Winter, Snow, Symbols of Redemption

Yesterday I was reading in Psalm 147:
Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names.
Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
The LORD lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.
Sing to the LORD with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre!
He covers the heavens with clouds; he prepares rain for the earth; he makes grass grow on the hills.
He gives to the beasts their food, and to the young ravens that cry.
His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you.
He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.

At this point I have to turn the page in my Bible. Before I turned the page I was picturing this bright, fluffy snow and broadly scattered frost making the landscape bright, beautiful, clean, refreshing. The next verse surprised me a bit:

He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold?

This is more a picture of violence, strength, and dominance. But then the Psalmist continues:

He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow.

This verse gave me a feeling of spring when all things are being renewed. Here's the final verses and then I'll share some more thoughts:

He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to Israel.
He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his rules. Praise the LORD!


I initially was turned to Psalm 147 examining verses 10-11, "His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love." Right now I'm doing a study on "God is the Gospel" (See sidebar) and this lesson time was looking at the relationship of us being for God's glory- to worship and delight in him- and the scriptures, like Psalm 147, speaking of the Lord's delight in us. This understanding of the way God is still the object of all good things and glory and we are merely 'made in the image' of Him, helps to guard us from self-worship. God is not compromising his "God" status in taking delight in us; He does not have us as another affection or love, an idol. God is to be feared and in His steadfast love we can place our hope- he is the one to be praised, he is the one to trust, for he alone brings the redemption that brings us to Him. (1 Peter 3:18) Therefore, the final good news of the gospel is God himself and who He is and that we are brought near to Him though what He Himself did in Jesus Christ, Immanuel- God with us.

For this Psalm, I loved the images used to give us glimpses of the wonderfully dynamic God who is well described by "I am that I am." He is like both the stunning beauty and the harsh power of the snowy winter weather. And he is the Word that brings the warmth, newness, and redemption. So today if you have the snow, rejoice in the Lord who came to us, to be with us, to die and rise from the dead to save us; Praise the LORD!

Persevering in Prayer

Below is from an article on Prayer I read from a friends blog who got it from Sam Storms Here

Much has already been said in Colossians concerning perseverance in
prayer, so I won't repeat myself here (see the lessons on Colossians
1:3, 9, 29; 2:1). Instead, I want to briefly address the reasons why a
good God who can help often seems not to, or at least not to in
accordance with our schedules. There are surely reasons other than
these, but here are a few suggestions that I hope will encourage you to
"continue steadfastly in prayer" (Col. 4:2a).

First, we are a presumptuous people! We just assume that God ought
always to do what we ask, when we ask, precisely in the way we ask. By
delaying his response, God awakens us to the gracious character of all
answered prayer. In other words, that God says or does anything at all
in response to our petitions is sheer, undiluted grace. Resolute
continuation in prayer, watchful perseverance, is often the best way
for us to learn this invaluable lesson.

Second, steadfast endurance in coming again and again to the throne of
grace is God's way of cultivating in us a sense of absolute and utter
dependence upon him. We are by nature self-reliant, self-sufficient
folk. If God were instantly and at all times to answer our every prayer
we would gradually lose our sense of urgency. Truth be told, most of us
would soon lose sight of the fact that it is God alone who is the
source of all good. By suspending his response, God is saying to each
of us: "Just how desperate are you? How conscious are you that I am
your only source, your sole and all-sufficient supply?"

Third, persistent praying puts us in that frame of mind and spirit in
which we may properly receive what it is that God desires to give. In
other words, it isn't so much that God is reluctant to give, but that
we lack preparation to receive. Try to envision what a mess your life
would have been had your parents granted you everything you asked for
as a child! God often delays his answers because, quite simply, we are
in no shape to receive them. Few of us are willing to admit that, but
deep down we know it's true.

Fourth, steadfast, watchful continuation in prayer helps us
differentiate between impetuous, ill-conceived, selfish desires, and
sincere, deep-seated, Christ-exalting ones. Persistence in prayer thus
enables us to weed out improper petitions.

