SETI. Seriously...?

I like listening to Carl Sagan; he had such an interesting voice. I was privileged
to teach his niece, Rachel, many years ago. What a wonderful, bright young
lady. 

When it comes to SETI, I have to just shake my head and wonder; what in the
world are these people thinking? What would be the motivation for searching
the universe for other intelligent life? What would be proven if such a discovery
actually came to pass? 

Perhaps these folks are feeling lonely. This blue marble seemingly out there in
a vast black void of space might make one feel alone. Perhaps it would be
better to discover that there have been other instances where something crawled
out of the primordial ooze onto a beach and then took millions of years to
randomly change into more complex beings able to communicate with us
on this earth? 

It all fits in with the search for 'black matter,' 'the God particle,' etc. We are
beings that crave answers; we would really like to know the meaning, the reasons,
the answers. It doesn't feel right when we cannot find solutions to issues where we
do not have complete knowledge.

Well, I do know that contacts with aliens in movies and books have really not,
for the most part, been pleasant experiences. We haven't done too well in
these fictional accounts, having to rely on virus or water, etc. to deal the final
hand in repulsing alien invasions.

Look; we aren't alone. We do have answers. Knowing this is as simple as
listening to our hearts and observing the world around us. God created this
world and He did so with magnificent success. He spoke things into creation,
He breathed life into you and me, He is completely sovereign and in control
of where this blue marble of a planet is headed, its future and its eventual
restoration. It's a plain as the nose on our faces; yet, we still cannot
accept the fact that we aren't that smart, that aware and that intelligent
to really understand this vast universe without the assurance that there is
One who can and does.

Go on looking, or look inside yourselves to that spot that needs to be
filled with a loving, sovereign Father God.

Praise Him!

The REAL Domino Theory

Once again, I find myself reading Alistair Begg; this time his book entitled What Angels
Wish they Knew has my attention. If you have never read Alistair or listened to one
of his sermons or radio shows, you are in for a spiritual treat! 

In the book he mentions Aquinas's "Five Ways," five arguments suggesting that a
belief in God is consistent with the world as we know it. One of the ways talks about the
fact that everywhere in this world things are moving.

Let me digress a moment and mention the Domino Theory, as it pertains to my own
life story. I was of the age of conscription right in the middle of the Vietnam war. I'll
end the suspense by saying that circumstances led to my not being a participant. The
reason behind our involvement in that conflict was the perception held by some that
losing Vietnam to communism would simply begin or continue the fall of other nations,
almost like dominoes falling, one after another. After a grotesque number of deaths and
casualties, we left, defeated, and the whole theory proved to be unsubstantiated.

As Aquinas states, everything in this world is in motion. Electrons revolving about the
cell nuclei, rivers and streams, the tides and winds, our planet's rotation, the solar system
and galactic movement... I could go on and on.

We have all probably set up or at least witnessed a long long line of dominoes standing
upright at just the right spacing to allow for a total avalanche once the very first domino
is set in motion. 

Here's the point. Without someone to begin that first nudge of domino number one, there
is no 'cool' domino destruction. They don't just decide, on their own, to self destruct, even if
there are a bunch of folks waiting for it to happen....

You can make the jump here. Without someone, a very powerful, omnipotent someone to
begin all of the movement we see around us in this fascinating universe, well... nothing would
be moving. 

Now I've come along way in my ability to believe, by faith, in the God I love. But I will go
ahead and admit that ideas like this make me smile. He's there. You and I know it and
nothing could be more fundamentally important to our souls' well-being.

Praise God!  (Alistair, too!)

HIS way...not my way!

His dominion is an eternal dominion;
his kingdom endures from generation to generation.
All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing.
He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven
  and the peoples of the earth.
No one can hold back His hand or say to Him," What have you done?"
Daniel 4: 34-35

Nebuchadnezzar certainly learned things the hard way! Seemed to have everything
except the willingness to place God above his own level of existence. I am thinking that
grass was not up to his normal standards of cuisine! (also glad not to have gotten that
name in a spelling bee!~)

Pride is the ultimate sinfulness and probably the most difficult to battle. Part of that
stems from our society that teaches the value of self, the love of self, the need to pick
oneself up by the bootstrap and take care of business. We really hate to relinquish
power or importance, even when we can see, if we remove the blinders, that leaving
ourselves in charge usually leads to a train wreck!

