November 11, 2016 by creatorworship
Yeah, man, my life motto, “Life is Good”, “livin’ the dream!” Good vibes, positive outlook, need plenty of that, right? Not so fast. What about when you are sick and you just lost your job and the dog got run over and taxes went up and there is another war and…you get the idea. So, does that mean life is bad then? Is that what I’m saying? Let’s take a closer look. If the phrase, “Life is Good” was the end of the thought, it has limited utility to help us along in life perhaps, but as used in our society at this time it has modifying thought that follows. This implied extension of the thought is also explicitly stated in places like the “Life is Good” Facebook page. It goes something like this: Life is good because I’m doing what I like and liking what I do. The implication is a totally self focused or humanist view of life and it doesn’t work on several levels. First of all, you can’t always do what you want to. Secondly, in a more narrow sense, if doing what you want to do refers to your vocation, it is an economic impossibility for everyone to have the job of their dreams. And as just pointed out, many times life is hard. The idea may well turn into life is good for some subset of the population for whom everything is falling into place, but that must surely imply that I don’t care what happens to the other half or I think they just need to get their life together, think positive, and make it happen. Or maybe we are being urged to follow blind optimism: Let’s pretend life is good and that will somehow make it better. All of these possibilities seem a bit depressing unless you happen to be riding the wave, and even then it probably won’t last.
Rather than just burst your bubble and leave you hanging, I would like to suggest a more meaningful and purposeful phrase and explain why it is not just wishful thinking: “Life is good because God is good.” Stated this way the fact that life is also at times hard is not ignored or denied. God is working blessings deeper and more lasting. In the midst of hardship God is training us to trust Him (Proverbs 3:5-6,12) and look for what is honorable, pure, and good (Philippians 4:8). He is building, reserving, and guaranteeing future blessings (1 Corinthians 2:9) that outweigh these present difficulties (Romans 8:18). Through His gifts of goodness to us and as we praise Him we are given value, comfort, and provision (Psalm 34). Our lives are filled with meaning (Romans 8:28) and purpose (Psalm 67:7); He is given glory (John 15:8). These reasons that life is good will seem foolish to those who do not know Him (1 Corinthians 1:18), but I invite you to find the peace, joy, and purpose in serving God through the knowledge of His Son, Jesus (Psalm 34:8; Colossians 1:9-13), for He is the way to God (John 14:6). “Life is good because God is good”, which means that all of life is life gained from God and lived unto God (2 Peter 1:2-4), to His glory and for our benefit.
Posted in General, God Thoughts, Grace, Strength, Sustaining, Work of Jesus | Tagged Faith, God Thoughts, Grace, Random thoughts, Strength, theology, Worship | Leave a Comment »
October 9, 2016 by creatorworship
Hebrews 1:3 is a deeply insightful verse about our God: “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” I have long been fascinated by the phrase “radiance of His glory” and have written about it once upon a time here (Radiance Check out the poem, too.). “Radiance” is translated “brightness” in several versions but seems to fall short of conveying what Jesus accomplishes by revelation to us of His Father. He shines forth His glory, that is, we could not know of God without seeing His glory in Jesus’ representation of Him. You only see the sun because of the light radiating from it. Analogies can be taken too far, in this case to make Jesus out to be something or someone separate from the Father. That is heresy and not at all my intention in explaining radiance. Rather, hear what Jesus said, “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:9) That verse, of course, bears on the phrase “exact representation” also. In the ESV it reads, “exact imprint”. As an illustration I pressed my truck key into Play-Doh. I pointed out that plastic could be poured into the imprint, harden and used to open my truck door. Again, you could get into positive/negative imprint or representation being a facsimile rather than the original but that is not what the Scripture is saying. These analogies fall short because of the mystery of the Trinity, meaning our inability to understand the essential nature of God, but He gives us insight to extend our understanding even though we fall short of full understanding.
The next phrase is the one that has caught my attention most recently. I am now going to indulge in some manifest musing (or “thinking out loud” as we usually say if I were talking to you). He “upholds all things by the word of His power.” “Word of His power” is an odd construction in English. NASB, KJV, NKJV, and ESV use this phrase. NIV, HCSB, and NRSV say, “His powerful word”, and the RSV says, “his word of power”, both phrases which seem to me to have a different meaning from “word of His power”. I suspect the three newer translations (NIV, HCSB, and NRSV) made interpretative decisions for the purpose of clarity. Is this change justified? The Greek Interlinear Bible (http://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/NTpdf/heb1.pdf) has the literal English word order as “declaration [word] of the ability (power) of Him” (“[]” being my addition and “()” being theirs). Not claiming to know more than the slightest inkling of Greek grammar, I can at least say that the majority translations are going with the more literal wording. The interlinear translation and Strong’s help us with what the particular words mean. “Word” here is not logos, the expression of God, but rhema, a declaration. And “power” is dynamis, which means ability or potential for power or action.
The “of” is important. It denotes possession. If I say, “son of mine” I mean the same thing as “my son”. The shade of difference is the emphasis on son in the first phrase. So the reason I don’t think “word of His power” and “His powerful word” mean the same thing is that “powerful” is not possessive, but a descriptive modifier. It says His word is powerful. “Word of His power” says His power’s word. The power is expressed in a declaration (word). Rather than saying His word has power, it seems to be saying that His power has word. His power proceeds forth as that which communicates what will be (be that static (“upholds”) or dynamic (“created” Isaiah 40:26)). Word modifies power rather than power modifying word. If we had the word it could read, ‘His wordful power’. The emphasis is on declaration (word) that upholds all things but the source of that word is His power. From His power proceeds forth a word which upholds. The way his power is being exhibited is through efficacious declaration.