Fifth, endurance at the throne of grace purifies the content of our
petitions. By repeating our prayers we are forced to think and re-think
what we are saying. We are compelled to evaluate our motivation and aim
for asking God for something in particular. It's a bit like how I read,
re-read, and read yet again each of these meditations before I send
them out. It helps me identify mistakes, locate typographical errors,
and re-phrase something that otherwise might be false or misleading. I
can almost envision God saying, in response to my first articulation of
a prayer: "Sam, are you sure you want me to answer that one? Think
about it. Contemplate the long-term consequences of a Yes. Then come
back and ask me again in different terms, with a purified purpose."

Sixth, perseverance cultivates patience. By withholding an immediate
response, we learn how to "wait" on God. Waiting on the Lord is far
from a passive posture. It's an active, expectant, persistent pressing
in to the heart and purposes of a loving God. How might we ever learn
to do this were it not for steadfastness in prayer?

Seventh, oftentimes God wants to give, but not now. The answer will
come in better circumstances, at a more opportune moment. By delaying
his response a greater and better and more God-glorifying end is
secured than by an immediate answer.

Finally, even if none of the reasons given above makes sense to you,
persevere anyway! God isn't asking you to understand: he's asking you
to be faithful.

Longing to linger at the throne of grace,

Sam

Knock-Kneed

I found this picture of the junior champion of the Hokkaido Holstein Show interesting. All in all, I was very impressed by the cows I saw, but I was concerned that the front end of the champion cow would look like that- maybe it's just the camera angle that makes her look knock-kneed.

Small Bite- Genomics and Faith

August passed without a post. But not September. In July I made a short list of Holstein bulls I thought had some good things going for them. New genetic evaluations came out in August- Freddie went up from $924 CM$ to 933 CM$.

Here's the old info:
COYNE FARMS DORCY:
A Bolton out of a Formation Bret. Great PA's for udder traits. Use only on big rumped cows, but successive generations will calve well.

RABUR M PADDY:
A Regancrest-HHF MAC out of a Terrick Reggie (JoltxEmory) at Select. There's a lot of good MAC sons coming up soon, but this one seems to be a good mating.

Shampoo is in the tank at home, I think he'll be good.

BADGER-BLUFF FANNY FREDDIE: An OMAN out of a RBK-Die Hard dam. A few daughters in production now. $924 CM$

O-BEE INDIANA-ET: OMAN out of a Hartline Titanic. Really low SCS. High CM$.

Because we can always learn from the world around us, here's the small bite lesson:

Hebrews 11:1 says faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Now this analogy is a stretch, but the true part is true. FREDDIE had the same incredibly high numbers from his parent average and genomic evaluation. Genomic evaluations, explained briefly, give an ability to look at the DNA and know better how an animal will perform. I guess I want to compare Genomic evaluation to the way that God is clearly displayed in the world. So, even though we can't "see" God, we can actually get a really good idea of who he is. And Marriage, the Church, and other things show forth the Lord as well. Yet, probably a little more time needs to pass before Genomics is as much of a 'sure indicator' as I think creation and the Church are- and I shouldn't forget Jesus. Now there's some assurance, but some probably still find it only 60-70% reliable. "But look and see the progeny," I say. (the rest of Heb. 11 )

Gator Influence

A relaxing Saturday evening read from Sports Illustrated:
You Gotta Love Tim Tebow

Grandpa's Pants

I've been posting sporadically, but need to share something. Here's a poem from a moment of pausing to ponder in part what I've been experiencing and thinking:

Grandpa's postal pants splitting in the seams,
"Time to make them fit me better, or so it seems."

Took them to the tailor and had him bring the waist in.
Now I guess grandpa really won't want his pants again.

Pants starts with "P" and so do themes I saw in John 4:
Patterns, Places, People, Praise, Power, and maybe more.

Always seeking to know Jesus more and recently reading John.
Noticing they way Jesus' statements can lead conversation on.

For example Nicodemus, who was drawn to Jesus believing He was from God,
was told, "unless one is born again, he can't see the kingdom of God."

Nicodemus at first does not quite fully understand,
But Jesus gets an opportunity to speak more to this man.