Despite Daniel's ability to correctly interpret the king's dream, riches and fame, having
everything and anything made it impossible for him to acknowledge the real King of the
universe...God almighty. Most of us do not have immense amounts of riches, but we do
have a struggle with pride. We often come to the conclusion that we can, with hard work
and stubbornness, take care of life and its problems. We go to God when the going gets
too tough to handle, seeking Him as a last resort.

He is not the last resort, He is the answer and has all the answers because He is sovereign
and in complete charge of this world. Because of His amazing grace, He has given us
the opportunity to swallow our pride, come to live a life that brings Him the glory that
He deserves and turn things over, completely, to the one who is supposed to be our
focus. 

His way, not ours!
Glory to Him, not ourselves!
All praise to Him, our Father!
Love Him with all your heart! 
HE is GOD!!!!

My selfish heavenly wish

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Rev. 21: 4


Heaven remains a mystery to all of us who long for the time we will be
living in the presence of our Lord and King. We actually know more about
what will not be there, than what will. The descriptions in John's visions
and trips by Isaiah, Ezekiel and Paul leave us with more questions than
answers.

We can, I believe, be assured that we need not sign up for harp lessons before
arriving and probably won't need to worry about whether or not we are
too heavy to be supported by clouds. I am pretty sure that we will see many
folks that we love and, sadly, may not see some that we weren't sure were
those called by Christ into His family.

Well, I have a very selfish dream about my first moments in Heaven. I have
no doubt that I will find myself upon my knees. I feel that it may be the case
that I will be totally speechless. I am thinking that this will be the most 
beautiful place imaginable, the most peaceful place possible and a place
devoid of sin, pain, tears, strife and hated. Wow!

Well, here's what I wish with all my heart will happen. I want to reach
out somehow and take hold of the hand(s) of my Lord Jesus Christ. I just
want to touch Him, to hold that hand close to me. I know in scripture
that there will be no more tears, but what about spontaneous tears of
pure joy?

Now I will pray for this moment each day of my life, hoping that my
prayers will be answered with a YES!

There is just one problem, though. There may be a call to the angels
to pry my fingers loose from that hand. Once I hold onto Him, I just
know that I will never want to let go. Selfish, I know. But, oh how I
long to see it happen!

Praise God, all glory to Him, forever and ever!

Move over Dr. Phil... I give you Christ Jesus

‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’—Isaiah 8:9    

Understanding the human mind is certainly not easy! When we become Christian, we
begin to be much more aware of our own inner selves, and it isn't always such a positive
revelation. We find, with the help of the Holy Spirit, that we are convicted and therefore
aware of our sins, ones that, before, we might not have even identified as sins. We begin
to see weaknesses and conditions that we cannot fix without the grace and provision of
God.

Consider, if you will, the unique perspective of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1

A truly remarkable scripture, isn't it. I will always remember, with a degree of embarrassment, that it reminded me of a riddle when I first encountered it. But it
certainly isn't a riddle: Jesus is God. He is fully God and, being so, He is completely
aware of that which He created...mankind. Yet, He is different from His creation
because He is God. I give you transcendent, majestic, omnipotent, omnipresent, Holy...
I could go on. Those are God characteristics and differ, completely, from how we
would describe people.

Now the amazing part! Jesus Christ, fully God, came into this world and became
fully man. He was, simultaneously, fully Divine and fully human. He, therefore, was
subject to the same emotions, desires, temptations, illnesses...you get it, He was a
human being.

What a marvelous happening, obviously, because without Jesus incarnate, we would
never have been seen as righteous, would never have been justified by His loving
blood, never have been atoned for through the work and death of our Savior. He did
these things for the glory of His father with a unique perspective on humans: He was
after all, creator and creation. How great must His understanding, compassion and
love be for us. He intercedes with full knowledge and understanding of what it is to
be human and what it is to be God! Praise His Holy Name!!! 
  

God's Work In Progress

Clive Staples Lewis

   "Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps,
you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the
leaks in the roof and so on; you know that those jobs needed doing and so you are not
surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably
and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that
He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of- throwing out a new wing
here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You
thought you were being made into a decent little cottage; but He is building a palace. 
He intends to come and live in it Himself."

Yes, C. S. Lewis is so phenomenal, isn't he? Probably the most quoted Christian one can
find, yet he was converted to a believer in Christ during a motorcycle ride and discussion
with friend, J. R. R. Tolkien. 