Posted in General, God Thoughts, God's Word, Strength, Sustaining, Work of Jesus | Tagged God Thoughts, God's Word, Strength, Sustaining, theology, work of christ | Leave a Comment »
October 8, 2016 by creatorworship
Bibles and spiritual discussion involving Christianity have largely been expunged from public discourse, politely ignored at best or ridiculed as archaic. So we as a society try to convince ourselves of how enlightened we are by studying various religions and philosophies, all the while being open only to human autonomous naturalism. Even many church-goers acknowledge God as no more than a concept of good behind the scenes rather than a personal, involved, just and loving Sovereign Creator, a real person to whom we are responsible. It is quite ironic that the most Bibles are to be found where the least acceptance of its content is given. In just such a room I stood recently, silent, considering the lack of Bibles elsewhere in the building and the multitude of them here.
Comparative Religion and Philosophy Class
Deep irony in our midst
The most Bibles in a room
On a shelf with all the rest
Equal texts as they assume
Thoughts of men believed the best
Ridicule of God will bloom
Putting God's Word to the test
Sweep away truth with a broom
Of poor logic or mere jest
Scoffers conceived in this womb
Birth unbelief in this nest
Many young skeptics to groom
And others their faith arrest
Sending belief to its tomb
Extract self from this class lest
You take part in death and doom
Instead, set out on a quest
In each context truth exhume
That society be blest
Posted in Cultural commentary, General, Poem | Tagged Cultural commentary, God Thoughts, Poems | Leave a Comment »
October 5, 2016 by creatorworship
If you hold to objects close together with a small gap between them and peer through toward a bright light you can see the bending of the light around the two edges as an interference pattern. The result makes the two object appear to grow together if they are at the correct distance apart. You may find an example at the following link: https://www.meteoros.de/blog/pics/blackdrop2.jpg The parallel lines of dark and light are called a diffraction pattern even though the sight of them results from light interference. Seeing Venetian blinds lit up by sunshine today with blurry edges reminded me of this pattern. If you ever see the old movie “Sergeant York” you may remember him moistening the front sights of his rifle. This disturbs the diffraction pattern making for clearer sights. As I stood taking in this familiar sight on the blinds the thought of a metaphor for moral ambiguity came into focus.
At the edge of light and shadow
Is where the challenge of life is
Ambiguous scenario
Time to have a real life pop quiz
Diffraction pattern blurs the line
Blinds by alternate light and dark
Fuzzy scheme in the contrast cline
Right and wrong seem no longer stark
Are there exceptions to the rule?
Dismiss the law and moral code?
Sparse view, the way of the fool
To quit the way for your own road
There is good and bad in the gray
Right and wrong all mixed together
God has not left us with no way
To discern, know, and do better
When life does not seem black and white
Then pray to God and search His Word
Don't give up on doing the right
Don't give in or follow the herd
Posted in General, God Thoughts, Poem, Random thoughts, Science | Tagged God Thoughts, Poems, Random thoughts, Science | Leave a Comment »
October 2, 2016 by creatorworship
My pastor taught on Jesus’s warning in the Sermon on the Mount concerning false prophets found in Matthew 7:15-20. He asked, given the teaching of 7:1, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged“, and theme of how to live in the Sermon, why is this passage about false prophets (and teachers) here? He concluded that there is a balance to not being condemningly judgmental in 7:1 that emphasized being discerning and discriminating. False Prophets destroy the church from within frequently before their presence is detected. They must be recognized and ousted. The pastor showed from the passage that they have three characteristics: 1) Inwardly Corrupt (outward appearance with no inward experience), 2) Bad Fruit (coming from deeds of the flesh), and 3) Destined for Destruction (true belief includes growth in righteousness). On the second point the pastor describe a bad tree with bad fruit. As happens on occasions my mind drifted off into a parallel illustration.
Eastern Black Walnut (Juglans nigra (I actually remembered that without looking it up, but I can’t remember people’s names. I have poor skills at people name association.)) is an easy tree to identify in the woods. As you approach it you know what it is before you can discern leaves or bark. Very little grows under a walnut tree. The fruit (really the hull of the fruit surrounding the nut) has a poison that prevents other trees and many herbaceous varieties from growing under it. A tree given wide berth by other trees in the eastern forest is rare. More frequently trunks are quite close and roots intertwine each other if sunlight is sufficient for both. When I arrived home I found that the leaves and twigs, but especially the roots, also have the poison,“juglone” (5 hydroxy-1,4 napthoquinone) (https://hort.purdue.edu/ext/HO-193.pdf). The information I read says that many trees and plants are tolerant to juglone, but my observation in the woods tells me that though tolerant in the sense that their leaves don’t turn yellow or the plant die, the plants do not evidently sprout well under walnut trees since the ground most usually looks almost as if it is mowed.