And with the Samaritan woman, "Give me a drink."
"If you knew the gift of God..." living water ask for to drink.

Jesus finally reveals, "I who speak to you am he."
The woman goes to her village and says, "Come and see!"

The people went and met Jesus, those the woman told.
Meeting him for themselves, "Indeed this is the Savior of the World."


There's a little taste, an "add 3 cups water" concentration
squeezed out and distilled with rhymes and alliteration.

(This Daniel's Digestions post should be sponsored by pelleted feed makers)

Face Off

Two nights ago Lynn and I watched a program that aired on ABC that set up a conversation on the issue of Satan's existence. It was interesting to watch the program and consider Deepak Chopra's take on the world and life. Some things he says are true and good, but often it's because he's quoting Jesus. Here's where we viewed it online: http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."
- C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Finally Alive is available as a .pdf on my side menu, I am only part way through, but finding it solidly encouraging, challenging, and enlightening. Check out what I've been watching and reading to get a taste for yourself.

Achieving Rest- to the Praise of His Glory

Today I have rested. I didn’t want to, but I was too tired and sick to take a trip to visit a farm I’ve been trying to plan for most of this month. So I semi-reluctantly slept a lot, drank as much as I could, coughed a lot, and read some through the morning into the afternoon. It has been good to be reminded in my sickness how insufficient I am all by myself. My visible achievement for today has been to rest. And for today I am satisfied with resting because of what I have been reminded of that I learned in the past, the truths I am learning today, and all that will come in learning in the tomorrows to come. So I learn the greatest achievements I make are by the grace of God. For from Him, through Him, and to Him are all things; to Him be the glory and praise.

Here is the first stanza of a poem my friend Mario recently wrote:
Born a jagged stone, tossed and spun,
vertigo in life’s rock tumbler.
He awaits the hammer and chisel.
Fated to be a muscular masterpiece,
erected onto the stage of greatness.
A postured statue: polished and marveled;
envied by the world’s passing tourists;
lit by flashbulbs and glossy-eyed onlookers.
This is what a young man believes
about his destiny. Others all affirm,
“What passion, what vision he has.”

Greatness. There is something in us that longs to be great. The desire to be great has fueled success for many people in sports and business. I too have been inspired and longed to be great. The external achievements of one who is ‘doing well’ easily bring the affirmations of others.

Here’s one way to see what I’m getting at: In the movie Shakiest Gun in the West Don Knotts’ character Jesse Haywood begins to believe he is really something with a gun after some great ‘successes.’ He receives much praise from everyone around and believes he himself was great. It makes for a hilarious movie, but also a picture of sometimes how we deal with God’s grace, gifts, and providence in our life. We begin to think that we ourselves are really something quite great. This leads us to attempt our next activities in our own strength; like the gunfight with Arnold the Kid. Doc the Haywood begins to walk in pride for his own greatness. In the end Don Knotts’ character learns his true source of success- it wasn’t his own skills, but an outside source, Penelope. Penelope for this analogy is like God, contentedly caring for us and saving us. Now this isn’t a tight analogy, but it gives a fun picture of think we’re something great when we’re not.

Directly speaking, as we are made is God’s image we do have something to be boastful of, but we shouldn’t for it it God who has made us and sustains us by his greatness and grace. Why would we worship the created rather than the creator? But we do. Part of the sin of Adam was the grab for personal greatness, ability, and knowledge for himself. Adam was told by the serpent, “…you will be like God knowing…” Adam went for being great on his own- to be like god he could be his own god. When God gave the Law to Moses the first command was “I am the Lord your God… have no other gods besides me.” And the second was to not make an image to worship.

We are not created unto our own glory that we may make a name for ourselves and receive much praise and glory from the world for all the good things we have done and for all the greatness we achieve. Jesus’ disciples had been with him, saw his mighty wonders, and heard his teachings, yet they argued amongst themselves who was to be regarded as the greatest. Jesus gives an interesting answer. He says ‘become like servants’, and that even he himself came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. It seems we are called to believe that we cannot save ourselves, we are not great. In fact all our righteous deeds are like filthy rags. So, in the end we will all bow to the only greatest- the King of kings and Lord of lords- Jesus.