What caught me about the above quote is the Truth that God is working on us constantly
once we welcome Him into our lives. He is, after all, the master architect, the master creator
who fashioned the universe, suddenly, from nothingness. Nothing, no job or task, is too
great for Him, as He is sovereign, completely.

How remarkable that He would care enough to fashion us into beings that might glorify
Him; How loving that He would provide a way for us to be members of His family,
taking sinners capable of doing little of import and changing us into justified, adopted
children, filled by the Holy Spirit and guided along the journey toward eventual sanctification
in His Holy presence. 

The key, here, is moving over, letting go of the steering wheel, swallowing our pride and
need to be in charge so that He can get on with the business of rebuilding. He knows
what is in our best interest, He knows what changes need to be made. He, and He alone,
needs to be master of our lives, our King, our God. What do we do? Trust, pray, get quiet and
praise His glorious name!

I give you, Maestro Jehovah

Always thought conductors were just silly people waving wands in the air with their
musicians pretty much ignoring them; sort of crowd pleasers, if you will. Well, thanks
to my wonderful son-in-law, and looking at the whole thing outside of the cartoon of Bugs
Bunny conducting, I have a new-found appreciation for what these wand-wavers do!

Turns out that the orchestra musicians actually are very much tuned in to the movements
of both the baton and the maestro's body language, and music is placed so that they
can see both music and conductor simultaneously. Pretty cool. Helps, I understand, to
have a big-name orchestra leader because it adds to the fame of the orchestra and, hopefully,
to the quality of the music.

So, now I would like to present, humbly, the ultimate maestro, Jehovah, my God, who
is the grand conductor of them all! He, in His glorious sovereignty, is in charge of all the
unique and complicated movements that allow this universe that He created to function!
Truly amazing!

Well, I would just like to use my bloggish creativity to wonder what it would be like for
God to create a musical score to the Bible; that's right, music to mirror and teach the story
of Jesus Christ, which, as you know, is what the books of the Bible accomplish.

Can you imagine the first magnificent chord? The orchestra completes their tune-ups,
followed by silence, and then the Conductor raises His wand and WOW! I'm not one to
give much credence to "The Big  Bang," but it works to imagine a magnificent beginning
to this Whole Symphony. 

How about the crossing of the Red Sea? The musical accompaniment to the walls of water
suddenly rising up and then crashing down upon the hapless Egyptians. 

The calming of the waters of the Sea of Galilee; Jesus changing the raging elements into
sheer calm, picture that musically.

How about the back-and-forth of the rulers of Israel; one good king followed by one really
evil one. Back and forth, back and forth.

Then there is the birth of the Son of God with some beautiful melodies. The many
miraculous moments of His three-year walk, the tragedy of His Crucifixion. the glory
of His Resurrection and His Ascension!  Wow! 

I could go on; but, here is the part we all are waiting for...the Finale. The return on
clouds of Glory of the triumphant King,  Jesus Christ. I hear a crescendo, growing
in strength and then, the final, unimaginably beautiful final grouping of sound. The
maestro now turns, amid Bravos and Joyous Hallelujah to receive the appreciation of
all His saints. Well done, Jehovah! Very Well Done!

Praise God Almighty!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Could use some help, Mr. Einstein

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.  Psalm 139

The average weight of the human brain is 3 pounds. There are 100 billion neurons in
the brain and there are 1 quadrillion connections in the average brain. (I think that's a lot!)
It seems to be common knowledge that Einstein's brain was taken from the rest of his
body; it's whereabouts seem uncertain and the conclusions resulting from autopsies
vary. It is probably a safe assumption that Einstein was a brilliant man with a highly
functioning brain, indeed. (Did I mention that brains, themselves, are not the most
pleasant things to look at!)

Nevertheless, I'm certain that even Einstein could not explain some of the wonders
one discovers and questions one encounters when we look at our wondrous God. 
Take, for instance, the whole idea of the Triune God. That's one God in three persons.
All three persons are fully and wholly God, yet God is one and Christianity is a
monotheistic religion. After listening, recently, to Wayne Grudem discuss this whole
issue of the Trinity and conclude that he did not know how to explain it, that was good
enough for me to realize that such things are not going to be understood by folks
like me. Scripture is clear that there is a Father, a Son and a Holy Spirit so, even
though I can't understand that concept, I am fully confident in believing it. In fact,
I am in awe of the concept.