The spiritual metaphor here is the same as that of a fruit tree but more caustic perhaps? Green, developing walnuts look nice enough and are certainly abundant. The False Teacher may have the appearances of fruitfulness in quality and quantity, but they inhibit life and growth. And the source is the roots which one source said can poison the ground for several years after the tree is removed. Wow! This happens in churches so that they are still reeling years after the false teachers has been run off. “You have seen their abominations and their idols… so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the Lord our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations; that there will not be among you a root bearing poisonous fruit and wormwood. (Deuteronomy 29:17-18) And Jesus said, “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart.” (Matthew 12:33-34) May God multiply to His Church the grace of discernment to recognize and biblically deal with false teachers in their midst so that the sheep are not led astray and poisoned. May He strengthen and refresh those churches who have fallen prey to the poison root and fruit of false prophets that have inhibited growth among its members. May God purify us and build us up in the knowledge of Him so that we may worship Him in spirit and truth and share His glory accurately in the world.
Posted in General, God Thoughts, God's Word, Grace, Sustaining | Tagged God Thoughts, God's Word, theology, Worship | 3 Comments »
October 1, 2016 by creatorworship
Our 4th grandchild arrived recently. I have gotten in the habit of writing a poem as a blessing on these new arrivals. I would like for them to read their poem some day, but even more so I pray that God will bless these children far beyond the blessing I am saying over them, that they may know Him and make Him known.
May God grant His favor
Know soon salvation's plan
Infinite grace savor
Love the Lord deeply, Anne
Seek the heavenly pearl
In Jesus be complete
Love Him best, precious girl
Above all, Marguerite
Beauty in all you do
Prudence each act begin
Persevere and stay true
Pray until answers win
May you stand for God's truth
Much evil may you stem
Clinging to God like Ruth
God your strength, Favored Gem
If in God's Word you trust
No word of His dismiss
His direction your must
All success, Miss Francis
Posted in General, Poem | Tagged Poems | 1 Comment »
September 24, 2016 by creatorworship
After a fire in 1925 the stumps of the recently logged area appeared as grave markers to some and the eroded soil and shallow bedrock prevented the forest from coming back in places, thus the name. 
Upper Falls
From the top of the Upper Falls
Light rain, fog, lush spruce and wildflower growth
Viburnum sp?
Any idea which species?
Just above the Lower Falls
Looking down over the Lower Falls
Lower Falls
Enjoying some time together
The day could have been a wash, driving 2 hours to see it rain. Upon approach, the fog seemed unavoidable. The light rain started soon after we started walking and continued almost the whole time. When we got to the top of the Upper Falls, thinking to just take a quick look and head for the car, we found a spruce tree, rhododendron combination that was keeping the rock at creek’s edge dry. We sat down for a lunch and snooze. I walked upstream a bit while my son snoozed on. It was a quiet time together with no one on the trail all the way back. In route to the Lower Falls we crossed the “fields”, heather thicket really, with scattered wildflowers. The hike was shorter than we had planned because we didn’t really want to get up on bare, Black Balsam with the possibility of heavier rain or lightning, but it was pleasant and relaxed. We both agreed it was an enjoyable time together and in the woods (fields).
Posted in Beauty, General, Outdoors | Tagged Beauty, Outdoors, Photos, Relationship | Leave a Comment »
September 11, 2016 by creatorworship
Early in 2001 my father passed on to the next life after a slow decline resulting from many and various ailments. I believe that it was a grace that he passed without knowing of 9/11. He fought in WWII receiving a bullet and multiple pieces of shrapnel near the German border. Every 4th of July he would hang a copy of the Declaration of Independence and an American flag on the living room mantle. As the years went on he added more evidence of his love of America and its freedoms, things like a small Statue of Liberty. I used to think how much the world changed during his lifetime. Afterall, TV had not been invented when he was born in 1922. Polio was a major killer; the War to End All Wars was a fresh scar; the roaring twenties had not succumbed to the Great Depression. During my formative years airplanes, bridges, skyscrappers, atomic energy, and space travel were among the top of the list of items and ideas that he talked about and learned about and visited. How the space race had resulted in a handheld calculator was amazing to him. The world had changed so much in one lifetime.
Now we hear that the world was forever changed by 9/11. In one sense, of course it was! We collectively look over our shoulder as a nation, wondering when or if it will happen again. But did it really change the world? Hasn’t every generation had at least one event that so penetrated the minds and hearts of the populace such that each person knows where they were when it happened? If you are old enough, do you remember where you were when JFK was assassinated? For my father’s generation the event that riveted their attention was Pearl Harbor. News traveled much slower the further back you go but there were terrors and plagues and perplexities for centuries. In 79 A.D. when Pliny the Younger described the flaming bombs of Vesuvius sinking ships in the harbor off Herculaneum while Pompeii was covered in noxious gases and pyroclastic flows, the world must have seemed to be at an end.
Do I attempt to diminish the severity and pain of 9/11? Do I not see the ways in which it changed how we do freedom in our land? By no means. But the cause of terror and pain has not changed. Because of sin there is stark evil and natural disaster in the world as there has been since the Fall of Adam. These adversities should call us as a nation back to God. We deteriorate; our nation’s demise is at hand, yet we see 9/11 and Antietam and Hurricane Katrina and Pearl Harbor as totally disconnected from our spiritual condition and God’s call to repent. Evil exists in the world because there have been and are evil people in the world. We must confront the evil in ourselves so that our enemies have no excuse for their evil acts against us and we have no compunction about attacking it when it comes.
I remember where I was on 9/11, watching the screen in my classroom as the first building hit earlier was burning and as the subsequent one was hit and the towers collapsed and students came into my room who wanted someone to make sense out of the chaos. In those first moments during my planning period before that screen I prayed that God would have mercy upon us as a nation. In many respects He has and He is but we must cry for it and act in ways commensurate with receiving mercy now more than ever because we drone on in our mundane, garden variety evils as if 9/11 never happened. God have mercy on us!