The next time I feel bummed that I’m sick and down and can’t ‘do’ what I think I want to do I hope I will more quickly recall that it’s not in what I do, but in abiding in Christ that is my achievement to pursue. For apart from Christ I can do nothing. And all that I do is to the praise of his glory.

Immanuel

עמּנוּאל -Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary coveys that this word roughly means “with us is God”
As I sat down to write something for my blog, I had lots of ideas. My journal is full of notes on things I’ve thought, my calendar notebook has daily summaries of activities, and there is far more beyond what pages can contain that I’ve done and thought. Yet this remains- even when I didn’t feel like it, God has been sovereign and faithful in my life.

I jumped out of Leviticus and into Daniel for this month as a slow read/study through. I am remembering that Daniel is one of my favorite books- a great story of a sovereign God.

In fact, God is so providential that now this post is finished so I can eat a lovely supper my wonderful wife has made.

Remember and Proclaim II

I recently finished reading a book by Henri Nouwen titled In the Name of Jesus. It was some reflections on leadership written in a unique, personal style. As Henri was making one of his points he used the imagery of being set free from slavery and moving towards a promised land. Wow, the images of tangible history help us to better understand concepts and ideas. Even this morning as I was reading the end of Exodus 34 when Moses came down from the mountain after being with God and the skin of his face shone so he had to cover his face with a veil, I recalled Paul’s use of this event to explain to the Corinthians how great it is that by the Spirit through Christ we relate to God.

The testimonies, the stories of what God has done are the ways we grow in understanding our Creator and Lover. And that is part of how we are passing on the message of God’s grace- through stories and testimonies of how our Lord has shown Himself Loving, Faithful, Powerful, Holy,…

Although in the past I had other thoughts on the topic of remembering and proclaiming, I don't remember them all. Take what you get from this blog knowing there's more where it came from. These posts are the occasional 'cuds' that make it into digital form.

Remembering and Making Memories

I went camping a couple of weekends ago. It was a lot of fun to get out of the city, have a fire, and hang out with some guys. While I was there I remembered all the fires my brothers and I would make, and remembered the best fire makers- my grandpas.


We gathered the necessary firewood for cooking.

Ready for the meat.

Delicious.

I miss Smores, but Baklava is pretty sweet.

Murat and I.


Putting the tent away. It's a bit like a three stooges movie. Gives a good view of the beautiful area we camped in.

Remember and Proclaim

Last month was the time of the annual celebrations of the feast of unleavened bread, passover, and the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Last month I was reading in the first parts of Exodus about Moses encountering the LORD, being asked to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses reluctantly agreeing, and then Moses returns and the LORD shows up to display his power in signs and wonders. At the near end of these plagues, the Passover is introduced in Exodus 12. Read it for yourself. Verses 26-27 records the final pieces of instruction...

And Exodus 13:14

Also Check out Deuteronomy 6 (D6)

Psalm 71 is one of many places in the Psalms with this call to remember what the LORD has done and tell the next generation.
Psalm 78, 145 too are really good.

Jesus had a passover meal with a few of his followers- Mark 14:22-25

In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul teaches those in Corinth about the Lord's Supper.

Read and consider this idea of Remembering and Proclaiming on your own, and then later I will return with more of my personal thoughts.

May Thoughts Be Posted

There's the saying, "April showers bring May flowers." I'd like to offer, "out from the April blogging drought comes refreshing May thought."

I also digest....

We went to El Ranchero to celebrate the end of our class. One of our classmates' husband works at El Ranchero. It was fun to go to a Mexican restaurant. Good food, but it wasn't LaFuente's Carnitas (one of my favorites there).

The Grace of God is Better Than...

... Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. For sure. I don't know the best way to get .wav recordings posted up to my blog. But since I am getting skilled at movie maker and putting together language learning movie clips, , I just make music videos of the songs I record. This is a song Eric Swanson and I started last fall on Titus 2:11-14. We had the first part together and it had been in my head, but I didn't know or like how the rest flowed. So I fixed it up, recorded it to remember, and decided to share it with you all in a quick post.