The above scripture from Psalm 139 is another amazing concept; God knows as
completely. Now, there are a bunch of us He has to know! He doesn't just know
us by our white rock name, He knows us completely, down to each and every hair
on our heads. He's probably not working with a Rolodex, He doesn't need a
complex system for recall of information on His people...He just knows us. Amazing,
isn't it. Mind boggling, comes to mind. 

It just shows that we, as humans, were never meant to be able to understand the
ways of God. I see it as comforting. We aren't, in so many ways, on a need to know
basis. He, God, can handle things. We just need to sit back, listen quietly, pray
fervently and praise Him continuously for His grace and His being. He created us
and we are His! Praise God Almighty!

Home Sweetest Home

In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you John 14:2

"Home" has a connotation of comfort and welcome. It's usually a place we think of
in a very positive sense; it'a a place where we feel we have roots. I can remember,
vividly, sitting on the back screened-in porch at my parents' home, crying, because
they were about to move out. I didn't even live there, any more; yet, there were
so many memories associated with the place that a great sense of loss came over me.
It's also disconcerting to re-visit an old neighborhood only to find that your old "home"
is either in disrepair or possibly even torn down.

A House Is Made Of Walls And Beams..A Home Is Built With Love And Dreams

So it is important not to confuse house and home, even though they may be one
and the same. "Home" may very well be whatever location one finds himself in,
as long as it is occupied by those he loves.

The one problem with our earthly homes is that they are temporary, not
permanent. The people who make up our earthly homes are temporary, as well.
That old home where parents and family resided will eventually become the
place where a different set of people reside. Our loved ones and family members,
our friends and close associates all will pass away. We are temporary; mortality
will end us all. 

So the Bible verse above is super important and super comforting to those who
are solidly in Jesus. The home He speaks of is not temporary. It is eternal. Even
though we know more about what will not be in heaven than what will, we have
been assured by one who is Truth that we are bound for a place where God is
present, and we are bound for a home where there will be no transition. Until we
get there, we do not know what the floor-plan is like, don't know what the
accommodations and furnishings will be like. We do know that this final, glorious
home will be in the presence of the Holy God that we praise and honor. I have
the feeling that this home and its inhabitants will be more glorious than we can
even imagine. Aren't you a bit anxious? I certainly am! Praise God!

You Need To Come To Your Senses!

Always have fun with the titles. I am really thanking our Holy God for our senses
and the world we live in, broken but beautiful. He created a way for us to experience
this world through the senses and I love to use them thankfully!

Sight  
Just love to look at the sky, always have. Sunsets and sunrises, cloud formations
and reflections, rainbows, I could go on and on. WE have "Big Skies" here in Texas,
partly because the trees are so short..seems, sometimes, like you can see forever!

Smell
Oh gosh, the list is so long. the smell of leaves fallen from the trees, something cooking
in the oven when hungry, pine and fir trees in the forest, the air just before a rain. 
Pipe tobacco...don't smoke it but love to sniff it! A fire in the fireplace.

Sound
I like the birds early in the morning just before dawn. The sounds of rain or the wind
blowing through the trees. I like to put my ear on my cat's side and listen to her purr!
Laughter. Silence.. now that's a wonderful sound, sometimes! Good classical music. A
fire in the fireplace.

Taste
Might just be my favorite, which has caused some trouble along the way. Pizza!
A banana split with three flavors of ice cream and three toppings. Salt. A root beer
float. A good spicy chili. Tea or coffee just poured into the cup.

Touch
Hugs. Kisses. Things that are very soft (my feminine side). Babies. 

Common Sense
So here's another point. We do live in this broken, beautiful world, created by our
Father in Heaven. While we are appreciating and thanking Him for the beauty we
find, here, we should also be opening ourselves to His voice. He speaks to us through
His word, through the natural things that we observe. He speaks quietly and wishes
us to hush and listen for Him. We are not in charge; He is. We are dependent upon
His sustaining grace and blessed by His gospel. We are loved and should return that
through praise and love for our God and King. Praise Him! It's a totally sensible
thing to do!!!

The on-going ferocious struggle for your soul

There are titanic struggles occurring in the universe at almost every level. Galaxies
are closing in on other galaxies (that's a slow struggle). On a much smaller level, within
each person's cells, virus are struggling against the body's immune system. We are
healthy when the body wins out. 

It's good vs. evil, darkness vs. light, truth vs. lies... yet the single most important
struggle is the one being engaged over the eternal existence of our souls. In a small,
but significant way, each of us plays a part, but the major combatants are ones 
who have been at odds since before the creation of the universe: Jehovah and 
the fallen angel, Satan. The prize, here, is the very soul within your body.