The world has changed but not so much.
Posted in 9/11, Cultural commentary, General, God Thoughts, Remembering, Why?! | Tagged 9/11, Cultural commentary, God Thoughts, Remembering, Why?! | Leave a Comment »
August 27, 2016 by creatorworship
Before I ever started rock climbing I used to hike… alot, thousands of miles over the years. In high school and college it was backpacking with day hikes to get in shape. I continued after marriage but increased responsibilities as time went along resulted in reduced overnight trips. Not to worry, because I used to take my green daypack, a child on my shoulders, and go. Summer, winter, it made little difference. About 15 years ago I scrambled into the more vertical sport so that the majority of hikes were approaches. I still climb but I see that climbing may have to be set aside in a few years (not slowing down at the moment, though). The time off from hiking just warms my desire to do some more. I like new places but I’m not shy about visiting old haunts. I have hiked (in a day or overnight) to Hump Mountain on the Tennessee/North Carolina border nearly 30 times since 1977. It has been my go to when someone wants to experience backpacking for the first time. I have hiked several times this summer, once to Purchase Knob (see previous blog entry). Several weeks before that hike I went with some new friends to South Mountains State Park. It has one hike that most anyone would enjoy and is not too overwhelming- High Shoals Falls.
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Inviting Pool along the way
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Innocent Joy
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This is fun!
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Posed Family Portrait
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Hiking Buddies
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What are you cookin’ up?
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Did you notice how beautiful nature is?
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Agelenopsis (Funnel Web Spider or Grass Spider)
The water was low at the falls, which is odd considering how much rain we have had. I guess the water level drops fast after just a few days of no rain. That didn’t dry our enthusiasm a bit. There was plenty to talk about and plenty to see along the way.
I enjoy getting to know people on a hike. You can talk about nature which leads to many subjects you might not otherwise find out about a person. They certainly learned some things about my spider research in college. I studied Agelenid intraspecies competition in the lab, the woods, and the desert. (Curious side note: As I am composing the number of spiderlings that just left their egg sack and are moving back and forth across my computer screen is growing. They are too small for my unaided eye to discern variety although P. tepidariorum (“common house spider”) is the most likely candidate.) There are about a baker’s dozen of Agelenid species in the US. I remember that most of my study involved the A. aperta from New Mexico and Arizona.
The picnic meal was particularly good- Mexican on the grill. I had hiked with the father and young children several other times to mountain tops. This was a nice change. We played in the creek several places, seeing crawdads and minnows. We talked about plant life along the trail both herbaceous and arborescent. It was an enjoyable day, the likes of which I’d like to repeat. We even left just before it began to rain. God gifted us with a beautiful day and good conversation.
Posted in Beauty, General, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Beauty, Outdoors, Photos, Remembering | Leave a Comment »
August 20, 2016 by creatorworship
Before two weekends ago I had not seen any of my brothers for a year and a half, some for much longer. We had a cookout at my youngest brother’s house with spouses and a few children and grandchildren. During the conversation we planned a hike for Friday to the Purchase Knob area of the Smoky Mountains National Park. It is the location of the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center. The hike we took went along the border of “The Swag”, a Bed and Breakfast that allows hikers to visit their viewing lawn. The weather has been moist for a month and the fungi are out. With more time and patience I could have gotten some really good pictures of the abundant and colorful fruiting bodies of diverse mycelia. One of my sister-in-laws is known for her love and identification of wildflowers. She said she wants to know fungi better. Here’s a place to start.
Cep or Penny Bun?
Lush creek side
Green Cracking Russula (Russula virescens)
Students coming down from the Learning Center
Bee Balm soothing a Pipevine Swallowtail
Winesaps?
Furguson Cabin
Black Earth Tongue
Doll’s-Eye or White Baneberry
Yellow Wart (Amanita flavoconia)
“Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”?
Orange Peel Cup Mushroom
White Coral Fungus
Earth Cup Mushroom?
Catch some rays and relax
Maggie Valley
Nice smiles! OK, I was trying to make sure the camera was working.
Great Solomon’s Seal (Polygonatum biflorum)
Insulation, flight, camouflage, mating, ….versatile… not by chance!
Coral Fungus
Chanterelles?
So many colorful varieties
Death Angel
Taking in The Swag view
The Real Purchase Knob
Hiding under a rock on top of the knob
Do you see the fairy ring that I found near the top of Purchase Knob?
Elegant Stinkhorn
The variety and beauty of God’s creation! I could go out every weekend and never get tired of learning and looking.
Posted in Beauty, General, Outdoors, Photo | Tagged Beauty, Mushrooms, Outdoors, Photos | 2 Comments »
August 14, 2016 by creatorworship
To and fro, there and back
I love a rocking chair
Floor and chair creak and crack
As back and forth I tear
Back and forth hard I go
I like to rock with flare
Recurved tips stem the flow
Making mishaps so rare
I can rock fast enough
To stir surrounding air
Long enough, plenty rough
To make a carpet bare
Mom rocked me on her knee
And yet she would declare
Mark my word, wait and see
His rocking all will wear
I rocked babes fast asleep
Secure in arms that bear
No crying, not a peep
Disturb babe, don’t you dare
Rocking is relaxing
Relieves the mind of care
Time for intense praying
Turns darkness into fair
Some prefer a TV
Recliner in man lair
Me, a rocker you see
Where I can grunt and stare
Write a poem rocking
Eat a bowl of soup there
Some essay concocting
Or read the Word and prayer
Worries come a-knocking
Decisions like sun’s glare
Before considering
To rocker I repair
When red flags go flying
As false ideas blare
Search for truth while rocking
And find where it does err
Slow, easy, day is done
Sort thoughts as combing hair
Hard, easy, sorrow, fun
Like runners are a pair
I decided that I wanted to write a poem that was on a different subject than my usual several favorites. I had come across Robert Louis Stevenson’s
“The Swing”, which I quite like. And I like swings very much, too, but most of
my motion while sitting pivots about a rocking chair. Here is how I write a poem.