For the Grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all peoples...

All Things New

This Sunday was a wonderful day of rest and renewal for me. The “On the Intake” portion of my menu bar is updated accordingly to reflect what’s been new. I’ve moved on from some listening to Anthem Worship on the train to being affected by Michael Card’s Poiema album during breakfast. Also, especially today I listened to a few of Andrew Peterson’s songs from his website and played some of them with the chords and lyrics posted for the songs from his Resurrection Letters, II album.

On Andrew Peterson’s website you can go to the promote tab and then choose chords, and there open up a pdf of All Things New (or click here). Andrew’s All Things New is a powerful song of invitation reminding us of Jesus’ love for us no matter where we are at and the truth that Jesus will indeed make all things new. I encourage you to check out the verses listed with the lyrics and read up the context around them as well. There is another song that was written at Cornerstone a few years back called All Things New that is also a favorite of mine; and it rings on the same theme that Jesus makes all thing new- and drives home how that is—through His death and Resurrection.

And on that I’ll rest for the evening.

More Than Spectacular

I’ll briefly explain the title of my post before you get into the content:

Check out Matthew 4:12-25 where Jesus is just beginning his ministry and calling his first disciples to follow him, and also Matthew records about all the crowds following Jesus. [here’s a message on that text that brings more details to these points: Matthew 4:12-25 Cornerstone]

So, the brief summary brought out in part of this text is about three of the different groups of people Jesus interacted with:

1. Spectators looking for the Spectacular
2. The sick looking for a really good cheap doctor
3. And those actually willing to follow Jesus

In these past weeks I was listening to another teacher that reminded me of this teaching by Troy about the different reactions of people drawn to Jesus. In John chapters 5 and 6 we see more of Jesus healing, drawing big crowds (feeding 5,000 +), but then Jesus gives some hard teaching (yet again)- If I could over summarize it: Jesus is the only way to God and eternal life. (But it came in a way that was hard, confusing on its own, and offended its hearers).

“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.’” (John 6:66-69)

Jesus is more than spectacular. He is the only way we are able to be with God, the creator of this world and everything in it, the definer of right and wrong, and the final Judge- bringing the perfect and holy to be with Him in His presence for eternity to worship Him and glorify Him and condemning the sinners to Hell. Through faith in Jesus we are made Holy and pure. We are born again. On that note, the next book I’m reading is Finally Alive, by John Piper.

Bonus quiz question: What happened to all those people Jesus healed, fed, and even brought back to life (for a little while longer)??

Answer: They died. Some having believed Jesus for eternal life, and probably some not believing and facing eternal punishment. So, we must always remember that God does healings and miracles only for one great purpose- His Glory. That peoples would believe in Jesus, the way He has made to restore sinful people to relationship with Him and to be with Him forever Praising, Loving, and giving Him all the Glory.

And on with my book summary:

Recently I read Surprised by the Voice of God by Jack Deere. These are my notes from my journal as a sort of “book summary”:

I marked a few places to come back to:

-Talking about conflict in a growing church adding a contemporary music service- the pastors take a prayer retreat and during that time they asked this hard question: “What would the Kingdom of God lose in our city if our church didn’t exist?”

Jack writes about going to church:
to hear Jesus and be healed by Him
to worship God together
to be strengthened/built up in Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 14:26

-by the ministry of each persons’ gifts and learning to hear the Holy Spirit. Jack followed this story with one about language-learning.

Another section that caught my attention was in the chapter “Confessions of a Bible Deist.” In it Jack talks about how it is easier to relate to a book, created sets of rules (interpretive rules), and traditions than a person. A person is intimate, emotional and it’s easier to get hurt. For the book- just discipline, will-power and intellect were needed. [But] the best interpreter of the Bible is the Holy Spirit.

Finally Jack had an interesting section on “Unbelief through Ritual and Magic.” We’re called to a person, not principles and ministry. Religious activity void of the presence of God and an awareness of Him… We have to be careful to not become like the Pharisees who diligently studied the scriptures, but never heard the voice of God. (John 5:37) But we also can’t just pursue the spectacular displays of spiritual gifts and healings and leave real relationship with God behind.