God is sovereign, completely so! He is in control of our lives, our path and our
future. We, and here is the crucial component, have to TRUST Him. The very
essence of faith is the complete trust that God is with us, not apart from us; that
He is engaged, even when it may seem that there is only silence when we struggle,
face hardships,  that he is with us,even when we pray and seem to have no response. 

Satan is already a loser. Christ's resurrection completed the defeat of both death
and Satan. He had been tossed out of heaven, having been the most beautiful angel,
yet rebelling against God. He will, upon Christ's glorious return, be cast forever into
a very hot locale. But for now, he strives to create doubt, impatience...sin, which by
its very definition is rebellion against God. Not only does the devil work at our
weaknesses, he also attacks in areas that we may perceive as being strengths. He
tells is that God is too busy, doesn't care, isn't listening. Because we are born into
sin, continue to sin even when we wish not to and are in rebellion against God,
we are weak and prone to fall away, we decide to take matters into our own
hands, we think we can be in charge. We can be prideful, stubborn and very
impatient. We want quick fixes and it's very hard to just become quiet and wait
on God to lead.

Our part? We had better be more than observers in this struggle for our eternal
destination! We have to depend on God's Spirit within us to strengthen us each day,
we need to put on the armor of God, we need to quiet down and wait with the 
understanding that God is in control...always....forever. Praise God our Father!!

We have to be reminded to remember!

It is my belief that deep within us is the knowledge of God's existence. I have called it
the God spot; yet the concept is certainly not mine. Add to this inner knowledge the fact that
we deeply wish to have a relationship with God. Agnostics and Atheists alike, in my
opinion, are just fooling themselves, or trying to fool us. The search for meaning in
our lives and answers about why we even exist, all point back to that realization that we
are creations of God.

So how does all that apply to the Christmas mess? Have you noticed that Christmas is
upon us? It's in the stores, on the tele, on Al Gore's internet, in the mail...  Halloween ended
and, "boom," Christmas materialized. Tiz the season, but what's the reason? I spent
several day-after Thanksgiving mornings going into work at 4am so that the shoppers who
lined up for gifts after midnight would have breakfast options. Those were folks standing
in line for Kiss Me Elmo's or Cabbage Patch Kids or Beanie Babies, etc. 

Joy to the World, the Lord is Come..

It is a season for joy, yet statistics suggest that it is also a season when depression and
angst show up, big time. There are financial pressures, there are the pressures of preparing
for family, etc. But I believe that there is something missing in all this Christmas hustle and
bustle: Jesus Christ. 

We need to be reminded to remember that this is not Tiny Tim's Christmas. not the Grinch's
Christmas, not Santa Claus's Christmas.. it's Christ's Christmas. 

Had you visited me any time in the first 60 years of my life during the holiday season, you
would have seen the traditional secular items. There would have been some decorations,
presents under the tree (with the star, on top, of course), Christmas carols in the air...maybe
even a cute manger scene. What there would not have been is the underlying recognition that the greatest gift ever given to anyone, at any time, for any reason
was the real reason for celebration... the glorious birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

I was in need of a reminder to remember. 

So do we wring our hands, gnash our teeth and shake our heads over this secularization
and materialization of Christmas? No, I'd rather we take that energy and reach out
to remind those around us to remember the real reason for Christmas joy. One person
at a time; one heart at a time.

Let Earth receive her King!  Her King, indeed. Something we should remember and
rejoice over Every Single Day! Praise God!

A Most Excellent Christmas Present

What would I really like this Christmas? That's quite easy, actually. I would like for someone who reads, or has read, any of my blog entries to reach out to God and accept the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. One person who responds to the woos of the Holy, Majestic God of the universe and turns his or her life over to He who created them; that would be glorious.

A lot of folks choose to deny God. It's different, I believe, than not being aware of God, although I have argued that all of His creation is indwelled  by the knowledge that there is a God by the fact that they are created in his image. A great metaphor was shared by R.C.Sproul Jr. in a talk at this year's Ligonier Ministry Conference, when he spoke of denial of God as people covering their ears and yelling, "La, la, la...I can't hear you!" God, after all, has given us free will; we're are not part of a puppet show.  But he has also given us ample evidence in this world around us, His word as written down and in His Holy Book and, what
I call the little nudges that, if we are listening carefully and fully aware, are happening
during our lives that point unmistakably to the presence and participation of God in our
lives. 