Firstly, an idea for a poem comes to me, as reading “The Swing” had provided in this case,
or the first line or two of a poem rolls off my mind as I am considering an
idea. This first line or two or the first verse form the basis for the challenge
(perhaps game is a better word) that I begin. I constrain myself to writing
the rest of the poem with same rhyme scheme (number of syllables per line) at the very least. Frequently I use the same sound ending for the same lines in each verse, as in this poem. Sometimes I even constrain myself to the same tenor of the lines in each verse. For example, the following verse illustrates this idea:
Each new day God provides our need
He our bodies and spirits feed
Sometimes it feels like we are starved
It is then we are apt to plead
Lines 1 and 2 in this poem either communicate a blessing or command of God or a demand placed on our lives. Line 3 in each verse of the poem conveys a doubt or other faith struggle followed in line 4 by the solution or provision God gives. I know that my self-placed constraints are not necessary but it is part of the challenge that keeps wanting to write poetry, that plus a real strong feel that poetry should rhyme. A humorous side note to this poem is that I had written seven verses minus one line without much difficulty, but the last line would just not yield itself. So I did an exercise I generally like to avoid, partly because it seems like cheating in the game. I wrote out all of the words ending in the “-are” sound that I could think of. At this point I thought, “Wow, all of those expressive terms and I’m not using them.” That’s when the poem ballooned into eleven verses. Oh, there is one other constraining “rule” I place upon myself that is a higher priority than the rest. The lines must tell the truth. Certainly I mean philosophically, but also I mean personally. For example, my mom did rock me on her knee, and though I am not quoting what she said about my rocking wearing on people, she did comment many times about how I wore her out watching me and I how could wear out a rocking chair. So the crazy thing about you reading this poem, if you understood all that it says, is that you know more about me than many people that I have spent years around.
Posted in General, Poem, Sustaining | Tagged Poems, Sustaining | 5 Comments »
July 31, 2016 by creatorworship
All the political hubbub with no real solutions. All the anxiety ridden news reports without real hope. All the suggested intrusions on freedom with no real security. We are not going to make progress and are going to regress rapidly without turning to the one and only solution.
This poem actually began as two conflicting thoughts and considering the circumstances under which they came about. It seems to me now the first verse does not even go with the rest of the poem so I will separate it with extra space. See what you think:
I write poetry to keep from being bored
Focus mind when feet are nailed to a floorboard
Teasing out thoughts that are both far flung and near
Sorting through the hurtful and that which is dear
When I think of all the wrong that’s in the world
Murders and abuse and war banners unfurled
My mind grabs for solutions to bring to bear
All beyond reach in a world cruel and unfair
There’s the pain to loved ones from me and others
Scarred relationships start with father, mothers
Friends and neighbors had words and are offended
Words out, actions done, cannot be rescinded
Is there no hope for mankind, is it all gloom?
Tearing down self and others, is this our doom?
No, there is hope, but it’s not in self-help plans
Nor is it in the police state or gun bans
Our hope is in God’s Son through His sacrifice
His death on the cross for sin paid the full price
By trusting in His work we have peace with God
Relationship growing in place of the rod
Repentance and forgiveness we have in Him
We may pass to others as a precious gem
When seeking to forgive and be forgiven
We have with sin and disharmony striven
This makes possible reconciliation
Moving past hurt beginning restoration
Extending peace to strangers and enemies
Doing right by neighbors knowing that God sees
Hope for the future and for the present too
Pointing people to purpose both real and true
Spending time and resources to relieve pain
Pointing to the Savior in Whom is real gain
Posted in General, God Thoughts, Poem, Work of Jesus, Work of the Holy Spirit | Tagged God Thoughts, Poems, Relationship, work of christ | Leave a Comment »
July 20, 2016 by creatorworship
In danger of living as mere men
Calling survival a win
We were meant for more than bear and grin
In our fight with self and sin
But the mundane creeps in day by day
And we lose sight of the way
To walk in the Spirit and to stay
In His Word and ceaselessly pray
To be bold in witness to the lost
Kind, no relational frost
Not by every wind of doctrine tossed
In holy living count the cost
Recall we’re not the vine but the limb
More than conquerors through Him
Each dead work from the vine He must trim
The source of all life is the stem
Walk by the Spirit, quit the flesh race
All of life is lived by grace
At God’s behest and at His own pace
With His help we finish the race
Posted in General, Grace, Poem, Work of the Holy Spirit | Tagged Poems, purpose in life | Leave a Comment »
July 19, 2016 by creatorworship
On July 7th The Ark Encounter opened in Williamstown, Kentucky, as a full-sized representation of the biblical description. Bill Nye said he wished that the ark in Kentucky had never been built because it would “indoctrinate children into this extraordinary and outlandish, unscientific point of view.” What many public school science classes have been doing for years is this very type of indoctrination in Big Bang Cosmology and Evolution, rather than in biblical literacy. The result has been that either those people who trust secular science (i.e. Scientism-the belief that science answers all questions that can be answered) have written off the Bible as Bill Nye has done, or many who believe the Bible have written off Scientism and all science, resulting in the science illiteracy Bill Nye decries. But there is a real alternative that does not oppose the methods of experimental science nor deny the literal truth of God’s Word. Science is a very good tool for exploring the world and solving problems, but it has its limits in explaining truth. The Bible points to realities that may be known beyond empirical data while not contradicting plain evidence. For instance, the apostles were eyewitness to evidence concerning the resurrection of Christ, which no longer can be tested other than historically. They recorded what they saw and experienced (I John 1:1-4; I Peter 5:1; Acts 26:12-18). Christians accept their eyewitness authority.