There were also some enlightening stories in the beginning of people exercising prophetic gifts. Otherwise, for as many pages as I read, it was a book I’d rate as OK. Mot a transformational read for me, but was still worth the time. It was good to get some of the active hearing of God stories and teaching; and it goes along with some of the Bill Johnson teaching we’ve been watching on Friday nights- the healings and miracles and signs and power of God- all held in the right place by the Word of Truth.

So that’s the end of that journal entry/book summary. For those interested, there was a book that was more challenging and transformational in opening me up to consider God continuing to be actively using His Spirit to communicate and to do healings and miracles. That book is: Lord, Disciple Me by Richard Mull. I read it back in the Spring of 2005 when I was studying in Thailand. Read it online: Lord Disciple Me Or, if you like real books: Lord Disciple Me

Disclaimer: While books read outside of the Bible DO give perspectives from the respective authors and their influences that provide stimulus and thought, I DO NOT recommend them as the primary way to grow in following Jesus- that must be the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit, and those people regularly met with as the Body of Christ.

Spring From a Hill

Flowering trees are blossoming out. I love the beauty and the renewing feelings Spring brings. Yesterday I went for a run up the hill in this movie. This afternoon Lynn and I took a walk with the camera and we got a movie clip. The music is a bit I recorded taken straight from Psalm 43:3 (ESV).

1000 words and a few more

Sometimes when I pray the above is what I see, since you should usually prayer walk with your eyes open.

We walked between sea and town
as the sun was going down.
Lord Jesus, Your Kingdom come;
Here as Above, Your Will be done.

Happy Birthday Lynn!

This is belated, but a great music movie for you all to enjoy.

Strollling Across the Galata Bridge

A couple days ago I took a break from language school and typical studies and played “tour guide” to a father of an Iraqi baby with all kinds of heart and circulatory system problems that were operated on here in Turkey. So, I went and visited this new friend and was amazed at how well this nine month old boy was doing after such an intense surgery. He was even smiling responsively at me whenever I would smile big at him. His father had been seeing a lot of the hospital, but really wanted to see “Istanbul”- so, I volunteered to show him around, since I basically know the transportation and how to get around Istanbul. We started out by taking the free inter-hospital shuttle. That got us up to the richest street on the Asian side. We walked around a bit and stepped into a few of the shops. My new Iraqi friend was looking to buy something for his wife and son. A unique situation would happen in some of these shops when I would end up translating between the Turkish-speaking shopkeeper and the five-language speaking (including English, but excluding Turkish) Iraqi. We both didn’t care for the expensive neighborhood, so we headed towards the market at the Golden Horn via train, ferry, and a nice stroll across the Galata Bridge. By the way, when we were on the ferry, we saw dolphins. It was a very nice day sharing the sights of Istanbul.

Blessed

This past weekend I was chatting with a friend about blogs and blogging. It was just the encouragement I needed to decide to make something good out of this blog- a great way for you all to share in my life more than you might otherwise get to. So, let me continue my blogging with greater consistency to let you all be exposed to what is coming out the rumen fistula (figuratively speaking).

One thing I have been learning about the past few weeks is the value of remembering- remembering what God has done, praising Him, and that giving momentum to our faith in following Him. As we look back we can get a chance to see God's faithfulness. A few days ago Lynn and I prayed through Psalm 106- that Psalm and many others recount the works God had done and the ways He displayed His glory.

Several weeks ago when I was flying to Turkey I watched some Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons (I think the big planes with the personal entertainment setup are great!). Watching them reminded me especially of my Grandpa Neil. It is probably because those were some of his favorite cartoons. And I mention this because it takes me back to a time when Bugs Bunny cartoons were a special fun hour on Saturday morning after chores, but I probably didn't even need cartoons for all the fun I was surrounded by- and all the Godly love and care I received on up through the generations. I am part of a movement of God through my family of Psalm 145 happening more and more. It makes me want to know the stories more and more of how God has been working in my family, and then I will tell those stories to my children. It is the stories of my Mom reading the Bible when she was really young, it is Great-grandparent prayers and loving a little wild man piling stuffed animals onto them, it is the "kid's times" that impact far more than young goats, it is my brother praying for me on the morning of our little brother's for me to be better by the ceremony (and I was, just before the ceremony), and more I surely don't remember. These stories and others are the things of, "one generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare you mighty acts." -Psalm 145:4 It is the Shma (my apologies to all Hebrew scholars subscribed to this blog) of Deuteronomy 6- the loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and teaching the things of the Lord to our children when we sit, walk, lie down, and rise.