Those who deny God may be people who are unaware, dangerously, that all will be
called before a Holy God and judged, their entire lives brought forth and compared to
the Holiness of God. The chances of being accepted by this kind of Holy God based upon
the sinful lives we lead each and every day, are zero. Not going to happen! Yet God,
in his wisdom and loving-kindness has provided a ransom. This ransom was paid by
the very Jesus whose birth we celebrate at Christmas time; the most wonderful,
glorious gift ever given to mankind. Through His ministry, His walk, His death
upon the cross, His resurrection and eventual Ascension to the right hand of God
to intercede on behalf of those who have given their lives over to believe and trust
in Him, we have been given the chance to stand before this God of Holiness justified,
forgiven of all sins and accepted as His adopted children.

So, that's a gift I would cherish. Wouldn't even mind if several folks ended up giving me
the same gift. No return policy needed. It will already be wrapped in the most glorious
gift wrap ever created... the glorious light of Jesus Christ. 

Praise God for the birth of his precious son, the lamb who takes away the sins of the
world!! 

G. P. S. coming down from Heaven

Jeremiah 29:11 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.  

God's Provision System. We are all on a journey, of sorts. We're not really sure where
this journey will take us; yet, we have, with Christ Jesus as our savior and lord, a special
GPS built in to get us to the eventual destination. You don't need to plug this GPS into the
port of the car because it's automatic and thoroughly dependable. It doesn't need to
depend on satellites to determine where you are, and you don't need to plug in parameters.
You simply have to turn the steering wheel over to God; let Jesus take the wheel.

The journey, itself, will surely have some detours. There will be delays, traffic jams,
fender benders, moments of uncertainty. This GPS doesn't promise smooth sailing. It
promises that God knows the way. He has a plan mapped out for you, a trip-tik, if you 
will, designed to lead you in His ways for His good and glory. He knows how to get
the very best mileage out of those feet and that engine. He is, after all, the master
mechanic, the designer and creator of the creation that is you. 

The key is giving Him the keys. We need to allow Him to be our driver, to give up
the driver's seat and be His passenger. We have a tendency to want to be the driver,
to be in charge of the travels. We can, God forbid, just turn off this GPS, turn away from
He who knows what is best for us, design our own journey and provide our own
guidance. We can ignore the signs, if you will. We can just set out on our own
without accepting the realization that left to our own devices, we are headed toward
the eternal traffic accident, train wreck, catastrophe. If we turn away, there will
be no re-calibration. We will be lost and will not find our way, alone. 

So sit back and depend upon God for this journey you are on. Set your sights on
the prize ahead, the end of the trip, the entrance to Heaven and a great reunion
with Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Take the wheel, Jesus. It's all yours. I am all
yours!

TRUTH or Consequences

John 14:6
Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.

Well , I will admit, up front, that I am small-brained. I have taken Philosophy courses
that dealt with the concept of truth and that didn't go so well. I have listened to tapes,
read books and engaged in discussion with those smarter that I, and I always come away
shaking my head, trying to clear the fog.

So don't read on if you expect anything other than my feelings. 

I believe there has to be A TRUTH. For there to be a whole bunch of truths, I think
that fits into the relativism category, each one real because it is what that person
thinks is true, sounds like mental anarchy. Truths aren't the same as feelings,
opinions, preferences, etc. Truths aren't grey areas somewhere between black
and white. I guess I am saying that for anything to make sense there has to be some
absolute truth. 

It is my belief that God is truth because I do not believe that he is capable of being
untruthful. I believe that the Bible is the true word of God. If He is truth then His word
is truth. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He, is therefore, also the truth.

My concern, here, is the consequence of not accepting God, rejecting Him and His truth.
God did a very brave thing, a loving thing. He created us with free will; the right to choose
to accept Him or reject Him. We all meet people who decide to believe in their own truth;
people who, in a real sense, are "being their own God."

Wow, I think that is eternally dangerous. Rejecting the truth, rejecting Jesus, rejecting
the unearned gift of salvation  through the grace of God, means that there is an eternity
facing that person. An eternity in the absence of God. I'm not the hell fire and damnation
sort, but it is a fact that Jesus did not skirt the concept of Hell. he spoke often and
clearly about those who would choose not to believe in Him. There's no attempt to sugar
coat things; it's gonna be eternal, and that's a long, long time. That's why I pray
daily and work daily to try and reach those I love who haven't accepted Jesus. He is
the way and the truth and the life. It's an eternally important thing...the truth. God.
Praise Him!!