If the alternative of a Biblical Worldview coupled with useful science is to be considered, it must be able to predict what we should find in the world and explain what we see. I believe that a literal reading of the Bible actually does that better than Scientism (a subset of Naturalism which encompasses Big Bang Cosmology and Evolution). Dr. Robert Carter of Creation Ministries International presents examples of how these statements are true. I intend in the few words I have left to present some of the evidence he outlines. These evidences answer the following question: What would we observe and what would be our understanding of the world if the biblical text is true? As a first example, if God created Adam and Eve and languages resulted from the confusion at Babel, then races do not exist. Adam and Eve could have had the genetic diversity that results in every skin and hair color and facial characteristic. Is it true? There have only been about 150 generations since Noah and his wife and people of all colors and locales have 99+% DNA in common. Thoroughly biracial parents have had fraternal twins, one significantly darker and one significantly lighter than the parents. If we really believed the Bible, racism would be an immediate non-point.
What would we expect to see if the Flood was real and worldwide? There would be evidence of worldwide destruction from massive hurricane winds, massive erosion and deposition episodes, and volcanic action. Sedimentary Rocks show evidence of these things. For example, fossils are frequently formed in alternating layers with volcanic flows and ash. Also, large amounts of sediments needing large amounts of water, dead plants and animals all dumped on the continents and later turned to rock do exist. The catastrophic and sudden nature of fossil and sediment formation is seen in polystrate fossils (fossils through numerous layers), tightly folded rock layers that must have been soft when they folded or they would have cracked, and sediment layers of continental extent (that is, spreading over the whole continent as with the Tapeat Sandstone in North America). As the flood progressed, amazingly large erosion events should be expected. We indeed see these in the great canyons of the world, which show evidence of being remnants of catastrophic events rather results of slow river erosion. The suddenness is further indicated by the lack of erosion within the fossil record and conformities (interfaces (meeting and interaction) of two differing rock layers). One such interface in the Grand Canyon (Hermit Shale and Coconimo Sandstone) has no erosion even though secular geologists claim there is a 12 million year gap where they meet.
There is far more that could be said on the deposition and erosion of layers and fossil formation alone and on cosmology, biology, and the rest of geology, but these give a few telling examples. A literal reading of the Bible is a much better and more powerful predictor of the world as we see it than Scientism. It is amazing, credible, scientific, and far more Mr. Nye.
Posted in Creation Articles, General, Science | Tagged Creation Articles, Science | Leave a Comment »
July 12, 2016 by creatorworship
It is perhaps an odd subject for a midsummer’s evening, or maybe not after another day of sweating profusely at chores and listening to the day’s thunder rolling over the mountain. The oddity really comes down to how it came about. The first two lines I wrote last fall one morning looking out the window by my desk before work was to begin. The pleasant thoughts that it brought to me caused me to think it was the beginning of many more thoughts but I laid it aside on my desk until a break. I found it when cleaning up papers at the beginning of summer. I took it home and laid it next to my rocking chair where I read and pay bills and think. It laid there for a month. The next time I saw it I thought, now or never. Don’t construe the poem to mean that I dislike summer. There is much to like about summer, but we all have preferences and mine is Fall. I am thankful to God to live in an environment where there is a definite change of seasons and deciduous trees to mark the occasions.
A fair, crisp morning
Grass glistens with frost
Birds' feathers fluffed up
That heat not be lost
Chill braces the lungs
Nips at nose and cheeks
Rescue from summer's
Many draining weeks
Oh, how I love Fall
When insects retreat
Reptiles slow and stall
Dry mildews defeat
No more sweat required
Only now by choice
Humidity low
Lightens heart and voice
Skies are clearer now
Leaves have joyful hues
Stars are brighter, too
Grander mountain views
Change is in the air
Every front attests
Animals store food
For their winter rests
Crops have all matured
Bring the harvest in
Celebrate bounty
With neighbors and kin
Yellow blooms abound
Earth tones more I see
Dried herb fragrances
Nature's potpourri
Outdoor things to do
Cool air is the best
All await the Fall
For change and for rest
Posted in Beauty, General, Outdoors, Poem | Tagged Beauty, Outdoors, Poems | Leave a Comment »
July 3, 2016 by creatorworship
In the book “10 Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health” by Donald
Whitney, the second question he asks is, "Are you governed increasingly
by God’s Word?" Following is an outline Bible study that I put together
based on that chapter. In parentheses are my thoughts and partial answers
to questions.
