Good News for the Eons...

I attended a Bible/Missions Conference this week... from July 20-22, 2015... at Rodgers Baptist Church, Garland TX... Pastor Ron Thomas.

This was something that I had not done in a long, long time. It was a huge blessing for me on many levels.

Hunger games...

Trust is an essential ingredient for true living. There is the initial decision to trust God through Christ's redemptive work, allowing Him to assume control of my life as well as my eternity. There is the discipline to trust moment by moment as I grow in grace and knowledge of the truth.

However, something must precede my decision to trust God at some particular point in time; something must be motivating me to continually seek Him. Why would I want to trust Him? Why would I want to trust Him more... or again?

Living now...

"The greatest tragedy of human existence is not to live in time, in both senses of that phrase." My Bright Abyss by Christian Wiman. p. 8

Drink in the moment... Live life to the fullest... and similar trite phrases twist a profound mental and spiritual process into some sort of superficial, hedonistic escapism. As if going on a bender or traveling around the world would get you there. Living now, truly, is the privilege of the few. I am not one of the few... yet.

Hauling water...

Remember trying to carry water from the lake to your sand castle in a little red wagon? Have you ever driven livestock to market... pulled a horse trailer...? I am not sure if one is harder than the other, but for me, there is nothing quite like hauling water.

At my present age and post knee surgery, I pride myself on still being able to carry a full, 20 liter (5.283 Gal) water jug upstairs to the kitchen and flip it onto its base for dispensing. It weighs about 44 Pounds. It's an even greater accomplishment if I don't spill any water in the process.

LINDA SMITH April 9, 1951 - February 2, 2015

MEMORIAL AND CELEBRATION SERVICE

February 08, 2015   10:00 AM  (All Invited)

Her whole life, Linda suffered much physically, but she never gave up. She expressed in recent months that she was ready to go. The last few weeks, she felt even more that her time was short.

Objectifying...

“I judge no man.” (Jn 8:15)

In our natural state, I wonder if we are not all potential terrorists.

We all attempt to understand what goes on around us and embrace a world view that strikes us as consistent. Unfortunately, the way that we go about it reflects our unregenerate ego-centrism, our driving need to prove ourselves a cut above the rest. Couple that with our incomplete knowledge (i.e., ignorance), and we have the ingredients for a consistent world view, but one that is grossly over-simplistic and potentially dangerous.

Twenty two years and counting...

Green Bay Packers quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, recently broke Tom Brady’s NFL record of 288 successive completed passes at home without an interception. Awesome... and he’s still going strong. That’s right up there with Brett Favre’s record of consecutive starts as an NFL quarterback. Unparalleled grit and stamina. It must have something to do with the air in Green Bay. (Can you tell I’m from Wisconsin?)

As impressed as I am, setting records is not a driving force for me. Yet, I wonder if we are setting one anyway?  I hope not.