Happy Thanksgiving Day..same for tomorrow...same for...

Yes, I know. It's October 31st, Halloween. Not really much but a Hallmark holiday,  now
that I am older. Now I still enjoy a Hershey Bar now and then. But, it's really Thanksgiving
Day. It also will be Thanksgiving Day tomorrow, etc.

How can that be? There is an "official" Thanksgiving Day on tap for Thursday, Nov. 28th.
That's the day when everyone eats turkey, takes a nap and then piles in the mini-van
to head out for a shopping frenzy.

Well that may be well and good, but how about we celebrate Thanksgiving Day today!

We can be thankful for being alive today, thanks to the grace of God. There are a whole
bunch of things that have to be working correctly for us to haul ourselves out of bed, and
I don't mean the coffee grinder. This body we inhabit has to be functioning in an amazing
number of ways for us to make it a good day. The heart, amazingly complex and
intricate. The brain, even on those foggy mornings, that mass of gray stuff is allowing
us to think, feel, communicate and even write blogs! Truly magnificent.

We can be thankful for being justified, thanks to the gospel of Jesus Christ. For those
of us who call ourselves Christians, that means that by faith alone, by belief in Jesus,
we are made acceptable to a God who, by our own actions and ways, would not even
think about forgiving us. It is by His grace that we have been adopted into the family
of God. Our sins have been paid for by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Paid in full. Absolutely not happening based upon our efforts or self-righteousness.
How could we be anything but thankful today, and every day, for this unbelievable
gift. 

We can be thankful that we do not have to face the difficulties and challenges of living
in this broken world, alone. We all will face sadness, illness, the list goes on. There
are difficult times ahead. We struggle with sin and the temptations of the Evil One.
Yet, God has provided sustaining grace, filling us with hope, strength and wisdom.
Encouraging us by assuring us that He is with us and has equipped us to face even the
most daunting of challenges.

Thanksgiving Day..today, tomorrow and every day of your life. Praising and loving God
with all your heart. It's a day to be thankful. It's a day to remember what God has done
for us! Praise Him!!!

What Does God Want?

Disclaimer:  This is a blog. I did not do an interview with God and I certainly am no
  expert on His thinking! I have read and am reading His word and other books and am
  blessed to be surrounded by a lot of God-loving folks. So, to a certain extent, I am 
  just expressing my feelings. I pray they are somewhat accurate.

Does God want to hold a prominent place in our hearts?
    NO! God wants to hold THE prominent place in our hearts and in our lives. He is,
after all, the one who created us. He knows us completely and loves us. He has given,
through His saving grace, an opportunity to belong to Him and to, one day, live in His
majestic presence. 

Does God expect us to be Holy?
   YES! He has told us that we are to be Holy. The problem, here, is that He is Holy, Holy,
Holy. We, on the other hand, strive to be righteous. It is a long journey we take with the
aid of His spirit, a journey where we are guided toward being more like Jesus. I believe
we never quite get there until we achieve sanctification in heaven.

What does God think about our sin?
   He loathes it! Can't get a whole lot more specific than that. He hates all sin. Unfortunately,
we are born into sin. We sin even when we strive not to do so because we are human. 
God, in a plan devised before the beginning of time, sacrificed His son on a cross and
loaded upon Him all of our sins: past, present and future. These sins were exchanged for
the righteousness of Christ Jesus. It's the only way sin could ever be forgiven. NOT accepted,
forgiven. That's the good news of the gospel of Christ.

Does God want is to be healthy and wealthy?
   God has a plan for our lives. He is in charge; we are not. He makes all things happen for His
good. This life of ours will have both good and bad times. We won't always be healthy; we 
won't necessarily have wealth, other than the wealth of knowing God as our father. He
has granted us sufficient grace to handle anything that we may encounter. He is with us
and loves us; we can lean upon Him to bring us through any and all obstacles we may
meet along the journey toward heaven. Won't it be wonderful to be in His presence
and learn all we have longed to know. 

God is GREAT!

We ALL need to grow younger!

 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:3

I think I'm goin' back
To the things I learned so well in my youth
I think I'm returning to
Those days when I was young enough to know the truth

Sung by The Byrds  Written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King

I'm not planning a journey, soon, to the land of Bimini in search of the Fountain of Youth, but
I am thinking that there is value in paying attention to the words and actions of Jesus. It
is clear, I believe, that Jesus held a special place in His heart for children. He spoke more
than once about the need not only value children but also to be more like them. He was
unhappy when others tried to keep them quiet or away from Him. 