1. What is the most valuable object in the world?
Rare, beautiful, large, or necessities of life perhaps
Bible- likened to the basic of life
Amos 8:11, Jeremiah 15:16, Matthew 4:4
(Without the Bible we would have no purpose, direction, or explanation
of salvation and godly living.)
2. Psalm 119:72 Do you value it that highly?
(My evidence of valuing the Bible comes with reading, studying and
heeding what it says.)
3.Does the ready availability of God’s Word cause you to de-emphasize
its importance in your thinking and priorities?
Prov. 29:18, Hebrews 4:12, I Peter 2:2
(I would value it more if it were about to be taken away or even if
I had to hide it and read it in secret.)
4. What practical ways do you value the Word of God on a daily or
regular basis?
(I value God’s Word by reading, studying, memorizing,hearing it
preached, sharing it with others, seeking to live by it, and
changing my views based on its words.)
5. Do you consciously inquire as to what the Bible says about specific
areas of life? If so, what are some areas?
(I do inquire about what the Bible says about His will for me, what
is right and wrong, how I should interact with my family, neighbors,
church members, fellow citizens,the lost, and people I am offended by,
and seek to live by it.
6.Do you ask spiritual leaders to help you apply Scripture in particular
situations? Do you literally open the Bible to search for God’s will?
(A quote by Octavious Winslow on p.31-32 may be summarized as "nothing
perhaps more stongly indicates the tone of a believer's spirituality,
than the light in which the Scriptures are regarded by him.")
7. What is your response to spending time in God’s Word?
Psalm 119:47, 48, 97, 113,119, 127, 163
“Indifference to truth is a mark of death.” John Piper
(David says numerous times that he loves God’s Word.
Indifference to God’s Word is little different than hatred.)
8. Jesus, the Living Word, quotes and obeys the written Word of God
because it…
a. contains truth John 17:17
b. contains the Father’s will and words John 14:23-24
c. is sufficient for all life and godliness 2 Timothy 3:16
d. is an example for us Luke 10:26; 1 Corinthians 10:11
9.The human Jesus lived by and memorized the written Word of God
Matthew 4:4
(Can you imagine Jesus as a boy memorizing Scripture? OK, I'm not
too into "sanctified imagination when it comes to Scripture, but
seriously, when He was running over a verse, did He ever muse,
"Did I say that before (a long time ago)?"
Isaiah 8:20: "To the Law and to the Testimony"
(is like saying “What does the Bible say?”)
10. How important is Scripture? Deut. 32:47
(“no dawn”, “no light”- spiritually dead Is 8:20
“it is your life” Dt 32:47)
11. What does the Bible say?
Example: “God helps those who help themselves.”
No, Romans 5:6-8 and Galatians 3:2-5
(Rom 5:“helpless”; sanctification the same Gal 3;
An argument could be made that helping yourself is like being
careful “walk and please God” and lead a “quiet life” (I Thess 4:1-12)
and God blesses your obedience and diligence, but helping yourself
instead of clinging to God to even do good works is humanism.)
12. Other examples to explore: How should my child be educated?
How would God have me vote in the next election?
Should I make a purchase (What is its purpose?)?
What should I be doing and not doing in my church?
Do we have qualified biblical leaders?
How should our church reach people with the gospel and what is my part?
What should I do with my life when I retire?
(In other words, “all of life-events and choices great and small-
should be governed by the Word of God.” p.35)
13. Psalm 119:105, Acts 18:26 Have you within the last several years
revised your beliefs and actions based on what you learned in
God’s Word?
(I believe I have gained a balance in my understanding between the
importance of covenants and times in God’s economy for the end.
I value relationships more now than formerly.
I crave and take more opportunity for witness as I become more
convinced of the judgment to come.
I have a different view of divorce and remarriage.)
14. How might you deepen your desire for God’s Word?
(Deepen your desire for God’s Word by
reading it, listening to sermons, meditating, praying Scripture,
seeking out promises, searching Scriptures for life’s answers,
training yourself to ask,“How does the Bible speak to this?”)
15. Examine your spiritual health by asking yourself,
“Am I governed increasingly by God’s Word?"
Posted in General, God's Word | Tagged God's Word | Leave a Comment »
May 15, 2016 by creatorworship
I am very thankful for a weekend at home. I have been out of town six times in the last six weeks. I am also thankful that I am not a long distance truck driver or regional salesman. My back and mind would die a quick death in a vehicle seat. Last weekend I drove 32 hours in 4 1/2 days to see my fourth-born graduate from LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas. Not only was the graduation worth the trip but the Christian fellowship I experienced while there seemed like a spiritual retreat.
The couple whose house my son has lived at the last two semester was where my fourth son and I also stayed. They opened their home and their hearts. The man is an emergency transport helicopter pilot who once flew in Papua New Guinea for Wycliffe Bible Translators. He uses his technical expertise as a witness to how believers in Jesus serve people. His wife homeschooled their eight children. She explained how inadequate and fretful about teaching she felt at first until she remembered her Christian college president’s saying,”Walk with the King, and be a blessing.” That is what she wanted to teach her children and that was all that was required of her. She could relax and live the life of grace before them.
I met my son’s Senior Design Project Professor. He has an encouraging testimony of how God saved a wild red-neck and put him into service to teacher young men and women to make good use of God’s gifts while giving God the glory.
The commencement speaker was Edmund C. Moy, one time Director of the US Mint in Washington, D.C. With stories from his own experience he urged graduates to be competent and caring Christians. Following are my quick notes on the seven pieces of advice he gave:
-
Seek a Mentor.
