life is about relationships. I add family to the list because, even though it is not included directly in your oath, it is the most fundamental unit of society, even above government, and is surely included in “others”. The Scout Promise and Path is about fulfilling these duties within these relationships.
My challenge today, ESC, pertains to the question, What is our duty to God?
Micah 6:8 says, “He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” In the context before and after this verse the prophet points out that this requirement is not being fulfilled. Is it an unreasonable requirement? Paul quotes King David, the prophet (Psalm 36) when he says,“There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands,there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12) Paul summarizes the problem just a few verses later: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (v.23) Is God being unreasonable to require what we cannot do? What is the solution? The solution is relationship with God. Hear what Ephesians 2:8-9 says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The first step in duty to God is to know God through His Son, Jesus. The next step is to live for God. These two steps cannot be reversed. You cannot simply serve God and be a nice person. You must know God through Jesus first, then He gives power to those who know Him by providing everything they need for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2-3).
ESC, my challenge to you is this: Know God through Jesus, not know about God. Know God by receiving Jesus as your Savior. Secondly, know God regularly through His Word and through worship. Thirdly, serve family, country, and all people through the power God gives, giving Him the credit. This is your duty to God.
Posted in Faith, General, God Thoughts, Grace, Work of Jesus | Tagged Faith, faithfulness, God Thoughts, Grace, Relationship | 1 Comment »
Last week I was asked to film some running and interviews and be interviewed about exercising. After challenging students to come out for a set of couch to 5K training sessions to be sponsored by the track team, I gave them my challenge: “I have been exercising for over 40 years and here is what I’ve learned: Start now, start small, and start again.” Start now, because if you don’t you probably won’t. Start small and progress slowly or you will probably be overwhelmed and give up. Life is challenging. You get injured or sick or you have responsibilities that prevent you or old habits overtake you and you just sit. Don’t give up; start again. And the next time it happens start again and again until the habit makes it hard to quit.
When I walked away from being interviewed I realized that what I said could readily be applied to many areas of life. The spiritual application is one of perseverance and diligence in the pursuit of relationship with God. Our life with God begins and continues by grace through faith, but we are also urged to “work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure”. (Philippians 2:12-13) God’s work in us results in us working. Our salvation is secure in Him but our sanctification is progressive. If it is reading the Bible regularly or studying it, or praying, or witnessing, or going to church for worship and fellowship: Start now, start small, start again. You’ve given in again to that sinful urge. Your old self wants it and that’s why you did it, but your new life in Christ wants to please Him and wants to break the slavery to sin. It is not just a matter of stop. You need to replace the sinful urge with a godly urge. Practice righteousness. Start now. Start small. Start again. You neglect the best for the alright and easy. Set your priorities in order which includes the best and down time to recuperate from intense activities. Start now. Start small. Start again. Getting in shape spiritually is not so different than getting in shape physically, though really it is because “…discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.” (I Timothy 4:7-8) And furthermore, though you should “work out your salvation with fear and trembling;” simultaneously “…it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13-14) And “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12) Other than that (haha!) they are the same, so start now, start small, and start again. Coupled with the many promises that we “can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13) and “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” (I Corinthians 10:13) and “if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (I John 2:1) and “His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence,” (2 Peter 1:3), and more, then the least we can do is start now, start small, and start again.
Posted in Blogroll, Faith, General, God Thoughts, Grace, Remembering, Strength | Tagged Faith, faithfulness, God Thoughts, Grace, Remembering, Strength | Leave a Comment »
Oh Father, my heart is heavy
My past failures and troubles, too
Exact from me a stiff levy
Brokenness, regrets not a few
There is now no condemnation
Help me believe that it is true
Act so without reservation
Participate in life anew
Communicate life to loved one
Keep what is best for him in view
Remembering victories won
Repent, reconcile, and renew
May my life show to all others
That forgiveness makes all things new
Humble in success and failures
Belief in Christ is what is due
Make my heart light with joy and peace
Paint my life with a brighter hue
Christ's life in me a brand new lease
May be seen by all to be true
Posted in Faith, General, God Thoughts, Poem, Remembering | Tagged God Thoughts, Grace, Poems, Remembering | Leave a Comment »
CreatorWorship 
Memory Lapse
September 11, 2017 by creatorworship
I shared thoughts about 9/11 last year that I think still ring true. If you are interested, see “Has the World Really Changed?”
9/11 was not even mentioned at my school today. We went on as if it never happened. My students were not born until 2003. Two major hurricanes just hit back to back in the continental US. Political wrangling is more contentious than it has perhaps ever been in my lifetime. North Korea makes ever more credible threats with each passing year. Racial tension has again reared its ugly head in these United States. The economy is better and life is good. In other words, life has rendered us forgetful. No, that is a way of saying we have an excuse because some outside influence caused us to do what we would not have otherwise. No, we have either willfully forgotten or passively allowed forgetfulness. We don’t want to think about that event because it demands of us introspection about how we should react and will react. We would have to consider the continuation of dangers in the world which we know no solution for. Even more disturbing, we would have to consider that because of our own complicity we are part of the problem. Not me you say. I in no way caused 9/11. What have you done to make this a better, purer, kinder, stronger nation? Have you cried out to God for mercy? Have you sown peace and goodness in the land? Have you taken heed to God’s law and sought after His grace? I include myself. What have I done to remember the lessons of 9/11 that were never learned by this nation and forgotten by the few that did know them? I have much work to do in my personal life, but tomorrow I will convey the sense of what happened to my students who see it as textbook history, before their time. Allow your memory to lapse no more on this subject.
As to the memory of the events, I think that my daughter does them more justice than I am able just now. Here is what she said:
“My 8th grade English class was in the computer lab typing papers one Tuesday morning, when another teacher came in and told Mrs Ball (my teacher) to turn on the TV. Less than 10 minutes later, I watched in real time with shocked disbelief and trembling sadness as the Flight 175 crashed into the World Trade Center South Tower. Reports of the Pentagon being hit and speculation of other targets followed soon after. I saw the towers crumble. I saw the people running, covered in dust. I saw the NY police and firefighters. I saw the gaping hole in the Pentagon and the field in Pennsylvania. I saw the hysteria. I silently cried for those lost and prayed for our president.
The next day was so quiet. All planes were grounded.
In the following weeks however, the burst of nationalism was heard echoing across the country. “United We Stand!” “God bless America!” So many US flags appeared. So many people came together to grieve and hold each other up.
I still grieve. When I think of how easily we forget. When I consider the short lived community support. When I contemplate how quickly the crying out to God for help changed to reliance, expectation, and blame on the government.
September 11, 2001 ushered in a new era in our world. Ideas were shaken. Securities were questioned. Fear is the new normal.
So now what? Trust God.
The only way I have found to deal with truth and reality is to take all to Him who created it and me. Do I still feel the impact? Yes, but I don’t try to carry the burden.”
Posted in 9/11, Cultural commentary, General, Remembering | Tagged 9/11, Remembering | Leave a Comment »