 "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  Matthew 19:14


We all seem so anxious to grow older when we are young. There are the "moments of 
passage," ages 18, 21, etc. Once we achieve adulthood, chronologically speaking, we are
faced with many changes that make life a lot more complicated. From where I am today,
I think it's pretty important to try and regain some of the qualities we may have lost as
we became older.

We are God's children. Children are certainly more dependent in many ways. Like a
child, we need to become more dependent upon God and less on our own ways. Children
are more likely to be trusting. Trusting God and His ways are instrumental in living
a life that glorifies Him and not ourselves. Children are more likely to be amazed at
things. Standing in awe of our God pleases Him and places us in a position of
reverence and thankfulness for the blessings He has graciously afforded us.

Childlike not childish. Allowing God to hold onto our hands as we walk in this world.
It's not so hard to work at being a child, again! 

He's Oh So Beautiful To Me

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him,
nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him.”   Isaiah 53: 4

What a prophetic set of verses is Isaiah 53. To me, it's one of the most remarkable set of verses in the Bible. Since there are no other verses that speak of the physical appearance
of Jesus, we are left with very little idea of what he actually looked like. He was a Jewish
man who, I have read it suggested, would not have stood out from the others who followed
Him. 

The Renaissance painters set the stage for an artistic depiction of Jesus which has followed
through time which is probably not very accurate. What I have noticed in both the artistic
representations and the film portrayals is the representation of His eyes. I am going to go
out on a purely speculative limb and suggest that His eyes, being the eyes of the King of
the Universe, would have been striking to look into. Being God with all that that entails, 
being among mankind with its many problems and limitations and having an awareness
of His total walk on this earth, would create, I believe, a depth to those eyes; eyes filled with
compassion, love and an understanding of the needs of those He healed and taught.

Obviously the Transfiguration presented a different, amazing look at God's son. Peter, James
and John got a glimpse into the powerful beauty that Is Jesus. I'm surprised that Peter,
one who was rarely at a loss for words, could even speak. No plain, unremarkable
being was there; this was the God of all creation shining in brilliance before them.

So he may have been unremarkable in a physical sense, but that's where the adjective
"unremarkable" ends in talking about Jesus. The universe was created through Him. We
were created in His image. He, humbly, was born into poverty upon this earth with the
task of bringing the truth of the Gospel. He performed miracles well beyond the ones that
have been recorded in the pages of the gospels, and marched toward the brutal death that
would provide salvation for all who answered God's call and believed upon Him. His resurrection established and completed the covenant allowing sinful humans to 
be adopted, sins ransomed, into the family of the Living God. 

Absolutely REMARKABLE! Absolutely! Thank you beautiful Lord Jesus, thank YOU!

Everything Changes...well, almost everything!

James 1:17 (NASB)
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Things certainly change in our lives. I don't know about others, but I do not adapt well to
change. I am definitely a routine sort of person. 

Still remember going to the Levi store on Ohio State's campus as a freshman, and buying
30/30 jeans. That's 30" inseam and 30" waist. Well, one of those numbers is the same.
If I were to buy those jeans today, they "might" make it up to just below my kneecaps!

I once had lots of hair. Growing up in the 60's, hair was important!  I used to fuss with it
daily so that it would be cool. That certainly has changed! I knew things were changing
when a student remarked, upon looking down at my head, that he could see the state of
Ohio on the top of my head. Now I spend just as much time trying to do the comb-over!
It's a losing battle. (did I mention the hair growing where it isn't suppose to?)

Yep, things change. Styles change. Music changes. Weather changes. Friends change.
Jobs change...now days, it isn't at all odd to see folks change jobs very frequently. Some
changes are rhythmic like the ocean tides, some changes are abrupt, like the need to
move to a new home or job. Seasons change...I miss that in north Texas. Our health 
changes. Technology changes...and Fast! Dreams and expectations change. Obviously,
I could go on and on.

However, one thing never changes! GOD! He is steadfast, my rock. When He says
something, He follows up. His word is truth and does not change. He always keeps
His promises. His word is something that remains as true today as it was from the
very beginning of creation. We can thoroughly depend on our God... always.

That's comforting to me and, hopefully, to you. We can derive peace of mind and
great hope from the never-fluctuating love and righteousness of our Lord. He is sovereign,
just and permanent. He is God!