-
Find or form a like-minded group with whom to pray and fellowship and witness.
-
Be trustworthy with the small things; integrity matters.
-
Do good work; it praises God.
-
Make a “to be list” to become spiritually mature.
-
Consider public service.
-
Many resumes have a zig-zag path. That’s OK: God is behind it.
Both at the dinner on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon the hosts, other parents, and graduates talked freely of spiritual matters. Several of the graduates led singing of spiritual songs. Another father and I were grateful for the friendship forged between our sons and the hosts’ son-in-law over the last four years, encouraging each other to live godly lives and be good students imparted life-long lessons and habits in all three of these young men. On this Mother’s Day, several mothers told stories of God’s work in their children’s lives and the graduates responded with other stories and thanks for godly mothers and fun times with Christian brothers.
In the Sunday School my son has attended the last 3 1/2 years the teacher reminded us by a survey of examples that the stories of the Bible they had been learning are examples of God’s grace and sovereign plan worked without fail in believers’ lives. The sermon following was given as a series of five sermonettes by the five elders on aspects of God’s love:
1. God is love because He is a Father in a triune relationship.
2. God’s love is expressed in the Old Testament as ‘hesed’, steadfast love.
3. God’s love is best expressed in the gift of Jesus.
4. God’s love never fails.
5. It is difficult for us to comprehend how much God loves us.
I had abundant time to think about all of these lessons as I drove 5 hours on Sunday and 10 1/2 hours on Monday by myself back to North Carolina. My back ached by the time I arrived home and my mind was dull and exhausted but my spirit was refreshed, ready to begin again at the mundane and stressful job of teaching high school science with excellence and care.
Paraphrase of the Great and Secondary Commandments
One Time “Richest Acre in the World”, Kilgore, TX
Senior Design Project and Senior Designer
An Inventor, Entrepreneur, Industrialist, Philanthropist,
Evangelist Christian
!—!—!—!
Dad, Grad, and Sib
Good Aim Matters on The Big Muddy
Waiting in Line for the upstream passage
Posted in General, God Thoughts, Photo, Travel | Tagged God Thoughts, Photos, Travel | Leave a Comment »
April 30, 2016 by creatorworship
I having been blogging since July of 2007. Until the past year I have been very regular, blogging between 1 and 4 times a month with the most being 12 times in one month (need to go back and see what that was about). I have missed a month or two now and then. For 8 years and 2 months I missed blogging 8 months, more than I realized. September is my most missed month; I’m a teacher and life gets busy about then. Since last September I have missed 4 more months. I do not desire to slow down or quit but opportunities and responsibilities seem to keep increasing. So I find myself in a quandry. I don’t want to be so busy naval gazing that I don’t live life, but neither do I want to rush through all of the events of life without reflecting on them which allows me to live more deeply.
Here I am with a few moments only to record part of a privileged event from April. I went to a seminar in Clearwater, Florida. It was very worthwhile and may open more opportunity and I may comment on it later. But in the midst of 10 1/2 hours of driving there and 12 hours back (There is something surrealistic about miles of stopped traffic for construction in the middle of the night on what would otherwise be a lonely stretch of interstate.), 20 hours of class in 2 1/2 days, and a 45 minute commute before and after each day of seminar, 2 hours on a beach just before sunset was glorious. I ran 3 1/2 miles barefoot to the north end of Honeymoon Island and walked through surf, collected shells, and took pictures on the way back. Such mini-vacations are what I find to be the balm for frenetic schedules. Many people I am around seem to take their comfort in interacting with people and food. As a teacher who happily interacts with people every day (OK, some people are annoying but I like to converse and teach and help.) and sits or stands far too much, I prefer to go “away” when break time comes. I hope that you may enjoy the thought of the break I took in these pictures and find ways to take breaks yourself.
American Oystercatcher
Honeymoon Island State Park Beach facing south toward Clearwater
Tide coming in
Plover or Least Sandpiper in its Winter Plumage?
Got one!
Working Late
Wind in you hair; sand between your toes
Evening Glint
Day’s End
Posted in General, Outdoors, Photo, Travel | Tagged Outdoors, Photos, Travel | Leave a Comment »
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CreatorWorship 
Comparative Religion and Philosophy Class
October 8, 2016 by creatorworship
Bibles and spiritual discussion involving Christianity have largely been expunged from public discourse, politely ignored at best or ridiculed as archaic. So we as a society try to convince ourselves of how enlightened we are by studying various religions and philosophies, all the while being open only to human autonomous naturalism. Even many church-goers acknowledge God as no more than a concept of good behind the scenes rather than a personal, involved, just and loving Sovereign Creator, a real person to whom we are responsible. It is quite ironic that the most Bibles are to be found where the least acceptance of its content is given. In just such a room I stood recently, silent, considering the lack of Bibles elsewhere in the building and the multitude of them here.
Comparative Religion and Philosophy Class Deep irony in our midst The most Bibles in a room On a shelf with all the rest Equal texts as they assume Thoughts of men believed the best Ridicule of God will bloom Putting God's Word to the test Sweep away truth with a broom Of poor logic or mere jest Scoffers conceived in this womb Birth unbelief in this nest Many young skeptics to groom And others their faith arrest Sending belief to its tomb Extract self from this class lest You take part in death and doom Instead, set out on a quest In each context truth exhume That society be blestPosted in Cultural commentary, General, Poem | Tagged Cultural commentary, God Thoughts, Poems | Leave a Comment »