And, I have been thinking, too on how precarious this kind of momentum and movement can be. I can think of far too many examples of the next generation being there first-hand to Godly people and the Word of God, but rebelling and running the opposite way in life. Or, how I often feel and think about how growing up so blessed and so much under God's grace- I could have easily missed that it was God (and sometimes do) and replace Him with my own goodness, my bright intellect, my perseverance, my problem-solving skills, me____, my_____ and you fill in the blanks.

Oh yes, so at the end of everyday- not just the end of one blog post to mark the beginning of more to come- may we all remember what the Lord has done, tell of those things to our family and beyond, and let the grace of God guard us from becoming proud and lazy with all He has blessed us with. For we are blessed to be a blessing...

One thing I like about being an adult...

Is that sometimes I can have ice cream for supper if I want to.

Nothing is Beyond You

My top song lately has been Rich Mullins' "Nothing is Beyond You." Here are a few of the words:

Nothing is beyond You
You stand beyond the reach
Of our vain imaginations - our misguided piety
The heavens stretch to hold You and deep cries out to deep
Saying that, "Nothing is beyond You, nothing is beyond You"
Time cannot contain You - You fill eternity
Sin can never stain You - death has lost its sting
I cannot explain the way You came to love me
Except to say that nothing is beyond You, nothing is beyond You

Sometimes in my journal (I think only twice so far) I have written a poem after sitting there and not knowing what to write or where to start. I get that same "block" when I sit down to write something to share on this blog. The block happens when everything tries to rush out of a much smaller "doorway" -in this case a keyboard and website. How do Mark 8, Romans 12, Isaiah 11 & 12, Job, and Psalm 139 go together? Well, they don't necessarily, but that I have recently read them for diverse reasons.

Well, what I'm digesting is the One who is describe with the capitalized pronoun 'You' in the song above. God is supreme and sovereign as He loves me, He loves us. There is something mysterious, majectic, and mighty in the Jesus that has come and is coming, and yet is with us even now. That is some of the concept that, "Time cannot contain You - You fill eternity." as Rich sings and, "You stand beyond the reach of our vain imaginations - our misguided piety," and I reflect on a righteousness that is by faith "Sin can never stain You - death has lost its sting
I cannot explain the way You came to love me Except to say that nothing is beyond You, nothing is beyond You"

Scattered thoughts gathered up as I wrote this post.
Jesus is the best, and I'm off to bed to get some rest.

Barack Obama and Me

Lynn and I caught some of the news last night during supper- saw Barack Obama signing his first official orders on his first day as President. What a great lefty! He even curls his arm up over out of the way so he can see what he is writing.

In the coming days I hope to post somethings here for all who are loyal suscribers and have been starving for me to share here what I experience and think on everyday.

Psalm 73 song

The picture is of Niagara Falls from our honeymoon. Waterfalls are full of power and beauty. Our Creator too has that kind of both/and characteristics. He is Just, yet patient and loving, but still very harsh. I think of Aslan and the quote about him, "Is he safe? No. But he's good."

Psalm 73 is a psalm of Asaph whining about why good happens to the bad people and the righteous seem to not get the best results in life, but then he reflects further on God "when I entered your house of worship" and gains the full perspective on life. The song is from the last part of that Psalm- Asaph's confession and praise to God and his committment to God- because God is "the strength of his heart and his portion forever." "I have made the sovereign Lord my refuge, I will tell of all Your deeds."

May these truths of God be a blessing to you and may you also be able to see the world as Asaph was able to and so he could praise God. Glory be to God.